Before reading the details, here is a summary of what PeoplePC is ready to provide for $800 and some change:
PeoplePC is in the business to sell you someone else's computer and leave you to fend for yourself until you raise a big enough of a stink to people who have a name in that company. Then they take care of you just so you'll stop calling.
They sold me a compaq computer with which I have had nothing but problems.
After the first year of ownership they forward you to a company called Servicenet who is absolutely the most horrible group of people I have ever dealt with. Do not be deceived into thinking that your peoplepc purchase truly includes three years of technical support relating to the base software and hardware.
Peoplepc did not accurately report warranty information to the manufacturer of the computer. When the cheap computer malfunctions you will fight a war of attrition before getting it authorized for service even though peoplepc advertises it is under full parts and labor onsite for 3 years.
Sub-par internet connections. Demonstrated to sometimes be on the same phone numbers used by Earthlink. The Earthlink connections are far superior. After leaving Eartlink for PeoplePC the phone # I dial did not change. The Net Zeroes connection is similar if not better than the peoplepc connection for Belvedere.
When your computer has several major parts fail over an 8 month period, they will refuse to replace the system until you make a huge stink and they give in so you'll stop calling.
Their tech support and member services cannot resolve ANYTHING. They carry no weight with the manufacturer of the computer. They will offer to have a supervisor call you back. I have never received a return call after such a request.
They will sell you a "new" computer. The computer I received on 3/8/2000 was manufactured on 8/27/99. 6.5 months is not considered new in the personal computer industry. After throwing a fit over the multiple problems with the computer to someone at their hq I received, in 12/00, a Toshiba V3100 that was made in October 1999.
I HAVE A PHONE NUMBER FOR SOMEONE AT PEOPLEPC HQ WHO CAN HELP. EMAIL ME FOR THIS INFORMATION. He was able to get the warranty information communicated to compaq within 12 days of my request. After calling him numerous times and demanding satisfaction he FINALLY gave in and got something accomplished. I just wanted what mark john jeffries promises.
If peoplepc were looking for a motto, my suggestion is:
'We have your money and that's good enough for us. Maybe if we act as disinterested as possible then you will stop calling us so we can start spending more time on minesweeper [minesweeper is a game that is bundled with windows operating system]. If you keep bothering us enough and make us lose high schore on minesweeper then we will take care of you.'
THE DETAILS (with a wrapup at the bottom)
Go read the propaganda for yourself. They advertise A pc and internet service (dialup) for $24.95 per month for three years or a lump sum of $800 and some change. Unfortunately I went with the lump sum. A great friend of mine had bought peoplepc and was quite happy with them. He too tends to be critical of whether or not he gets a 'good deal' so I took his advice and signed up. My folks needed a newer computer so I gave them my Gateway P5-200 which I had been mostly happy with (any troubles I had with the computer were usually of my own creation and no fault of GW2K). I did get the peoplepc within three days of ordering (the shipping location is <70 miles from my house). And all you get is a basic computer, worth 300 $$ max.
The problems with peoplepc? First, I have had trouble getting decent connections on their dialups. I travel nationwide and it has been a problem nationwide. I get null connections, high connections with low transfer rates. It's like they've way oversold their servers but never want to give a busy signal. Before peoplepc I used EARTHLINK SPRINT which was 20$ per month but I NEVER received a busy signal or a null connection. AND the number for peoplepc in Belvedere is the EXACT SAME number I used for Earthlink. The PeoplePC people could NEVER explain to me why their connections are of low quality relative to Elink at the EXACT SAME phone number. Earthlink is a quality dialup if you are willing to spend $19.95 per month for that service alone when you can get AOL for the same price with a lot of little goodies and special 'deals'.
Let me give you a briefing of what you receive when you call 1800peoplepc or email technical.support@peoplepc.com for help: You get someone who responds saying your concern has been forwarded to the appropriate department and will be responded to in 24 hours. I have NEVER received a response in 24 hours and only ONCE did I receive a personalized response that actually helped solve the problem I was having. I have had 6 issues with peoplepc total.
