Bought refurb Gateway computer from CompUsa/Tiger Direct. Computer had wrong CPU mounted on motherboard. Warranty is through Gateway. Dealt with 2 different customer service reps. Both were in the United States, very nice to deal with, and worked hard to get my problem resolved. Bad experiance with the quality control of their refurbs, but a great experiance in dealing with telephone customer service. They shipped out a prepaid box to send the tower back.

I originally ordered a computer on 1-20-08, and waited a week before I check online to discover that it was still in 'processing.' I called my representative at gateway who told me that they oversold the computer I ordered, and they don't make them anymore. He told me that they have new model coming out soon, and I agreed to wait for that one to replace my order. He said that was going to be released on 2-7-08. When that day rolled around, I called my rep to place the order, who then said that they weren't actually being released until 2-14-08, so I agreed to wait another week to order it. I ordered the new model on 2-16-08 when my rep started working again, and told me that it should arrive in ~8 days, which would be around 2-26-08.  
 
I waited a few more days and checked my order status online, which said that the estimated delivery date is now the 3-3-08, which is another week after my first quoted delivery date. I checked the next day, before calling my rep, and it said that the estimated delivery date is now 3-11-08, ANOTHER week after the quoted delivery date. I called my rep asking for some compensation for my wait, and he gave me the run-around, explaining that it isn't their fault and and they can't do anything about it. I asked to talk to his manager, who was even less help than my sales rep.  
 
All I want is comparable compensation for my wait and the deprecated value of the computer, or a free warranty extension or something.

No malace in my heart on this. Was with GATEWAY over a decade bought many machimes but seems like upper management is the problem. Bought Desk top DX441S - beautiful PC & 22" HD Display.  
 
Colors were way off. Only Green & ugly yellow - no reds. Was to have had a white wire, came with blue. Tek & Salesmen were genuinely helpful.  
 
Some supervisors very bad. Was told "No custom PC's anymore only out of the box". Ok no problem here.  
 
Wanted it partly for CIV 4 graphics. Went over what was needed, All stated it was there but evidently was not or couldn't recognize the mother board graphics or sound.  
 
I had to buy a graphics card from GATEWAY about $90. THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE SOUND CARD! Had to purchase from STAPLES ($70.)! I KID YOU NOT.  
 
Add to this with tek help I checked the hard drives & they were used by someone. The job was partially done as indicated on the screen & dated 3 weeks before I bought the PC.  
 
So was the PC was refurbish??? Nothing but problems. I was then willing to just exchange. These thisgs can happen.  
 
I spoke to a woman in "escalations" & she seemed to agree. Defective possibly refurbished & we were to exchange.  
 
I called Returns Dept. to set thisngs in motion.  
(Not to loose out with the return period).  
 
Then "M" (male guy) tells me that I can't remove the "VISTA" software & Can't return until I install the graphics & sound cards!  
 
VISTA software MUST go with PC. I wanted XP told couldn't get it with PC. Told him I would do it myself, then was told I couldn't remove VISTA.  
 
Then I ended it all & demamded a refund.  
 
Don't believe it - I don't blame you. Then I get  
some more management types that were a nghtmere.  
15% restocking fee on a possibly used PC that never worked properly.  
 
The monitor needed a white wire & none was there. Yup had to order for something that should have been there.  
 
The Sales & tek were excellent. They really were upfront & put in the effort.  
 
The automatic answering service just schuffles you around. Management should try it sometimes.  
 
In fairness much of the other problems was from the new "VISTA' software. It clearly is not ready for the market so beware.  
 
Called windows "VISTA" support & they actually didn't have any answers for some of their own error codes! Also cases that no drivers existed for your hardware even if less that a year old. In one instance they blamed the MFG. for not having drivers.  
 
Had difficulty understanding some people.  
 
Windows blames manufacturers & sent me to Gateway & Gateway sent me to windows.  
 
Suggest get XP PC for now until Vista bugs are solved. The 'VISTA' software problems will take time to sort out so be careful.  
 
Me, I bought 2 XP machines from Tiger.  
 
BTW - GATEWAY - I have ALL the documentation. Even sent email to alleged VP of sales - no reply. (Not that I expected one.  
 
Last thought for everyone. Why can't Bill Gates let the customer choose the software?  
 
I understand that manufacturers are forced by contract to only sell "VISTA".  
 
SO AS WE COMPLAIN ABOUT BUGS THEY FIX.

This review was modified by its author, ED-SI, on 2/8/08 9:31 PM.

I recently purchased a computer from Gateway.com as I wanted a new computer and it was a good deal. The price was actually cheaper than if I ordered the parts and built it myself. However, I have had nothing but trouble since. The computer was slow in coming and when I tried to get information on why it was late and when it would arrive, the support said they could not get any information on my order until it had been processed for 1 month. This was just the start of my support troubles.  
Instead of writing a very long rant on their technical service, lets just say I've spent several hours talking to them, much of it trying to explain what I needed from them as 3 of the 4 people I talked to did not understand how computers work. My computer was not shipped with a backup disc with drivers/application, my video card did not work so it was RMA, and finally asking which codecs were needed to watch a DVD (I hung up on them when they gave me an exact address to download codecs that were listed on the page as adware). So, while I have many bad things to say about Gateway, these are just a few to mention.  
While the price is right, you should consider buying from another company.

