Need Help Filing SMALL CLAIM COURT against HP

I have HP Pavillion DV9700 that I bought from an ebay seller
when I bought it it was till under warranty so I called HP and bought 2 years extended in house warranty for 159$ from HP back in 2010.
I have 2 more months left in the warranty still.

2 months back around March 30 my LCD burnt out ( have the high resolution 1080p screen and called HP they sent me a screen and a technician that came and installed the part couple days later but that screen was a low resolution 720p.

called customer support and explained the issue they escalated the issue to case manager Dezerai, She asked me to send it in for repair so I did 1 week later they tell me it is out of warranty repair due to water damage, I requested for the water damage pic and they sent bunch of pics and it showed no water or corrosion I wrote a long email to my case manager explaining everything and she agreed to have it repaired.

that took another week and I got my computer back .. it is messed up missing screws hinges are lose does not even turn on, called the case manager and after couple phone calls she agreed to replace it so we agree on an ENVY 17 laptop replacement, she placed the order and said it would take 2 weeks, waiting full of hope excited for my new laptop 12 days later I get a call from HP EXECUTIVE CASE MANAGER Micheal, he is telling me that the other case manager made a mistake and due to the age of the laptop they can not replace it but he can guarantee that it can be fixed. and sent me a box to send it in for repair.
repair took 4 weeks now I have been without laptop for 2 Months.

Many many calls to the new case manager I get no update on the case...

the laptop is untouched it was sent to me in the same not working with missing screws and lose hinges

after 3 days I get the Exec Case manager on the phone he says, we can not fix the computer because that screen is not made fro your computer any more, and we can not replace this laptop because your warranty is actually not good because you bought the laptop from eBay and not directly from HP, but he generously offered to REFUND MY HP TOTAL CARE that I bought from HP back in 2010.

and that is pretty much it and hangs up, I told him I will file a suite he said here is our fax umber just fax us the court papers.


HOW ILLEGAL IS THAT... that is like getting car insurance and when you get in to accident car insurance gives you 200$ that you paid for that months insurance instead of 20000$ that your car is worth.

I live in NEw York Nassau County
please help me out with filing a small claim court against HP, I know bunch of people have done this so little details of where to get the form and how to file the claim and what to write

in New York I know I can sue for 5000$ and something about triple damages.

how much should I sue for? the price of the replacement laptop that I was offered by the first case manager times three?

do they usually respond to small claim courts files in NY or will they just settle?



===============================================

UPDATE JUNE 8, 2012

this is all the info you need to sue HP



Just to make this easier for people to do

HP locations in the country HP locations in United States | HP


HP in New York City according to department of state

Entity Information

I could not find one in Nassau county so in NY we file in Manhattan only.

C/O C T CORPORATION SYSTEM
111 EIGHTH AVENUE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10011

Chairman or Chief Executive Officer
MARGARET C WHITMAN
3000 HANOVER ST
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, 94304-1112

Principal Executive Office
HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY
3000 HANOVER ST
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, 94304-1112

Registered Agent
C T CORPORATION SYSTEM
111 EIGHTH AVENUE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10011

and filing the claim is very easy

5min online TurboCourt - Legal Paperwork Assistance

or court payments online | government payments online | nCourt


total cost 35$

some instruction for NY small claims court
New York City Small Claims Court


-----------------------------------

UPDATE JULY 2012

I got a call from HP and was offered to settle for the price of the laptop, expenses and court fees.
got my check a week later.. END OF STORY

 

Couple of suggestions.

1. Please use proper grammar, capitalization, and punctuation. It really helps get your point across. Furthermore, it'll help if/when you file your lawsuit.

2. You need to document your calls with HP by date. You must also include the name of the person you spoke with and how long the call approximately lasted. You must also list, point by point, what was asked and what was mentioned by both you and the person you spoke with.

3. You need to have proof of purchase of the laptop. So, you would have the invoice and the charge on your credit card to show how much you paid and where you bought it from. You must also have proof for both the original and extended warranties.

