Don't buy HP computers

[NJmaverick]

Unless you want a piece of junk that needs to be returned for repair less then 6 months after it is purchased and you enjoy making friends with people in distant lands. Dispite literally hours on the phone with their outsourced India based service people, my computer is sitting in a Fed Ex Warehouse instead of in my posession. Worse yet I had to spend hours just to straighten out the mess their out source people created just to get the thing picked up.:mad:

[xg0blin]

1. I have several HPs

I've never had a single problem. I've been using HPs for years. I also get an american everytime I call tech support. I'm a software engineer and I've never had a problem with one of my HPs. Sounds like you just got one bad computer to me and the one foriegn person that works the line. It happens.

[NJmaverick]

5. I am an IT and Network support person

Remember that HP merged with Compaq. Secondly I have talked to about a half dozen of their support people. They were all from India and not a single one of them did anything right or resolved a single one of my problems.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

11. as a network support and IT guy

why are you dealing with tier one support? Tier one support pretty much reads a little book with a flip chart in it to diagnose problems and they are OFTEN wrong, regardless of the organization. What sort of problem were you having that lead you to these dire straights?

Just a side note: I am tech support's worst nightmare (at least at tier one). The very first thing I do is politely assure them that I have tried everything that they are going to suggest, refuse to REBOOT my damn computer while talking to them, and the request an escalation of my call. These people really know very little about troubleshooting at tier one...you gotta move up...

theProdigal

[NJmaverick]

14. The problem was it is a lap top with a bad power jack

I had diagonosed the problem and as it was only 7 months old it was under warranty. I was using the email support for authorization to have it picked up for repair. I told them, when they asked, that I wanted it picked up at work (since this is where I am during the day). They first went to my house instead. Then they gave me the wrong hours for pick up and even though I stayed an hour late at work, Fed Ex showed up 45 minutes after HP told me it would be picked up. It wasn't until I called Fed Ex and straightened the mess out with them directly did the computer get picked up. Then they asked me if I wanted it returned to the same place it was picked up. This is a logical assumption and I did tell them yes I wanted it sent back to work. Instead they had it sent to my house. When I got home and found the Fed Ex tag (with no indication who the package was from) I had to first call Fed Ex to find out who the package was from. Then I spent an hour on the phone last night with 3 different people in India (it would have been a 4th but the manager hung up the phone on me after I waited 20 minutes and he hadn't even talked to me). After all that time and effort, I just checked the Fed Ex tracking and they again sent to the package to my house. This has to be the worst service I have ever had to deal with.

[linazelle]

19. I've had several Compaq power supply cords go bad on me

Those things are expensive and I'm not sure if it's a problem with HP or with everybody but it's ridiculous to spend more that $100 for a power cord more than once.

[BillZBubb]

2. HP has been steadily sliding down the quality curve.

They used to be the best. Now, they are no better than the rest.

[amber dog democrat]

3. All computer manufacturers are evil to some degree

but for my money the ones to avoid are Gateways. Upgrades are a tad more complex than other makes since you won't know what is in them for sure unless you identify it by SER # .

I like HP Printers, Never used one of their boxes.

What do I know - I am a Mac user.

[samwisefoxburr]

4. I wouldn't be suprised...

...with all the stupid shit that goes on in the factory that I work at. They don't train anybody on the job they do, and they try to blame it all on the lower workers. When you keep firing and hiring new people ALL THE TIME and nothing changes, is there something wrong with the lower people, or the supervisors and managers?

/bad day working at an HP Invent factory yesterday.

[miss_kitty]

6. make sure you let the company know IN A POLITE WAY

that you have had these problems and, that while you have nothing against the good people of India, you do resent your calls being handled in Bangalore, and that the continued practice by them of outsourcing will cause you to recommend your friends go elsewhere for computer needs.

Companies are well aware of 'Word of Mouth' advertisng. They know that a happy customer tells fewer (a LOT fewer) people of their satisfaction, than a DISsatisfied customer tells of his/her dissatisfaction.

Send them a copy of this thread :evilgrin: along with a link to the page with the membership numbers

[Tangledog]

13. Good words from mlle_chatte

It's also IMHO worth emphasizing undertrained Bangaloreños.

It's always difficult to phrase complaints in a way that detracts attention away from the underpaid and undertrained outsourcees and toward the vomitorious management policies that put the outsourcees there in the first place.

If management has enough emotional investment in destroying American jobs (and the Fiorina regime loves nothing better than pink slips by the megaditto), they can spin any complaint into -- dare I say it? -- a chauvinist Freeprant.

[NJmaverick]

15. HP has a form to send messages to the CEO

I told them exactly what you suggested. I told them that I am an IT person. I did not like their out sourced service that was incompetent. I told them that people come to me for advice on computer purchases and that I was taking HP off my good list. I did this in a professional manner.

