Readers Email on Mygate

This page is where we give My Mac readers a voice to express their thoughts and views. If it’s on your mind and concerns the Macintosh, we’d like to hear what you’ve got to say. Write to us and we’ll share your letter with the world!

Preface by Tim Robertson, Publisher, My Mac Magazine:

I believe it was in the now defunct MacUser that I read a column in which Mac users could complain about things like a bad software program or how they were unfairly treated by a vendor. I liked the idea very much and immediately wanted to do something like it in my own magazine. But at the time I didn’t feel My Mac had enough readers with problems to make an interesting monthly column, so I let the idea die.

Then a few years ago My Mac started “The Reader Writes,” in which we provide more space for one particular letter than we could on our eMail Page. Two of those readers, Susan Howerter and Beth Lock, went on to become popular columnists here in My Mac. Eolake Stobblehouse appeared a few times, and is now the creative driving force behind MacCreator http://www.MacCreator.com . These people and others had important things they wanted to say, but none used this space to vent or complain about a company. Until now…

First, we present Phil Atkinson’s original letter about the problems he was having with Mygate, a Macintosh reseller http://www.mygate.com. I follow with correspodence to Mygate, then print Mygate’s response to my letter, and then end with a concluding comment.

It is with disappointment and regret that, after years of loyalty in the PC wars, I have to write to you concerning Apple products and a southern mail order company by the name of Mygate.

Being a designer, I have been a loyal user of Apple’s Macs since their introduction in the early 80’s. In October of 1998 I decided that it was time to purchase a Powerbook to complement/replace my existing desktop Macintosh which is getting a bit long in the tooth. I did this through Mygate after seeing their advertisement in one of the Mac product magazines, at a total cost of £1500.00. Due to the expense I opted for a 3 year finance deal with their preferred finance house – Chartered Trust.

Upon arrival, I noticed that the power supply socket at the back of the machine was loose. I called Mygate and was told that this was normal and there was nothing to worry about. However, after six months the machine started to cause problems and faults began appearing.

The first problem was that of a faulty back-up battery (which keeps track of the time etc. when the machine is not in use). When at fault, Apple products revert back to the date 1956, which mine was. All my company accounts are carried out on this machine, so you can imagine the problems that date reversal causes.

At the same time I began to notice that charging the Powerbook was becoming hit and miss depending how you inserted the power lead into the socket at the back (the loose one). Eventually the machine ceased to charge at all. I immediately notified Mygate’s Technical Manager, a Mr. Denis Billy, of this problem, who said that it needed to be repaired by an Apple engineer and it was my responsibility to arrange this. I was also told that a back-up battery should last approximately 7 years, and not six months.

I took the Powerbook to an authorised Apple dealer based in Leeds under the 12 months warranty. They informed me that they had had several machines like mine with the same problem over the previous few months. The problem arises because the power supply is soldered onto the internal soundcard and snaps off. They were to take the matter up with Apple directly as a known fault on this model. In their own words however, it was more than likely that the fault would re-occur because all they could do was replace the substandard parts.

All the above faults were also logged with Apple Warranty. I was unaware at the time of sending it for repair that I had an Onsite warranty which included the collection to and from my home. All Apple products are repaired in Holland and take around 10 days under the Onsite warranty agreement.

However, after 4 weeks with the authorised dealer, a new back-up battery, new soundcard/powersupply and new external power supply, the machine was returned to me with supposedly all the problems rectified. If only life were that easy.

After 2 weeks of using the machine, the back-up battery failed again and the power supply has snapped again.

Now well and truly disgruntled, I contacted Mygate again, explaining the situation to them and suggesting that they replace the machine. The situation then started to deteriorate quickly with nobody returning my calls or answering my emails. It took me 3 weeks after the inital phone call to eventually speak to the Technical Manager again. He agreed to contact Apple to try and resolve the situation and again after receiving no response from him, I managed to track down and speak to the Customer Services Manager, Elaine Taylor.

I was eventually told that under no circumstances were either Mygate or Apple prepared to replace the machine, and that the best they could do was to continue to repair the machine. Mygate assumed no responsibility for the faults even though I explained that they were the people I made the purchase from. The reason given for this is that once you purchase an Apple product, it is registered to you for life and so the machine belongs to you for life, whatever happens to it. They also reminded me that under the warranty, I only had seven weeks to get the machine repaired again at no cost to myself.

I even tried to speak to the managing director of Mygate who refused to speak to me on the phone and redirected all my calls back to the Customer Services Manager, who then told me that any correspondence should be done in writing. Why do I get the feeling that this will be ignored?

The machine is an integral part of my business and I cannot afford to be without it (I have already incurred a penalty from the Inland Revenue because I could not complete my return whilst the machine was being repaired). Also, I can’t afford to have the machine repaired myself outside the warranty period when it breaks again.

How do you suggest I proceed now, as I see that the only way is take expensive legal action against Mygate? I have considered the possibility of refusing to pay the monthly finance until it is resolved but am worried that this will get me blacklisted.

Please, please, please can you help? I am at desperation stage and seem to have hit a brick wall.

Thanking you in advance,

Phil Atkinson
patkinson@easynet.co.uk

 

Tim here again…
If you’re anything like me, you’re now a little distressed concerning Mr. Atkinson’s plight. Fortunately, I have this little publishing thing going called My Mac Magazine, and I thought that perhaps I could help Phil out by contacting Mygate and seeing what could be done. So I did just that, forwarding a copy of Phil’s letter to Mygate, and requesting any information they could provide for an article I was writing. Here is my letter to them:

Greetings!
My name is Tim Robertson, and I am the publisher of My Mac Magazine.

Recently, we have been approached by Phil Atkinson about a recurring problem he has had with an Apple PowerBook he purchased from you. I will be writing an editorial with all his information, as well (I hope) with what Mygate has done about this problem. (Even if you leave this situation as it is, my column will reflect that.)

I am confident this matter will be settled to the customer’s (Phil’s) satisfaction, as well as your own. That would make a great column, about how an Apple reseller actually goes out of its way to take care of their customers. (Rare today I am sad to admit.) I would rather write that column than one about a customer’s very bad experience. I am hopeful, though, as your own website states, that “Mygate is dedicated to providing our customers with the best quality of service possible.”

Here is the letter I received from Phil. Feel free to contact him at the above email address, as well as me, so that My Mac Magazine can be as fair as possible in our reporting and opinions. This will be appearing in our December (Issue #56) issue.

Thank you.

Tim Robertson

Here was Mygate’s response:

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the message from Phil Atkinson. (This same mail has been sent to Macworld too). I will reply to request shortly. We have quite a bit of information on this case and a number of issues that Mr Atkinson has stated that don’t make sense.

In the meantime please contact me for any further info.

Regards
Shiten Patel (Director)
Mygate

 

Last word from the Publisher

Well, it was a promising start. (Hey, Phil, what’s up with bringing Macworld into this? Don’t ya trust me?)

The end result of all this, I am happy to say, was Mygate doing right by its customer and getting a new PowerBook to Phil. I have never purchased anything from Mygate, as they are a UK company and I live in America. However, after satisfying Mr. Atkinson’s legitimate and long-suffered complaints, I believe Mygate to be a good and honorable company.

So it’s kudos to Mygate, showing that even when things go bad, some vendors remember how to treat customers fairly. And when that happens, everyone wins.

Websites mentioned:
http://www.MacCreator.com

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