HORRIBLE Repair Serice!!!!!!!!

I will never again buy an HP or Compaq laptop. I made the mistake of doing that about 2 months ago. The CPU fan failed after several hours of use. HP support was a nightmare and HP repair was even worse. They even damaged the case - several scratches, an abrasion, one chip/gouge, and returned it with a solvent stain on the cover and solvent fingerprints all over the screen. They tried to blame damage on FEDEX, then on ME. I previously owned Dell and Gateway - no problems. I should have stuck with them. HP laptops are inferior, so you will probably need to send in for repair, and repair is TERRIBLE. HP doesn't care about their customers and tries to do repair on the cheap (at least get english speakers???). I was assigned an HP case manager who has been evasive, arrogant, rude and, worst of all, technically incompetent. I expected better from HP. Not anymore.

 

that's why i avoided hp...

 

This is the reason why I avoid Compaq HP

 

This is why I avoid DhELL and Sony.
Luckily my 3 HP's have been good...

 

I will buy another HP in the future HP treated me like King

 

Buy from HP's Commercial division and you'll have a far better experience.

 

Which HP repair center was the notebook repaired by?

 

Haha yeah same thing happened to me. Looks like they used a screwdriver to try to pry it apart and all that wonderful skill. They even broke my lid sensor switch and scratched up the screen. Just call them up and send it back again. If they screw up, call them again and try to escalate it to a case manager and see if they can replace the notebook.

After this one, I plan to never touch HP again. I may have gotten a replacement but it took me one month of run around, and about half a month for a replacement.

 

These stories are why I buy from a physical store with an extended warranty. That way the store fixes or replaces it.

 

Not if you buy from any major chain.....If you buy an extended warranty with them for the first year all they do is send it back to HP for you because the computer is under the manufacturers warranty. They only cover things HP won't like a crack in a lcd screen....

 

True. The first year you're stuck with HP. Luckily, I have passed my 1 year with no issues....except HP's not-so-good battery life.

 

I would put together all the detailed information you have with respect to the repair and hit small claims court. HP will not like that one bit and should settle fast. Settle for nothing else but a brand new unit. It wouldn't hurt to request an extended warranty for "pain and suffering".

 

THANKS for the advice everyone. I have gotten nowhere with case manager or executive customer relations. It's almost comical. ECR says they sympathize but there is "nothing they can do." It's all up to the case manager, who won't do anything. So i started small claims court process. In Massachusetts the consumer protection act allows for triple damages if the court finds in my favor for "unfair/deceptive business practice" which is what i will seek. I will post results, but it might be a while.

 

uh oh...
im sending in my notebook for repair soon
sounds like it'll be a fun ride

i hope everything works out for you though

 

you better take pics before you send it in.

 

Don't buy their 'consumer'-grade laptops.

I bought an 8710w, and it is built like a tank. Plus you deal with their commercial division for warranty, which is a little higher in the food-chain.

{Prays for no failures anyway}

 

Now the story gets curiouser and curiouser. I called to check on the status with my "senior" case manager and was told he no longer works in case management. He is the one who accused ME of somehow damaging my own nearly-new computer while HP had it in for repair. Guess he thought I was somehow able to track it down in whatever 3rd world hell-hole HP shipped it to for repair. They made a point of saying he is still with the HP (even though I didn't ask) so I suspect he is not. So now I am starting over with a new case manager. And she said she won't forward my formal comsumer-protection-act notice to legal because it didn't come from a lawyer. I told her it is required notice under Massachusetts Law and is not required to be from a lawyer - sort of the point of the consumer protection act and small claims court. She responded that HP basically doesn't give a s*** (ok, my words, not hers) but she has to follow HP's procedures. In closing she said she would review the entire file since she had just had the case dumped on her, after the previous case manager was NOT fired and didn't QUIT. I'm not expecting a call back. Funny, I just read the article about DELL found guilty of fraud for similar warranty actions after being sued by the NY attorney general. Sounded like DELL was much more responsible than HP. Guess that's good for my case...

 

Update- A week later, the case manager who "no longer worked in case management" now works again in case management. What the heck is going on in with HP? But he says someone in ECR had forwarded my letter to legal - even though they previously said they could not do that - so he's not sure who is handling it now. Finally found a woman in ECR that said she would forward my notice to legal, and I should hear from them. That was 1 week ago. Anyway, as of today, nothing from legal and has been 31 days since notice. So I will file tomorrow in small claims court.

 

Good luck...please keep us updated.

 

PLEASE PLEASE keep us update on this.

I just sent in my laptop to HP and I am experiencing similar problems right now with them.

