HP Care Package (warranty) worth it?

Is the 2-year HP Care Package (accidental damage warranty/etc) worth it for $160USD?

How's the experience with HP as far as repairs/replacements go? I don't really feel like paying for the HP Care Package if I have to end up jumping through hoops with HP support to get my laptop repaired/fixed.

Dell also offers a similar warranty package that covers accidental damage and things like that. From what I heard, Dell gives pretty good customer support, and if your laptop is too badly damaged, then Dell will even send you a completely new laptop.

Anyone care to comment?

 

Just my opinion, but I would imagine that a CarePack is worth the cost, only depending upon the investment you made into your new purchase. Me?.. I shelled-out $2500.00USD for my Pavilion (before coupon). So yes - I'd definitely say it was a wise investment on my part. Now if I was purchasing anything lower than $900.00 - then no. I would probably fore go it altogether.

But keep in mind that a CarePack is sort of like insurance. You hope like holy hell that you never are in a situation where you need it. But the peace of mind is always nice. Though as with any insurance, you can pretty much expect a fight of some sort. Companies aren't just going to sit back and let their customers take them for a ride. They do not want to pay if they do not have to. HP produces some quality products, IMO. I've dealt with their repair services before. Never had to send anything back, though they did send me "customer replaceable" parts on in warranty items that have been in need. No hassles, I thought. Like anything else, it just depends on who you are dealing with and their mood, at the time - not necessarily the company in general. I do not think either HP nor Dell have any policies in place that spell out screwing over their customers on purpose over warranty work.

 

Be sure to get the accidental damage coverage, HP is notorious for using the excuse that you caused the damage and deny the repair even when it is under a regular warranty, this coverage will negate that excuse, they have to fix it now.

Go for 3 years with accidental damage.

 

I got a 2 year care package for free with my purchase thanks to an advertising error.

Talk to a case manager, maybe you can get one too.

 

I have the 3yr care pack with the Envy 14 in Nov '10 and I think it's worth it. Here is why I feel the care pack is a must have.
Feb '11 - The LCD panel started flaking out. HP replaced it.
June '11 - the laptop started powering off without warning. HP attempted to fix it and failed. So, laptop went back.
July '11 - the laptop went back for the powering off issue (mobo). HP supposedly has fixed it and sending it back. We'll see.
As you can see, I've exercised the warranty 3x within 6 months on HP's top of the line Envy. I need to make sure I can get get stuff fixed after initial warranty expires.

I will say... DO NOT (DON'T EVER) waste your money on HP's on-site support. It's not worth the weight the contract is printed on. I had a Dell before and on-site support was awesome (a tech came to work multiple times to replace the mobo, lcd, and again the mobo). Each job took no more than 15mins start to finish. On that premise, I (foolishly - now looking back) bought HP's on-site support. HP's on-site support is absolutely useless. They took my money and my on-site support experience so far...
1) When the LCD panel went, HP insisted I ship it back (10 DAYS DOWNTIME).
2) First powering off issue, HP again insisted I ship it back (14 DAYS DOWNTIME).
3) Second powering off issue, HP again insisted I ship it back (14 DAYS DOWNTIME).

I am going to ask what can HP actually do with the on-site support, because if they tell me they can replace the battery for me... I'll ask for my money back. Totally misleading in how they sell the benefits of on-site support and turns out to be not only waste of money, but 1,350 productivity hours lost due to downtime (thus far).

If you buy HP, def buy the extended warranty. Or... buy from someone else who can fulfill their obligations. Don't get me wrong.. the ENVY is a very nice laptop. Personally, my experience has been subpar. Perhaps I'm a corner case and I don't doubt that. Looking back, I probably would have gotten another brand - just because the lacking support experience totally drags the laptop (regardless of performance) and HP's name to a brand I'll have to think twice before buying again.

Sorry for the long rant... though I think it's important for folks to hear about the good (care packs are worth it) and the bad (the support experience, if you're unluckily like me, can be below average).

 

I have dealt with many HP's for last 8 years and have never had an issue that needed the warranty. I personally wouldn't spend the money on the care package.