4. You must document all issues with your laptop and when each issue occurred and what exactly you did to try and resolve those issues.


You MUST PUT IN THE EFFORT. No one can tell you what exactly to say. That is up to you. How much you sue for is also up to you.Though, you need to read up on your state's laws. Again, no one else is going to do the work for you. This is YOUR JOB and YOU MUST PUT IN THE EFFORT. We can only guide.

 

sorry about my spelling. I wrote that in rush and English is not my 1st language.

showing the records and webpage from HP saying that the computer is under warranty would not be enough.

What is the name, address and info I should use for HP in small claim court in New York?

Thank you.

 

No vendor wants to go to court and will make every effort to avoid that if at all possible. If you sue you will need to prove that you made every reasonable attempt to contact HP to get your laptop fixed. You will also first have to prove that it was under warranty when it was reported, and that their claim that it was damaged by water in not so. ALWAYS TAKE DATED PICTURE BEFORE SENDING YOUR COMPUTER OFF FOR REPAIRS.

It is possible to win these cases (I've won two of this type) but you have to be methodical about your record keeping. The easier you make it for a judge/arbitrator to see a trail of appeals, the more likely it is you will get what you asked for.

Good luck

 

this is the final resolution I got from HP:
--------------------
from the Hewlett Packard AMS TCO Escalations team:

As per our conversation I am sending this email to confirm that we will not be able to repair the Notebook due to the age of the product. The parts that are required to resolve the issue are no longer available. We will not be able to replace the Notebook either due to the age of the Notebook.

I have requested for you to send me a copy of the purchase receipt of the Carepack for this Notebook from back in 2010. I am willing to provide you with a 100% refund of this Carepack. Carepacks can and should only be purchased through HP's Home & Home Office at the original time of the purchase of the product in question. The product itself needs to be purchased directly from the Home & Home Office to be eligible for the Carepack. Your Notebook was purchased through eBay in 2008. A CTO product cannot be purchased through eBay.

-----------------------------


Is that legal?

I bought my laptop form an ebay so what?
HP knew that when they sold me the care pack..
HP knew that when they activated the care pack
HP knew that when they asked me to send the product in for repair.

Can they legally back out of the warranty?

I got the form for the small claim court and will be filing it sooner or later but I am wondering if what they are doing here is legal?
Can I request for Treble Damages in this case due to the deceit and fraud in which they are running a business?

Thanks Guys

 

My guess is that it's because eBay is an auction site and you probably did not purchase it from an authorized dealer.

 

how does it change the fact that they sold me the warranty and took my money for 2 years evethough they knew that the product was bought on ebay. i have had under warranty repairs done before, this one is just costing them more so they are ignorring my warranty.

 

... Read the small print upon buying the warranty! I'd probably think that there's something in there

 

Take the money offered and wash your hands of HP!

 

An authorized seller I suppose. I've certainly seen that before.

Hp takes care of Hps interest. Its up to you to understand and take care of yours.

You're assuming this is one guy controlling everything. In fact, its a large company with many employees looking out for whats best for their company. Don't take it personally, HP doesn't.

If there is an exclusion, of course. I suspect there are many.

Lawyer charge about $300 hour. Now you're asking legal questions. You can ether prepare for a big (and expensive) fight, or go with the consolation prize.

This ^^

 

My advice (I'm a third year law student, so take it for what it's worth), you can file the suit and have a fair chance no matter what the fine print says as HP may have accepted your laptop into the warranty program with constructive notice that you did not purchase the warranty from HP or an authorized seller. If you win the suit, you're not going to get specific performance (making them fix your laptop), however.

If you win, you are going to get cash to the tune of the value of the laptop (a more than four year old machine) in working order which seems to be under $200 judging from ebay. You cannot get treble damages for fraud as fraud is very hard to prove and you don't have evidence to get you there (you have to prove they acted knowing your machine was not eligible for the program and were not merely acting negligently), so no treble damages.

You might be able to convince the judge to give you slightly more by showing a modern machine with similar or low end specs, but you are unlikely to get much more than the value of the warranty that they're offering to you anyway. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the reply

I have emails showing the equal laptop they offered me and I can get the price for that laptop off of HP's website and that would come out to 1700$ or so.

