Horrible HP Support

Hi,
I’m writing here to express my frustration with HP’s support and service. I need to express this in public in some way, since HP Support seem to take advantage of the fact that you can only contact them in 1-on-1 calls by being rude, insulting, arrogant, and unhelpful.

Back in February, I purchased an HDX-16 notebook from Costco. Immediately upon starting up the computer, I noticed small black lines on the screen. Within a few days, I returned the product to Costco. They acknowledged the problem, and offered to replace the unit with another brand new laptop. They didn’t, however, have the same model available, so I was offered any other equal-valued machine, or a full refund. At the time, I really thought the HDX-16 was a great laptop, and preferred to keep this same model. The people at Costco told me to contact HP to see if they would replace or repair the laptop. I did. This is where the incompetence began.

- I spoke to an HP representative on the phone, described the problem in detail, and was assured that it would be replaced or repaired at no cost to me. I asked if he was completely sure, since going the HP route would mean that I would turn down an offer for a complete refund. He assured me again that I had nothing to worry about.

- Very shortly after this (a few more days perhaps), I again called HP to confirm the situation. I informed the representative that I was finishing my University Degree, and that it would be very inconvenient for me to send the computer back immediately, but I would if I had to. This person took extremely detailed descriptions of the problem, literally down to the millimetre (I had to measure), and once again, assured me that the screen would be replaced at no cost to me. He also told me that I had “a ton of warranty left” and that I could wait as long as I wanted before returning the computer.

- Fast-forward several months, and I finally had the chance to send the laptop away. I called again to have the box sent out. Once again, the representative took a detailed description of the problem, and once again, assured me that the screen would be replaced at no cost to me. In his words, “they’ll just pop off the screen and pop a new one back on”. The box was sent to me.

What I’d like to note is that out of three of these representatives, not one of them suggested in any way that there was even a possibility that the arrangement might change. I later discovered that they were simply giving me their own unqualified opinions, and that the repair center actually had the last word.

- A few days after I sent the laptop back, I received a phone call from HP. They told me that the screen had “customer-induced damage”, and that it wasn’t covered under warranty. I was completely taken aback, as I hadn’t even considered the fact that the representatives I had already spoken to didn’t have the authority to give me the information they had. They had assured me three times, and at the time, I had no reason not to believe them.

- I was very displeased with this turn of events, and when I was told that it would cost me almost $500 to replace the screen, and that there was nothing they could do for me at all, I asked to have the case escalated. This was where the real fun began.

- The first Case Manager I spoke to gave me attitude before I even had a chance to speak. He seemd to have answered the phone with his back up, and was extremely rude and condescending to me. He ignored basically every question I asked, as if I hadn’t even spoken, and simply informed over and over again that the damage wasn’t covered under warranty (I wasn’t arguing against this, as this was not my issue - horribly incompetent misinformation was). I asked to speak to someone else, and was informed that an Executive Case Manager would call me the next day.

- The next day, I did indeed speak to an Executive Case Manger. What surprised me most was that his attitude suggested that satisfying the customer was less a priority for him than simply getting rid of me. Once again, he told me that the damage wasn’t covered under warranty, and when I informed him that I wasn’t arguing this, his response was “Yes, you are”. I almost laughed. He didn’t listen to a word I said, and after about an hour and half, he told me that another Executive Case Manager would call me the next day.

- The next day I received another phone call. This woman was amazing rude. She simply yelled at me and insulted me for over an hour. I’m still shocked by the way I was spoken to, and by the way she (and the other case managers) simply refused to acknowledge my questions or comments. They acted as if I wasn’t there. I was offered to have 50% of the cost covered, but wasn’t satisfied with this offer since misinformation on behalf of HP had meant that I turned down a perfectly-working replacement. I asked for a corporate number, and that the case remain open. I was given the corporate number, and told that I had 5 days to call before the case would be close.

- I called the corporate number, which was in California, and was informed that, since I was Canadian, this was the wrong number (I was given this number by Canadian support). I was given an e-mail address to send my complaint to.

- The next day, FedEx dropped my computer off at my house. ?????

- I called the same woman I had been speaking to, and she completely denied having made any mistakes. I informed her that the number she had given me was incorrect, and was for US customers only. She said I was wrong. She also informed me that the e-mail address I had been given was for printer support, not laptop support (this after I had spent over 2 hours writing an e-mail detailing the case the night before).

- After about 15 minutes of her telling me she had given me the right number, and me saying that the representative at that number was telling me differently, she put me on hold for 5 minutes, and came back with the right number.

- Upon opening my laptop, I discovered that the damage to the screen was much greater than it had been when I sent it away. It had been an annoyance, but the laptop was still usable. It is no longer usable for anything that requires more than ¾ of the screen.

My issue was not a warranty issue. If I had been informed that this would be reviewed to determine whether or not the case fell under warranty... If I had known that I was taking any sort of chance... I would have simply taken the replacement or refund from Costco. My issues are:

- That I was misinformed by HP representatives over and over again, and still have not received any acknowledgement of this
- That I was treated like a piece of trash by almost every representative I spoke to
- That my laptop was returned in worse condition than it was originally in
- That there is no official public forum to discuss HP’s support.

The problem is that in a 1-on-1 call, representatives can lie and treat you however they wish to treat you, but no one will know about this but you and the representative. They want to keep knowledge of their horrible service out of the public eye, even though they are obviously aware of it (do a Google search, you’ll find the same complaints over and over... apathetic, rude support, and no genuine concern from HP about satisfying unhappy customers).
I plan to spread this message as far as I can, with the hopes that I can prevent as many people as possible from purchasing any HP products in the future. Thanks to anyone who reads this.

 

Hey there,

I understand that you're frustrated. This type of incident is a rarity and it can happen with any of the major computer manufacturers.

I do find it odd that the case managers were really confrontational with you. In my experience, I was always polite and courteous with the assigned manager and they seemed compelled to waive and/or nullify any of the supposed repair charges.

For every negative interaction, there are several more positive interactions.

Your case can still conclude in your favor. Click the following link and provide as much information as feasibly possible.

HP Executive Team: CEO email

In the past, the above link has favored many HP customers.

Let us know how it goes...

- Infamous

P.S. I was never treated like trash. HP has stood by me and will continue to do so for every future HP purchase that I make.

 

Hi,

thanks, I appreciate your reply. I've been an HP customer for years (we currently have 3 HP laptops in our home), but this was the first time I'd dealt with customer support.

Most of the bad attitudes came from the two Executive Case Managers, particularly the second one. I'd ask a question, they'd act like I hadn't spoken... wouldn't even address it. It was just plain weird, to be honest. The first three conversations I had were fine, but they made mistakes which had serious consequences for me.

But thanks for the link. I will contact them through this email address, and I will post back in the future with updates.

Again, thanks for the reply.

 

I've been a customer as well for a number of years. Although, I have not been the subject of this type of behavior, there are a few who have coped in similar scenarios.

I know everything will work out for you.

 

If you're still having problems with it try calling Costco's customer service. If you explain the situation they'll probably offer you options beyond HP's hit or miss support.

 

Lemmme get this straight.

You voluntarily kept a known-defective, near DoA system when you had every opportunity to return it to the point of sale.

And then you 'exported' that defective system out of the country of original sale.

And then you waited 'several months' before you decided to try and get it repaired.

It's certainly regrettable that your machine and experience with HP has been bad.

But would you have done the same thing with a car? A digital camera? A home theater system? Any consumer purchase of say around, U$1500?

 

How about you worry about the present time? What happened in the past cannot be changed and is therefore irrelevant to the current nature of this thread.