Gateway Computer Support Answers by Gateway; Answers by PC; Sutherland Global Support Bif RipOff -- Techs pretend to know what they are doing, instead messed up the best computer I ever had. Unfortunately, it was out of warranty and since this service was through the Gateway computer Pittsford, New York

The best computer I ever owned is a 2004 Gateway desktop. When I ran into what I later learned was a simple problem (but not to me), I contacted Gateway support. The out-of-warranty tech support, not disclosed, is a private company that subcontracts to people in India who are not trained properly nor supervised, but simply want your money.

The tech who called himself Daniel said he has fixed this issue many times, but when he told me to try this and that and it did not work said I would have to wipe out the entire operating system and start fresh. I should not have listened to him. But I did. This caused me hours and days of headache, and when I complained they refused a refund, saying the next guy (supposedly a supervisor--I had asked to speak with a supervisor) could fix it. He kept insisting. Really, what was to fix at that point? I had wiped the drive clean and lost everything. Although I had files on an external hard drive, I now had to reinstall all the programs, then the files, everything since 2004.

Do not trust this company, do not trust any service that is not directly from the manufacturer. Gateway should be ashamed to refer trusting buyers to this service. I still love my Gateway. It is the only computer of many that never gave me a problem--until now. And the real problem was the so-called support service. It was not support. It was crippling.