 

Stories like this make me feel like getting a Mac. At least I can go to my nearest Apple Store (20 min) and get it replaced easily. If something really bad happens then I can ship it and get it back within 1 week. Or so I heard.

I just bought the new Envy 14 + 2 yr accidental warranty. *Crosses fingers*

 

Most problems that happen with a notebook can be fixed by yourself for cheaper that what most warranties run, it's just a matter of whether or not you have the time to fix an issue should something come up.

Note I said most.

I ended up voiding my warranty to repaste the CPU and GPU, and that was the end of 2009, haven't had any issues yet s:

 

Hi lithium1330,

I came across your post and I want to insure your HP Envy was repaired. I work for HP and would like to review your experience. If your case hasn't been resolved please email me at [email protected] with your contact and product information. Please inlcude in the subject line Attn: Veronica-NBR

"The views expressed in my contributions are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views and strategy of HP"

 

lithium1330, I also work for HP and find your experience to be far from the norm. If you bought onsite support you tell them you want someone to come onsite to fix, it should never be a problem. That's what I do all day long, drive around to businesses and even customer's homes to fix the HP equipment. I can't say that you won't be jumping through hoops in the troubleshooting they request of you. But all that troubleshooting helps to get the correct part ordered the first time.

If you want PM me your model and serial number and I can verify that on-site support is tied to your serial number. Sometimes the extended warranties don't get registered properly and the agent you speak to doesn't know you purchased on-site service. Or if you are talking to Veronica in the post above she could also verify this for you.

 

I wish HP could give this level of Service to ALL its customers.

I wish I was a billionaire also.......

 

I would just get a 3rd party warranty off squaretrade or something. Cheaper, and faster returns.

 

It is an absolute ripoff, based upon my experience. Simply another method for HP to rake in revenues for your cash. Save the cash and purchase something else.

I got what I believed to be a pretty nice system, HDX18 with blue ray, large SATA drive, additional memory and the faster GPU. All in all it was about a $2,000 list price for a laptop. The offer also included a "free upgrade" to the soon to be released Windows 7 from Vista 64.

Disk drive went down and I had to replace that myself, with HP providing the new drive for the exchange. That was under the original base 1 yr. warranty. It takes about a day to get all of the software in Vista updated when doing a reinstall.

Just after the base 1 yr. warranty was up the computer started to have problems crashing and not booting normally, it would take 45 minutes. I'm convinced it was a problem with some of the drivers getting scrambled and conflicting. I had earlier had similar problems and a knowledgeable serivce rep was able to spend the time and run the tests to identify the problem so that I could fix the system with some new drivers. In the later case a lady told me that I could either purchase the extended warranty for $150 or pay them $50 an hour to work on the problem with me. After assuring me that she would work with me until the problem was identified and resolved, I signed up for the $150 deal. Immediately after the credit card info was exchanged she told me that she had to go and turned me over to someone else. Nice sales job with that big tale of deception. The new guy, after 5 minutes, told me the only was out was to do a complete reinstall. That wipes out all of the programs and setting you have on the disk. How helpful is that for an expert solution? Saves them any investment of time in identifying the problem and allows you, the user, the full pleasure of locating, reinstalling, and updating any other software over the next four or five days.

For the last 10 months I've been using the laptop for a place to park my coffee cup. I closed it and just let it sit. It made me angry to even look at the worthless junk and be reminded of the scam that HP had run on me.

Finally I decided that, even the $100 Dell mini had been very reliable, I was tired of trying to read information on the small screen. I also needed to get MS Office working again, instead of the Open Office series I'd been using.

I called customer support to start again in trying to identify the problem. The did take the call and we spoke long enough for them to tell me that, if I paid an additional $80, they had a super duper tune up method that would identify the problem and fix it. What the hell??? Identifying the problem is why I had paid them the first $150. Now it is another $80 of chizeling to get them to do anything other than chat about how easy it will be to do a complete install. I did try to D/L some drivers but to no effect and I was really going on blind guess. Because I had no alternative, I bit the bullett and started the reinstall process. Two days later most of the Vista stuff is running, at least as far as I can tell.

