Another HORRIBLE Repair Service!!!!!!

My dv9000t notebook was recently sent in for repairs and looks like I'm joining the infamous group of disatisfied HP customers, but with a twist. First, I have to say that I own 6 HP notebooks and other peripherals and this is my first "repair" experience with HP, otherwise I have been satisfied.

My notebook all of a sudden started to show green dots covering the entire screeen and froze. CPU temp reading showed rapid rise in temp within seconds, but the fan was still going. It finally stopped booting up each time in the middle of loading vista. Notebook was sent in for repairs; and couple of days ago, saw order status change from warranty repair to "out of warranty" with over $700 service charge. Called back and they reassured me everything was fine and I'll get my notebook back as scheduled by this coming Monday. Whew.

I got a call from them this morning that they will not repair the notebook under warranty because liquid was spilled all over the keyboard, motherboard and other parts in the notebook. I said, huh? I tried to explain to her that there was no liquid damage, I had problem with green dots covering the LCD and stopped booting up in the middle of vista; but she didn't really care to hear about it, just wanted to know whether I want to pay to have it fixed or have it sent back. I just about hit the fan and finally told her to send it back. I am furious! I've just been accused of sending in a liquid damaged notebook for repair.

After few minutes of pacing the floor and still fuming, I called back and talked to another lady. I told her about how it was not possible for my notebook to have liquid damage because it was taken very good care of, with not a scratch on it for the past 18 months of ownership. (I'm sure this explanation must have been funny too her) Basically, it's what the techs put in the computer and that's what she goes by.

Now here is the twist. I asked what type of warranty I have and she immediately replied no warranty, it's only good for 1 year. I said, "No, my extended warranty, what type of warranty is it." After few minutes (not sure why they always take few minutes to look up my extended warranty information) she replies, you have two year accidental warranty coverage, so we will go ahead and repair your notebook. I said, fine, so why is it being sent back without being repaired? And, "HP is not planning to repair my now 'Liquid' damaged notebook but will send an exact replacement model and specs, right? She agreed I will receive an exact replacement model by end of next week.

Now, I don't know how "liquid" could have damaged my notebook. It may possibly have been FedEx, or an HP tech could have accidently spilled liquid on it while repairing. Frankly, I don't care. Someone should have done the right thing by admitting to damaging it and repairing it, rather than accusing me of it and trying to charge me arm and a leg to repair it. I guess I'm lucky that I had the accidental coverage (which for some reason tech department didn't seem to be aware of); but, had I not, I would have been s**t out of luck because I had no way of proving I didn't send it in with "liquid" damage and wouldn't have mattered because it's only my word against theirs. In someways, I wish I'd caused the liquid damage. This way, I would not have dealt with their tech support, rather, just would have asked for replacement model under accidental warranty coverage. Now, I'm wondering what kind of nightmare I will be facing with this replacement and how long it will take. I'm just hoping they'll get this right, so I could just get this experience over with as quick as possible.

Obviously, my long and loyal relationship with HP will be ending at this point. And not just because of one negative repair experience, but mainly because of their ethics. I find this experience to be, at the least, distasteful. As to my recently purchased dv6700t, likely it will be going back since I can't trust them to fix it for me under warranty.

 

customer services these days are getting worse

 

Claiming liquid damage is often a tactic to get out of repairs. It is very hard to argue against that kind of claim.

I suggest you take it to the BBB and copy your Attorney General about it.

Then take them to small claims for the cost of the notebook. You are just about guaranteed to win.

 

Notebook is under warranty, so they will have to repair or replace it. Since they claimed water damage, it would be interesting to see if they'll repair or replace it. If it's just repaired and there are no trace of water damage anywhere, they've just committed fraud. There are certain hidden marks and signs on the notebook and parts to let me know if I got my original one back or not. Afterall, this has been my baby for the past 18 months.

Regardless, I will at least shoot off letters or emails to let the HP executives know about their repair ethics. If this turns into a continued nightmare scenario, I will definately send letters to BBB and California and my State's attorney generals, just in case there are others who suffered and filed similar complaints against HP. If in fact this is a common practice, then AGs can choose to do something about it in the future.

Right now, I'm just hoping HP will do the right thing the right way, and in a timely manner.

 

inlvnv, that is just horrible. I'm sorry to hear. I was just planning to send HP my notebook because the graphics cards is on the fritz as well as the HD-DVD drive! I re-installed Windows Vista over and over and even the original OEM one and different drivers, still same problems with BSOD or screen becomes so dim that I can't see a dang thing.

Now I'm scared HP will freaking tell me there's water damage when I clearly don't even put any sort of liquid near it!

Is there anything I could do to prevent this from happening? Getting some sort of proof that my system is liquid damage free before I send mine for repairs?

(I plan on taking a video of it and pictures, lots of it before sending it in. I'm gonna videotape it running Windows to show it's working fine)

 

Short of video taping you showing your working notebook then shutting it off, putting it in the box and handing it to FedEx driver, I don't know. If you have accidental coverage, maybe indicate and tape it on the notebook so they know. It's a trust issue at this point, and they just didn't care to hear my plea. Hope your repair go smoothly.

 

Again, perhaps I can act as the great equalizer and say that my recent repair experience went without any issues. So I guess you still have chance of getting an excellent experience. I would advise taking videos as previously suggested. High res pictures of the lid and underbody would be a good idea as well.

 

Those seem to be pretty common HP tactics: Both denying it is under warranty (when it is), and accusing the customer of some sort of uncovered damage. They mangled my month-old laptop during repair and then tried to blame it on me. I wrote letters to CEO, COO, and board - they just get forwarded to the case manager - but at least they might get you a case manager if you need one. But beware: Case managers are very well trained in the arts of deception, denial, and diverting blame. I also complained to AG's office, who contacted HP, but really didn't get anywhere. I ended up having to sue in small claims court. That seems to be about the only thing that gets HP's attention.

 

UPDATE: I got my noteback back yesterday afternoon. According to their repair sheet, system board, top case, LCD bezel, keyboard and heatsink fan were replaced due to "Liquid" damage. Flipped the notebook over, vent still had dry dust its been collecting over the past 18 months, so maybe "Liquid" spill got to the fan, but not to the vent right below it. lol. Keyboard looks new and stickers on the top top of the palm rest is gone, so they may have replaced that. Still not sure why they changed the LCD bezel.

Turned it on and no more green dots, which their sheet indicates was duplicated, therefore, repaired. Next, slid in my recovery disk to reinstall... Error. Will not let me reinstall. Another call to tech support, explained to them the new problem and that the disk worked the day before the notebook was sent in. They think it may be the recovery disk because they "Tattoo" their notebooks and only specific recovery disks will work. They will send a replacement recovery disk and if it doesn't work, notebook will have to be sent back in again.

I sure hope this isn't going to take 6 months or more like some people already have. By the way, their 6 day pickup and return service? Don't believe it.