When I sue I will sue for the price of an equal laptop from HP's website. that is what they would do in warranty situation. (as they did here and offered me the replacement laptop)

I did buy the warranty directly from HP.

this seems to me exactly like a case of a car insurance. You buy Insurance on your car from company X for 200$/month and it gets wrecked, The insurance company then offers you your 200$ back instead of repair your car that would cost them 15,000$. How is that not fraud? How is that not illegal?

 

i hate to be a negative nancy, but this entire thread screams hurrdurr. how has this not been closed?

gco2011, where do you go to law school? aren't you ethically and lawfully prohibited from offering op (or anybody for that matter) legal advice?

Sent from my PI39100 using Board Express

 

I am suing HP in NY , Nassau county, does HP have a NY address?

Do I use their CA address?

 

you can use any address you'd like. where you gonna serve them is the question...

 

Once again... did you actually 'read' the terms? The extended warranties are usually listed within the accessories section of a machine and should really be purchased at the same time as the machine (Not from ebay).

I myself have purchased machines from ebay and had them fixed under the ADP warranty service... I KNEW that they could question the purchase but was lucky. Again... did you READ the small print? Answer is probably No.

I'd like to read the messages that you sent Hp and how you've dealt with them...

 

I bought my computer from a authorized HP seller on ebay
I called HP and asked them if I could extend my warranty
they requested the receipt of purchase
I sent my eBay receipt to HP
Bought the HP care
got the Serial number for the Care pack and called and activate it
got a confirmation email that I have warranty till mid 2012

Did I read fine prints.. no,
Did I ask if my computer is eligible for that warranty...sure, why else would I pay them!

when you buy your car insurance do you read all the little prints on the website and papers? I don't know that many people like that.


as for the current issue:

I chat with tech support back in March
I got the wrong part in the mail and a tech by the door
talked to tech support, they said they don't have the right part case escalated to 1st case manager
1st case manager asked me to send it in because repair centers have more options for repair
2 weeks later computer was back by my door with no fix
1st case manager offered me an ENVY 17 with equal specs, since no other computer from HP has the specs of my DV9700
I accepted the exchange offer and the order was placed
Waiting for 10 days for it to come I get a call from Exec Case manager stating that they can actually fix the laptop and due to the age of my laptop they can not offer replacement.
computer was sent in again for repair
4 weeks later the computer is back with no repair, meanwhile the executive case manager ignored all my calls and emails (more than 10 calls at least)
that bring us to their offer now... Refund my warranty because they do not have the part and my computer is too old.
so March April May I have been dealing with this...

as for specs my laptop has dual HDD, 1080p 17" screen, dual band Wifi, and the only line of their computer with all that is Envy 17.

 

This ^^

In most cases you will find pages of "small print" legalese that directs as much responsibility of repair/replacement away from the warranty issuer as possible. In addition, its most likely NOT from HP but a third-party issuer who does the repair and may use re-manufactured parts to fix your machine. Take the deal and consider it part of the cost of owning a computer.

Incidentally, Consumer Reports advises against the purchasing of extended warranties. If it make you feel any better, HP did fix my computer after the warranty expired but that's probably because they failed to fix it properly when I sent it in the first two times while the warranty was still active. (that tactic is definitely an old trick.)

 

HP sells the exact care pack that I bought still on their website

Code:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Care_Packs/Care-Packs-for-Laptops/UN007A;pgid=peFgEbpSiJNSRpUJEa_4UJJu0000Svx_j-sT?HP-2-Year-Onsite-Support-with-3-day-Response-for-Pavilion-Notebook&&rwCatalog=-&rwCategory=-

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Care_Packs/Care-Packs-for-Laptops/UN007A;pgid=peFgEbpSiJNSRpUJEa_4UJJu0000Svx_j-sT?HP-2-Year-Onsite-Support-with-3-day-Response-for-Pavilion-Notebook&&rwCatalog=-&rwCategory=-

this is what I got

------------------

Prices, specifications, availability and terms of offers may change without notice. Quantity limits may apply to orders, including orders for discounted and promotional items. Despite our best efforts, a small number of items may contain pricing, typography, or photography errors. Correct prices and promotions are validated at the time your order is placed. These terms apply only to products sold by the HP Home & Home Office Store; reseller offers may vary. Items sold by the HP Home & Home Office Store are not for immediate resale. Orders that do not comply with HP Home & Home Office Store terms, conditions, and limitations may be cancelled.