I then contacted customer support to inquire about the advertised and promised FREE UPGRADE to Windows 7 and how to install it. My thought had been that the initial reports on Win 7 indicated that it had as many bugs initially as Vista so I had not tried to use it. The computer had not been turned on for nearly a year anyway. If I was ging to get the thing figured out and reconfigured with all of the lost software, I would be better off using the now stable Windows 7.

You know what follows. The FREE UPGRADE was now going to cost me $80. that is their favorite number. The gave me a case number and upgraded it to a higher level rep. Case number is 7502043705 and the rep is Jennifer. That lady called me back to say that the would not honor the upgrade offer they promised and included to induce a sale of this piece of junk. It was not really their offer anyway, it was MS that actually was making the offer. who believes that? HP and all the other system sellers would have had to shut down for a few months as the new OS was being prepared for rollout. HP made the deal with me to get the sale immediately and promised the upgrade to Win 7, and they kept the $$$$ flowing for themselves.

I asked the High Powered rep if I could speak to her supervisor. Her reply was that her supervisors were not allowed to speak with a customer, none had ever spoken directly with a customer, HP policy prohibited them from speaking with a customer, and that she had made the final decision that the promised upgrade was not available. It was all a great big lie. I asked it they had any record of notifying me that there was a limited period for getting the upgrade? "NO." I asked her if they had shipped the disks for the new OS so that I had missed them someway. "NO." She further inferred that she could not understand why I would want to still use such an outdated piece of junk in the first place. The result is that if I pay them an additional $80 they might do what they promised in the first place. My guess is that if there was any conflicts in using the new Win7 system on this laptop configuration there would be more add on $$$ for them to reveal how to actually get the darned system to work.

The only aspect of the computer business that HP is very good at operating is charging your credit card. My advice is to not give them the opportunity to do that again.

 

aaCharley:

Do you have any credible issues here or are you just upset that you experienced issues only AFTER your initial manufacturer's warranty expired? Which is kind of what the whole point of the CarePack is to begin with.

A HDD is a customer replaceable part. Easy. If the common joe-sausage head cannot muster that then they simply have no business owning their notebook.

Your initial issues with drivers just happen. There is no magic bullet that can cure such a misfortune. It certainly is no reflection on the build quality of the hardware itself. What the rep explained for you to do, is pretty straight-forward and standard. Without sending your unit in, what else can you expect a help desk person to do, even if connected to your PC? I mean really - what else did you install or other devices that may have contributed to the cause? Let's get the whole story.

You did not receive the free Win7 upgrade, from a reason that I surmise as being that your particular system was either not purchased during the timeline specificed or you did not act within that timeline. With the last two OS upgrades offered, there was usually a window of three to six months from when a PC was purchased. You had your HP for over a year before you reacted and yet you criticize HP for your own inaction?.. c'mon man.

You're upset - I get that. But to me, from what you describe, your problems are tantamount from your own actions/inactions. You have no one to blame but yourself, IMO.

 

I had the "driver scramble" issue develop before the warranty expired. The service rep spent about 30 minutes helping me identify the cause and then replace the faulty software. That worked very well.

The issue that later developed was very similar in how it caused the computer to operate. When I contacted HP the second time I was asked to pay for the extended warranty, and after making the payment, I expected the same effort and service to identify and correct the problem. "I'll stay with you until we get this figured out" was the promise before I exchanged credit card info. What I failed to understand was that they simply wanted to figure out what the credit card number was so that they could get another $150. Once that was accomplished it was no longer in HP's interest to try to diagnose anything or help me do it. Let the customer wipe out all their data and installed programs with a new install of V64, spend several days getting it all back up to current update status. We have more selling to do at HP, we don't waste time with customer problems that cost us money. Then reinstall any other programs and get those set up and configured.

Further note that in dealing with the earlier software scramble issue the HP rep did spend the time and effort to identify the problem. I suspect that she was more knowledgeable than the ones I have dealt with more recently. In any case, while under the extended warranty and supposedly eligible for the same service, I'm now told that there is a new program that HP has available to identify those problems and make the repair. Good for HP as it saves them costs and expenses in the customer service area. However, because I've paid $150 for the extended service period and telephone support for resolving operating issues, they will allow me to pay another $80 to get this super duper money saver used on my equipment. Otherwise I can spend several days again reinstalling everything and getting it updated to current versions. The CS people don't do that themselves any more. How great is that for a consumer oriented business model? HP charges me more when they do less with less competent people. Of course, there would not be any assurance of a cure for the problem. Only the assurance that HP would have more of my cash.

