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Since the only way to contact them at all is through Customer Support, I sent them an email. That way it is completely in writing, and with the confirmation number I was given there is no way they can deny I sent it.
It took me a good hour to compile the letter, since I went back through this blog of angered rants when I had made the calls, my bank account for the transaction history, and even UPS to see just when it had been sent and delivered back to them. I went through EVERYTHING I had, and boy do I have a nice little paper trail.
I compiled all of this information, and then sent the following letter to Gateway:
"I'm starting at the bottom of the chain, because there are no direct ways to get in touch with a manager of Gateway. I do not have warranty coverage at this point, and as of right now I am not going to purchase an extension for it, nor will I pay to speak with a representative because of this.
I am very angry with Gateway, and more specifically Gateway's supplier Tiger Direct. As far as I am concerned, they represent Gateway, which is the parent company.
On October 18th I called your Product Purchase line to order a new power cord for my laptop, because the one I had broke. I spoke with a foreign man with a heavy accent who told me it would cost $92.08 for second day air of the cord. I placed the order, received the confirmation number of P0294322 over the phone, and thought nothing of it.
On October 21st I was charged for $29.98 from Tiger Direct, and finding this odd because it was not the full payment, I checked their website; only to find out that in addition to the power cord, the person I had on the other end of the line had added in the program PC Pitstop without my knowledge. I called about this immediately, and was given a return number, and for the first time I was asked for my email address.
Upon checking her inbox at a later date, since she was the one who ordered my laptop as a graduation gift, my Mother found the confirmation emails about my order. And later on, many UPS return label receipt emails. I was never asked for my email except that one time, and I was never properly sent what I needed because the home phone number lead to my Mother's email. Assumptions such as this are very poor business practice.
I received the package on October 23rd, along with the final transaction of $62.10 for the cord and shipping. When I opened the package containing the cord, it was in fact not the proper one for my laptop, despite haven given Tiger Direct the make and model of both my laptop and the cord I currently had, and I called again that day because it also needed to be returned.
The man on the phone this time was very good about getting me a return number and he is the one who asked for my email address to send me the UPS shipping receipt, and I was told I would be refunded everything--products and shipping costs. That was fine, but as I said many other return labels ended up going to my Mother instead.
My next issue was getting a hold of someone so that I could order the proper cord. I had to call three different numbers and finally ended up in a free chat because, due to the lack of warranty, I could not speak to someone without paying. All I wanted was to purchase a new cord, and it took me at least an hour and a half and my parents getting on the phone at one point to get a link out of someone to directly order the cord I needed. This, with shipping, cost $61.95. It was purchased through Mundo Corp, and I had no issues with them, thankfully.
I dropped off one package containing both the software and the cord to UPS on October 24th and sent it back. I still have the receipt the UPS Store gave me. I had only received one email at this time with a return receipt, so I figured they needed to be sent back together. It was under the tracking number 1Z1W839V9090679676, and delivered to Naperville, IL on the 28th of October. The return number I had been given was 3441998.
I respected the 10 day refund policy, and on October 31st I received a refund for the $29.98 of the software, but nothing else. When November 7th came and passed and I had not received any other refunds as promised, I called Tiger Direct again.
I spoke with a representative who said he was sorry for the wait, it shouldn't have happened, and it took us a little while to get on the same page because the system in his office was pretty much down. So he was working from the web as much as I was. But he assured me that I would have at least the shipping in 48-72 hours, and that it could take a bit longer on the cord because it had to go back to the drop shipper. But that if I didn't have it all refunded by Saturday to call back.
November 12th I received back the $19.11 from shipping and handling.
Saturday came and went with no payment. Sadly, once again I was far too busy with my job and family concerns to call.
As of today, December 1st, I have still not received the refund for the wrong cord that was sent to me. I called and spoke to another representative at Tiger Direct, and was given the same 48-72 hours nonsense. I have been beyond patient with Gateway and their supplier, Tiger Direct.
I expect that refund by December 5th, 11:59pm EST, or I WILL BE pursuing legal actions. As far as I am concerned, this is extortion, and instance of fraud. And I can't say that at this point I would be satisfied with just a refund due to the amount of time that your company has had my money.
I will be reporting you to the Better Business Bureau either way. And I can't say that I will ever purchase another Gateway product again. Your computers are wonderful, but I am not going to go through such terrible customer service to get it. There are other computers out there (such as Acer) that are just as good as far as I can tell, that probably have much better customer support and product centers.
At this point I'm at the end of my patience. I have been nice about this for as long as I could, and now I'm not going to be any more.
There is no way I will ever recommend a Gateway to anyone ever again. And I will caution everyone I know to never use Tiger Direct
I hope that this finds its way to management, because this is the only place on the site where I am able to contact.
Thank you,
Samantha Genier"
So Gateway is now aware of everything, they know what I have, and they are also aware of my intentions.
I wrote, read, re-read, and had my Mom go over this letter with me before sending it. So it was written once and edited twice. I wanted to add incompetent in there a few times, but I didn't. Have to behave after all, even if I'm angry.
Tomorrow I'm going to submit all this stuff to the Better Business Bureau. It's just too late tonight.
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