Ordered a laptop from Gateway, they instantly gave me a shipping estimate and delivered it a week earlier than the given estimate. Price was the best when compared against similar laptops from competing brands (HP/Dell/etc), and so far I have had no issues with my laptop so can't comment on their returns/repairs process. But I have to say I'm overall very satisfied with my purchase, and seeing the amount of negative feedback here prompted me to write my take on ordering from Gateway, as it was nothing but positive.

This was the laptop MX7525. Had trouble with the screen. Sent it back 2 times. They got it right the second time. Right after it went off warrenty the power button went out. Paid $250 to have it repaired. It lasted about three monthxs. Now the screen it starting to go out again and the power button is going bad on me. Their customer service was good. With a fast turnaround time. The computer is a lemon.

this is the worst company in the world. I bought a notebook from them, they quoted me 1500 dollars for a repair. THAT COST MORE THAN THE NOTEBOOK DID! They were very unprofessional. The Warranty is shit, as well as their AC Adapters I had to continually buy because they broke after the first month. Never buy from Gateway. NEVER.

I Bought a Gateway FPD2185W from a reseller that promised me that Gateway would sell me an additional 2 year warranty. Gateway refused to sell me the extended warranty. So I had a $600 monitor with a short 1 year warranty. Of course the monitor went bad a few months out of warranty and I now have a $600 piece of junk. Gateway refused to replace/ repair the monitor even if I paid for the repair.  
Gateway has turned into another skid row company that misleads the customer. Live and learn.

This review was modified by its author, Jazzpicker308, on 11/4/07 11:08 PM.

Gateway misleads consumers by indicating a "deliver by date" then doesn't deliver. My computer is now scheduled to arrive 3 weeks later than promised, on a date I will be out of town for Thanksgiving. I think Gateway should provide some form of customer incentive for this since they are responsible and I have already paid for the computer in full. When asked, Gateway said they would be happy to delay my order even further so it would arrive after I returned but said they would not provide any further incentive for the delay in delivery as I had already been given a student discount (which one either qualifies for or doesn't and which has nothing to do with their failure to meet delivery expectations) and their "off the top" discount, which they advertised and offered. Update 10/30: Attempt to cancel order. Now Gateway says computer is "ready to be shipped" even though I got a message from another Gateway person saying it would be ready next week. Now they say delay is due to me "paying in advance" which put a hold on the order. Plus, it will take 7-10 days to refund my money IF the order hasn't already been shipped. Then I will have to wait till they receive it back and process it which will result in another delay.

This review was modified by its author, rlindsey, on 10/30/07 5:17 PM.

My order had been for a simple pair of headphones. Gateway had the best price, listed the item as in stock, and had the shipping method I needed to get the item on time (I needed to get it in no more than 7 days). Naively I beleived that a company as well known as Gateway wouldn't make such horrible decisions about customer support and item status displays. After making the online purchase with 2 day delivery and being given an estimated delivery date of 7 days, I sat back and waited. They began processing the order, and sent me emails confirming that it was being processed. Everything looked normal, and the processes seemed well made.  
 
I wasn't naive enough to just leave it alone. A day before the item was slotted to arrive, I checked the status of my order. It was still sitting in "Processing", instead of shipping. This concerned me, because 2-day shipping would probably require the item to be in transit by that time, right?  
 
Thankfully, unlike so many other stories here, I emailed customer support and actually received curtious, intelligent support. They told me my item now had an estimated delivery date of about 25 days from the current date.  
 
My order was too time sensitive to wait, so I asked to cancel. They said that was too bad, because if I didn't cancel they would list my order as "priority level" now. Curious, but not stupid, I asked them if that meant they would now ship the item for free. They responded that this meant they would "do everything they could to ensure the item would reach me by the new estimated deliver date", which was still 25 days away. So, basically, they would still charge me full price for the item, and the 2-day shipping charge, and I wasn't even guaranteed that I receive the item.  
 
After taking a minute to search ratings for Gateway, I let them know how dissatisfied I was with their methods of doing business, and referred them to this site in hopes that they would work to improve themselves. They did eventually offer me a $10 in-store credit if I were to continue with the order (after much questioning on my part as to why I shouldn't cancel), but why would I want $10 towards an item that's going to take 2 months to get here, and will probably be broken anyway?  
 
My cancellation is still in process, and I hope it goes through sucessfully...  
 

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS COMPANY!!!!! We have had our computer repaired 4 times and finally got a replacement which, when I took it out of the box, was defective as well. Each time they "fix" the computer they make sure to format the hard drive so you loose all your data nd have to reinstall all your applications. Their customer support is the worst I have ever dealt with and they make no attempt to make the customer happy. ONCE THEY GET YOUR MONEY YOU ARE SCREWED!!!!!