Even with everything I had discovered, I wanted to give Michael's Computers the benefit of the doubt. Since Marina Del Rey is close to our offices in Westlake Village, I sent Associate Editor Christiaan Allebest to visit the address listed on the Web page. I had hopes that he would find the office, and be able to look at some of Michael's computers. Instead, Christiaan discovered that there was no such office, and in fact it was a drop box in a UPS store.

Marina Del Rey "Office"

Oh, the irony of the sign. Yes, your store does deserve more than a post office box

Review Unit

I still had some hope of obtaining a review unit. I called the number on the website 877-739-0205, but it turned out to be a voice mailbox. Strange isn't it? You would think that the seller of the "World's Fastest Computer" would have live operators. The voice mail message gave an 818 area code phone number for the direct office line. I called that number and it connected to a wrong number.

I emailed Michael Gonzales asking for a review unit, but as of March 6, 2004 have not received one.

Verifying Business Licenses And Complaints

I talked with several governmental agencies and tried to track down the real address of Michael's Computers.

Fictitious Business Name Search

In the U.S., businesses generally must obtain what is called, in legal parlance, a fictitious business name (FBN) license. For example, if John Smith wants to do business as "A+ Liquor Store," then he has to get a FBN license. A business must apply for the FBN through the county in which it's located. Web searches through the FBN databases of Orange County and Los Angeles County did not show any businesses registered as Michael's Computers.

Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has an online database of companies and their complaint history. A search for Michael's Computers shows a start date 01/01/96, which may or may not be true. When companies apply for BBB membership, they can put down any start date, and the BBB does not stringently check the start date.

The complaint history for Michael's Computers is as follows;

The BBB search showed a business address in San Gabriel City, which ultimately turned out to be Michael Gonzales' home address.