Do not buy an HP!

Okay, I am not one who usually rants about stuff, but this story just tops the books. I posted my story in another thread, but I want this to be heard.
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I purchased my HP Envy 14 (AKA HP's top of the line notebook) for almost $1600 on July 12th 2010. My ETA was July 22nd. My laptop then gets delayed, and it ships out July 27th (okay, not so bad).



Here is where the real problems start:

After spending 3 days with my laptop, I noticed a very annoying CPU Whine. Since I am now in Canada, I decided to get my laptop registered with HP Canada. Doing this is just as if I would have bought my laptop in Canada. I get full 1 year warranty and my laptop gets repaired in Canada. Since I start school in September, I decided to be safe and get my laptop repaired early.

During my first call to HP Canada on August 3rd, I talked to Robert. I explained my problem (CPU Whine) and he explained the sound is coming from the fan attached to the CPU. He was very friendly and knowledgeable, and said it would be a very quick and easy repair, and I would have my laptop back early next week.

The box arrived August 4th, where I put my laptop in the box and had the UPS guy pick it up August 5th.

My ETA of me getting my laptop back was August 10th, so all I had to do was wait. Once the 10th rolled around, I got a call from HP that my laptop would be delayed due to a parts shortage. I was ASSURED that I would receive my laptop on or before August 17th. I decided to keep in in for repair to get it fixed so I would have it in time for school.

Once August 17th rolled around, I got another call from HP, saying my laptop would once again be delayed and I would have it no later than August 24th. I decided to just get the repair over with so I would have it for school.

Guess what? August 24th came and went. I Did not get a call this time, so I called HP. my new ETA is, and I am quoting here, absolutely, 100% on or before August 31st. The rep went on to say HP knew I needed it for school and he was absolutely sure I would receive it on or before August 31st.

Well, today is August the 31ST, and I once again received no call, so I called HP. I then talked to about 4 different reps, before getting transferred to the Case managers, and this is what really ticks me off:

During the call with John, the case manager, I explained the whole story again (for probably the 20th time). He then gave me these two options:

1. Keep the laptop at the repair center until it gets fixed (with no real date on when it will be fixed)

or

2. Get the laptop sent back to me, not repaired, and have me send it back in for repair after school finishes.

I found this very unacceptable. Both reasons would not work for me because 1. I need the laptop for college (next Tuesday) and 2. I cannot sit in a quiet classroom with a very annoying CPU whine all school year.

I then asked if I could have HP send the laptop back to me, not repaired, and have an in-home service call at HP's expense. John said that was not possible, and would not give me a real reason as to why it was not possible.

He gave me excuses saying that they do not know what the problem is, so they could not have a technician come repair it, and also saying that since the laptop is from the US, the parts are different. Now I have two problems with these excuses:

1. What would they do with someone who actually paid for in home service?
2.The only different parts are the CPU, keyboard and Hard drive, which are the parts that are not being replaced (ie CPU fan), and even if it is a different part, why HP would have a problem sending the part to me for the service technician to replace.

John then just could not give me a straight answer. I then argued saying that they are not giving me in-home service because I did not, and will not, pay another cent on this laptop.

All in all, HP treats their customers like crap once the 21 day return period is over. I WAS getting calls from HP, but once my 21 day return period ended, I stopped getting calls from HP, and now HP is treating me like crap.

all I can come to is this:

HP will NOT help their customers once their 21 day return period is over (meaning once they have your money, and you cannot get it back) HP does not care about you. HP will also not do anything that does not benefit them. They will not give me an in-home service at their expense because HP has no benefit from it (ie profit).

I am still without my laptop, and do not know when/if it will be repaired before school starts, or even if at all. I have been constantly lied to, and mislead. I would NOT have sent my laptop in for repair if it was going to take this long. I would have asked for it returned weeks ago if I was not promised my laptop would be returned, week after week.

I am fed up, and plan on taking this much further. DO NOT BUY FROM HP.

EDIT:

HAHA! I just recieved another update on my ETA. It is now on or before September 7th. I cannot do this. I start school the 7th, but HP does not care.

 

one: This is why I'm not sending in my laptop with it's random hard freezing that I'm still trying to figure out the cause to.


two: Bad raptor. No paleontologist.

 

sad face


but but...i liked my paleontologist.. v_v

 

None of the fixes worked for you? My whine was due to bluetooth so I just turned that off and it was gone. Sorry to hear about your experience though, I was already getting annoyed when they delayed my order which was supposed to ship on 07/22 like you, but I ended up getting it on 08/02. I have no idea how frustrated I would have gotten if I had to turn mine in for repairs too.

