DV2-1035US Warpage - HP repair experience

FWIW - If you are like me and bought your DV2 when they first came out, in April I believe, you may have gotten a unit where the case seemed to be warped. In other words, it would not sit flat on a table. On mine, the left palm rest sat higher off the table and if you pushed on it there was quite a bit of play in it. While functionally this didn't create any issues, I always knew it was there and kind of ruined my new PC experience. I finally decided to try and send it back to HP for repair. My first step was to contact HP via the chat option. Pretty nifty idea and in the end it worked but, not with out some twists and turns along the way.

First off they don't even try and hide the fact that the support person is offshore. "Welcome to hp total care for laptop support. My name is Priyanka. I will be your technical support specialist today. Please give me a few moments while I review your issue description details....". I am not saying this is necessarily bad but after a while I realized even in chat there is a kind of language barrier but perhaps, not as bad a voice since there is no accent to deal with in chat. One of the first pieces of information the specialist wanted was my unit serial number. I was at work and didn't have the laptop with me. I explained that I didn't have the unit. "...I am sorry to say that without product and serial number I can't create service for your notebook so I suggest you please contact us with your notebook product and serial number." Fortunately, I was able to log onto my HP account and look up the record. The serial number was there and I was able to give it to the specialist. After a few lines of chat, the "specialist" determined that I was still in warranty. (I knew that). Anyway, she explained the process which was, they would open a ticket and send me a pre-paid FedEx box. I was to place the unit in the box minus the battery and AC adapter. Then I was to call FedEx to have them come to the house and pick up the return package. Sure enough, a couple of days later, the box arrived with a repair form to fill out, instruction sheet and a length of clear package tape with peel-off backing. The instructions stated that there was a pre-paid return shipping label included in the box but there was not. I looked several times through the materials but no label. The next day, I established another chat session. "Welcome to hp total care for laptop support. My name is Anjana..." Well, you get the idea. I explained that I was missing the return label for an existing open ticket number. "May I please have the product and serial number of your system?" By this time it is painfully obvious that the "specialist" is reading from a script and does not know how to apply reason and logic to solve my problem. I explained that I already went through all this and that they had that information based on my open ticket. "please give me few minutes while i go ahead and check in my data base." After a few moments, "don't worry i have updated the databse... you will receive the return label within next 5-6 business days.." Somehow, this didn't make me feel too confident that I was going to get my label but it did arrive in a FedEx overnight envelope the following day. The following Monday, I boxed up the notebook as instructed. I had been told by the original "specialist" that all I needed to d is call FedEx to come and pick the parcel up but, the instruction sheet included with the return shipping box stated that this service was only available in select areas and additional cost which was not covered by HP. No problem, there was a FedEx drop off location near me and I didn't mind taking it there. I had noted the tracking number on the label and checked the status the next day. Sure enough it had been received. The instruction sheet said that I could go to a particular web address to check on the status of my CSO (Customer Service Order). I went to the address. There was a simple web form to enter the CSO number I had supposedly been given and the shipping zip code. I assumed the CSO number was the open ticket number I had been given "...please notedown this number..." in the first chat session I had with HP support but, alas, this was not the case. On to another, I feared, painful chat session. This time the specialist wanted my CSO number which I didn't have. The open ticket number I had been given in the beginning was pretty much useless. The specialist ended up giving me an 800 support number that I could call to get a status update. I called the number. The wait time was very short. I spoke to a gentleman with a heavy accent but I am guessing this number was actually in California. The CSR was somewhat condescending. He said that they has tried to contact me both through email and phone (they had not) to give me the CSO number. He ended up sending me to another department who gave me the CSO status. They said my notebook had already been repaired and was shipped back out. They also gave me the CSO number. There was something vaguely familiar about the number. I looked at the return label I have mad a copy of before I sent the notebook back. Turns out there was a "Ref:" number on the label. Turns out the "Ref:" number IS the CSO number. For grins I went back to the CSO tracking web form and plugged this number in. I did get to my CSO status page but there was not much in the way of current status. Just listed my notebook's model and serial number and the fact that there was an open repair order on it. No status that is had been shipped back yet. At least I had a FedEx tracking number and that proved to be more useful in finding the shipping status. It was on it's way. My notebook arrived the next day Thursday. I had sent it in on that Monday. Happily, they fixed my problem. The repair sheet inside noted that they replace the "Thermal Pad". I am not sure what this has to do with the original problem but it is fixed and I am happy about that. Just seemed like a lot of miscommunication along the way.

 

Sounds like a lot more trouble than it really was.

I'm about to send my DV2-1030US in for the exact same problem. I contacted HP by email and was responded to and had a box on it's way with in 30 minutes of my first email. Got the box 2 days later(with shipping label) and will be shipping my machine out on Monday.

So, for me, HPs customer service is looking pretty good right now.

Could you tell how they repaired your DV2? Just stick your HDD in another machine? Or actually disassemble and replace parts?

 

ah, try breaking your post into paragraphs. Very hard to read something like that.

 

Apparently taken apart and replaced parts because it is the same machine as I had. There was a sheet included that indicated "Repaired" and then a check mark indicating that a "Thermal Pad" had been repaired or replaced. I am guessing replaced. My notebook is much better than it was but still not 100% It is good enough that I won't send it back though.

 

Yes. Sorry. After looking at it, I probably would not have even read the post myself...

 

Ok, I guess that's good. I hope that they do a good job on mine. I use it everyday at school. I have about a 5 hour break between two of my classes and I like to go sit in the library with it. That's where I first noticed the warpage.
It was very annoying. Like sitting on a chair with one of the legs shorter than the others, or at a table with one of it's feet missing...

 

It is a nice notebook. For as much as I sounded like I was complaining in my first post, I was pleased with the turn around time.