Hewlett Packard - Part 1

This will be the first of several posts about the Hewlett Packard Company. In February of 2008 I purchased a new desktop computer system from them off the recommendation of a friend that currently works in the IT industry who said they made the best desktop at that time. Up until now I had always made my own computer.

I was very happy with this computer initially. I even recommended HP computers to friends who bought one also. But my problems began in November when the sound stopped working. After trying everything I knew to try and fix the problem I contacted HP's "award-winning" Total Care customer support department. As you would expect, I had to go through a barrage of troubleshooting measures to ensure there was truly a problem. While this took time, I realize it's necessary so the repair department doesn't get computers in that don't really need repairing. Anyway, they issued a bench repair order which means they mail you a box with postage inside; all you do is put your computer in and put the postage on the box and mail it to them.

My error was reading the literature/instructions that came with the postage in the box. These instructions lay out in detail what you need to do in order to mail it to them the right way. Here is what it looks like:



Notice what the second and third sentences in item #2 say: Please do not remove components from within the computer before shipping (hard drive, memory, video card, etc.) Any additional hardware added to the PC will also be analyzed and returned.

Some key words from these sentences to take note of: "DO NOT REMOVE components", and "additional hardware ADDED...will...be analyzed and RETURNED."

I received the computer back from HP just before Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to me right? No. One of the added components in my computer was a 5 1/4" to 3 1/2" drive bay rail converter that allows you to mount a 3 1/2" hard drive in a 5 1/4" drive bay. When they repaired the computer, (replaced the motherboard), and mailed it back, they didn't secure this little wonder in the drive bay at all, so it was free to move around inside the computer case during the entire shipping process to my home. Not surprisingly, this damaged the hard drive and also the video card. None of these three products came with my PC. I installed an additional hard drive, the drive bay converter and also a new video card after I purchased the PC.

Since this damage was clearly not my fault, all I wanted was for the hard drive and the video card to be replaced. This is where my true problems began. I again called HP's customer support department and was issued a second bench repair. I mailed it back on 5 December and didn't get it back until 19 December (2 weeks.) I see the box and say "Merry Christmas to me," right? Not even close. Want to hear the diagnosis listed on the paperwork enclosed in the box? "No Trouble Found" -- could not duplicate the error.

Are you freaking kidding me? I was livid. You would have been too if you would have also seen the condition the computer was in when I took it out of the box. This technician simply stopped analyzing it at some point, shoved it in the box and mailed it back; literally. Here is a list of things that weren't right when I examined it closely:

1. 5 1/4" drive bay exterior cover missing (hole to look in and see the processor working????)
2. Hard drive still damaged, mounted in a new location, and not connected to the motherboard
3. CD-Rom drive not connected to the motherboard
4. CPU (processor) fan not plugged into the motherboard
5. CPU (processor) fan not screwed onto the motherboard (this is serious folks)
6. Video card also still damaged (ie: doesn't work at all)

Since I have fairly extensive experience building computers, I fixed no.'s 2-5 as best I could and then I videotaped my 6 year old daughter as I talked her through the process of hooking it up and turning it on so we could see how difficult it might be to duplicate the problem. Keep in mind that most consumers wouldn't know how to do this. The video will be forthcoming, I just haven't had the time to prepare that as of yet.

After all of this and allowing myself enough time to cool off I again called customer support. You'll be surprised to hear what this representative told me. She said (in as many words) that anything I have added to the computer is not their responsibility in any way and that the best she could do was to ship me a replacement of the original hard drive and video card that came with the computer. She even went so far as to say that any additional hardware that is added to the computer was generally disposed of and she was surprised they were even returned to me.

When I asked her about replacement parts for the parts that weren't returned, she looked them up and said she can't order them because they are no longer available. After explaining my distaste for what she was telling me she stated that she has all the authority to make these decisions and doesn't report to anyone; this is HP's policy. She then asks if I've submitted a claim with FedEx. I said no one had ever suggested that before now (realizing in my mind this has absolutely nothing to do with FedEx; they did nothing wrong.)

However, sensing that I wasn't going to get my products replaced I filed a claim with FedEx which is still not resolved (filed 22 Dec 2008). All I wanted from this claim was enough money to pay for the replacement parts that HP damaged and refused to replace properly.

I'll continue soon with Part 2. I need a break.