Urgent Help: Anyone received 8540w in past 3 months!!

I'll try to make this long, sad story short. Some of you may have read my story over the past 3 months. I'd ordered, of all things, an HP Envy 14 with a Radiance display when they brought it back for 2 days, then sold out. I got mine, but it had a defective display. I sent it back and they said they could not replace the display, but they were going to send me a well equipped 8540w with a Dreamcolor2 screen. That was early February. On the SIXTH DELAY, the latest ESTIMATE - not "ETA" just "estimate" of possible production date (sorry for the caps, but I am sooooo angry!)....now they are saying, maybe APRIL 28!!!! Their claim: "this product is in very, very high demand and parts are in very, very short supply" (Yeah, given that it's about to be replaced by the 8560 and it's main components are about to be obsolete, not in high demand!!)

The case has been in the sole control of the "Executive Case Management" group, a corporate group in Ontario Canada. These are NOT the people who you get when you have a problem and they assign someone in the product group with authority to help solve it; this is a group of arrogant people, who literally BRAG that they know NOTHING about HP's products, claim they are the highest authority in all of HP for customer service, and that there is no one to escalate above them. (I have tried, and tried, and tried and cannot get around them or above them!!!)

So, can anyone report to me:

1) Have you ordered and received an 8540w or 8740w, any configuration, between February 2011 and the present? This would include the numerous people who have posted about getting brand new replacements for their problematic machines if you got the replacement between February and the present.

2) Alternatively, have you ordered an 8540w or 8740w during the Feb-April time frame and had it delayed multiple times and been told that there was extraordinary demand for these and a severe parts shortage and there's no telling when you will get it? (This, of course, is what I am being told.)

3) Does anyone have a REALLY HIGH LEVEL contact anywhere within HP's (preferably corporate) customer service/customer care area, or if not at least a high level person within the Business Notebook product group? None of the published names/numbers work; this corporate "ECM" group seems to have clout over the published numbers/email addresses. I need a person, preferably with both a phone number and email address. They don't have to be such a high executive to have authority over these people, just someone with juice, who cares about anyone in HP abusing customers so badly. BTW, I have been the greatest advocate of HP and its latest efforts to improve customer service and this is the first time I have ever had this kind of unsolvable problem. I am not a chronic whiner!

Tell me if you wish to keep your info confidential or if I can use your name or order info. I will of course respect 100% confidentiality, but I can get a lot done with the certainty that I am being lied to - because others have gotten their machines.

I know some of you may be thinking: what's he complaining about: he's getting a $2,400 computer in exchange for a $1,400 one? Well, I don't really have a need for a computer like the 8540w so it's no "bargain." Regardless, it will be discontinued by the time I get it and, frankly, I don't have any hope of getting it - ever! This Executive Case Management group clearly has it in for me. I don't think they like being questioned - at all, for any reason, and they take it out on the customer.

Thanks for any help at all. Please PM me if you need to keep your info confidential.

 

I got my 8540w in 3 weeks waiting time as promised. it was not a CTO, but a WD740EA, so that may help. I wanted nVidia to have CUDA "on the go" so I can develop stuff when on the road. also having quite a few 90w chargers inclined me towards 880m path.

also wanted a 1920x1080 screen - and it's way better than 1600x900 on 8540p my colleague has. but mine is no dreamcolor - that would be too expensive for me and for photo stuff I have a nice external LCD. so maybe dreamcolor display is the key?

I'm in Europe.

 

wow i am really sorry to hear about all your troubles lovelaptops.

I know that the machine will be delayed due to the dreamcolor display. its not the 8540W thats going out of production, it will be supported for the next 4 years. however, the machines display, the dreamcolour is the one that is being changed.

I am fighting tooth and nail to get DC2 displays in the 8740's atm, but my est time to get the upgrades now has been put back to may 19th. i feel therefore your delay is due to the screen being shorthanded.

I know this isn't the sort of thing you wish to hear, as you just want a new computer! but yea, dc displays are actually in real short supply thanks to all this changing to 1080p BS.

