Hopefully this will be the last time I post about the saga of my malfunctioning HP Presario V3000z.
Thanks to a compassionate FedEx driver, I was spared the drive to Montrose to pick up my computer (see my last post). He made the arrangements to bring the box to me himself. What a guy!
The Presario appears to work. When I shipped it to HP, the machine wouldn’t boot. The LEDs would light up, and the disk would spin for a second, but then nothing else would happen. I knew it was the motherboard that was the cause because 1) HP has a recall program for this problem, and 2) I was able to backup my disk by taking it out and copying the contents to another machine.
The machine now starts up without a problem. And surprisingly HP didn’t wipe the drive as they told me they would. Which means I should be able to copy my email and a couple other documents from my surrogate machine and be on my way. That’s a relief.
Although the Presario is a bit low on disk, so I’ll probably have to upgrade it before long.
So, all in all, the problem is resolved. It took almost exactly 1 month to get from A (HP providing me with a return ticket) to B (HP returning the notebook in working order).
If anyone from HP ever reads this, here are my recommendations.
- Train your customer service reps (CSRs) properly. HP’s reps never really had the information or training they needed to get the job done right. Their English was poor and they tended to go from script more than using their heads. I can’t tell you how many times I had to explain my situation because the CSR couldn’t absorb information that didn’t fit their script.
- Provide accurate information. The time estimates for the repair started at 7-10 days. Soon it was increased to 15 days. Then, when several days had passed and HP hadn’t even sent me the return packaging, the CSRs blamed FedEx for the delay. It was obvious that HP was having a major problem with repairs, but the CSRs waited until I was shouting at them before they’d admit there was a problem. And worse, ALL of HP’s email correspondence points the customer to an online status page. During the first week of my ordeal, the status page wouldn’t even come up! And even when it finally did actually show up in my browser it was never anywhere close to showing an accurate status. The online status page was worthless.
- FIX YOUR SYSTEM. It’s great that HP acknowledged the problem with several models of their computers and repaired my notebook for free. If HP had handled this better, I would be singing their praises. But the experience was painful and infuriating and I will never buy another HP computer again. I also will not likely buy any of their other products.
If anyone who’s having trouble with HP reads this, here is my advice:
- Let go. There is nothing you can do or say to make HP follow through on their promise faster than they are. Plan for the process to take 3 or 4 times longer than what you’re told. Go on with your life and try not to think about it.
- Use email instead of the phone. This saved me a lot of headaches and high blood pressure because I didn’t have to wait around on hold to be given inaccurate information or bad news. Additionally, emails provide a "paper" trail.
- Have your order and ticket number ready if you do call. This will save you time because the CSR can read your history instead of making you repeat it.
Good luck.
As of today, my theoretically repaired notebook is sitting at a FedEx facility in Montrose (an hour away). You may ask, "But Mike, why is it in Montrose, and not delivered to your doorstep?" A fine question - thanks for asking.
Despite telling two separate HP customer service reps that my address had changed, HP never updated the work order for the repair on my Presario. I learned this on Saturday (the 8th) when I went back to our old place to do some cleaning. FedEx had apparently tried to deliver the package to the old address twice.
So I called FedEx to explain and find out my options. Since they weren’t allowed to deliver it to a new address without approval from the shipper, and since a signature was required, I had to drive the hour to Montrose to pick up the box. Unbelievable.
And what makes this whole ridiculous story so much more ridiculous is that today, FedEx delivered to me a package from HP! At first I was thinking, "Hooray! My laptop is here! I wonder how they figured out the address mixup?" But the name on the box was NOT MINE. I’m guessing that those utterly incompetent folks at HP updated my new address on the WRONG ACCOUNT! Some poor schlub is sitting out there waiting for his HP shipment wondering why it hasn’t arrived yet.
Seriously - you can’t make this stuff up.
