Customer Service.. or not

I rarely use forums on the internet. When I was researching a new exhaust for my Harley, I looked around. Otherwise, I just wandered through reviews.

This is my first post, that should tell everyone how excited I am about HP and their service.

I own an HP dv9731. I have owned computers ever since the 286 with the turbo button was the hot item. Yes my computer had the turbo button, and it was on 16Mhz vs. 8. Never knew of anyone who wanted their computer to slow down, but hey it was a feature that drew conversation.

The HP I own now doesn't have a turbo button, but it had some very interesting features. For example the battery could get so warm, it would be uncomfortable on my leg after a while. It gave me the opportunity to format and reinstall my Vista operating system on several occasions. It would do spontaneous shutdowns in less than a second. I was allowed to see system repair. Pretty cool huh!

It finally died at age 2 of hard drive failure. I think it just couldn't stand the heat. Me and my wife bought the work of art from Costco and thought "hey Costco has a great return policy, wonder if they'll help us out with this lemon". Costco let us know that there was not much they could do, but put us in touch with HP.

Sorry for the long lead in, but here's where it gets good. HP decided to have one of their customer service guru's call us the next day.

The Highlights:

First I got to talk to a very condecending young man named Eric. I'll omit the last name for legal reasons, although I swear all that I am writting is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. We started the conversation with him asking me why I thought I deserved something from HP since the computer was over 2yrs old. Being a person who has had numerous computers that have lived well beyond Moores law, I thought that maybe they would be interested in standing behind their product, instead of their lawyers. While explaining that the computer ran hotter than a pistol, a trait that is somewhat negative to computers and other sensitive electronics, I was querried "Why is it on your lap?". I made the counter reply "It is a laptop". He corrected me "It is a notebook, not a laptop". Who ever is running this forum, you might want to consider changing the forum name to notebook forums and omit the word laptop. Please let the people know that according to HP, putting your computer on your lap is just not good practice. What was I thinking!!!!

He then proceeded to let me know that he was doing me a favor by talking to him. After all he was in the position to offer me the freebies I was begging for. That was extreme paraphrasing, but the tone was well within the spirit of the conversation. Now, I have went from a loyal and concerned customer to a malicious panhandler looking for a payday! This of course set my mood perfectly. I asked to speak to his manager. His response, "That wasn't going to happen". Wow, thats a new one. I commend him on his straight forward and gutsy call. The call then degenerated into us trying to yell over each other and him hanging up.

In this economy, should we as customers allow this? My meager contribution to HP's bottom line will go unnoticed. The letter I wrote to Mr. Hurd on his website will probably be filed in the appropriate round file. Maybe this post will amuse someone else who has been in this position. I just felt like sitting here with my new Dell Inspiron on my lap telling anyone who will listen my story. If I have changed one persons mind about buying a new HP when theirs die, then my work here is done. If this has been your experience, let people know. The reason we are treated this way is simple, they can. The customer has the power to put the money into what ever part of the system they feel deserves their money. Think about that when you support companies with lackluster service and elitest condecending customer service reps. We are treated as the weakest animal in the food chain. Truth is, there would be no chain if we weren't the first link.

 

Funny thing is, "laptop" heat is bad for men's privates. Science says, lowers your sperm count. For better or for worse. Depending on your POV.

True story.

Best to go with boxers, not briefs.

Anyway, I don't know. You said it was 2 years old. So I'm guessing you only had a 1 year warranty.

HP (as well as most other manufacturers) has to draw the line somewhere, no? Otherwise cats with 3 year old computers with a 1 year warranty will feel entitled to something too. Let alone the 4 year old kit havin' blokes. Even the ones with an expired 3 year warranty.

All that aside, if there was a known defect that required a recall (think:Nvidia) and HP blew you off, that'd be sad. Incidentally, you might want to look into that Nvidia chip failure issue. HP was servicing out of warranty systems for a limited time because of this issue.

