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Review 7/9/2011
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*GAINSAVER SENT US JUNK COMPUTERS AND THEN BROKE THEIR RETURNS POLICY*
My company bought 40 Mac laptops from Gainsaver over the last two years. I've spent dozens of hours ordering and returning their machines and dealing with their customer service. Here are some things you should know:
- Their customer service sucks. Staff is overworked and unresponsive. If they send you a broken computer - which they did to us several times (really, BROKEN ON ARRIVAL ... I couldn't believe it) - YOU have to pay to ship it back and then YOU have to follow up by phone/email to get them to send a replacement. I spent dozens of hours repeatedly calling and emailing trying to make this process work.
- Their Mac laptops vary wildly in quality and condition. Some of the ones we received were in fine shape and held up fine. About 50% had something wrong with them - specs were wrong, wireless didn't work, ports didn't work, keyboard had broken keys - or broke down within weeks. Out of the 40 we ordered, 6 (15%) had to be immediately returned, and 19 (48%) had to be returned over time.
- After receiving the first few broken on arrival, their customer service rep offered to give us "network diagnostics". Apparently, all this means is that they actually check to make sure the computer works before sending it to you - something, yes, you'd think would be part of their normal procedure. Since they'd already sent us several broken computers, we got this for free. If you'd like them to check your machine to make sure it works before they send it to you, you'll have to pay $25.
- The only reason our company continued to use them despite all this trouble was their 3 year/$100 warrantee. This made all our efforts worth it because even if we got a bad machine, we trusted that with effort it would get replaced. Well, last May I sent 4 laptops back. After three weeks of hounding their customer service people to arrange the replacements, I'm finally told that they're not sending the replacements and they're closing our account. Why? Because we had returned too many computers (they claimed we had returned 90% of the laptops we bought; as I mention above, the actual figure was 48%). The irony here just killed me: Gainsaver sends us junk computers, we waste dozens of hours trying to get them replaced, and they close our account for doing so. Anyway, not being able to do anything else, I asked that they send me documentation demonstrating the 90% return figure as well as a copy of their returns policy. Predictably, they did neither.
Being a small non-profit, we can't afford lawyers to challenge their decision to not honor their own returns policy. This is why I'm writing this detailed review. We have no other recourse and hopefully others will learn from our experience and Gainsaver will pay by losing some business.
With this frustrating experience thankfully behind me, here's my advice to those thinking of purchasing a computer from Gainsaver:
1. 50%. A flip of a coin. That's your chances of getting a good Mac laptop fro Gainsaver. Now, if you're buying a single machine, and you're willing to labor through their returns procedure, then it might be worth your while as they are pretty cheap. If you decide to go with them - despite the insanity of it - pay the extra $25 for "network diagnostics". It's the only way you can be nearly sure the computer won't be BOA - Broken On Arrival.
2. If you need more than one machine, go somewhere else. It won't be worth your time.
3. Consider buying a computer off eBay and then getting a SquareTrade warrantee. We bought a laptop this way which broke down and SquareTrade was an absolute pleasure to work with, especially in comparison to Gainsaver.
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