Gateway

[Angelique]

Ok folks, I rarely start topics, but tonight I had an experience that I just had to vent about.

Being the computer illiterate person that I am, I lost a program file. How the hell I did this is beyond me. Nonetheless, I decided that I'd call the Gateway Tech Support in an effort to figure out how to load it back on to my computer.

After running through a dozen different menu's that asked me to "press 1 for this, press 2 for that", I finally got to the tech support area, only to be put on hold for another ten minutes.

FINALLY, I got a live person!! At this point, I'm a happy camper, feeling that I'm only moments away from being saved from the dreaded computer monster that ate my file.

This kind, young gentleman informed me that I needed to call another number for this type of assistence. So.....I rifled through my desk drawer, in search of a sticky note pad. Upon retrieving the pad, I jotted down two numbers. One was an 800#, the other was a 900#.

I thanked the gentleman and just before I hung up, I made a smart ass remark about one number being toll-free, and the other being a "charge by the minute" number. This lovely gentleman informed me that BOTH numbers were "charge by the minute" lines. The 800# was $1.50/minute, the 900# was $1.95/minute.

WTF??? As if these folks weren't happy getting $2,500 out of me when I bought the damn computer! At this point, I became a little rude and made a comment about that...and, of course, the gentleman on the other end of the phone went into a long speech about whatever the damn reason was for this cost.

So, now I'm thoroughly pissed off, and still missing this damn file because I REFUSE to pour more money into Gateway's pocket, in an attempt to fix my computer. Needless to say, my next computer will NOT be a Gateway!

My question (yes, I do have one) is this: Is this typical of computer companies to charge for tech support by the minute? Am I wrong for feeling like this is just a scheme to bleed more money from the computer illiterate?

Ok, I'm done ranting...all comments are welcome here. And I fully expect this thread to turn into something completely off the subject, preferably something sexual.

 

[Carl East]

No, your not wrong, they all do it Angel, some are worse than other's, but they all bleed you dry when your in trouble.

Carl

 

[Dreamer1]

You are so right Angelique, you get f**ked if you are computer illiterate! Too bad it is figuratively!

[Edited by Dreamer1 on 08-02-2000 at 09:42 PM]

 

[Bliss]

Hello,

First, yes it extremely typical for them to charge, but it depends on how old your computer is, whether you bought it new or reburbished and several other factors. If you haven't had the thing a long time, most problems should still be under warranty, but it still costs the arrgrevation of time spent on the phone to them.

At home, I have a custom built Gateway, so when something does go wrong (and it does), I get to sit thru the several hours of phone calls, finally get to a REAL technical person, as oppossed to the pissant phone operators, then listen to what he says and usually hand the phone off to my fiance and let him deal with it, because I don't have the patience. The last time, the problem was the new hard drive they sent was partitioned correctly so it ate itself and I still had to sit through "Well, were you trying to load additional software programs onto it?" and so on. ARGH!

If you want to email (me, here) the name of the file you lost, I can send it or tell you where on the Net to download it from.

Best Wishes,
Payne

 

[Bigdog]

Angelique, it is common practice with all the major computer manufacturers to charge for tech service AFTER the warranty period. I have an HP and they charge 1.95/min for the 900 number or 24.95 per call for the 800 number. Yes, they are taking advantage of users who know little or nothing about computers.

My suggestion would be to ask some computer literate friends for help, either in RL or on the BB. I saw a few offers on this thread already.

If that doesn't work, put on the sluttiest outfit you own and walk around the local CompUSA looking lost. In ten minutes you will get enough offers of "personal tech service" to reprogram the space shuttle!

BTW, don't bag on Gateway too hard; you could own a Packard Bell.

 

[Xander]

Angel baby! Now you know why I do my own tech support!

 

[Hecate]

XANDER!!! Don't you tell me

.. you start to think now about charging Angel by the minute too!!!!! And I am not only thinking about the tech support here *winks*


To be perfectly honest - I was fortunate so far I never needed to call any official tech support - but I am using a local little community server and so the guys mainaining it do it in their spare time etc. if you want to ge a hold of any of them you have to try to catch him for about 3 days and then tell his mom that NO - although you are calling like twice a day and you are sounding really desperate to get a hold of him you are not the new girl-friend... and yes, he is such a nice guy (although at this point I never ever even spoke to him let alone met him) ... well - after I finally got him on the phone we had a 75 minute conversation which turned out in me doing exactly what I wanted to avoid - re-install the crap!! (It wasn't his fault I guess - just fate)


The most annoying thing about minute-charges though I felt at AOL - they keep you in the "charge by minute" support hotline if you want to CANCEL your account!!!!! Adn calling is the only way they will accept - so tell me about rip-offs!!