Oh, that reminds me. If you are sure that it's a hard drive failure, you might want to hit up the hard drive manufacturer for replacement. They usually have warranties ranging from 3 to 5 years on HDDs.

Best wishes.

 

After 2 years, Eric is right. HP doesn't owe you anything, and it would be foolish to expect compensation.

A lot of companies only refer to their large laptops (15"+) and especially their 17 inch behemoths as notebooks, not laptops. After 2 years, assuming you're like the majority of people who don't clean out their notebooks, they will start overheating due to dust.

 

True about the 1 year warranty. 4 kids so heat on my privates isn't too worrysome. The HD warranty was 27 days out. It was a 2 year warranty. I can swallow that one. I can even take no money or reimbursement. We were checking into it because my wife thought it wasn't fair to pay as much as we did then be out after 2 years. Emotional thinker. If the HP guy wouldn't have been "Holier than thou", and "Patronizing at every turn", then I wouldn't be here. I know that they aren't obligated to fix every piece of junk that makes it past one year then dies. Sometimes its not the outcome as much as the way they package it.

 

Agreed, Eric was a bombastic (ding ding ding! Word of the day), condescending, ill mannered jerk. No debate.

He might have been having to field a lot of calls of this nature lately. Buying a new computer is likely off the table for many these days. Or maybe he had a bad Valentine's. I could see the latter being the case, all things considered.

Either way, no excuse for Eric the Terrible.

 

Glad to see that someone who works for HP reads the blogs. First, if the guy at any service oriented business quotes fact, he is right. However if he is condecending, elitest and rude, then he is wrong and has no business in customer service. The laptop was regularly cleaned and sat in a house with a hepa filtering system. As for the 15" vs. 17" issue, I have yet to see anyone measure their screen before deciding whether to set the computer on their lap rather than look for a desk. I'm not asking you whether it should be one or more years. I'm asking if it's acceptable being payed to treat people like dirt. I don't know some people actually pay women for that. I just expected more from HP

 

You probably shouldn't be making stupid statements like that in your third post.

And that's where you've made a mistake. Customer service in the industry is extremely poor all around. Lower your expectations, and then lower them some more.

If you're dealing with computers, go by the fine print. You get a year (standard) where (almost) everything is warrantied. On day 366, you're on your own. That's what you've paid for, and that's all you should expect.

So what's the up side? This industry also has the best free third-party customer support. Welcome to NBR.

 

What I think is greatly more ignorant than believing you are an HP employee is accepting pathetic service, then having the audacity to defend it. Its like a battered houswife saying she deserves it. NO, nobody deserves it. I understand fine print. However the are some unwritten laws in the world. First, as a customer, we vote with our money. Instead of saying, thats how it is and "Thank you sir may I have another". How about saying I don't like your service, telling your friends about the service, telling others about the service, and then when they put out a survey asking why their business is slowly slipping into the toilet, maybe someone will let them know that their service stinks. Maybe you set low expectations for yourself and the environment around you. Don't rebuke us if we want better.

 

I defend nothing. I merely tell things as it is.

Service is something that I personally would rather not pay for, and the market is with me in that regard. It is very reasonable to expect to be treated nicely when you contact customer service. It is not at all reasonable to expect to be compensated for a 2 year old laptop. That is all I'm saying.

 

I agree with what you say. Like I said in post 4, it's not the outcome, sometimes it's how they package it. With a >10% unemployement rate, I have difficulty believing Eric is the best possible option.

 

Wow, and yet you have the audacity to go to a public forum and post this nonsense? Talk about the lowering of standards at the door. After reading your posts I think you should have stopped at post count 0. Vote with your wallet and go buy another brand, but spare us your condescending drivel. There are 3 sides to a story - yours, theirs, and the truth is in the middle somewhere. Based on your attitude here I'd say you were at least 50% responsible for your issue with Eric and his attitude.