HP Hell experience

So this is my experience with HP.

I bought a HP Pavilion laptop in late April, and after few weeks sent it back to HP for reparation because the screen was defective. It is not nice for new laptops, but I guess it can happen...

HP tried to repair it, sent it back to me, and.... surprise! The screen was still not working fine! I was really disappointed, spent hours on the phone and writing emails, asked for a refund but HP refused to refund, and offered to repair it. With no choice, I had to send it again to HP for reparation.

Even more strange is that they sent it back to me after the second reparation attempt, and the screen is still not working properly.

Now it is a week that I call and write emails to HP, and even now they refuse to give any refund! They only offer to try to repair it for a third time. Of course I do not believe that they are able to repair it, because they already tried two times! So now it is more than two months that I am either without laptop or with a laptop with a screen that does not work fine.
I contacted them by any mean, phone, email, Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/HPSverige/posts/745171292188785 ), etc.

I am so disappointed by HP, both for the product, but even more for their customer service. I would not have dreamt of buying something from them if I knew that they behave in this way with their customers. Btw it is HP in Sweden.

I feel desperate. What can I do?

 

whats wrong with the screen? Usually HP just replaces the screen with a new one.

 

Call HP support again. Have the following ready:

Model number
Serial number
Claim/job numbers from your attempted repairs
Original Purchase date... or warranty start date.
Dates of repairs
Length of time for both repairs and total time with a broken notebook.

"Calmly" explain the issue again to the first attendant (frustrating I know... but be patient). When they have finished, ask for a "Case Manager". If they refuse, politely ask to speak to their supervisor... then ask for a Case Manager again. I'm not sure how it is where you are, but here (USA) if you call HP support in the evenings you usually get someone in the Philippines (no help) however if you call in the mornings you often get someone in the US northwest. I would hope that HP has a Call Center in Sweden but I have know idea how it works there.

I have had good luck with HP support... as long as you don't rant, stay positive, but remain persistent and Write Down names and/or employee numbers. In your case I think they would just replace your notebook but only a case manager can do that for you.

Best, Dave

KLF... you are at least close by, any ideas?

 

Well this is how it looks now... https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwCJYMbQCCiLZ0tRQ2w0MHdXU2F1NkNHbEVrUXQ4V21TSEI0/edit?usp=sharing

HP said that they replaced it for 2 times, but every time it was defective. I cannot understand how is it possible, and why they didn't event test the screen before sending it back to me..!

 

Thank you Dave,

sure I phoned them dozens of times, and send dozens on mails... with all the details, of course, always keeping calm. I even talked with someone that stated to be "the highest manager" there, "I'm as high as you can get here". But he refused the refund, said that the error is not the same, that there are multiple hardware failures of the screen, all in succession, which sounds even more strange than an unfixed screen.

Yep, the good thing is that they are here in the country where i live (Sweden), so we can communicate.

I will call them again every day, I really cannot believe that they can act in such a way, really not giving any consideration to a paying customer.

 

STOP asking for a refund, no company in the world would refund you if you are outside their return window. A warranty does not guarantee a REFUND. Why do you feel entitled to a refund? A whole laptop replacement yes, but not a full refund. Stop demanding refunds, and ask politely for a new laptop, and in my experience, HP will offer replacement laptop under warranty, if yours cant be fixed. I honestly have had good experience with HP warranty requests.

If by any chance there is a company that offers refunds for warranty requests, please post the name of the company here.

 

Dear E90dima,

I already asked for a replacement laptop after I received it defective after the first reparation attempt, so after receiving from HP a defective product for the second time. They denied a replacement. Even now they stated that they just offer a third reparation attempt, and add that there is no limit to the reparation attempts that they can make.

To be honest, everybody I talk to tells me that my customer expectation is very reasonable. And, to be honest, I never, EVER, heard about a story like mine: receiving a defective laptop (bought from the official online store of the producer), sending it to reparation, receiving it still defective (!), sending it to reparation for the second time, and receiving it from the second reparation attempt still defective. And always defective in the same part (the screen). This is something out of any possible expectation of a paying customer.