 

everyone just keep pushing hp.....we deserve better service then what they are giving us

 

Hey guys, I went through a bit of hell with HP as well, but they admitted to the mistakes they made, and they sent me 100 HP dollars!

HP makes a good laptop, customer service is average to above average, repairs had a few errors now and then etc etc. It was annoying, but I called the case manager line and they gave me 100 bucks! F**k yeah!

I have two other HPs with me and they're doing great!

I will definitely be buying HP again (probably a workstation next time round tho)!

 

The first time I had to send a notebook in for repair it came back just fine(Cosmetically anyway), but it wasn't until after I had already sent it it off that I started reading about peoples bad experiences. This time I took detailed pictures which are probably good to have anyway.

After 1 failed repair, 1 part replacement and hours of phone calls they replaced my notebook. After I received the replacement I called my Case Manager like he had asked me to so I could confirm everything was correct and to register the PC. Just when I thought we were done he asked me if I would like 3 or 4 year ADP(Accidental Damage Protection)... I was satisfied.

 

I don't think the horrible repair service many of us are experiencing is "average" for the industry. In fact, HP support was rated dead last by Consumer Reports June 2008 edition. Here's an excerpt: "Other companies that stood out in CR's survey were Lenovo, which was outstanding at problem-solving for laptops, and Dell, which was above average in this area for both desktops and laptops. Consumer Reports also found HP and Compaq offered inferior support." http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cu-press-room/pressroom/archive/2008/06/0806-eng0806com.htm

 

Alright alright fine you're right, HP customer service does suck. But remember people, don't associate the quality of an HP laptop with the quality of their customer service. I still like HP laptops, just wish their support was better!

 

I agree. I am not saying all HP laptops are bad. I am saying that mine was, and that I got horrible repair service, along with a terrible atitude toward customers, which leads me to believe that HP support is completely broken. Even though mine was a lower end model, i don't expect a critical component to fail after several HOURS of use. And i do expect some competent level of customer service when repairs are required. For me, the way a company treats any of their customers - even the ones who don't buy the top-end products - says a lot about the company and their commitment to stand buy all of their products. Some posts indicate that customers who purchase a high end HP business laptop will get good customer service. But it shouldn't be that way. A warranty is a warranty. It is a legal contract and the manufacturer's obligations should not vary based on the amount of money the customer spends (i don't see that anywhere in the contract.)

I'm sure there are some HP laptop models that provide excellent features and reliability for the price. I think that is one of the main points of these boards -to help people determine which ones those are, and are not. My experience so far has been very bad, so it's unlikely I will buy HP again and want to communicate my experiences so others don't suffer a similar fate. Others may have had good experiences, so the readers can decide.

 

And as they did in my case they might not even send it. I dropped off my hp with Circuit City and it sat in their store for a week. I called for an update and they said they were waiting on a part from HP. The part turned out to be the FedEx return box that they didn't get because they forgot to call and ask for one. When I bought the thing the guy said, "The good news is we are an HP repair facility. So all you have to do is drop it off here and we can fix it here for you. We never ship this off we do it here on site." He lied!! Circuit City in Hickory NC.

BTW, to the quality of HP laptops, I have owned two laptops and a desktop and all three have had issues. The first was an HP tx1410us and the pen holder broke so that it would get stuck. I had to pry it out every time. The second was a desktop 3307 slimline and the hard drive failed. The third was a 2110 laptop and it is with HP right now due to a faulty display connector. It kept coming loose and i would have to push on the part right between the keyboard and the swivel.

 

Hey all, I got an e-mail from Ginger Borge in HP executive customer relations. She could only have gotten that e-mail address by reading this forum. And all she had was my e-mail, nothing else, but she was asking for everything else. Anybody deal with her? So far I've talked to several ECR reps by phone and they just kept referring it basck to the case manager. I'm thinking I should probably just continue the legal route now..

 

Well I'm extremely satisfied. FedEx picked up my Notebook in its Pre-Paid HP box at 11:30 AM on June 10th. And Fedex just delivered it at 11:30am Today(June 12th). I understand how simple a Heatsink+Fan replacement is, But there is no sign of disassembly and the notebook is cleaner then before I sent it.. My only complaint is that the HP website still shows my notebook as being repaired and I wasn't informed at all to expect a Fedex delivery today.