 

Thanks much for the insight. somehow i feel more is afoot here, especially with this computer first being ordered 2-08. good luck

 

Thanks again for your thoughts and compassion! It just dawned on me, what a perfect storm of "poetic injustice" this would be if I first ordered an Envy 14 with a Radiance screen and it arrived DOA and no more were available, so after a month or so HP sent the case to "executive case management" in Canada, who decided the one, the ONLY replacement they could or would provide was an 8540w with DC2 screen, which was delayed months and, if what you're saying carries the day, I am likely to get an email sometime in the next (3? 6?) months telling me:

"we regret to inform you that HP is no longer producing Dreamcolor 2 screens for the 8540w, so we are going to replace your order with [next model that isn't available due to parts shortages and will eventually also have its screen discontinued]!!!

I have to say, I have never been more frustrated or irritated with ANY supplier, simply because they have put up an impenetrable wall and there is NOBODY I can talk to about this except the extremely arrogant and entirely out-of-the-loop "Executive Case Manager" (I'm on ECM #5 now, but they just keep getting worse!), who is now pretty much taunting me with how he has all the power and I have none and he has it rigged so no one else will talk to me or help me with this!!

Most amazing fact: I am known for my ability to cut through bureaucratic fog and get things done inside large corporations - never have I been so successful at this as with HP over the past 2 years, until now!

AAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

 

@lovelaptops:
If it's any comfort to you, I'm waiting for my 8740w full replacement since march 14, and now, my case manager has told me that a 'preliminary' estimated shipping date would be 'end of May'. Sam K, the well-known rep in this forum, told me that the main reason could be the Japan disaster (although HP publicly stated that this did not affect them at all) and this affected, in turn, the DreamColor panel availability.

I don't think they cancel your order. It seems it's very common to have case managers unresponsive. I've received no reply from mine for 40 days (until yesterday and because I wrote him several times). On the other hand, you should have demanded to sign a legal agreement between HP and you agreeing to get the replacement. In that case, they would be obligued to accomplish, legally. They did that with me and I have 'peace of mind' knowing they must accomplish necessarily or I will take legal action.

 

Thanks for the support. Sam mentioned you (by NBR handle) to me today. I do feel I have the equivalent of a commitment for a replacement, though I don't have that in writing. My Feb 23 order (months before the Japan earthquake!) has just been postponed for the 6th time, now to May 19! By the time it ships, it will be a discontinued model, replaced by the 8560w.

I don't know what will result, but I have now written an extremely strident letter to a mid-level manager in Global Customer Care and have stated that I have paperwork prepared to send to the Attorneys General of several states in which they have "nexus" to be investigated for fraud and deceptive sales practices , a suit for the same offenses ready to file in my home state, letters to 100s of my clients ready to hit "send" telling this whole story and recommending against future dealings with HP, and two IT media investigative reporters ready to go to work as soon as I send them my "package," which has over 100 pages now!

Are you dealing with the case management people in Canada? They need to be investigated and stopped! I don't believe any senior executive in HP's Customer Care group would sanction this kind of behavior. In my case, I would have been happy - still would be - with an Envy 17 as a replacement. All this hoopla is because the imbecillic case managers, who acknowledged they have zero technical or product knowledge, insisted on ordering a loaded 8540w to replace a $940 Envy 14 with Radiance screen they delivered defective last January.

I happen to love dealing with HP - everyone except this despicable "Executive Case Management" group! I had no idea that one call I made to try to speed things along would land me in their "clutches!" I have had interminable delays, 4 or more straight deliveries of defective products and never minded, because I have a great list of superb support staff throughout the company and they always OVER compensate for delays and their mistakes. But get this: my case manager has managed to prohibit any of the staff I know throughout the SMB organization from speaking to me any further about my order! (Thank goodness I have contacts who won't listen! How else would I know the new estimated delivery date of my order? The CM has no idea!)