-------------------

I bought it over the phone though,

I do not see anywhere stating that I should buy at the time I buy the laptop nor does it say that the care pack does not apply to product bought else where like on ebay.

 

There's lots of information on the internet:

Suing Big Companies In Small Claims Court Is Fun And Easy - The Consumerist

 

There's a whole load of EXTRA small print just as you go through the payment process (If I recall correctly).

Could you post a link to the authorized ebay sales company from which you purchased the machine?


If I need one for my 8460p I'll buy an ADP warranty on Wednesday and get back to you with any small print findings.....

 

1. you bought a used laptop on ebay
2. you bought an extended warranty
3. screen goes out they replaced the screen with a lessor model
4. you complain they refund the money back for the warranty
5. you kept the 720p screen
6. now you want to SUE? ...

what are you suing for? they stated they don't make the screen anymore if I re-correctly.

 

laptop was new and bought from an authorized HP seller but just on ebay
lesser model screen was sent but I did not accept it because it sucked and that is not what I paid for.

 

Just take the refund of the care package, and put it towards a new computer; reason being if you're having issues like this, something else is bound to go wrong with the computer as well, and you'll be complaining that wasn't fixed either. Going to court over something like this doesn't seem worth it personally (time or money wise).

Just take it as lesson in what not to do next time.

 

settle for 160$ after all the crap they put me through...

I will take them to court and make them pay for their lawyer to come to NY, even if I lose at least I lost the case in court and made HP pay more than couple hundred $. this is not how a professional multi billion $ company should run...

 

Just to make this easier for people to do

HP locations in the country http://www8.hp.com/us/en/jobsathp/working-at-hp/hp-in-country/locations.html


HP in New York City according to department of state

Entity Information

I could not find one in Nassau county so in NY we file in Manhattan only.

C/O C T CORPORATION SYSTEM
111 EIGHTH AVENUE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10011

Chairman or Chief Executive Officer
MARGARET C WHITMAN
3000 HANOVER ST
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, 94304-1112

Principal Executive Office
HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY
3000 HANOVER ST
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, 94304-1112

Registered Agent
C T CORPORATION SYSTEM
111 EIGHTH AVENUE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 10011

and filing the claim is very easy

5min online www.turbocourt.com

or www.ncourt.com


total cost 35$

some instruction for NY small claims court
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/nyc/smallclaims/startingcase.shtml

 

You'll probably find that they 'all' run this way from time to time.

 

lesson learned. don't by from ebay. take what they give you. you will never get your money back between court and lawyer costs.

 

it has nothing to do with eBay. HP is being an .
got the court papers, court date is in 6 months...
expected a shorter wait time..
I guess HP will take its time till the day before the court day to settle.

any idea if I can shorten that?

 

this company makes me sick

 

They are all the same from time to time and we don't know the entire story on this one. Who was the ebay seller?

 

how does that matter where I got the laptop, it could have been a gift
bottom line is I bought the HP care pack and HP took my money and promised a warranty that they failed to provide.

 

It's never as simple as that but it would be in a perfect world. The packs are supposed to be purchased with a brand new machine and at the 'same time' as the item. In your case it WAS NOT.

You said that it was an 'authorised HP seller' so it would be great to know whom that seller was.

