My Bad HP Story...

[joshstep1]

Evan wanted to here my bad HP story, so I'm posting it here for you all to read. (think Hewlett Packard computers, not horse power)

Ummmmm, how did it go?... ... ... Oh yeah, I remember. About three years ago, we bought two almost identical HP laptops brand new. The only difference was one had one gig of ram and the other had two. I used one laptop for about 1.5 years... then, the unthinkable happened... wait, these are HPs, anything can crap up on them, the video card fried. At the time, we didn't know what was wrong with it. All we knew was when we tried to start it up, these weird lines would show up on the screen and the now-as-useful-as-a-brick laptop would not make it past the initial loading screen. Frustrated, we took it to Circuit City, back in the day when they were in business, and spent $60 to have them tell us that the video card was fried and there is no way to replace it because it is part of the motherboard. However, they were kind enough to gave us a piece of paper with a recall from HP saying, and I paraphrase, "We have identified a problem with (a bunch of model numbers) laptops and we are recalling them so we can replace the defective part. If your laptop is showing these symptoms, (and ours was), mail it to us for a free repair. If your laptop is on the list and it does not have these symptoms, you can download a patch for it to prevent it from happening here at www.we-know-hps-are-junk-so-get-it-fixed-here.com." You have to note, my laptop was on that list! Next day, we call HP to talk to them about the problem and the recall they issued. Fortunately, we were connected with some guy in India who barely spoke a clear word of English. After about 30 something minutes of arguing and trying to figure out what he was saying, he said they couldn't fix the laptop or take it into their shop because they could not identify the laptop based on the serial number. That really, really made us mad! We asked if we could talk to a manager/supervisor. He said no. Eventually, we gave up. End of story. If your wondering what happened to the other laptop, the same thing happened to it about a month ago. We are not even going to bother trying to send it in this time. HP had their chance to take care of one of their customers, and they failed. We have replaced both HPs with Sonys and so far we haven't had a single problem with them. The moral of the story is pretty simple, don't buy HPs... ever.

[BuggyMaster]

Not that uncommon to get transferred to India for support.

[joshstep1]

Why not America?

[BPNWMike]

Because Americans want to much money to do the same job and the bosses who run companies don't care about you once they have your money.

You should have either called back again and talked to someone different (easy to do), or used the online warranty forms they had for their recall on their website.

I've had a number of unintelligible operators I've had to speak to in India (or wherever NOT in America) - especially from Microsoft. It's always easier to just hang up and call again and hope you get someone better than to piss them off and have them write nasty notes in your case file that the next person will read and not help you either. (You can always blame a bad phone line for the disconnect!)

You just made a fantastic argument for buying a Mac, BTW: Tons of Apple stores all over the place with free walk-in help and diagnosis (repairs aren't free unless under warranty...) and all their phone support is in the US.

[joshstep1]

The warranty had expired.

[BPNWMike]

For a recall, warranties don't matter. You get it replaced for free, period.

Otherwise, the company knows it's going to face a class action lawsuit and have to replace/repair all of them anyway + pay a lot of cash in lawyer's and settlement fees.

I got a new battery for my MacBook last year even though it was over 1 year out of warranty because Apple had admitted there were problems with some of the batteries failing prematurely. Mine did, and the guy at the Apple store ran a diagnostic and saw that it had only been recharged about 50 times (normal battery lifespan 300-ish charges) and replaced it for free. No hassle.

If this HP thing happened relatively recently let me know - I might be able to get you a hotline phone number for someone in the US to take care of you. I used to work for HP (don't worry - I don't hold them in high esteem, either!), and I still have contacts there who can get me the info.

[joshstep1]

This is the only reason I would buy a Mac, because they're customer service is awesome. This story isn't recent. It happened over a year ago. Besides, we have replaced both of them with Sony Vaio Fws.

[BPNWMike]

Yeah, but think about this: If you still have the computer, and it's in good condition otherwise, AND you can still get it fixed (or replaced!) for free, wouldn't you?

I say this because you could hatch a scheme where you ask your parents, "If I can get that old HP laptop fixed for free and sell it, can I use the money to buy buggy parts?"

It's win-win!

[24evanwilson]

ok lol what kind of site is that

http://www.we-know-hps-are-junk-so-g...fixed-here.com

would you not know what would happen ??

[joshstep1]

Originally Posted by 24evanwilson

ok lol what kind of site is that

http://www.we-know-hps-are-junk-so-g...fixed-here.com

would you not know what would happen ??

I made the site up LOL

[24evanwilson]

that explains thumpthin lolXD

[joshstep1]

What's that?

[24evanwilson]

the whole thing!!! lol

[joshstep1]

uh huh

[24evanwilson]

huh uh

[joshstep1]

yeap

[24evanwilson]

yes CX

[joshstep1]

Yes...LOL, XD :P :] (: :> ...Thats all I can think of right now

[paul]

I prefer Macs to Microsoft. What I like with my Macbook Pro is that if one application is slow, it does not affect the others.

[gunluvinfull]

Ah, I getit Joe, You need happy ending,Buy a Dell. Best customer service out there. They evm take remote control of yer puter and fix it on the phone. No waiting. Kodak is the same way but you still get BABOO HUNAZZZIIIIII on the phone.