Compaq V4000 and HP service support..what a disappointment!

On June 16th I order a customized Compaq V4000 notebook from through the local Stapels store. Three weeks ago the machine arrived via Fed-X. I immediately unpacked, inventoried, and started to set the machine up. Upon attempting to load software, I received an error screen (blue screen of death) and the machine shut down. I tried twice more before writing all the information down and contacting HP support. The support tech that I spoke with told me that the error messages indicated a bad hard drive.
This is where my troubles began. The machine is under warranty, and I even purchased the upgraded warranty that HP offers. I was assured that a replacement hard drive would arrive not later than three business day later....I wait, no hard drive.
Another call to HP support, where I am told that they cannot locate the part number for my hard drive (60Gb, 5400rpm), but they would send me a 4200rpm drive, and it would be shipped out the following day. WRONG! I paid them an extra $110 for a 5400rpm drive, and that's what I wanted! I gave them two more days, but never recieved and email or phone call. We are now at a week of having a new $2,100+ laptop that is useless. Next I go to the Staples store where I purchased the machine.....after an hour of them being on the phone with HP, I'm told that in order to get another hard drive, HP must have my credit card number. I relented and gave it to them. I again was assurred that the new hard drive would arrive within three days.
Three more days go by, no hard drive.
I had to leave the following day on a business trip, and just got around to checking two days ago with the Staples store to see if the new hard drive had arrived. STILL NO HARD DRIVE! I told them that if the hard drive was not waiting on me when I walk into their store on Sunday, then they can just take the whole machine back.
We're now going on a month of having a new laptop computer that does not, and has never worked since being unpacked from the shipping box.
Half a dozen phone conversations with HP support, four trips to the Staples store where it was purchased, and one conversation with the Senior VP of HP marketing......and I still do not have a working laptop!

I wish I could offer a review on the Compaq V4000 laptop computer, but since it has not functioned since it's arrival, I cannot. I can however speak to the fact that HP support and service are by far the worst that I have ever encountered! With each phone call I felt as if I was being jerked around, and the fact that the required part for the machine has yet to show up, leads me to the conclusion that HP couldn't care less about providing service and support once they have your money!

I also own two Dell notebooks, and the support and service I've received from them has been nothing short of excellent.

Has anyone else experienced the same LACK of service and support from HP, or am I just one of the "unlucky" ones?

 

Its funny how things like this work.

I have had nothing but trouble with Dell and HP was always the one that seemed to have good support. I dont think anicdotal evidence is all that helpfull in looking at customer support. Its only in the large scale averages that a true picture of support quality shows.

In the end they are all only as good as the person you get on the phone.

 

Just a bit of follow up to my inital rantings..... It is now 5 Aug 05, and I still have no resolution from HP on this issue. I find it funny that yesterday I had two calls from HP customer service asking me to rate how well they had done on the resolution of this issue. When I told them that there had been NO resolution, they started offering to send me "freebies" for the computer. I responded by asking them what good are accessories for a computer that does not work?
After the experience of purchasing a Compaq/HP notebook that was bad out of the box, and still not having the issue solved almost a month later, I can't image me ever wasting my money on another one of their products.
Since HP has chosen to ignore this probelm, the Staples store where I ordered the notebook has ordered another machine to replace the one that is junk. We'll see just how long it takes to get a replacement.

 

Any chance of taking it back to Staples.

 

Stapels ordered a new machine for me....just waiting for it to arrive. The folks at Staples even tried to get a new hard drive from HP....I was there, listening on the speaker phone when they gave HP the model number, part number, and every scrap of information for a new hard drive. HP promised that the hard drive would arrive within three business days.....it arrived to Staples 13 business days later...and it was the wrong hard drive. It just baffles me. The only explaination I can give is that HP is trying to pawn off a cheaper hard drive on me than what I paid for, and hoping that I'll be satisfied.
With all the issues that have occurred with this machine, I wonder if a new machine is going to have the same problems.

More to follow........

 

Ed,

Sorry to hear the problems you're having with your notebook and from HP's support. I myself had share of dealings with HP support, and not all were good. As Mwillman indicated, the service/support is only as good as the person you get on the phone and he's 100% correct. If you get someone who doesn't really know what's going on or aren't trained, things like this happen. They give you completely wrong information or just doesn't get things right.

My last interaction with HP support was using the online chat and I must say, the support rep I was chatting with didn't even know the difference between DVD+R & DVD-R media. He just kept giving the same incorrect information and kept trying to end the chat before the issue was resolved.