In a 35 year business career including positions of Executive VP of major technology companies, I have never been more angry and disgusted with a vendor. I have the time and the resources to go aggressively against these a--h--- and I hope it may save some others this kind of misery down the line.

Good luck to you. I'll keep you posted.

Does anyone else have anything to say about this? Are we the only two people with this kind of problem?????

 

Customer Care was ignoring me until I sent a COMPLAINT to a consumer organization in Spain (my country). Et Voila, that did the trick. They quickly contacted me by phone and they proposed at first a screen replacement and finally we agreed a full replacement instead. Without the complaint, they didn't want repair the unit nor replace it.

It's a shame this people don't react properly until you push them VERY HARD.

No, I'm dealing with a case manager from my country, from Customer Care specifically.

Spain support is genuine madness. On one hand, they claim they cannot include the backlit keyboard on my replacement and if I install it by hand, I must do it on my responsability, since according them, the backlit keyboard for my country is not officially supported and could void my warranty. But hey, now is coming up the funny part. I phoned tech support yesterday and they told me the backlit kb. is 100% officially supported for the warranty in my country because it's listed on the service manual. Whoa! They are really driving me crazy... I had to ask the techie to issue a new hardware case claiming officially that support for the keyboard for the record.

Now, I'm contacting Sam (BTW, a very nice guy, I wish all support people in Spain were like him) because he told me the flex of the BL keyboard of the 8740w has been addressed, and I'd like being notified when this fix is present on spare parts of the HP Parts Store (I'm willing to buy a 2nd keyboard, but I have to be sure). I'm currently using the BL keyboard and I'm not comfortable with the flex. I wish Sam sends me a reply soon...

The 8540w is a fantastic machine, you'll be delighted when you receive it. Believe me, the 8540w with the DC2 screen is well worth the wait (be patient... you'll not regret).
If you haven't seen any IPS panel yet, you'll be amazed with the color rendition, image stability and extreme viewing angles. Moreover, you'll be able to set a specific color space for your work. If you're not using this rig for color critical tasks, select the sRGB space and you're done.
IPS technology is simply the best for LCD screens (I have 2 IPS desktop monitors and I'm not going back with TN panels anymore). This screen is able to render 16.7Mo of colors at the same time in 8-bit mode, and in 10-bit mode it's able to render 1074Mo of colors!! Normal operating is in 8-bit mode and even games will be shown with colourful and rich details not seen before.
In order to get the picture, your 'fabulous' Envy Radiance screen is a 6-bit TN panel, and it's only able to render 262,144 colors simultaneously. It's not comparable with the DC2, the DC2 is simply the best laptop screen at this moment.

Good luck mate, it seems we are on a similar boat

 

Well, I am ready to file with my state's Attorney General and some independent consumer protection agencies on Friday. I sent a letter to HP (copying everyone I thought might care a hoot) giving that deadline for at least a call and discussion. Still, it will probably take a while for those agencies to get involved. In some ways, EU countries are far more consumer/public supportive than the "super capitalist" US.

I do have many more important things to do in my life than to chase after HP and - my strongest goal at the moment - get that CM his due, so I'm thinking I will send those letters to the consumer agencies and just try not to think about it for as long as it takes for something to happen. I will try to abide by a favorite saying: "the best revenge is living well!"

Good luck and thanks for the support.

 

Perhaps you could demand a full refund for your Envy if you think this situation will not end well. They offered me 3 options: 1. full refund, 2. screen replacement, 3. system replacement. I chose the third.

I advise you wait until may 15. I think HP is compensating you very well for providing a computer much better than your Envy, so you have to be (more) patient. If you don't receive any news on may 15, then file your complaint to a consumer organization.

I'm very angry with my case manager, but I will not reveal the details here. PM me if you want to know further.

 

If you really don't want to wait for the unit to be made, I guess you should get your money back for the original Envy 14. When I mentioned a replacement to you months ago, I never expected them to take so long to build a unit for you. However, I am sure it is due to the problems with the DC 2 Panel supply that is holding up the production.