On your behalf, we have written Gateway and are still awaiting an answer.

Recently, my computer stopped working. I still have a year on my warranty. I took it back to the University store, and they said they were no longer dealing with parts or service for Gateway because they had so many problems, starting last summer. They suggested that I contact Gateway. Gateway told me that I had to call another number for a company called MPC. To make a long story short, Gateway had sold the warranty to MPC as of October 2007. Customer service for MPC finally ordered a mother board and an AC adapter that the University computer store had recommended and told me that shipping was delayed, but I should get the parts in 5 days. That was 2 weeks ago. At the time I received my parts, a tech person was supposed to call me and come and fix it. Meanwhile, as you are aware, I was without my computer files, my projects, etc.

Since then, things have only gone downhill. The parts haven’t come and the check status web page for order 2840039 says the date is “please call”. The ship date is “N/A”. The phone number (1-877-485-1464) says it won’t answer questions about parts. From the beginning, I smelled a rat, so I looked at the web site for MPC, and they were ‘delisted’ from the American Stock Exchange on Oct 1 2008. Their stockholder equity had fallen below 2 million dollars and they had sustained losses from continuing operations or net losses in two of the three most recent years (www.mpccorp.com/common/press_releases/mpc/index.asp?id=102708_1).

The statement from MPC also crowed about the fact that they had acquired Gateway’s Professional business in October 2007. And, my “Gateway Three Year Limited Warranty Agreement” says that Gateway can sell the contract. I called a number I was given about warranties at the original company, Gateway (877-845-9728), and was told that the call was ‘unusual’ and the person would need to talk to someone. The answer when he came back was that legally Gateway had no responsibility for my problems. The University computer store tried to help me, but found the same problems I did, as well as information that the company had been moved first to Tennessee and then to Mexico. What a nightmare!

I do have an address given to me by the Gateway warranty office for the Gateway Executive Response Team, p.o. Box 6137, Temple, Texas 76503. I also have a call in to the National Arbitration Forum at 800 474-2371, which is the only recompense my contract allows me.

I looked at the Gateway web site, and found that major stores such as Wal*Mart and Best Buy sell these computers. I called Best Buy and found that they have no problem getting parts, and can fix laptops. They cannot, however, honor my ‘Gateway Three Year Limited Warranty Agreement’.

My questions are as follows:

1. Why did Gateway sell my Warranty (and many other Warranties, I’m sure) to a company that was financially questionable? MPC was finally told they were not in compliance with the stock market rules in 2008, but they had clearly been in bad shape for 3 years. Did Gateway simply want to get rid of a financially non-productive part of their business so they could make more money and leave the consumers hanging?

2. Now that it is clear that MPC is not servicing these Warranties, why does Gateway not take responsibility for their action, even though they can point to a legal contract as absolving them of any responsibility? Why would anyone want to buy a computer from them if they act so irresponsibly in making sure their Warranty is valid? (for a copy of the Gateway Three Year Limited Warranty Agreement, look at http://www.gateway.com)

3. This problem is possibly a good example of why some American corporations are in trouble–they make sure they have very little legal responsibility, and they are so removed from their customers that they cannot and will not make good on their promises. Buying from Gateway is not something I would recommend to anyone, and I hope Wal*Mart and Best Buy are listening.