Your provided excuse as it relates to Win 7 is simply illogical nonsense. A FREE UPGRADE is an UPGRADE without any CHARGE. Whatever that upgrade would have been, the version I would have now would be the current version as MS regularly sends down the various patches and improvements. It was almost entirely to HP's benefit to offer the free upgrade so that they could keep the hardware moving down the pipeline. Now, after making that sale using the promised inducement, it is to HP's benefit to tell the customer to stuff yourself. The software promised in the sales offer was not a "one time, never improved" version of Win 7. It was the fully liscensed version that would have been upgraded to whatever Win 7 is now. That is what I expected to get when I first took the bait on the HP offer. There was certainly no mention of any limited upgrade period. There was never any notice sent to me about an end of any upgrade period. In fact, HP should have simply sent the discs along to me when the OS was available from MS. How could that have gone wrong? Oh, yeah, they would not have got any more of my cash at HP. I was not expecting anything extraordinary from HP on the Win 7 upgrade. Just send along the software discs for the upgrade as was promised in the original sale. Come to find out that HP has an entire section of CS where the supervisors are ordered to never speak with a customer. Or maybe that was another false claim?

To the extent that there is no one to blame but myself, you may have a point. I simply blame myself for ever believing that HP was going to operate as they promised. The point of the earlier post was to warn others that, if they send cash to HP and expect anything for it, they will soon be blaming themselves for making the same error I did. Don't Do It to yourself, as I did.

 

I've had many HP products over the years and generally I will by a carepak if the computer or other equipment is expensive and one that I plan on using for 3-5 years, If so I would purchase the CarePak.

I have also purchased systems for relatives that do not feel comfortable opening the system up and replacing items such as hard drives or DVD drives I don't think that this should disqualify them from purchasing a laptop and yes in these cases we did purchase the CarePak with in-home service.

 

You forgot to mention that a Macs cost nearly twice as much, so you actually already paid for all that neat service.

As to the warranty? They're typically not necessary. Since most problems that occur will occur within the warranty period, spending money on extra coverage really doesn't pay off. Also keep in mind the extensive small print. They're usually supported by third party vendors and recycled parts.

Anyway, it is still a good idea to save that money you would have used for the warranty. That way, if it does fail, you will have the money to pay for it (usually <$200). If it does not, it's still your money.

For the record, I took that directly form Consumer Reports. Nevertheless, you should also keep in mind that computer are inherently unreliable.

 

im wondering if hp is in fact getting out of the pc buisness how wise it would be to buy a two year warranty that they may not honor if they are "out of the buisness". or if someone picks up hp there is no guarantee they will honor the warranty either. i got burned after buying a warranty from compusa then they closed down and would not honor it. i wont risk it happening with hp.

 

It's a greater likelihood that the warranty doesn't actually come from HP. Rather, some lesser third party vendor that operates through an association with them. Nevertheless, they may still choose not to honor it even if Hp's stability is unaffected. HP most likely only recommends them for profit.

 

I purchased a Pavilion dv6 laptop last March with a 4-year extended warranty with in-home care. In June the video cam stopped working and I experienced the same treatment as others here by the entirely disrespectful folks over at HP. Each time I call in which is disconcertingly often so far (June video cam not working; Sept called again re video cam; Oct internal mic not working; Nov computer wouldn't START), I get the runaround. I'm told each time someone will call me back to either continue phone diagnosing, or to have an on-site "manager" attend to my issue, yet each time either I get NO call back, or I'm told I need to send in the machine. Which I can't do, which is why I bought such an expensive and comprehensive "care pack."