The big issue came on July 24 when I needed technical support because my pc started locking up intermittently. I bit the bullet and called 1800peoplepc. I hit the button for technical support and it forwarded me to COMPAQ (the Original Equipment Manufacturer of the PC). I gave them my CPU id and they told me I had no warranty and they refused to help me at this time. PEOPLEPC SAYS IN THE AGREEMENT THAT YOUR COMPUTER IS UNDER FULL PARTS AND LABOR WARRANTY FOR THE THREE YEAR TERM. So I call the 1800peoplepc number for member services. I hit the button and get a busy signal. I try a different phone. I get the same result. I try calling them at work the next day. Still busy signals. I thought they closed shop and left me out to hang. I sent a few emails, all of them met with the 'we've forwarded this to the right department and they will get back with you in 24 hours' jibba jabba.
Four days after trying to contact them I still get not a single response but I do finally get someone on the phone. A 'floor supervisor' for member services. He ASSURES me that it will be taken care of (letting COMPAQ know that the computer I bought from Peoplepc is under warranty) and he will send a letter or email to followup. Guess what? NEVER RECEIVED IT. I even called COMPAQ that night and guess what? THEY HAVE NO RECORD OF WARRANTY FOR MY COMPUTER!
I talk to the guy that signed me up and he feels bad but our sista has peoplepc too and my problems so far are mild compared to hers. She gives me a real phone number for LOU ZER(name changed because I said I would), one of the people who can actually make things happen at that place.
So I called LOU ZER earlier the next week and he says everything will be taken care of and customer satisfaction is his priority. I told him that satisfaction would be to ship this lodestone they call a peoplepc computer back and receive a linear prorated refund. He said no way. My response to that is this web page. So here it is 12 days later and I get home and have a message from compaq on my machine saying that my warranty information has been received. 12 days to get something that takes fives minutes done. If they trained their 1-800 and email people how to do something other than get the high score on minesweeper I should not have had to wait longer than the first evening I tried to call. They brushed off the busy signals on their 800# as a glitch in the system. When everyone is accountable then no one is accountable.
If you live in an area that has peoplepc access you probably have access to www.netzero.com or www.bluelight.com and search engines can help identify other possible sources of free internet access. There's no such thing as a fast dialup so you're better off paying nothing for something that's 75% to as good as what you're otherwise pay 18.95 to 24.95 per month for dialup.
My Soul Sista has had a people pc since 12/99 and has had nothing but problems with the computer....almost anything that could break has broken and she has had to fight tooth and nail to get anything done about it. Pretty different than the happy shining people holding hands scene they paint when they say 'backed by a warranty for 3 years that includes all parts and labor with next day service available' isn't it? Here is the letter that she sent to them. Doing this received the attention of James and at least her problem is being addressed now.
Here is HER open letter to the poeplepc jabronis:
To Whom It May Concern,
We've all seen the ads on TV for PeoplePC, a home computer with unlimited
internet service for 24.95 a month.
AVOID CONTRACTING WITH THIS COMPUTER COMPANY!
Might I suggest Gateway instead?
I myself have been trapped in a 3 year PeoplePC contract since December
of last year. Since then, I have had nothing but problems. Even after
having the hard drive, motherboard, and CD-RAM replaced, the computer
freezes up constantly, my sound doesn't work half the time, esential DLL
drivers are missing, fatal errors occur All Over the place- the list is
far too long to mention. Often, it displays the message "Not enought
memory to run this program" even though only one-third of the memory is
in use. Needless to say, People PC's tech support leaves a lot to be
desired; i strongly suspect that they are simply phone operators reading
from a manual. The technician's at Toshiba blame the PeoplePC people,
the PeoplePC people blame the repairman, the repairman says he just does
what they tell him to. They said they would replace the computer, but
they have not. They said they would call back but they didn't. It's a
clear cut case of "When Everyone Is Accountable Then NO ONE'S
accountable."
The one thing they don't forget, however, is to take the money for this
piece of junk out of my account every month.
So friends, please be warned. And to all of you that I encouraged to
join this program, my humble apologies.
Please forward this message to everyone in your address book.
Sincerely,
What else can be said that was not mentioned there? Horrible experiences with compaq technical support and fighting day to day with an inferior product that has had three components replaced in eight months. Nagging and nagging their staff until finally I get ahold of LOU and after nagging them for a couple months I get taken care of. But I am happy to have made this mistake because dozens of you have responded, thanking me for alerting you to this problem.
I'm stuck with them. For the future they are:
