I have an extended warranty for my computer... Who to write to?

Question

It is a Gateway computer and the extended warranty is a company called National Product Care Company. I purchased it from HSN. The computer just stopped working, won't turn on. It is the 2nd time it has broken down and I am told that they will probably erase my hard drive and so I am to pay to somehow back it up. I am frustrated because the extended warranty states that if you live in the state of WA that if for any reason you are not happy with what the repair company says that they will do that the insurance company will reimburse you for the original cost of the computer so that you can purchase a new one. Well, given the fact that this is the 2nd time in 1.5 years and I use this computer for business, it is not reliable and I don't want to continue to have issues with it. So, I put together a 11 page long letter and faxed it to the Insurance company. No answer. I have called 4 times and left a message and have the name of the receptionist who told me she would have someone call me back and still no contact. So, I am writing to the BBB but I wanted to apply more damage so that they will respond and I am not sure which agency to write to being that they are in IL, and I am in WA state. And HSN is in Florida......

Answer 1

Where did you buy the computer? If it is a reputable company then I suggest you go there and lodge a complaint with them. They may be able to put some pressure on the insurance company. In any case, if they sold you the extended warranty, and the insurance company is not responding, then I believe they not only have a moral responsibility but a legal one also. There are laws covering 'merchantable quality' of goods sold. Essentially, these state that the goods must do the job they are purported to do. You bought the computer to do specific tasks. It is not doing this.

Did you recently load some software which may have created the problem? Just as a matter of interest, have you a bootable disk? Have you tried to boot the computer into safe mode and then try to restore it to an earlier point when it worked? If you can do this then you will be able to back up your information to DVD. Once this is done you can then try reformatting and reloading the original software.

Try this, when you first turn the computer on qiuckly hit the F8 and F12 keys alternatively. One of these keys may boot you into safe mode.