Round 2 W/ Tech Support

I got my Envy 14 as a present this past Christmas and since then I have suffered two different hardware failures. Having actually BOUGHT a CD fro a band I liked (instead of just pirating it) I came to discover that optical drive was busted. This happened over a month ago, and after a few short calls to customer support and a couple days wait my laptop was returned to me with a new optical drive.

I decided to install some games off of steam (Need for Speed Undercover was on sale for 2 dollars) To my surprise textures overlapped, shadows glitched and morphed all over the screen, and for some reason all the cars where missing wheels.

....okay..

I tried a different game; Fallout NV. The game auto-detected my gfx card and set the graphics to high, but when I loaded the game I found it VIRTUALLY UNPLAYABLE.

2 hours on the phone with tech support proved that my ATI card was completely DEAD. So they sent me another box. (I still have my last box from a couple weeks ago.) This is not what I was expecting from a 1,000 dollar laptop that I've had for barely 4 months.

And that's exactly what I told them. My customer support lady said that she'd personally track my order, make sure the repairs went smoothly and call me a couple days after I got the laptop so we could see if we get me some compensation for this monstrosity. I made it clear that I was very unhappy with my laptop over the phone.

What should I be expecting at this point? Anyone else suffer from such a thing as a dead ATI card? Any pointers on how to work these people?

I'll post updates as they come in for anyone interested. It'd be nice to get a SSD but I don't think my case justifies it.
And for anyone wondering I was one of the unlucky few who got an Envy about a week before they started putting out radiance screens again..

Maybe HP wouldn't be throwing away so much money in repairs and compensation if they treated their premium laptops just like, gee I don't know, PREMIUM LAPTOPS.

 

I really hate HP (terrible, terrible service...in my experience). After I switched to Dell, I am in love with the onsite service. My laptop never leaves me...ever.

There's not a whole lot you can do, just run the laptop through its paces when you get it back...make sure everything is working.

 

There is actually a dell forum on NBR that might be more welcoming to bashing hp and not stating what happened. When a product is mass produced making it much more affordable, allowing better technology to be implemented at a lower cost to you, you are bound to have some problems (usually a small percentage of the millions made). I've had 4 different envy's and not one problem (that wasn't my fault) from any of them. I returned each one with no questions asked after using them for 3 weeks and didn't pay a dime. What is Dell's policy? I believe hp does a pretty darn good job at compensating for problems people have. Yes there are exceptions to the rule but i'm sure if i got on the dell forum there are people there that had basically the exact same scenario's happen to them. I'm not bashing Dell, all mass producing laptop manufacturers have to deal with a small percentage of defects. Thats life when people place affordability right up there with quality you don't get the best of both worlds (although it' fairly close). I've never had a rep say sorry you are SOL even when the problem was my fault.

 

You should expect a laptop with a working video card. If you play your cards right you may get a really good deal or component upgrade but (write this down) be nice, respectful, and persistent. They have the power to make you happy so treat them as a human being and explain exactly why you deserve what it is you want without making it seem like they are the problem. If one rep says no a hundred times be respectful and call again and speak to another one. If you are lucky you'll find a generous rep. Also, escalating your case can get you stuck in a hole that you can't dig out of. So make that your very last resort. Good luck.

 

Well I got my laptop back today. They replaced the new motherboard, as well as the palm rest and trackpad (there was a dent from the prior repair in the palm rest) but now my keyboard is making extremely loud obnoxious clicking noises, especially around the arrow keys. It feels like the keyboard wasn't set in all the way... when i hold down the corners of the keyboard the clicking stops.

Normally that wouldn't be a problem but.. why should it happen in the first place?

I'm supposed to be receiving a call-back from my customer support representative tomorrow or the day after..

 

@ Spencerp

HP's support really is terrible. I work at a computer repair shop, we often deal with warranties on behalf of customers (some don't have time because they run their business, some don't speak english, others just straight up dont want to deal with them).

HP's support is the worst we've dealt with. Desktops requiring 2-3 repairs to get a simple motherboard replaced (they the cheaper parts out first). Printers requiring over 3 replacements, still not resolved fyi, my HP Envy requiring 4 replacements and still not 100%.

The infamous HP run around "We'll call you" when they never do, or the even more infamous "our systems are down."
(for some reason I've gotten at least 7 different occasions of systems down involving my HP Envy case only, and several dozens if I put them all together, compared to Dell with just maybe 10 ever).

Oh I've got tons of more situations from HP, including desktops/laptops from all price ranges ($300 netbooks to high end special edition Pavillions, from $300 desktops to $1,200 desktops).

We've had dozens upon dozens of experiences with many manufacturers, pretty much all of them except Sager directly (dealt with retailer, went smoothly). Sony, Toshiba, HP, Acer, Apple, Dell, Fujitsu, Samsung, Asus, and other brands.

Dell Consumer/Sony Consumer/HP consumer are the worst. HP being the worst flat out, but Sony not so distant second. Dell Consumer is also pretty bad, albeit they don't take 2-3 repairs to fix something.

