HP Support hell ...

[AirmensMom]

This is the worst support of any product by any company I have ever had, bar none!

The display on my printer went bad yesterday. Looks like an Etch-a-Sketch. So I got to online chat, which, of course, I can't do from my Mac so I go to my old slow-as-molasses Dell. The clueless technician tells me to do some stuff, which actually sets the printer to the factory defaults. Oops! Only one problem with that: It got rid of the network configuration. Result? None of the computers can connect to it now. And since the display doesn't show anything, I can't re-configure it. As an added bonus, it can't even copy anymore! x(

So the lady tells me that my warranty expired in November so I should take the opportunity to purchase a refurbished printer at a great price since I'm such a good customer. When I informed her that the printer is not a year old and the warranty lasts for one year, she asked if I had the receipt. Yepper! And it's really NOT a year old yet! Oh, NOW it will be covered under warranty. Just email the receipt to this email address and they'll process a warranty replacement within 6 hours.

Here it is, almost 24 hours later, and no one has responded to my email. So I call. Holy support hell! Queue after queue, bad connections, and no one can transfer me to the next dude in India without making me run through the exact same "tests" that I already did over and over again ... just to make sure the damn thing is really broken.

So when I started this post, I was on hold listening to their commercial, "More reasons to choose HP ... award winning service ..." :rofl:

Finally some lady comes on, another voice from India, even worse connection. She tells me that she'll replace my printer under warranty with a refurbished one. Right. I buy a new one and then I get someone else's problems! But before she sends it to me, she wants a credit card number! :wtf: I refused to give it to her and instead asked for a supervisor. There are none. No kidding! So I told her I wanted to speak to someone in the US. Nope, can't do that. The best she can do is get someone to call me from Canada within 24 hours.

I.WILL.NEVER.BUY.HP.ANYTHING.AGAIN!!!!!! And remember, I have a Dell, so I know all about support hell!


:rant:




:argh: :banghead:

[MissHoneychurch]

1. Oh my

what a fun NOT!!! :hug:

[AirmensMom]

2. I'm going to call some US numbers today.

I managed to get my hands on the numbers for some main offices. Wish me luck. :hug:

[MissHoneychurch]

3. And the saga continues

Good luck!!!

It is such bullshit to have call centers in India. Who is paying the phone bill???

[AirmensMom]

4. It starts out with an 800 number.

So they pay it. Now I read that IBM is doing the same thing, while laying off US employees ... not like I can afford to buy any of their products.

[moriah]

5. Printers are a different beastie than servers/computers.

I can assure you that HP's support on enterprise servers is a heck of a lot better than IBM or Dell's.

Of course, I'm biased. (Guess who I work for?)

[AirmensMom]

8. That's not comforting.

Dell's support sucks and I vowed 3 years ago not to buy their products again. I worked for IBM ... need I say more?

[moriah]

9. Yeah, it's damning with faint praise all right....

Check your PMs. :)

[AirmensMom]

10. Just responded ...

thank you.

[northernlights]

15. HP's service organization SUCKS

I worked for Digital Equipment's services organization years ago. HP bought Digital specifically for it's services organization.

Did you know they are running an identity theft operation?

A couple years ago, Fidelity had a laptop stolen with all former DEC employee's pension info on it. My address was incorrect in the system, so I missed the notification. Police, Fidelity and HP insist it was a random theft and our info is safe.

A couple months later, I was called by a former colleague from Digital, now in my old services job at HP. He had a big freelance project. Asked me to send my resume for him to forward to his new boss. So I send him the resume. And he subsequently blows me off.

In the meantime, my credit card is hijacked by someone who has my SS# and got the cc number at an auto dealership located 10 miles from former colleague's house. New person is added to my account named -- get this -- Heddy Packard. Then my card is reported lost or stolen, cancelled and a new one issued -- to a California address.

Then I discover I can't use my card and the theft is uncovered. Oh, did I mention my former colleague's wife is a VP at Fidelity? That the laptop was stolen from her branch? That the rental car parked in an HP lot, from which it was stolen, was probably hers?

The FTC rep suggested I advise both Fidelity and HP.

