Help needed with HP technical support issue

Hi, has anybody ever mailed their HP laptop out of warranty to get repaired? I had a really awful experience with HP technical support in the past two days. My HP Pavillion ZX5000 didn't boot after I disassembled and reassemble it. I knew something must be wrong with the motherboard. I called HP technical support and the Indian guy I talked to on the phone told me they will charge me $298 to get it repaired. I asked him if there is any additional charge for replacing the motherboard. He told me everything is included in the $298. I thought it is not a bad deal and mailed the laptop to them. Yesterday I found on their website, which shows the repair status, that the charge increased from $322 to $755 !!! I called them and got the answer that the LCD panel is damaged and it is not included in the $298. I told them the LCD panel worked very well before I mailed the laptop to them. This time again the guy I talked to is an Indian. He told me another guy will give me a call today between 10AM and 6 PM to discuss with me about the repair charge. The call came around 6:30 PM. Another Indian guy told me the LCD panel is fine this time . They charged me $755 because the $298 is only a minimal charge. If any major hardware is damaged and need to be replaced there are additional charges, and many parts of my laptop need to be replaced, the motherboard, the optical drive, the battery, the keyboard, the touchpad becuase there was a major liquid spill. I asked him what is exactly included in the minimal charge. He said only repairing little things like the keys are included while any replacement is not.I told him I got totally wrong informaiton about the charge and the repair during the previous calls. After a long time of arguing he told me he can lower the price to $600 which he think is the best offer . I feel like it is a planned robbery. Do you all agree with me? What the hell do they think they are doing? I told them the price is not acceptable and I want my laptop back without any repair. He told me I can only get $200 refund which mean they are still going to charge me $122 for maybe just shippment. I feel I was so cheated by them. What a dirty company! I still want to argue with them. I will appreciate if anyone can give me some advice. Thank you for your attention. I am sorry my message is a little long.

 

Notebook parts are highly specialized. Since they can only be sourced from the manufacturer, in this case HP, they tend to be expensive. Did you spill liquid on your notebook?

 

Yeah, but it was months ago. water spill mainly on the keyboard, my fault. But after days' drying the laptop worked normal again, only Caps lock key malfunctioned. Recently the "z" key also died. I disassembled it because I want to see if any miracle could happen.

 

You can't blame HP for spilling liquid on your keyboard. The effects from the spill may not appear right away.

 

So you think it is fair for them to charge that much? And I can do nothing about it at all? I am so bankrupt.

 

If they don't charge you until after they return the laptop, and the charge is fraudulent, then don't pay it. Your case will probably get lost in the corporate folds. Even if anything ever comes of it, as long as the charges are fraudulent I can't see how you could ever be forced to pay them.

If they refuse to return your laptop until they get their kickback, I suggest reporting them to the BBB and the California Attorney General. I know that they do respond to their BBB complaints.