If I really have to think about other laptops that I bought, well, they all worked from day 1. They had zero problems. Of course after some years they got obsolete and the hard disk had some defects (after years of use). Maybe it was luck, of course, and other people I know had problems, but, the difference is that the customer service resolved them, instead in my case they keep sending me defective products. It is quite different, indeed. I would not be so disappointed to receive a defective product - it's very unfortunate, but it can happen. What baffles me is that after that they tried to repair it for two times and that for these two times they sent me the product still defective in the same part (the screen). And still deny me a refund.

 

Honestly, forget about getting a refund. I do find it very very weird that it came back defective twice. Send it in for repairs again, and politely inform them that you were out of a laptop for X amount of weeks, and ask if they are willing to replace the laptop with a new one. Be sincere, as the people who work for HP are also humans, and most of the time, they understand your frustration. Good Luck

 

As far as I know, it actually is hosted in Sweden by my former employer actually
There is the Finnish support too (they were looking for more people ~few years ago).

Consumer protection works differently in every country, basic seems pretty similar to what we have here.

Defective goods/Complaint - Konsumentverket

Reading between the lines, if manufacturer (HP) cannot/will not repair the product in reasonable time (varies) it is consumer's right to demand seller for a solution instead (be it refund, repair, replacement). Then it's up to the seller to deal with manufacturer/supplier whoever, no more consumers problem.

What you could do when you have the computer again in your hands and it doesn't work:
go to the store you bought it from, with the receipt of course and hand it over to them. It becomes their problem. Ask for a receipt/note that shows when you have left your computer for them.

You could include brief note about what already has been done and case numbers for the unsuccesful repairs (this will speed up the process, since then they have proof that the computer really is broken).

At least that's how it usually works here

Spoiler

Since I've worked on retail/support for last 15 years I can tell you a secret. Stay calm, don't "demand" or constantly refer to your knowledge of consumer rights**... Just say the person who receives the computer that you have gotten a lemon and it would be great if the problem could be fixed. Because there is usually two ways to do this, first is to "fix" the problem, that's what is done to the nice customers. The other way is to do it by the book**, following the procedures to the letter like in the former DDR. It probably takes more time, gets you the bare minimum required by the law and leaves both you and the seller with a bitter taste. It costs nothing to try the softer route first

**first requires the second to be done

Of course there is sellers that do not have any decent customer service and only do the bare minimum when threatened by the consumer agency If it goes that way, contact the consumer agency and ask for instructions.

I probably forgot something but I hope this is a start

 

Man! … it really is becoming a very small world. From Sweden, LucaLuca asks for advice with an HP issue. He/She gets some meager advice from a guy(s) in the US who asks the mod in Finland for some more localized input. Our friendly Fin comes to the rescue of his neighbor across the gulf. At least I hope it works out that way. Small world indeed…. I sincerely hope it works out for you there Luca.

And as always… thanks there KLF… for checking in.

Best to all, Dave

 

I think you are right, I feel it is always better to appeal to fairness and humanity, before appealing to the compulsory consumer law protection :thumbsup:
Actually, I had employees saying "yes, I personally agree with you", and "if I were you I would do the same"... anyway, it looks like the case is coming to an happy ending - I will write it below

 

Ahah! It's a very small world indeed

 

So, I am happy to announce that, after several attempts, I had the assistance of some kind and helpful HP managers, that asked the Swedish customer relations to consider for a second time the case. Now, they offered by phone and email a full refund, so hopefully this is ending positively soon.

Even more important is that they stated that they are setting up a procedure to avoid similar cases in the future, so future customers can avoid to experience my problems. :thumbsup:

 

Great news

We've had similar problems here before, when manufacturer's guidelines were written in another country and they weren't following local consumer laws. Somebody needs to poke them, make people in local position to realize where the problem is and then eventually a local policy is made. It sucks to be the first one, though