Fidelity answered my call, listened to my story, asked a lot of questions, and gulped a lot between repeating the party line. And I'm now on my 3rd year of free credit monitoring.

HP didn't answer the phone dozens of times that I called. I tried a different number and got an admin, who listened to the story and promised someone would return the call. 2 days later, she called back and gave me the 1st number to call. I tried a few dozen more times, leaving increasingly detailed messages. They never did answer or return a call.

Oh, and I was talking to a friend the other day. He was contacted by HP a few weeks ago. This time *they* had a laptop stolen with all our info on it.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. Communication: Breakdown

:hug: :hi:

[AirmensMom]

11. No kidding!

And they just sent me an email thanking me for updating my purchase date and offering me an extended service contract! :wtf:

:hi: :hug:

[ThomCat]

7. Why the hell would they need your credit card number?

:wtf:

I wouldn't have given it to them either.

I'd put this post into a letter and sent it to some nice public places. Consumerist seems to be a big place to send stuff like this. I'm sure people can recommend other blogs and sites that would love to hear this.

And I'd send it to the head of HP too. Let them know that they're loosing a customer, and why.

I'm very sorry you are going through this. :hug:

I swear, tech companies build shitty tech support systems just so people will go out and buy new stuff. :(

[AirmensMom]

12. So they could charge it?

:shrug: Beats me.

And here's how they responded after I sent them all the information they requested:

Hello AM,

We appreciate the opportunity to assist you. We would like to inform you that we have received your fax/e-mail and updated the date of purchase for your product.

After the Standard Warranty expires, you will need to contact the dealer for assistance. If you choose to purchase a service and support contract with HP, give us a call and we will inform you of your options.


Sincerely,
HP Total Care

Have I mentioned that the printer is still under warranty?

:banghead:

Edit: PS ... Love your suggestion! :thumbsup:

[HopeHoops]

13. That's weird - I've always found HP to have the best support of any vendor.

Back in September or so, my laptop freaked out. Even though it was out of warranty, they fixed it for free and I got it back exactly one week after I called them! I called on a Monday afternoon. They sent a mailing carton overnight delivery. I put it in the box and called FedEx and the freakin' thing was back in my hands the following Monday morning. Not long ago, I got a service announcement from them (general to all owners) mentioning the problem mine had as a recall issue with free repair.

[AirmensMom]

14. Yeah, it is weird.

Perhaps their laptop support is better than their printer support? :shrug: It would have to be ... because nothing can possibly be worse than the "support" I've had over the past 24 hours. :shrug:

[mainegreen]

16. Time for a EECB: Executive Email Carpet Bomb.

http://consumerist.com/consumer/complaint-letters/how-to-launch-an-executive-email-carpet-bomb-259713.php

HP's corporate e-mail structure is [e-mail]. You could try combining that with the list of HP executives at Google Finance.

Send the letter first though!

[AirmensMom]

17. COOL!

Thanks. I like that idea! :thumbsup:

Finally got a hold of a senior case manager in Canada. He had no interest in how bad the service was and only perked up when I told him I won't buy anything HP again. He seemed to think it was perfectly acceptable for them get my warranty date wrong and then expect me to give them a credit card number, "In case you don't return the old printer," as if they have a way to keep their records straight. I told him the old printer is a stone on my desk ... why would I not return it? :eyes:

He's sending out the replacement today. When it wears out, which will, no doubt, be shortly after the warranty expires, I'll replace it with another brand.

I've had several printers and this is the first time I've had one break. The only reason I've replaced them at all was for different/newer features (wireless, network, scan, etc.). There was no warning or anything. It worked fine 2 days ago.

[lildreamer316]

18. Now that is the complete opposite from my recent experience.

Our HP laptop (under year old) had a display problem about two months ago. Called customer service; got a US rep (!!!I think in Iowa or somesuch, I did ask); was given qick, courteous service; and they paid to ship the comp to them and back again; with confirmation emails delivered to my inbox both upon recipt and sendoff. Took a little under two weeks total.

Must be separate departments for printers vs. computers.

Sorry you had such a bad experience.

[AirmensMom]

19. It is.

Totally different ... from what I've heard so far.

I'm glad you had a better experience. It's no exaggeration that this is the worst I've ever seen.