So I called HP to let them know they’d sent someone else’s package to me. It took me three attempts to make the rep understand the problem. He kept apologizing, and I kept trying to make sure he understood that he should be trying to fix the error for the other customer. Don’t know if it ever sunk in, but I tried.
Tags: hp sucks, presario v3000
Wow - when I wrote my last post I never imagined I’d be down for 9 DAYS. But thanks to some very tall trees between the new house and the wireless transceiver, I had to switch back to DSL. And thanks to some VERY unhelpful people at TDS, it took several days longer than it should have to get back up again.
But today - finally - I can go online and see how cold it is outside. Whew!
So the big move is tomorrow. As soon as I finish posting this I’m tearing down the new Dell and packing it up. I should have Internet access again on the 3rd or 4th.
Tags: moving
HP has diagnosed my motherboard problem, and given me a date for the return of the repaired laptop - November 4. It will be interesting to see if they pull it off. If they do, I will be happy to change the name of these posts to "Update: HP Sucks Sometimes."
I shipped my Presario V3000z back to HP on Friday. FedEx showed that the box was delivered Monday morning. I checked HP’s online status page to see if it reflected their receipt of the box, but as of this morning their status hadn’t changed. So I kicked out another email to HP to verify. They did so a couple hours later.
I also inquired into a new ETA for the repaired laptop. According to this particular agent, it will take another 2 days to diagnose the problems, and that will determine the timeframe for repair and return. So, more waiting.
Meanwhile I’ve almost got a replacement ready. We bought a new Dell Optiplex 755 tower to fill in the gap in the short-term. It arrived yesterday and I’ve been frantically re-installing software and doing all the configuring. (I never cease to be amazed how much time is involved in setting up a computer.) When/if I ever get my laptop back from HP, the Optiplex will become our file/server and backup machine.
The new Dell works well and I’m impressed with the quietness of the fan. My biggest complaint is no digital video output for the monitor, so I use the VGA connection to the 19" widescreen monitor that came with the tower.
Tags: hp sucks, presario v3000
Last night my sister gave birth to a new person - Revin Michael Haakinson. All is well with Kara and the baby. I don’t know yet about Nathan. 
Tags: i'm an uncle
The return shipping box finally arrived today. I packed the laptop and filled out their form as requested. Tomorrow I’ll see if I can get FedEx to pick it up.
The box was 10 days late, but I should point out that this marks the first time an HP promise was actually fulfilled. They told me on the 20th that I’d receive the box within 2 to 3 days and it showed up on the 3rd day.
Today I filed the papers to add a DBA (”doing business as”) to our corporation. The new business name is North Fork Tech Support, and I’ll be doing computer repair and tutoring here in the valley. At least that’s where I’ll start. The local guys who have done this work in the past are either too busy to deal with all of the work, or have moved on to other things (like regular paying jobs).
I may expand the service to the entire county, and possibly the bigger towns nearby. But I’m guessing that Montrose, Grand Junction and the Aspen/Glenwood Springs corridor all have people doing this kind of work. So we’ll see.
I’ll post here when I have the website up. Wish me luck!
Tags: new business
I have done a poor job of keeping people updated on our move. So here’s the current status:
We found a house to rent. It’s a small house, but it has some good qualities, not least of which is that it is actually in Paonia. We were concerned we wouldn’t be able to find a place near where our lives are. But everything has worked out, and the biggest issue is cramming ourselves into a smaller place.
Moving date is 11/2. We’ll send out a call for help, but we’ve already had several people volunteer (yes, that is the coolness level of the people who live in Paonia) to partake in the event.
We expect our home phone to remain the same, and the same goes for our business number (my cell for now). We’ll let people know the new mailing address when we get our P.O. box (no street delivery at the new place)
Background: For those who wonder WHY we’re moving, our landlords are moving back to their house in November. They’re really nice people who started the Haystack Goat Dairy over in Niwot (near Boulder). Now that the dairy and the goat cheese business is doing well, they’re retiring to Paonia.
So we got the boot, albeit very thoughtfully and generously. 