 

I ran into problems with my buisness line I purchased for my self. Just KEEP complaining and asking for whoever is higher up. It took me 3 weeks just to finally get to someone who could help. In the end my unit was a custom build and they offered me a better pre-build then what I had to begin with. I am finally happy but it took a lot of work and me basically telling them I want some resolution after all I was put through. The factory mine was sent to was in Houston right down the road for me. The last person I was working with was from "HP Customer Relations". There is also a site that is slightly hard to find called Voice of the Customer but you might have to be employed by HP to use this. Did I mention I work for hp? LOL

 

Yensed: Was your laptop just returned from repair the replacement one HP gave you? If so, what model is it and how long did you have it before the heatsink fan problem? As you may have read above, I also had a heatsink fan fail on a nearly-new laptop. But mine was returned in horrible condition. I'm wondering if some model lines are having a problem with heatsink/fans.

 

Yes, It was. Its a Presario C700 (GY394AV) and the problem began 3-4 weeks after I received it. But with Traveling, School and other stuff going on I took my time sending it in and just did my best to keep it cool.

It wouldn't surprise me considering my previous C700 (C712NR) also began overheating just a few weeks after purchase as well... I think HP may have installed a different fan because the air coming out is actually cold and it feels like much more air is flowing through then before.

 

I know somebody else who had a hard drive fail on a C700, after about 6 months. That could very well be due to heat. Sounds like it might be a design problem.

 

You know, I was just thinking...this sounds awfully like the problem the XPS M1330 users are having (the overheating and dying in ~6 months)

Basically, the 8400m GS GPU in the XPS M1330 notebook is the same as the ones put into HP notebooks as well.

What happens is that ~6 months into using the laptop with that specific graphic card, the GPU fails from overheating and dies.

Check out the detailed XPS thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=204772


I also want to note that I used to own a DV2500t cto with a 8400m GS GPU, and my notebook died a little before 6 months into owning the laptop. Granted I OC'ed that GPU like no tomorrow, and no doubt I overheated it, it seems like this is a widespread problem not only in Dell XPS laptops but with HP's Pavilion Entertainment Line as well.

 

I don't think the horrible repair service many of us are experiencing is "average" for the industry. In fact, HP/Compaq support was rated dead last by Consumer Reports June 2008 edition. Here's an excerpt: "Other companies that stood out in CR's survey were Lenovo, which was outstanding at problem-solving for laptops, and Dell, which was above average in this area for both desktops and laptops. Consumer Reports also found HP and Compaq offered inferior support."

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cu-press-room/pressroom/archive/2008/06/0806-eng0806com.htm

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/254326

 

I too got word that my notebook will be delivered today (6-13). FedEx says its on the truck for delivery. I just hope they didn't just reconnect the display connector since I could do that and it just got lose again. But if it is fixed I will change my tune about HP.

 

Wouldn't it be nice if you could actually talk to a repair tech (who speaks english) at some point before they sign off on your laptop as "repaired." I'm sure they don't read all the notes from your complaints to overworked but english-challenged phone reps, most of which would be difficult to decipher anyway. So it's likely your only direct communication with the repair tech is the brief description of the problem you write on the repair form that comes with the Fedex box (there's room for about 1.5 sentences) and you get to check a box that might apply. So the tech reads that and runs a standard diagnostic - that often won't pick up an intermittent problem that might take awhile to show up, such as a heat-related problem. So it's no wonder many laptops come back unrepaired or still with problems.

 

Well, hallelujah!! It is back and seems to be in perfect working order. The sheet in the box said they replaced the system board and the display. It even had the protective plastic on it still. A total 8 days away and it could have been 7 if I had been here when the fedex guy brought the box. I was ready to load it immediately but had to leave to run some errands and he came for the short time I was away.

I am very impressed and pleased with HP and I am now a happier customer. Maybe they have improved knowing the bad reports they are getting recently.

 

That is impressive. But my question is, did you just get lucky or has HP actually improved its service? Based on my continuing bad experience with HP repair/support, I think you probably got lucky (they must have at least a few repair techs that give a s***). I doubt if anything really changed that quickly. Hopefully there wasn't a screw driver left inside your case.

 

If your state allows for triple the damages, then I would definitely continue the legal route. After all the hassle and grief HP has put you through you deserve some compensation beyond just the cost of repairing the machine. And the only way these corporations are going to stop mistreating their customers is if they are forced to pay a penalty for doing so. Triple the damages would would be a nice "slap" and may motivate them to deal more fairly with others in the future.

Please keep us updated.

 

I had a great service form HP.I deleted the recovery partition.After 3 weeks my system crashes (VB 64bit).I contacted HP and the send a dvd worth the installation of Vista free od charge,and the first DVD was the 32 bit.After one mail they send me a 64 bit....all free of charge...

 

One thing that often goes unnoticed in forums such as these is that support can differ drastically across countries. For example, some manufacturers partly outsource their customer service. So if you call from the U.S. you will get someone from India who doesnt speak English correctly and doesnt understand your problem. But if you call from Holland, you get a regular Dutch or Belgian guy on the phone who understands your problems and tries to help.