So something like this may be happening, the people you spoke to may not have an idea that the system you bought was configured with a different setup than the standard default config. This could explain why they shipped a 4200rpm drive to you rather than a 5400rpm HDD. Going to the VP of Marketing will probably ammount to nothing. I don't think he/she can do anything for you. What you're gonna have to do is have the issue escalated to a higher level. When you get to the L2/L3 support level this is where things really start to happen (at least for me). The techs are knowledgable and have the authority to ship parts or new units to you for testing (that's what happened for me). They will also give follow-up calls/emails to keep track of the status of the replacement parts/units to make sure everything is working. If you haven't gone this route, you may want to give it a try and see where it takes you. When I was dealing with the L2/L3 support they were capable of getting a full refund for my unit after I had the unit for 6 months (due to an unresolvable issue from day one). I can't guarantee this is what will happen for you, but it's worth a try. But since you're getting a replacement unit, I guess this is something to remember for future reference.

Good luck with the new system and hopefully you never have to call HP's support again!

-Vb-

 

Update:

Yesterday, 12 Aug 05, Staples called and said that my replacement machine had arrived. I grabbed the Compaq V4000 and headed for the store. I checked over the packing list, and discovered that they had ordered an HP Pavilion dv4000 with all the same specs as the Compaq.
I brought the new machine home and went to work checking everything over. I like this machine MUCH better than the Compaq. By comparison, everything on the Compaq seems "cheap". Where the Compaq had an off-white keyboard with very large keys that had key corners sticking up everywhere, the HP Pavilion dv4000 has a black keyboard with medium sized, very level keys, that are very easy to type on. The Compaq machine's keyboard/touchpad where poorly positioned and spaced on the machine, which meant any time you typed your thumbs would come in contact with the touchpad and cause the cursor to jump around the screen, or even worse, would cause the screen to change, depending on how you happened to brush the pad. Another thing I like about the HP is the placement of the hinges...the Compaq had hinges that stuck out the back nad I could see those constantly getting caught on cases or being easily broken should the machine incounter impact. The HP machine hinges are like those on a Dell.....tucked in and out of the way, making for a smoother look both open and closed.

I've completed loading all the software on the machine without a hitch. The only issue that I've run into was trying to load the drivers for an Aopen 5 button mouse....got another blue screen of death and a continuous restart mode, but after a bit of research, I discovered that it seems to be an XP SP2 issue rather than the machine.

About the only down side to the HP machine is that the configuration I got did not include the brightview screen, which I did like on the Compaq machine.

On Monday I'll be giving HP customer case support a call and see just what they are willing to do to make up for all their fumbles with with the previous situations. They had offered to send me a spare battery, but I told them I already have two that came with the machine....and finished the conversation by telling them....."How about I call you and tell YOU what I want?" To which the rep I was speaking with agreed. We'll see if they maintain that attitude when I call.

In conclusion, my opinion is that if you feel you must have an HP notebook, go with the HP Pavilion series, and stay away from the Compaqs. Comparing them side by side there is an obvious difference in how well the HP was designed and put together versus the Compaq.

 

Ed,

I'm happy to see that the new Pavilion is working perfectly. But the issue with the brands is primarily limited to your unit. I believe it was just a bad unit you got. Since HP & Compaq are the same company, the DV4000 & R4000 are generally the same unit. The have different external cosmetics, but the internals are pretty much all the same.

-Vb-

 

I think the HP's have slightly better keyboards though, I like the keyboard of the DV1000 over the V2000 for example.

 

Well, to end this little saga, I finally spoke with an HP customer service rep yesterday. They had instructed me to contact them when the new machine arrived and said they would "compensate" me for all the grief and frustration. Initially they had said for me to "pick an accessory for your machine and we will send it to you for free." Well, I picked three different items from the HP internet store...my first, second, and third choices.
When I spoke with the Rep. his first action was to try to get me to bite off on a battery for the machine. No good, since I already have two of them. Next he wanted to send me an AC power adapter...."got that too" I told him. Then I proceeded to tell him that I had picked out a couple of items from their advertised Pavilion accessories page on the net. My first choice was a "travel accessory kit" which contained a carry case, mini mouse, and 128mb jump drive. The advertised cost was $139.00. He hum hawed around and then told me that he couldn't do that. Next came my second choice, a 160GB external drive...you guessed it...couldn't do that either. I got to the third choice which was another carry case package, and once again.... "Sorry, I can't do that."

