After dealing with technical assistance for over three weeks, I was instructed to send my computer tower to the repair depot in Dallas for warranty repair. The computer was shipped to eMachines on 8/1.  I enquired on the status of the repairs on 8/17, and was told they had not received it. I called back on 8/19, and was able to show through the FedEx tracking number that it was received by the repair depot on 8/2, and they agreed to escalate the problem to a supervisor.

I called again on 8/23, to follow up and was told by a supervisor that another supervisor had reviewed escalation, but there was no record of action.

The supervisor agreed to call or e-mail me in 2-3 days with a status report. When not contacted by 8/31, I called again and was told by an agent that an unnamed supervisor needed another 2 days to investigate. I called again on 9/2, and was I told by another supervisor that there was no information from the repair depot. But he e-mailed me latter that day that they had found the computer, logged it in on 9/1, and would repair it promptly.

I called on 9/13 and was informed by an agent that a different supervisor said it was to be shipped out to me on 9/14. When I had not received it by 9/22, I called them again and another supervisor said that the records were still muddled and that it would have to be referred to a higher level headquarters' supervisor whom I must call on 9/23.

When I spoke to the corporate supervisor, Don, on 9/23, he informed me that my computer had been destroyed (lost or refurbished) by the repair depot and could not be returned to me. He promised to call me the afternoon of 9/26, with a proposed resolution, but failed to. He did call me on 9/27, and informed me that eMachines would only provide a refurbished version of my original model without my upgrades of an 80 GB hard drive and 128 MB video card, even though eMachines did not warn that computer could be destroyed in the repair process  -- since I no longer had receipts for those items.

I was given no recourse, apology, or consideration for my lost equipment, data, and the considerable time and expense I spent attempting to address eMachines’ error.

The refurbished computer arrived on 9/30. I sent a certified letter to the VP for Customer Care on 9/28, outlining these problems and asking for more appropriate compensation for my damages. A Gateway Executive Response Specialist sent a reply on 10/8 denying my request. 

Walter Cox, walterlcox@bellsout,net