I live in Holland, and have HP business support. So far they have been very helpful and willing to replace/repair anything that malfunctioned in this, as well as one of my older laptops (malfunctioning AC adapter for this sytem btw, laptop is fine)

 

Perhaps the moral of the story is as long as you live in an English speaking nation, you're screwed by HP.

I don't have any major problems with HP's tech support based in India. They are pretty decent. The only problem is they don't sound as warm as it would speaking to a local person, but this is of course a cultural issue.

Amazingly, the smaller makers like Lenovo and Toshiba are the ones with local support, whereas HP and Dell have offshored all their support operations.

 

While I can understand the disappointment of others. All I can judge by is my own personal experience and it was very good. And I don't think there is a screwdriver inside. If I ever have a need to open it up, I'll check. So long as it doesn't short something out, I'd consider it a bonus. Like finding two fortunes in the cookie. Or that illusive third nut in the peanut.

 

Update:

Thanks again to all for the advice. Guess what? Ginger from HP Executive Customer Relations now actually wants to get the matter settled, and asked what she could do. "How can that be possible?" I asked, since no fewer than 5 persons from ECR, over the past 2 months, told me that they can do NOTHING because it is all up to the case manager. Apparently that was also untrue. She stated HP is willing to refund the purchase price of the laptop, but only after I return it to them (not really sure I can trust them at this point.)

I said I had incurred expenses over the past few months, including postage, phone, gas, copying, etc., (around $50 as of 1 month ago) and if she would include expenses I might consider it. And that's not including the hell HP put me thru for two months, or the useless HOURS I spent troubleshooting for HP, or all the time without my laptop due to HP's negligence. She absolutely refused, saying she would do the purchase price and that's it. Just when it looked like someone at HP might actually be reasonable...guess again. So HP is willing to continue more than two months of obstruction and denial over $50.

Well, I've had it. I'm not giving in now, whether it's $50 or $5. If I have to go to court to recover my expenses, then so be it. I'm just getting my second wind. And I will do everything I can to make sure it's very public, so that HP might just decide it's better business practice to honor its legal warranty obligations, rather than try to deceive and obstruct their way out of them.

 

you are shooting yourself in the foot here. you want them to pay for your gas?!? you must be kidding. they are willing to refund you the full amount for the notebook and you are refusing! you are truly acting foolish now.

 

Honestly I understand your frustration, but they are willing to refund your notebook. I dont think you can expect any brand developing and kind of consumer electronics to also refund expenses that were made due to malfunctioning, unless that was specifically stated in some agreement.

It sucks, and I'm not saying your request is unreasonable. But I am saying that you cant really expect them to cough up the extra 50 bucks.

 

You are correct. I would not expect reimbursement simply due to a malfunctioning product. The expenses I refer to were not related to a "malfunctioning" product, but a malfunctioning corporation. They were directly related to damage done to the product (my property) by HP, and my 2 month long fight to get HP to admit that damage and accept responsibility for it.

Maybe you didn't read my previous posts, but I don't blame you - some of them are rather lengthy and this thread is getting sort of long.. that's why I started a new one ("small claims court suit against HP"). Until this is resolved, I will keep both threads going. Thanks for your comment.

 

Yeah I understand. I read most of your posts, skimmed through some parts, and given all the hassle they have put you through I do feel like some sort of compensation is in order. What I was trying to say is that companies such as this wont compensate that sort of thing so easily. I've been where you are now, (with another brand though) and I would probably take the money and dont look back. What you are doing is probably a good thing, not letting them of the hook so easily.

Good luck, I'll keep checking on your topics

 

It's an unorthodox request to ask to be reimbursed for expenses. As someone said, regardless of your trouble, it's unreasonable.

They're breaking policy to give you a refund past the 21 day return policy. Instead of being belligerent with them, explain again that you incurred all sorts of expenses, frustration, lost time and that HP came highly recommended to you and then ask if there's anything else they can do for you. And don't act with them as if you'll never buy from them again. Act as if you are a customer they might like to retain for the future. They'd be more willing to do something for you rather than just get rid of you.

The customer is always right when they are someone a company wants to do business with.

Just giving you the straight dope. Would like to see you have this resolved in your favor.

Small claims court is a waste of time in your case because the fee to file, service fee, plus cost in gas to get there will eat up most of anything you think you might win. And there's certainly no guarantee you'd win. Most judges in most jurisdictions would probably rule against you since HP offered you your money back in full. Incidental expense are your problem as a judge may find that they may not have needed to have been incurred considering HP's generous pick and return policy for repairs under warranty.