HP OK Just pray it doesn't break down
Nov 07 '00 (Updated Nov 08 '00)
I have the HP pavillion 4540. The product is about a year old, but it's my recent customer service experience with Hewlett Packard that prompted me to write this opinion.
4 months ago, I got a message when I was booting up my computer that my hard drive was going to crash. I called their TOLL customer service number and the representative said the HP Pavilion had some trouble with the hard drives and it may or may not crash. I backed up my work and decided to keep working, risking a crash because I had a project I had to finish. When I was ready for service, I again called their TOLL number and got further instructions on how to resolve the situation.
All the reps I talked to were courteous and somewhat helpful, however it took me several calls for them to judge that my computer would need warranty service work. After jumping through all their hoops over the phone, including downloading the diagnostic tools from the hard drive web site, (two because they misidentified the make of my hard drive the first time), the rep gave me the name of three repair facilities. I chose a close one and took my computer in. I waited a week and called to check on the status of my computer. The service person said the hard drive was backordered. He said the problem was a vendor HP goes through. I was without my computer for 27 days. I don't know for sure but, I have heard other computer companies would ship a bigger drive to expedite the repair.
I finally got my computer back and checked my hard drive. This computer came with an 8.4 gig hard drive and the one they replaced it with was a 7.8 gig.
So in conclusion, I spent close to $20 in long distance, waited 4 weeks for my computer to get fixed and ended up with a hard drive smaller than the one I started with. When I looked on the HP website to make my concerns known, I couldn’t find the adequate email address on the HP web site. This added to my frustration.
I was pleased when I got a survey in the mail and sent it back being as specific about what my issue was. I also e-mailed the survey back and I heard nothing from them. I would think they would be more concerned about keeping their customers happy. I’d like to think this was an isolated situation, but from what I heard from friends and associates, Hewlett Packard has little regard for the customer service end of their business.
They didn't tell me why it would take so long for the repair shop to get the part necessary to fix my computer and why, after all that time I ended up with a hard drive smaller than what I originally bought.
I decided to try to let HP know how I felt after talking to another associate. I sent another copy of the letter to the Palo Alto headquarters. I started to feel a little better when I got a call to my home phone voicemail. The woman in the message told me she wanted to resolve the situation, gave me a number to call collect and they would assign me a case manager.
I tried to call the number collect and was told there was a restriction. I called only toll free number I could find and told the operator I wanted to speak to the President's Office. I don’t know where I was directed but I was talking to a supposedly from the president's office. I told her I needed to speak to a case manager. She said she had my email but asked where I was. I told her I was at work. She told me I had to be at my computer. She said “Can’t you get off work a tad early and call us?” She said I had to be at my computer. I asked her what the relevence of that was, explained the computer was “fixed” and my issue was about customer service. I again explained the issue with the hard drive smaller than the one I originally had in my computer. She asked me,“why is that?” DUH! She then sent me to technical support, where they told me my warranty had expired.
This last go-round has just raised my blood pressure to stroke level.I decided on a HP computer because I had an image of a reliable computer and good customer service. On the basis of this service experience, I certainly would not by HP again. In the letter they sent they talked about “the highest level of quality and customer satisfaction”. After this experience it would be hard recommending HP computers.
When you buy a computer, remember after you get the big box home, if something goes wrong, how the company goes about fixing the problem. I learned that a little late.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
dvschnabel
|
|
Member: Dana Schnabel
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.