 

I called hp arguing about how they advertised a 7 hour battery life on the regular 8 cell and 14 with the slice battery. That was the main reason I bought this laptop was due to battery life. They recently changed their advertisement to 3.75 hours for 8 cell. They kept telling me that they've always advertised 3.75 hours. they said they would escalate my issue to the highest priority and would get a call from them in less than 24 hours. I told them I had 2 days before my 21 day return policy ended and they said they will call me before that. 24 hours passed. Called them back and was really furious. I wanted to know if they would fix it or not, If so i'm going to return it. They issued another one, a week has passed and no phone call. 21 days are over. I gave up on HP but i still have this pretty good envy with poor battery life and customer service.

 

If you are still within a two month period of purchasing the laptop, I strongly suggest you contest the charge with your credit card company.

Cite HP's inability to provide you with a functional computer as the reason why. 7/12 was the purchase date? Definitely within the two month period when you can contest charges.

 

Did you try bluetooth on/off USB in/out?
I recently found out that bluetooth off and usb out got rid of the whine.

for usb it takes lil time. At first i thought it didint work but after like 5-10 sec the whine disaperaed

 

Quite a few posts have been deleted from this thread. Please be mindful that foul language and insults are usually met with infractions from the moderator team. Consider this a warning.

 

I totally, 100% agree that HP customer service sucks. Even if you're in the 21-day return period, they're still very difficult to talk with, often don't know what they're talking about so they make things up and run with it until proven wrong (in which case they make up something new or deny they ever said it in the first place), and overall care very little for the customer.

Despite all this however, idk if I can "not buy an HP!" because so far, I'm loving their laptop. I just have to hope and wish really hard that nothing bad ever happens to it .

Either way, thanks for sharing. I've learned that next summer, if I need even the slightest repair on my laptop, I'll send it in early June so that it'll have plenty of time to be repaired and returned before school.

 

Yeah I was on HP chat support to complain about my CPU Whine. The rep offered to send me a box so I could return it (this was before my 21 day period ended) and assured I would get it back in a week. SC2 was out so I didn't want to wait so I told them that I needed a laptop for school and will probably send it in later. I'm now saving it until 1 month before my warranty expires.
I previously owned an HP DV6000 (6406nr to be exact), and my wifi adapter mysteriously died. Upon my online research on forums, I found this to be a common issue and a thread poster linked me to an HP site where they had a (somewhat hidden) extended additional 1 year warranty for my old HP model. They replaced my wifi adapter and gave me a new motherboard.
Hopefully they will have solved the CPU Whine issue (without having to take out your USB devices) in 10 months so I can make the most of my warranty

 

That's disheartening.

I have a slightly problematic optical drive and I called the customer resolution line in the Envy thread's first page, and the lady apologized profusely and gave me a $70 credit, but then when I called tech support (I think totalcare?) they said since I had done a clean install I would have to revert back to stock before they would troubleshoot. I actually installed an SSD so I'm going to have to swap the old drive back in. I think my 21 day period ends tomorrow so hopefully they send me a replacement drive like the lady on the customer resolution line said they would. I would be very pissed if they refused to help me because I've been unable to burn recovery disks due to the issue.

 

I've actually always had great service from HP's reps. This Envy 14 is my second HP notebook, and the first one died on me shortly after the 1 year warranty period. Luckily, my Envy came in perfect condition, so I did not have to go through any RMA's.

 

Why would you buy HP again if your first computer from them died after one year? That to me isnt great service.

 

because HP machines are beastly.

they just unfortunately have quality issues

 

Sorry about your experience Tornbacchus.

You've contributed a great deal to this forum. Want to say thanks. And I hope that in the end, things work in your favor.

 

First off, there's no such thing as "CPU whine." In all likelihood, another component on the motherboard was making the audible whine.

You probably should have returned your Envy 14 for a full refund instead of shipping it back for service. Return, confirm your refund, order another one. Hindsight is always 20/20. I'm not really all that sure about HP's return policy, but Dell has a great 21 day no-questions-asked return policy.

At this late date, I'd suggest that you demand a BRAND NEW replacement system, as the service has been so painfully slow. At this point, it's just not reasonable that you've experience this many delays. If HP can't, or simply won't, repair your computer, you're either due a replacement of equal, or greater value, or your money back.

My own experience with HP has always been mixed. If you can look past the bloatware, HP has a middling line of notebook computers and a clunky direct sales website.

 

I am also never going to buy an HP ever again.

I bought a new one from Future Shop and when I needed repairs a few months down the road, the laptop's warranty had already been activated by a guy with a Pakistani/Indian name and I lost about half my warranty coverage, which they wouldn't replace. I spent 20hours on the phone+++ and they never helped me.

Although I had great experiences with my first HP, the second just destroyed my will to buy another.

 

You should have requested an RMA. Never play the warranty game with any new product within the return policy.

