4 replies to this topic

[monogodo]

I'm sure you all have grown tired of reading about the BS I've been through with my newest Gateway PC. I know I'm tired of writing about it.

For the past 6-8 months it's been making a horrendous noise when it starts up. Like something's grinding. It usually goes away, then comes and goes during a computing session. A few weeks ago, it did it all day, really bad & loud. We thought the HD was about to explode. I pulled the panel off and disconnected the fan, thinking it might just be a bad fan. Nope, still did it. I then disconnected power to the 2nd HD, from my old computer. Nope, still did it. I figured it had to be the main HD, so I called Gateway tech support.

The tech support guy said my warranty had expired. I assured him it hadn't. He said that he couldn't do anything about it, and I'd have to call in on Monday during regular business hours to get a Level 2 technician who could then check my warranty status. So I waited.

A couple weeks later (this past Thursday), I was home from work and had a chance to call. The woman who answered said my warranty was valid, and asked what the issue was. I knelt down next to the box so that my Bluetooth earpiece was next to it and powered it up. The horrendous noise came up, and I asked her if she could hear it. She said yes, and I told her that it wasn't the fan or the 2nd HD. She said, yep, it's the primary HD. She then said she'd ship me a new one, I just needed to give her my CC# in case I "forgot" to return the bad drive. She said it'd take 3-5 business days to arrive.

I stopped off at the Concierge desk every day since then to check to see if it had arrived, since I wasn't given a tracking number. As of this afternoon, it hadn't shown up. At 6pm, my cell phone rang. It was my former neighbor from the old loft building. He said there was a note on my mailbox from FedEx stating that I had a package in the leasing office. I immediately clocked out and shut down everything at work and headed over before they closed. I pulled the note off my old mailbox and went into the office. Sure enough, Gateway had addressed it to the old address, when I specifically gave them my new one. The tag even said USE THIS ONE above the old address.

When I got home, I opened it up to discover that they hadn't sent me a 200GB HD to replace my current 200GB HD. They sent a 250GB HD. Bonus!

So I took the panel off, pulled out the old HD & installed the new one. While doing that, I called Gateway to bitch them out for sending it to the wrong address, and to make sure that I wasn't going to be charged for the old drive because the new one had sat at the wrong address for 5 days, and they only gave me 10 to get it back to them. They assured me I wouldn't be charged, that I actually had 30 days, they just don't like to tell people that. They then transferred me to Level 2 support to ensure that my address was properly changed, since the Level 1 tech wasn't sure it went through properly. By the time the Level 2 tech got on the phone, I had it ready to start up.

I hit the power button, and the horrendous noise was there. What. The. Fuck. He could also hear it, and started questioning everything that could make the noise. He asked if I checked both fans: the exhaust fan and the CPU fan. I told him there was only one fan, encased in a green plastic shroud. The shroud went over the CPU heat sink, funneling the heat to the fan, which I assumed forced it out the front. While it was running making the noise with the panel off, it dawned on me that the aftermarket video card I'd installed also had a heat sink w/ fan. I touched the fan, stopping it from spinning, and stopping the noise. I asked if he wanted the new drive back, or the old one. He said it didn't matter, whichever was easier. He suggested I return the new one, since the old one was already set up. I replied that the new one was installed physically in the case, and it was a bitch to get in and out, and I wanted to do a clean install of XP anyway, and it had 50GB more capacity than the old one. He said I could do whatever I wanted to do.

So I've spent the evening installing XP and various other programs. My wife is now customizing it for herself. This weekend we'll pick up another GB of RAM, and will also pick up another fan unit. I found one that installs in an expansion slot in the back. I've disconnected the fan from the video card, and will install the other one right below it. I may also get a case fan and mount it in the back as an intake fan. And don't worry, the side panel is off so there's plenty of airflow. And the heat sink is still in place. I may also take the old fan to Radio Shack to see if they have a replacement.

[Deb]

God almighty what a balls up, but I'm glad you've got your comp running again - sans noise.

[Dave]

What a pain in the ass. At least you got to keep the new drive. I've a suggestion for companies on how to improve their customer service but it would involve less 'sitting on mountains of cash' on their part.

[Deb]

I've a suggestion for companies on how to improve their customer service but it would involve less 'sitting on mountains of cash' on their part.

Like that's gonna happen

[steeldrag0n]

Like that's gonna happen

maybe one day, when everyone can live in peace together.....oh..that wont happen