Oh Hellmans.... remember me? (emachines m6811 repair hell update!)

UPDATE 6/15: OK, so BB wanted us to call up Microsoft and "just get a generic key" for the OS. Yeah right. MS is going to give us a generic software key so we can steal an OS? (Why should MS believe our story?) As soon as we started ratting off the CD Key that we had, they knew it was eMachines and transferred us to them.

eMachines says that the original code should work. They won't listen to our reasoning that it's now a Gateway computer. We now either need the physical disks for the new OS, or we need eMachines parts so our old restore DVD will work. eMachines says it's out of their hands - but transfers us to their parts supplier (probably some mafia guy in a back alley) so we can ask about the parts so we know how to look up drivers. HOWEVER, since Geek Squad fixed the computer (DEX actually, if you wanna get real specific), they have the parts list, and not us. Why would they bother sharing that information with us? eMachines/Gateway basically says that it's up to Best Buy to help us.

We call back Best Buy and BB insists that there has to be some way for Microsoft to help us. We call MS back and they say, nope. Get BB to help you.

So basically, now everyone's arguing about who is supposed to be helping us, and nobody is actually doing any helping.

We finally get in touch with small Geek Squad local minion, who thinks the whole thing is ridiculous and promises to look into it further for us. We tell him that at this point we just want a refund. He agrees that it sounds reasonable but doesn't promise anything.

Can you believe this crap? All this could be "fixed" by Best Buy just shipping us a set of windows CD's and key. At least, until the next breakdown.

However, the fact remains that I have spent over $2k (machine, PSP, and tax) for a machine that has never worked correctly since day 10, and has been in for 6 repairs, and completely out of commission for the last 7 months.

I can't believe this nightmare is even happening. I have the WORST luck.

I'm going to write a letter to Best Buy corporate and eMachines corporate and see if I can get any human being there to feel sorry for me and offer to make it right. I'm not holding my breath though.

*sigh* I'm very tired.

___________________________

Remember back in April I was on repair 6 of my machine - after it being basically unusable for 7 of the 18 months I have owned it??? And how I was hoping Best Buy would come good on the PSP?

Well, I JUST got the machine back this afternoon. I think I took it in on 4/26, and it is now 6/12!

They didn't decide to replace the machine, but they did decide to replace the motherboard.

You'll never guess what happened this time.

One of our biggest post-repair complaints was that they never ever installed the emachines m6811 version of winxp, and therefore it was our contention that they never fully tested the system's peripherals that were not bios driven before turning the machine back to us.

So the first thing I always did was to use the system recovery DVD to restore my machine to factory original settings.

Since DEX put in a new motherboard, new wireless nic, and new hard drive, I essentially have a new machine. However, they had to wait for a while for the motherboard - they didn't have the original, and replaced it with an upgraded gateway mb. They they installed a generic version of winxp home on it, and stuck the cd key sticker on the bottom of my machine. They did not give me a CD though.

So today I restored with my emachines recovery dvd so I could have the proper touchpad and wireless nic drivers, and now with the new motherboard, Windows must think it's stolen and it won't let me use the cd key for my recovery CD, NOR the cd key on the new sticker on my machine (because it's for a different OS).

Can you believe this??? I get my machine back, it probably works fine now, but I can't use it because I can't authenticate Windows.

I'm beyond the point of being upset now... it's just funny at this point.

And the Geek Squad manager that we deal with only works from Thursday to Monday, but he was off today for some reason and we can't talk to him until Thursday.


Of course, the usual crap happened on this latest repair - more nice scratches on the metal plates on the bottom, a really nice one on the plastic of the top cover, and two more rubber feet mysteriously missing (that's 3 gone now).


No offer from them to give me another machine EVEN THOUGH DEX NOTED THAT THE TIME AND PARTS SPENT ON THIS UNIT EXCEEDED THE VALUE OF THE MACHINE!

Oh well. Idiots. I really don't know what to do at this point. The Geek Squad manager is a decent guy and I hope he'll make it right. I'm not holding my breath though.

I will NEVER buy a computer from Best Buy again though... I do know that.

 

Holy!

It's hilarious, but at the same time pathetic. It's a pity after-sales customer service can suck so bad. 'Twas a good read nonetheless.

 

Heh, yeah, I remember you .
LOL I am sorry to hear all of this. I'm sure that the manager will straigten it out. If he/she doesn't, I'm sorry to say that you are screwed unless you take legal action
The scratches sound very similar to mine. I have some deep scratches on my lid, thanks to them, and perminant scuff marks. On my bottom, I also have a scratch on the ram cover. The thing is, I took all of the paint off, because I scratched some paint off on accident myself. I figured it looked better shiny But knowing that there is no paint on the cover, they figured that they had to do more damage, by scratching it deeper. It is noticeable, but it doesn't bother me much. I don't display the bottom of my notebook often
Sadly, I haven't talked to the manager about the scratches, and I feel he would blame me if I took it in now. So I can live with those too. I'm earning up for a new computer anyways, not from Bestbuy . I haven't decided if I will sell this or not. I still do love it, I am just tired of dealing with BestBuy.
I wish you the best of luck in fixing your computer. Keep us posted on what happens

 

See OP for 6/15 update.

 

Yeah, that has to be stressful. I feel for ya.
I agree about writing a complaint to BestBuy headquarters. Surprisingly, most companies actually want your buisness and are willing to spend some money to make it right for you. I can't guarentee that BB would do this though, they seem to be a pain in the neck (and other body parts as well). But if BB actually cares, it is possible that they will replace your computer with a newer one from their selection. That or they will give you 10% off TV purchases $999 and up, or some other stupid deal.
Fortunately, it does sound like GS is actually trying for once (wait.. something's wrong here ). I'd have them check if DEX will be getting any more eMachines mobos. If they are not, maybe GS or BBHQ can supply MS with a valid reason to get a new code.

 

Have you tried contacting the BBB?

 

Cori: I want to give BB/GS a chance to correct this issue before I report them to BB. I think it's the right thing to do.