With my job and my salary rate, I figured it was time that I got my own computer. I was tired of going over to Lestat's and paying $1 for ten minutes of Internet usage. In addition, Abed and Qued, who had a computer, got kicked off their ISP after he wrote a bunch of angry posts and got reported.
Gateway was advertising that they were financing computers for $28 a month. I figured I could afford that. (After all, the almost daily trips to Lestat's was costing me at least $30 a month. I may as well put that money toward something substantial.) In addition, I had just received my income tax refund and wanted to treat myself.
Gateway had a location in Mission Valley. I went in the store and looked around at the models they had available. I approached the sales desk when there was no line. I told the gentleman I was interested in financing a computer. He got my information and ran a credit check. In April 2001, I was a little less than seven years clear of my bankruptcy, but I figured my chances of being approved for credit were pretty good.
A couple of minutes later, he said, "I'm sorry, but your credit's been denied." I couldn't say I was too surprised by this. "Okay... What about if I made a down payment?" (I had about $300 from the refund.) "It doesn't account for that." "So, are you going to show me any computers?" "No, I'm not." He stopped talking to me at that point and turned to the people behind me in line.
I was stunned. I mean, it was bad enough that my credit got denied, but that guy acted like I had wasted his time and he didn't want to spend one more second with me. It made me wish that my refund had been $1500. I would have slapped that cash on the counter and told him, "Look! I have enough money to buy a computer right now! I just don't want to spend it all at once. But if that's what I have to do, I'll spend it all now!" And then, he would likely say, "Oh, I'll be happy to show you around..." And I would go, "No! You expect me to give you my money after you treated me like that? I'll go somewhere else, thank you!" It's too bad there was no way that was going to happen. All I could do was sulk out of the store.
I kind of felt like I'd experienced a little bit of revenge. That location closed a few months later along with a lot of other Gateway stores. The Internet boom went bust and there were a lot fewer people buying new computers. I'd like to think that if they treated potential customers with a little more respect and provided more leeway on their credit, they might have been able to keep themselves afloat.
I swore I would never do business with Gateway. About five years later, I finally bought a brand-new computer. It was an eMachines brand and my main reason for purchasing it was because there were a lot of rebates that cut the price to nearly half. I was proud that I was able to make this purchase. However, I soon found out that Gateway had recently purchased eMachines. That meant my money went to Gateway. DAMN IT!
After that, I always research the brands when purchasing a new computer. What's really bad is that Gateway is still in business. They're not the same company they used to be, but it still ticks me off that they've managed to scrape by. At least I know that they burned through the money they got from me a LONG time ago.
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