More information for you: Good luck with the case




Terms and conditions:

4. Eligible Products: To be eligible to purchase Support Services, the HP product must be, in HP's reasonable opinion, in good operating condition. Customer represents to HP the product is in good operating condition. ANy HP software product covered by this Agreement must be bundled with the HP product at the time of purchase by Customer and must be at its current or immediately preceding version level. In addition: etc

6. Limitations of Liability and Remedies: For any breach of this agreement by HP, customer's remedy and HP's liability will be limited to a refund of the charges paid for this agreement by customer for the HP products at issue. etc etc.


http://h71036.www7.hp.com/hho/downloads/BINDER1_ADP_with_pick_up_and_return_49.pdf
Your warranty may have completely different terms

 

yeah that has nothing to do with my warranty.

I bought my HP care pack from HP directly and asked to apply it my laptop and they did. they took my money and they gave me their word and I have emails from HP confirming I have extended warranty on my laptop till july 2012.

I will file a BBB complain while waiting for the court date

 

Well, I wish you the best of luck as somewhere it'll probably feature clause 6

Not trying to put you off just giving information. In the end I hope it works out for you (Which it should as only Apple would turn up to a case like this Recently read about such a case)

 

Honestly I don't see HP spending the money on a small case like this, most probably it will be settled before the court date. how far in advance I'm not sure. If anyone has experience in that I would love to hear.

 

Actually it will be settled before you go to court. I went that route and sued them via Small Claims in NYC used an on-line service (civiltree) to do all of the paperwork - This was related to a DV9000 CTO which I purchased directly through them and was out of warranty at the time - suffered from those bad NVIDIA chips. Got a call from their executive branch wanted to settle the claim - I ended getting back a 100% refund (about 2 grand including the court costs) I had sent them numerous emails before that with incidents documented - even advised them after the filing since I was a shareholder to have my comments recorded in their nexy proxy meeting...it was in their best interest to settle and they will with you.

 

Thanks..
how long after you filed did they settle?
or how long before the court date?

 

just got a response from HP to my BBB case, saying that I have opened a court case on this issue so the BBB case will be closed.

 

Very best of luck to you man... I used to be a loyal HP customer for a while until i just purchased my envy... about to exchange it... the customer service is absolutely bad :/ they wanted to charge me for exchanging... the supervisor is waiting for info from head management when i said thats unacceptable.

and they dont work on weekends so they'll call back monday.. ugh...

 

HP called to settle ... should be done with this by the end of the week. will let you guys know

I asked for an Envy 17 that was offered to me but she said she can only give me money or HP gift card, so I asked for the money.
for the price of computer, court cost and the HP care pack.

too bad the 33% coupon is over but the 450$ off should be good enough.

 

Part of the job of the court is to determine if something is reasonable. I am not saying you are wrong, but every warranty/policy in every company is littered with hundreds of disclaimers which essentially amount to the company saying, hey we might do this but then again we might not ha!.

And I think that many class action lawsuits and other legal issues have overcome these outlandish disclaimers companies make.

That being said my sister had a somewhat similar issue. She had a problem (was a brand new HP bought on newegg) and sent it in, only to get it back in worse condition. They then offered that if they didnt fix it a second time to build her a new laptop to the specs she wanted since the one they made was over heating and they said nothing they could do about it. So she still has over heating issues and she has some audio issues, she calls them to make good on that promise and they are like no. So I think HP has some major problems with CS and promising people new laptops, they also have terrible issues with warranty repair and need to clean that up.

My sister is too busy to fight it, but you can bet she wont touch another HP as long as she lives.

 

I sure did waste a lot of time on this but again it help me learn a very important skill..
SMALL CLAIMS COURT

I feel abit more armed now against the big companies
now I know how HP works, surprise I ordered an ENVY 17 from HP as a replacement see how I like it but this time I got 3 years accidental warranty on it, so no matter what I can get a replacement, if they dont fix my laptop I will wash it water and make sure it does not turn on and that would be covered under accidental damage,

anyways I learned plenty and the whole process wont take more than 2 weeks and starting the process is just a 10min application online and 30$.

now that I know the small claim court I might sue my mattress company if they decline my warranty which I have heard happens a lot. lol

I will update the thread till I have my check in my hand.

 

Any update?

 

Got the check from HP legal department.

End of story