Need Replacement Keyboard; They Want Me To SEND IN The Notebook!!

Ave,

I've got the HP Pavillion DV5-1250us Notebook (bronze finish) which has the classic keyboard problem! You can't read the keys because of the lousy color combination they chose. 90% of the people who bought this notebook ended up getting the keyboard replaced.

My notebook is STILL UNDER WARRANTY.

I read in a lot of places, including Newegg.Com Customer Reviews and across discussion forums - People were able to call in and HP sent them a replacement keyboard FREE of charge; including shipping and all.

When I got on the phone with them today, they are willing to replace the keyboard free of charge & all - but they want me to SEND IN my entire notebook to them!!!! How come they want me to send in the notebook whereas in other instances they sent the owner the replacement keyboard??

I've had Toshiba send me a replacement keyboard in the past; why can't HP do this?

Any tips / suggestions? Which number should I call and what do I say?

THANKS!!

 

My experience with HP is HP refused to provide replacement keyboard.

Note: this is on a brand new notebook, two defective keys when received direct from HP. HP initially determined the keyboard was a "wear item" and they were not responsible for replacement, even after I explained the notebook was brand new and less than 2 hours old.

Only option was to send notebook to HP for replacement of keyboard.
I clearly requested a keyboard to be shipped as a user replaceable part and I would accept the risk of replacement. India call center refused and so did US based support after several calls and escalation.

Because the wait was 6 weeks for the notebook to arrive in the first place, I sent the notebook in for keyboard replacement.
Notebook was returned with a broken key on touchpad and case scratched and gouged. Service center was in TN.

I then had to deal with a very difficult individual in Canada to have HP provide a non-defective notebook.

 

the longer you wait to try and game the system the longer it will be before your machine gets fixed..........

 

I would keep calling until you hopefully get someone who will cooperate. I have had good luck doing that with HP repair when I needed to have HP do something (exchange my laptop) that the first several reps wouldn't do. I eventually got to a US rep who agreed that what I was asking was reasonable. In your case I think it's worth a try because if you end up sending your system in to HP, there's unfortunately a very good chance it will be damaged. At the very least, back up your hard drive, take multiple photos of the computer, with current date on the photos, and along with your computer send HP a message explaining exactly what needs to be done. None of these actions guarantee you won't have a problem, but at least you'll have some hard evidence when it comes time to fight for your rights afterward.

 

I'm actually quite Adamant about NOT sending the notebook in; for various reasons. I can't afford to be without that notebook for an extended period of time and from what I've heard, it could be a while you get it back & there's Nothing you can do about it. Secondly, I've heard other people speak of the notebook getting damaged as well - I don't want to take that chance. And thirdly, I have way too much data plugged into this notebook - financial & otherwise sensitive data. It wouldn't be worth the trouble for me to wipe the notebook clean before sending it in & then re-installing & plugging everything all over again.

At this point I really have two choices left: I will indeed give it a shot & try to get connected to a US agent and see if I have success with them sending me a replacement keyboard. I too got connected to an Indian call center; and they wouldn't budge.

If after a couple of calls I can't get them to send it in ... I'll just have to go out on eBay or something and shell out the $20 ~ $30 and get a replacement keyboard in. I know it will void my warranty but I could care less at this point.

On that note - anyone know a good place to get a replacement keyboard? What I need is one that fits in my model but is a different color-combination (preferably the black/white keys) ... not the crappy bronze finish you need a spotlight to look at!!!

Thanks Guys!! Appreciate it.

 

Only other available is black letters/sliver keys. You can find it on ebay. There are no third party.

Also, you wouldn't be voiding your warranty. If you ever needed to send it in to HP for repairs, just put back the Bronze keyboard and no one will be the wiser.

 

AWESOME!! That sounds like the way I'll go. In fact I'm not even gonna bother with HP at this point; I'll just get the Silver/Black keyboard and replace it myself.

Thanks Man!!

 

Yea those keys do suck! I might even get a silver keyboard just so i can see the damn things.

 

I'm looking at this keyboard on eBay for $18.99 shipped:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-Pavilion-dv5...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item335a5a0ebb

Although it doesn't state DV5-1250us ... it does say it's compatible with DV5-1200 Series ... so I'm imagining it will work with mine.

I would have preferred a black keys / white letters keyboard, but this should work if this is my only option.

 

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=hp...lls&_odkw=hp+keyboard+silver&_osacat=0&bkBtn=

This is the keyboard search. I think by dv5-1000 series it means dv5-1xxx so it should work for all of them. Good Luck.