 

[Bliss]

BTW, don't bag on Gateway too hard; you could own a Packard Bell.

Or a Dell!


BTW,

If Xander does his own tech support, how come he ain't doin' yours? Tech support that is!

 

[Xander]

Payne! I am whenever I'm around to do it. But since the time difference can be a real bitch. I'm usually asleep when she run into these problems.

Hecate. I couldn't dream of charging her

 

[Bliss]

Xander! (LOL)

Well, like I said, I have a monster Gateway, so if y'all can't find the file just ask and I'm sure my sleeping IT man will be awake by then. One of us will be able to find it and I'll icq it or whatevah.

BTW, in Jade's thread about quick snacks, my stuffed mushrooms got invited to your wedding, so... nice to meet you and congratulations, you both sound ecstatic, as well you should be!

Someday I'll tell where I met my Sweetie (my mother-in-law-to-be will nevah evah know, know whut I mean?). *blink* *blink*

As Always,
Payne

 

[gatherer]

Comp most likely not at fault

When computers crash, the problem does not usually have to do with hardware but with the software. It's probably safe to assume your using an operating system form M.S.,
most likely Windows 98 or 2000. And since your at this site may I assume your an erotic writer and the application software which crashed was word, also by Microsoft. I believe beginning with word 95 that when an
application unexpectedly quit, the program would automatcally save the document in the my documents folder on the c drive. The rescued file would have the name you saved in under unless you had not saved it yet, in which case it saves it under "recovered.doc". What to do:
1st: open up the application you were using, sometimes the document will open automatically.
If this is not the case, then do a file search from your start menu using Find.
Start your search in the c drive and look for all word files
formated as a word document by typing "*.doc". After this finds all the word documents on your c drive you can access them directly through the Find window with a doulble click. You should be able to find for your lost file.

 

[Flagg]

In love with my mac

I would just like to stand up and say that not one bit of software on my computer is microsoft or microsoft related (and no I'm not using a f***ing dreamcast) and of this I am very proud.

Thank you.

 

[Xander]

Let me guess Flagg. Unix??

 

[Flagg]

Nope.

Macintosh OS 7.5.5 (Ancient but works)

Various speadsheets and DTPs and word processors that don't come from Microsoft but from people like Adobe.

 

[Bonnie Wee Lassie]

I would be pissed also. Im lucky knock on wood I have had no problems. But anyone I have talked to here in Canada was never charged for tech support. Is that only in the states that they do that??

 

[Starshine]

Angelique:

Being a software issue most companies will not support lost or deleted files. They will basically tell you that you either need to re-install the program or refer you to another phone number.

I work for one of the big three computer retailer companies as a service technician...I do understand your problems & feelings, because I hear it everyday. I do my best to help them out and discourage them from calling the 800 number because they'll run into what you did.

You might want ot call the closest Gateway store near you...some have service centers, some don't so be prepared...and see if someone there can help you. Most will do there best others of course will refer you to the 800 number.

Some advice...be patient and persistant with Gateway....someone will help you out one way or the other.

Just got an idea....check your Recycling Bin to see if the program is in there, if it is right click on it and there should be an option to recover the file and put it back where it was....

Hey Hecate....you know I'll service you...err...computer anytime.....

 

[ShyGuy68]

Hey Hecate....you know I'll service you...err...computer anytime.....

Starshine, somehow I have the feeling you aren't the only one that would like to do that, myself included


ShyGuy

 

[Patryn]

Not you too!!!

Slightly off topic, but not really here. I just bought a Kensington web/video cam. It consistently crashed my computer when I exit the software, and my videos come out all choppy. I e-mailed tech support. I got an auto reply that asked me to choose from a certain number of problems, and if my question wasn't answered, to use "imaging" in the subject line and resend the problem. This is actually common practice so that whomever does tech support doesn't have to personally field questions answered in the FAQ or generic ones like "It doesn't work"

I resent. I got another auto reply with 20 more choices!!! Now, this is a little over the top. I mean, it's e-mail for god's sake...it's not like it takes that much time to reply. I think one filtering reply is more than enough.

 

[~justin]

i haven't had to call Apple for tech suppourt in a couple of years now, but back in the day when i had to, it was free, 24/7. i think that now you have to sign up for a special suppourt package when you buy your machine, but i'm not sure. i didn't sign up for it when i bought my new machine because i have a tendency to do my own troubleshooting

the best thing to do when you're not computer literate is get someone who is literate and who you trust to have a look. as an added bonus, you can learn from them

 

[Ezzie]

Packard Bell isn't too bad when it comes to Tech support but I've only had to call them once. After that I decided it was easier to befriend people who know computers and work with them for a living. Without them, I'd still be sitting here trying to figure out where the "Any" key is. LMAO

 

[Expertise]

Compaq tech support used to be free in Canada. If it still is or not I don't know, I only ever had to call once.