I see the HP Care Packs as USELESS. I just needed to spend $300 having a local computer company look at and fix my machine given HP's so-called support wouldn't even return my call to continue diagnosing my machine not starting up -- of course, I was mid-job so could not send it anywhere and needed an in-home / immediate repair. I got it, but only by spending yet more $ on this <1 year old machine. I am fairly outraged at HP's lack of support, not to mention quality of product.

I called two days ago to see about returning my useless and UNUSED extended warranty, got the run around for 2 HOURS, then reaching some character who said he'd call me back the next day because the refund was beyond his scope of refundability (he need to get someone else's "approval" (Where am I, a used car dealership?!)). Of course I didn't hear back. So today if I can stomach it, will need to spend my 7th hour of attempts at getting ANY support from HP, after handing over my $400 last March for the extended warranty.

HP's warranty for sure is a waste of money and especially time asking them to honor their extended warranty-contract with you if you buy it, given their reliable refusal to help me. I am also worried about the quality of product given the number of issues I've had with the laptop so far. Yuck.... I worked using HPs for decades and the internal corporate IT team fixed minor issues so quickly/easily I figured the manufacturer would do the same, yet... seems not. A lowly home-use buyer is definitely not respected or supported by HP.

 

I usually don't EVER buy extended warranties but one of my purchased DV6's came with it and I was sure glad it did!

Here is the NR Thread on the full story: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-pavilion-notebooks/699597-hp-warranty-service-case-study-log.html

 

While I still recommend extended warranties for desktops and laptops, I do not like that even with the HP Onsite warranty - HP will NOT replace motherboards onsite. You have to mail your laptop into HP for this service. All of my previous Dell's that had to have a motherboard replacement would replace it onsite with my Dell extended at home warranties.

Extended warranties have more than paid for themselves on every desktop and laptop that myself and relatives have owned.

 

I'll make this simple: In my own very recent experience, HP Customer Support and Service sucks dead bunnies through a straw. You get to talk to some clueless clown in India, who will read a script off of his/her screen. In my case I ended up spending my own money to solve a problem with the laptop, simply because my time is a lot more valuable than the cost of the replacement part. Hell, in this case I was quickly getting to the point where I could have bought a whole new laptop for the time I wasted on this crap. Needless to say, I'll never buy an HP product again.

 

I'm at day 97 without a working laptop with my HP Care package.
Over 3 returns, getting my laptop with new broke parts every time it was returned and the wrong screen.
Most 1 day shipping taking 5 both ways.
Never called back,, Lied to,
Over 30 calls to HP and no solution yet.
My case manager is trying to strong arm me into the same laptop they failed to fix 3 times in a row and will have to pay another 170$ for a new warrenty after waiting a month for them to build it and give me no upgrades, after i've spent nearly 100 days, 50$ in gas, 170$ on a warrenty that did not work since they failed to repair the laptop every time, replacing it with the wrong screen, They broke the webcam, Mic, Keyboard, and wifi each trip. They don't contact me for days at a time, and so much more.

They have lost a customer for the next 50 years because of this bullcrap, I shall lead tweets,facebook, and forums, Customer reviews, and make sure none of my friends or family buy HP again. File whatever i can against this for this fraud.

I keep getting monica.

I got a call today but from monica, same for emails.

She told me to pick one of her two offers or i'll be waiting a week to hear the next one.

Offers me a upgraded laptop but without the one thing i needed, then downgrades everything and offers me one with a downgraded one of what i asked, and tells me i have to pick or wait a week, for another similar offer.

I'm already going to have to pay 170$+ for a new warranty even though my previous one i only had 3 months and she wont adknowdge my question about that when i asked. My laptop was NEVER FIXED even once! Only broken more each time it was

sent back to me after 3 months, Only having it the times it took you forever to acknowledge or contact me after being a week late a few times to just send me a box to send it back and spending 40$+ in gas to go to the fedex place all the times

Days wasted at home putting my stuff i needed to do out and about on hold if i wanted my laptop, Hours on the phone, and messing up my last 3 months for things i've needed to do with it, taking much longer on a inferior laptop that i've

had to borrow.

I guess their normal practice is to delay, not call back, lie to, waste costumers time and money, take unreasonably long times to get something done, and try to strong arm someone because they need a laptop ASAP and most

wont take the time to deal with it and accept what ever crappy offer is delt them to get it back in a quickly and timely manner.
97+ days and counting now.