 

Since I came from the US to Canada, I cannot replace it, my only option is to repair it in Canada.

I also know it is not a CPU whine, but since that what everyone else in the world is calling it, I thought I would say CPU whine instead of a high pitched noise coming from somewhere on the motherboard. I know there are no moving parts on the CPU.

And I just ended up getting them to send my laptop back. I SHOULD receive it back Friday, not repaired, despite it being in repair for almost a month. I need it for school, and I can deal with the whine for now.

I will never buy any HP product again, which is too bad because I have several HP printers, accessories etc, which all work fine, but I am not gambling with future products that might have a problem.

Now is the time for the BBB and for me to go to the Newspaper (they always like stories like this).

 

HP ships millions of laptops a year, so it really shouldn't come as a shock that there might be quality issues. If you're making a large investment, do your homework and keep a decent amount to make sure everything is up to par. Its really too bad about all the warranty run around and lengthy repairs, but if you wanted a global warranty you should have bought an Asus

 

"CPU whine" if I recall correctly is actually caused by the flexing of capacitors on your motherboard as a result of power saving techniques.

As for the Envy 14 being HP's top of the line model, I beg to differ. HP's real top of the line model is the EliteBook 8440w.

 

yeah. the envy is supposed to be the top of the line consumer model.

...'course since it's consumer HP we get headaches from time to time. Still dont know why my computer hard freezes sometimes when lots of data is being written/read/whatever.

 

This might be a lesson to other Canadians. Computers often are cheaper on the American side of the border, but cross border shopping can be complicated.

No offense intended, but I just wanted to make it clear that the issue in question most likely doesn't involve the CPU. Just because it's called "CPU whine" doesn't mean that misinformation should be repeated.

I guess the life lesson here is never to have all of your eggs in one basket. Sometimes you need more than one computer to make sure you have one to use at all times.

Wow. That statement is a little strong. HP has rubbed me the wrong way on occasion, but have a balance view of HP. Personally, I have a far worse opinion of HP's printer and accessories than I have of their PCs.

I don't think you have a leg to stand on, since you've consented to having your notebook shipped back, unrepaired. It also doesn't look good that you bought your computer in the USA and brought it back to Canada.

Stop looking for payback and concentrate on solving your issue. Anger can be addictive, especially when you're dealing with an impersonal corporation. Concentrate on the issue at hand. If mail-in service failed to correct the issue, ask HP to provide on-site service or drop off service through an authorized third party. Be constructive.

Personally, I think the best solution was to send the computer back for a full refund. You really shouldn't have switched over to a Canadian warranty before you tried the computer out for more than a couple of days.

 

When I had a Compaq die on me in less than a month I sent it in and after a week the rep said they couldn't find what was wrong and sent me an HP laptop. I didn't know if the replacement laptop was new or refurb. I've had problems with my HP's (2 laptops/ 2 desktops) but non for my Dell laptop.

 

i used to have high regards for HP, until i buy my 1st HP Laptop, they have probably one of the worst QC in all Laptop Company

1st of all, they sent me the wrong model ( i ordered a dv6z-se, instead i got dv6z, but specs are at least according to what i have ordered )
but i lost the Backlit Keyboard and Fingerprint reader that cost $25, at least they managed to send me a new Backlit Keyboard last week, but i still lose the Fingerprint feature, and i didn;t even get a cashback, probably because i dont live in USA

and another thing is, although, minor, but my BD Disc Tray door is plain! i have seen many review that every dv6z with BD always have the BD Logo on the door tray, but mine was plain, i know it's nothing big at all, but it matters for some people, because having it can show people that it's a Blue Ray Disc Drive which is pretty cool , but means i got a different BD product than anyone else, and really, i think it's a poor QC from HP

maybe i was just unlucky to get these problems, but i have survey many website since this incident, and found out that, HP does made a lot of shipping mistake

which is a pity, that they are one of the best Brand around

 

Wow, I thought I was the only one who experienced bad service. I want to differentiate a bit here:

HP laptops often are nice, and reliable. I have bought 6 desktop/laptops and only my DM3Z has a problem.

In my case, I am still working on trying to get my wireless signal degradation issue resolved. The computer was sent in as well. I paid $ 16 for faster turn around time (3-5 days), and it ended up 10 days. During this time, the only action performed was a system restore of my laptop despite very explicit descriptions of what the problem was and how to recreate the problem. I also left my contact information so that the tech could call me in case of need.

By now I am rudely cut short on the phone. Case managers have been promised to call back twice now. In both cases, the promise was broken.

That said, once something is broken, despite their claim that they have the best service, you will be in a world of pain if it is nothing that can be resolved by:

a.) Reinstalling a driver
b.) Updating a driver
c.) Performing a system restoration on the laptop.