Dell business class has to be the best by far. Beats all other companies we've dealt with. Next Business Day parts or techs for just about any part. (they sent me parts for me to replace my self if I wanted).

 

I wouldn't eat at the same restaurant 20 times if they messed up my order every time and came back with the order still messed up. Why on earth would you keep buying computers from a place that has screwed you and you knew what to expect. I'm not knocking you I just think maybe the way you handled the situations got you where you were. I've been able to cancel orders in production for a week even after they said it couldn't be done. It's all about how you go about handling the problem. Judging by the way you handle situations on here I think maybe hp may not be fully to blame. I'm not saying hp is great at cust service but if you handle it right you get what you want. At least that is how it has been for me. maybe they just like me more ha.

 

spencerp, so you're willing to eat a the same restaurant 19 times even if they messed up your order each of those 19 times? Lol, I know you were just using 20 as a figure of speech.

And yes, I think you maybe a lucky guy. Who knows. But you do have the right attitude with HP...be kind and persistent. We've discussed it throughout the original Envy 17/3D thread and now here on the Envy 17 3D SB thread.... Of course as you stated, luck is nice too when you get an attentive rep who seems to care.

KJ

 

I recommend keeping personal attacks to your self.

Assume whatever you wish. I am sure if I were to check your laptop I could find at least 1 fatal defect, of course you probably don't do the same type of diagnostics as me.

You are correct a lot has to do with the way you approach the situation, now I won't sit here and bore you with what I had to do.

What matters are the results: According to you, I must of been such a pain in the I probably got nothing done so fine.

Here's my progress in my personal Envy
I went from an Envy 17 i7-720QM Non 3D
To an Envy 17 i7-2630QM
TO an Envy 17 3D i7-2820QM
To lastly another Envy 17 i7-2820QM 3D and other upgrades.
Including talking to HP's Research Team (Pretty much last stop before a product is released or announced).

On top of that I got early information+ chance to order an Envy 14 SB which hadn't been announced yet, and isn't scheduled to ship anytime soon. Unfortunately I prefer an X220 for a portable machine.

On a $600 printer for a customer, I got them a brand new replacement after the 2nd replacement was bad. Even though they just kept wanting to feed me replacements. (M2727NF Laserjet).

My manner of speaking with support is not the problem.

 

You will if that restaurant is the only place in the state that has what you want at an affordable cost.

In this case, sure there are other laptop manufacturers, but if you have your heart/stomach set on the design of an Envy, you will not be satisfied with an ASUS or a Dell. You'll also regret spending twice as much on a MBP and then dealing with a different menu (OS) than what you were expecting when you sat down. If you can't have what you want, what sacrifice are you willing to make?

The internals to all of these laptops we are talking about are about equal, but the aesthetics are very different and that is what is driving our desire for a specific device and that, in turn, determines how much bullsh!t we are willing to put up with so we can have it.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself! That is why HP wins for us...the Envy design really says it all, class, sexyness...etc...nuff said. Be strong and deal with what HP throws your way, and be happy ultimately...hopefully. Who says things worth getting in life are easy? Right? I know, you pay money, you excpect the best, but still, sometimes you have to work a bit harder to get it just right.

KJ

 

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My laptop came back two days after my origional post, my motherboard was replaced and so was the palmrest. (which was damaged when they replaced the optical drive) An HP case manager contacted me and I was offered a 2 year ADP protection plan.

A week later the ATI card gave way again, and I was back to where I started. I contacted my case manager asking if I could just be shipped a replacement, but instead my case manager insisted we send it in for repairs one more time. I hung up, called back, complained about my case manager and got a new one. I was offered a new HP envy with an upgraded processor which should ship by the 13th.

My current HP envy (with the defective ATI card) is now suffering from hard-drive failure. The computer now takes an hour to boot, retrieving my files would take a monumental amount of time, and even if the hard drive functioned properly, games are rendered unplayable by unresponsive switchable graphics.

I am never buying an HP again, I will never recommended an HP computer (or printer) to a friend.

If you are brave/daring/stupid enough to want to buy this thing when it comes in, the specs are as follows:

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-480M Dual Core Processor (2.66GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz
1GB DDR3 ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 switchable graphics [HDMI] - For Dual Core Processors
4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 6.0 hours of battery life +++
14.5" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView Infinity LED Display (1366x768)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
HP TrueVision HD Webcam and Dual Digital Integrated Microphones
Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
Backlit Keyboard
Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 8 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 8

The remaining ADP plan will be transfered to the new model when it comes in, if you are interested PM me. I will take a fair price, I'm just trying to salvage whatever I can and move on.

 

You are rather unlucky, I feel for you man.

HP repair centers are pretty bad and usually add more problems than they fix, if they actually fix whats broken.

I hope your replacement unit will be free of problems.

I got two envy 14 within a month back in jan/feb. Both came flawless.
My buddy on the other hand had quite a few more problems than me.