Finally I just ask....."What CAN you do!?" He said that about all he could do was a battery, or some software. I asked what software he could send, and it was all pretty much junk. Finally he said he could send me MS Office 2003, and since it seemed that every other road was blocked, I told him to send it. He asked me if this settled the problem, to which I replied...."No!" "First you tell me to "pick any accessory" and then none of it can be done." After 2 months of lousy customer support, I'm pretty much done with HP products. I'm sure for my pitiful story there are 100 good ones to counter it, but none of them happened to me.........HP? The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, they make promises they don't keep, and then try to buy your loyalty back with stuff you can't use. Next time I'll just buy a another brand and try to avoid HP's worthless service.

 

Your funny Ed. Your not happy becuase they wouldnt give you hundreds of dollars worth of stuff becuase you had to wait an extra week or two for a good system.

They would have given you MS Office, an expensive piece of software by the way, but that wasnt good enough for you.

Man, Do you really think you would have gotten better service with anyone else or more to the point do you really think you deserve the kind of service you seem to expect.

 

Your darn right I deserve that kind of service! And your correct in that MS office wasn't good enough for me.....I already have a copy. Why would I need a second? Also, I did not ask HP for any compensation....they offered, leading me to believe that whatever I wanted to choose by way of accessories for my machine was acceptable.
After dropping $2,100+ on a system that was useless out of the box, and then being jerked around by HP for NOT A WEEK, or TWO WEEKS, but a MONTH.... You betcha I deserve that kind of service.

I find it funny that you have the attitude you do about service. I suppose that if you purchased a new vehicle, got it home, and it quit in your driveway, you'd be content to wait a month for the dealer to resolve the issue? I seriously doubt it. And if it did take a month, you wouldn't be asking the dealership for a rental, or another vehicle to drive would you? After all, they have you money, and you have no working product.
I suppose I just might be too "old school", expecting a company to stand behind their product and promises, and asking to be treated as if my patronage mattered.

 

Ed,

You might get a little further if you were dealing with a manager. At this point, you actually may want to contact that Marketing Manager again about this. That manager may be able to do something for you.

I too would feel cheesed after getting jerked around, but asking for $1000 worth of hadware may be pushing it a bit over the limit. Maybe one item might fly, but doubtful all that you asked for would. When speaking with the manager, ask for a discount or a small refund for your problems or ask for just 1 item (maybe the HDD). That would be more reasonable.

Since you did get a replacement unit, that's farther than most auto dealerships would do. They'd say, "ok, send the card in for service and we'll give you a rental free of charge". I doubt they'd even go and give you a brand new card, so you getting a new unit is one up from an dealerships standard service. For HP, well, they do offer a full 30 day 100% refund or exchange policy which is more than a dealership will offer you.

-Vb-

 

I agree with you VB.......to clarify, I didn't ask for any high dollar accessories. When the HP customer service manager called and offered the "compensation", I honestly didn't want to be greedy. With that in mind, my first choice of a travel accessory package, which included a carry case and a couple of other items, which retails on the HP shopping site for $150. I never had any intent of requesting multiple or "high dollar" items. The three items I mentioned previously were mearly 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices. I found it sort of odd that HP was willing to send me MS office, which I know is a high dollar program ($499 for the professional version on the MS site) but would not go for something relatively low dollar like the $150 travel accessory bundle.
The sum of why I'm still so irritated over this is that HP never came through on anything with this issue. The only way I ever got a working laptop was to go through the Staples store where the machine was origonally ordered. They attempted to order a replacement hard drive from HP, and were sent the wrong drive. That particualr part was promised to be at the Staples store "within three business days" (I was listening to the speaker phone during the ordering process) and it did not arrive until 10 business days later. When that occurred they just went ahead and order the HP Pavilion that I now have. In fact, the gentleman at Staples told me that to avoid any more delays or issues they were ordering the new machine as if it were a totally different order, and when it arrived they would just swap my non-operational compaq V4000 for the new Pavilion.

The folks at Staples actually took an interest in the situation, and were also concerned that HP was not acting to correct the situation. Those folks were just as frustrated as I.
The bottom line is.... I believe that without the intervention by the folks at Staples, I would still be scrapping with HP for a working machine. HP just flat did not provide the proper replacement part, nothing was accomplished in a timely manner, and the promises made by a variety of HP representatives, from tech support to customer service managers where not kept. So, at this point is the issue resolved? Yes, I have a working machine that is similar to what I ordered. Did HP do anything to accomplish this? No. Other than filling an order placed by the folks at Staples, HP did not provide any help.