Most days I did not get a call back even when promised, was given the run around that took 2+ hours and 7 transfers, just to be told to call her back from monica the first time she called me.
One week just to get 2 offers back from monica about a laptop replacement, with at least 6 calls over 4 days to even get in contact with her the first time.

Is my money(gas,having to get someone to take care of stuff for me since i was having to wait to sign for a package each time to get it back broken or wrong),
time not doing things i needed to do,
EXTREME inconvenience (Having to message you guys here, on facebook and other places, finding your information, Looking up information about what i can do, how close you guys are coming to fruad or other things, and who to buy for

future products instead of you and how to spread the word if this isnt fixed for 3 months now)

Trying to be strongarmed into making a choice that is in no way acceptable, offering me a much better laptop but taking that way because i needed 1 thing changed, after ALL OF THIS TROUBLE! and being told i'd have to wait a week if i

dont choose today after already waiting all this time, and being impossible to contact her for 4 days befor she would call me back after sending me on a wild goose chase(Check her log for the messages i've had other case managers leave

and then one nice guy at HP who was a case manager, went above and beyond his job and contacted her in person the next morning when she got in to get her to actually call me, If i can i'd like to give reps+ or whatever i can to that

employee, He was the one on monday i think that left a message for her on her pc as well i believe, would be the only male that i contacted i think at that time), and being told no one else can help me whenever i call but my case

manager that ignores me most of the time and talks to me like i'm no one, just someone bothering her.

What kind of service is this?

Some possible enchances to make your care package page more accurate. Even added how some reviews would be from me and my fiance.




HP Care Package,
The truth - no one cares.

$175

HP 2 year Accidental Damage Protection w/3 day Onsite Response for 1y warranty
Overview
Lonely? Need someone to talk to? Enjoy them playing hard to get? Want 24x7 Techincal support that just one person that works there, during that persons hours that they work help you get something resolved? For example: • If you buy the

2-year plan when you purchase your pc, You can at any time call HP and get told to call other numbers, be ignored for days, and to test your strength and how much of a man and how badly you need a laptop, settle for the first thing we

offer or not get anything for along time.
Features
On-site hardware repair, in Texas
On-site repair after remote diagnosis of the problem by a highly trained technical monkeys: The on-site repair process includes remote diagnosis, which may result in sending the customer an easy-to-replace part(That most users can't

do), scheduling a visit to the customer’s home within a month or office– with the technician arriving within 3 business days of logging the call with HP and determining that an on-site visit is required– or, in rare instances (J/k, 99%

of the time) sending the customer’s PC to an HP-authorized repair site in Texas.Proper Repair not Guaranteed or correct computer parts installed. On-site visits are available 8am-8pm local time, Monday-Saturday, excluding holidays.
Regardless of the Customer's coverage window, problems with covered hardware can be reported to the HP Response Center via telephone or electronically, as locally available, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. HP will acknowledge the receipt

of the service request and notify the local office at the next coverage window. HP retains the right to determine the final resolution of all reported problems. If you pay a bunch
Onsite response times or call-to-repair times, as applicable, for service requests submitted electronically or outside of the coverage window may vary.
Expect 1-4 months Solutions that will cost you hundreads in case, time and if you have prepaid phone cards many many minutes of free music that are transferable if you call.

Special features include:
Sending us your laptop back if our highly traind monkeys do not fix it.
If they get it wrong 3 times, back to back to back for months after delays of poo flinging,
Get a brand new laptop replacement! Only 175$ more for coverage for that one and repeat the process for fun!

Reviews:
Excellent!
Jason Glass Wrote:
did just that, had to wait months.I got to talk to many people around the world that I would of not of gotten to talk to otherwise. Its just like real life, but they make money, most don't care, a few good people and nothing gets

done.

Good If i had it.
Liliana
My laptop has been broken for 3 years, had a overheating problem from the start, but my parents didn't buy the care package so I never got it replace, Haven't had a working laptop in years.

 

That's quite odd as HP changed over my 2740p motherboard on site. (UK)