Gatherer is correct it is usually a software issue (my CEO would shoot me for saying that). And his answer is quite plausible.

If you want Xander to help you out "PC Anywhere" is the best $200.00 you will ever spend. If I have problems with my unit at home one of my techs is only a couple clicks away via that product.

 

[Angelique]

Payne! I am whenever I'm around to do it. But since the time difference can be a real bitch. I'm usually asleep when she run into these problems.

Hecate. I couldn't dream of charging her

Take it out in trade, Xander babe?

Well, I'm impressed! We're on the second page of this thread, and we haven't gotten off topic!

Ok, here goes with another long, lengthy post by Angelique...two in the last 24 hours. I gotta stop this!

Carl...I don't even wanna KNOW about the other companies that bleed ya' when you're in trouble! ONE is plenty for this gal!

Dreamer...it wouldn't be so bad if I was enjoying the fuck...but these folks didn't even offer any foreplay! *pout*

Payne...very nice to meet you hon! And I'm tickled that your stuffed mushrooms got invited to the wedding...invitation goes to you, as well, darlin'!

Bigdog...yes, my warranty is up. My computer is a few years old...2 1/2, I think. The problem I have with asking friends for assistence is that they all think that I'M the one who is the most computer literate! Hell, all I know how to do is reboot when something goes wrong! I am considering that idea about waltzing into CompUSA, tho'...I imagine that my slinky black leather mini-skirt and opaque black lace shirt with a pair of fishnet's and fuck-me pumps might do the trick.

Hecate...hell, if Xander charged by the minute, I'd be in the poorhouse, sexually speaking, of course! Oh, and something I'd do if I wanted to cancel my AOL account (and I'm not sure if this will work or not)...I sure as shit wouldn't PAY them to cancel it. I'd log on, and go into my billing information and change the credit card numbers to zero's. I imagine at some point they'd be calling ME for a new credit card number...which at that point, I'd tell them I'm cancelling my account.

Gatherer...LMAO!!!! Ummm...sweetie, I wasn't working on my writing at the time the file was lost. I'll explain what happened at the end of my post.

Flagg...wanna trade computers with me?

Bonnie...I think I'll move to Canada now.

Starshine...which do you think would work better? Bigdog's idea, or yours?

Justin...see my comment to Bigdog. *wink*

Ezzie...LMAO! Would you mind showing me where that "Any" key is?

Expertise...would you believe that I actually do have access to PC Anywhere? Of course, I wouldn't know what to do with it unless someone actually sat down beside me and walked me through it. But, I do have access to it! Does that count for something?

Alrighty...here's my plight folks. Two days ago, I was using my wav recorder. And NO, I wasn't recording erotic poetry for Xander! I had recorded a song to send to a friend, for her opinion on using it for our wedding. So there! Get your minds outa the gutter! *wink*

Anyway, I KNOW that the wav recorder worked as of two days ago. Last night, I decided to FINALLY upgrade my Real Player, so I logged onto their website and did so. When I went back to open up the wav recorder, I got an error code that told me that the file, RIFF8nJ, could not be found. And thus, the wav recorder no longer works...I can't even get it to come up on my screen.

I checked my recycle bin...the file isn't there. I was calling Gateway, with hopes that they would tell me what the wav recorder program was called, and which disk I could reload it from. Being kinda stupid when it comes to computers, that seemed like the logical thing for me to do. That's when I ran into the issue with the charge by the minute tech support numbers.

So there's my plight guys...any and all suggestions are welcome. Eventually, I believe that I'm going to have to have Xander reload Windows to my computer...but I have to figure out how to back up my files on zip disk first. *cringe* That, in itself, just sounds like a nightmare!

Thanks to everyone who posted assistence here.

 

[Bliss]

Well, don't sweat backing things up onto a Zip. Just save the really important stuff, like email, word and other *important document* files. To some this might include ICQ etc.

Now, for this rogue file. I checked my machine, and his, and even popped the restoration CD in for a looksee and no dice.

The entire Sound Recorder executable should be on your Windows CD. Trying reinstalling it.

Step-by-step instructions:
http://www.wambooli.com/help/PC/Sounds/

Should be enough techie info to roll your eyes back into your head here:

http://www.computerhope.com/software/soundrec.htm

Finally, if this doesn't work, lemme know and thanks for the invite!

Payne

 

[Angelique]

Thanks Payne...I'll have to check out those sites.

Starshine...hon, the info you requested is sitting in your mailbox.

 

[Thumper]

HEY!

Hey what is wrong with Packard Bell???
Our first computer was a PB and it still does a fine job....of holding up the end of the desk.