Your also correct on the auto comparison......your input was what I was attempting to convey......... problems be corrected, in a timely manner, with the customer experiencing the minmal hassle necessary. I think to expect such treatment is very reasonable if you've already paid for an expensive item.

 

I think after all your troubles, they should have sent one of the accessories you asked for. Considering the cost of the laptop and severe problems you had, a $150 retail accessory kit that probably cost them $10 really isn't asking for much. I've heard dell will compensate you if you have problems with thier systems, even if it's a "small" problem like a defective laptop on delivery that is replaced quickly (that's a major problem, but small because of the replacement time).

mwillman, in this case, it really does sound like HP failed to provide an adequate level of service. I don't blame you for liking HP, since you own one and most users tend to be biased towards their system brand, but realistically there appears to be problems.

I'm actually deciding between a Dell and business HP/Compaq right now. I would hope that service isn't always this bad, because if I choose the HP, I would already be giving up next business day onsite service, as well as accidental damage coverage.

 

Its not just that its HP, I have worked in various IT departments over the years so I have a soft spot for support. They are ussually doing the best they can and so I tend to preach for patients and understanding.

I know it can take a while but being short with them doesnt help the customer or the support agent.

 

I completely agree that they are trying their best, and yelling at CSRs don't help at all. However, the posters comments sound like there is an organization problem with HP itself. The CSR might be great, but that doesn't help if internally they can't figure out how to get the parts out on time. And the accessories problem sound like false promises, again not the best way to win over your customer. With better organization, I could see them avoiding a lot of these problems.

Patience is definitely key in all areas of life, but then again, computers are so important these days, it would be very frustrating and inconvenient if service isn't prompt. As a student, I have no idea what I would do if they took weeks to fix my laptop.

 

I understand where you are coming from Necrosis.

The one thing I would add is, its at times when we need our patience the most that we tend to loss it. I know a month is a long time and its much worse for an individual becuase you dont have a company loaner to use in the mean time but the best way to get something fixed is to stay determined but polite. Anger is rarely usefull when dealing with corporations unless its in a court house.

 

mwillman, I have never worked in customer support but you have to admit, this was pretty pathetic. You can preach patience all you want, but this is unacceptable for a major company competing at a nationwide level. I hate to hear HP stories like this, and I have used HP support before and they've been very good for me, but to talk to all these different reps and get this kind of support is terrible, plain and simple.

 

I am not going to make that kind of judgement based on a one sided story. No offense to the OP but I dont trust that it went down the way he is stating it. Im sure there were problems but I dont know enought to say one way or the other and having worked in customer support I know there are plenty of customers that are incompatent in doing what they need to do.

 

IMO you are a bad cust. rep. if you are asking for cust. to understand u not u trying to understand ur costumer

 

Well, I have working in customer/technical support so being patient is a two way street. Yes, the customer service rep must understand the frustration that the customer is going through when nothing but empty promises are made. When working with customers, if you can't keep the promise, don't make it. The CSR should have been a bit more precise on what could have been offered (compensation) when they 1st mentioned it so everyone would be clear, but to leave it open ended like that leads to misunderstandings like in this case.

Now, if the level 1 CSR made the promise, we all know that most of the time, it's not gonna happen. They just don't have the authority to do most things without approval from a supervisor or manager. But, if the manager inidacted this, that's a different story.

The same goes for making promises on when a part will be shipped. If the incorrect part was shipped the first time, it's not a customer sat issue. Once the manager stepped in, the problem should have been resolved. It was the manager's fault if the part did not get shipped to the customer on time. The manager should have personally put in the request for the correct parts and should have gotten back to the customer with shipping info to verify that the item was shipped (happened to me when I had an issue with my unit).

But, you also can't put all the problems on HP's managers or CSR's shoulders. The customer must also be patient. If you had a customer constantly yelling at you or giving you grief because he was upset, would you want to help him? Most would probably say no, so you gotta cool down before continuing. As soon as the CSR/Manager said that they would compensate the customer, the question of what will you give me? should have been asked. This would have given a clear line on what would be expected. Next, when ETA's were given, additional info should have been requested, like tracking info when it's shipped (don't know if this was done). A direct # to the manager should have been requested so that this issue could be followed up on the next day. Tell them you'll call them back the next day to verify everything went OK and to get the tracking #. This way, it'll put a flame under their butt to get them moving.

This is just a few things that both ends could have done, but as indicated before, I don't have both sides of the conversation to really say what could have been done differently. All I know is, there was a break down in communication between the CSR/Managers & the customer, and the lack of details & follow-ups may have caused all the problems/broken promises. IMHO.

-Vb-