[OneTwentyoNine]

7. Buy your computer local,from a system builder in your city....

I build my own and have built several for others but to hell with the big guys. Find a shop in your own town. You'll specify and get EXACTLY what you want,not what they want to pawn off on you at that moment from junk stuff they got at fire sale prices.

Repair problem?,they might come out or...its a short trip across town instead of boxing the whole damn thing up and sending it in not to be seen for weeks.

Oh yeah...don't be fooled into paying for a three year parts warranty. If you buy quality components they COME with three year warranties. Most high quality memory is lifetime,retail box CPU's (which cost a few bucks more)carry three year warranties,many hardrives carry three year warranties.

Of course they won't tell you those parts carry a three year,they want to sell you a extended contract.



David

[Droopy]

9. I second build your own

I built mine from parts I bought at local small-time computer shops. I got exactly what I wanted and my system has performed flawlessly for over a year now.

[flvegan]

8. Recent HP buyer

Twas the only box with the new AMD 64 at the time at a reasonable price point. Setting it up, night one, the router install blew the hard drive partition. India couldn't help. So, having bought the Best Buy extended warranty, I took it back and they gave me a brand new one. I love it, and it hauls.

All in all, all Windows based units (on the mass market) are going downhill from what I've heard. Even Dell...

[bleedingheart]

10. I have four HP's and they are all fine

three desktops and one laptop.

I have had more problems with Dell.

[NJmaverick]

16. I am not so upset by the failure

As I am with the terrible experience I had with their out sourced service department. At work I had to send back a Dell Computer and that was a very painless process with out a single problem or hitch. Then again Dell did not outsource their support people like HP did.

[bleedingheart]

17. Guess again, Dell does outsource to India

in fact Michael Dell is a big GOP contributor who has advocated outsourcing...

[NJmaverick]

20. Not anymore

For Dell, Indian call center failure a lesson
Published: March 31, 2004, 10:57 AM PST
By Andy McCue
Special to CNET News.com


Dell admits it has "learned its lesson" after being forced to drop its Indian call center last year following customer complaints about the quality of service.

The call center operation for the OptiPlex desktops and Latitude laptops was moved back to the United States. Dell CIO Randy Mott said in an interview that the Bangalore center was unable to deal satisfactorily with the volume of calls generated by the rapid growth of those product lines.

"In that example we were not as efficient as we wanted to be," he said. "We were growing very quickly in that (consumer) segment. It got a little ahead of us. We took the decision to get it back under control. Our customers expect more from Dell than other companies, and we weren't meeting those (expectations)."

http://news.com.com/For+Dell,+Indian+call+center+failure+a+lesson/2100-1001_3-5182611.html

[landdaddy]

12. I build

my own and for others. Have had nightmares upgrading HP's, Compaq's, Dell's etc for other people. Made a mistake not long ago of recommending Dell to a relative which I subsequently worked on. Never again! My recommendation is now "never a store bought"!

[OneTwentyoNine]

25. Not to mention the Win OS from big box guys is trash...

Its usually a crippleware type of "recovery" disk filled with junk and programs you don't want or need--that's if your lucky and even get one. Any computer I build comes with its authentic,clean WinXP disk. No fillers or trash.

David

[Solon]

18. Build your own, or if you REALLY need one that is store bought...

get Alien ware, at least their computers have no propriety equipment and is DESIGNED for upgrades. Get the cheapest and build it up from there.

[OneTwentyoNine]

21. OMG,go over to Reseller Ratings before you give AW you CC #

http://www.resellerratings.com/

Those guys have had a shit reputation for years. It improved somewhat a few months ago but I'd be damn carefull

Its the same old story,they get your CC#,charge your $4,000 computer(which I could build for $2,500-2,700)to the card and then you wait,and wait and wait. They have a mickey mouse numbering system as to where your computer is during the process. Expect to see it go a few numbers and then just stop--unless you call a pitch a REAL big bitch then suddenly it might move from 5 to 6.

A hell of alot of people end up canceling and getting AW to take the charges off the card. Take a look,things must really be getting crappy because AW has started answering complaints on RR like they used to.


David

[Nlighten1]

24. If you want a state of the art PC go here...

http://go-l.com/

[NJmaverick]

22. It gets better

They destroyed the screen. Had to drive to the fed ex warehouse to pick it up. got it home and the destroyed the screen!!!!

[Nlighten1]

23. I work for an HP reseller...

I tell my clients to buy Dell because I want to keep them as clients. HP desktops suck. Especially the ones they sell at retail businesses like Best Buy. But then, this is the computing industries dirty little secret. Every manufacturer that sells consumer brand PCs makes them out of the worst parts they can find.

If you want a good, reliable PC go to some vendors website and purchase one of their business models. The quality is much better and there is less hassle getting support.