Why HP customer service sucks - Part 2

So, my great new HP dv2500 CTO with 2GB Ram, Core 2 Duo 2.00GHz, 160GB SATA hard drive, Dual Layer LightScribe drive, integrated webcam, fingerprint reader, and Vista 64-bit really is kick ass. It was noticeably better is most aspects.

Of course I wouldn't be able to run some applications right away, but hat wasn't a huge concern. They even gave me the recovery DVD with it.

Then I find out I only have two USB ports. When I take it to work and try to plug it into one of two spare AC Adapters I had, I find out the spares I have had for several years no longer work. They have different tips. OK, so I will carry around my adapter a little more.

I called HP because I couldn't make the recovery discs from the software provided. I figured I would make a spare one. They sent me a new one. I also discovered that when I run a recovery, it won't activate over the Internet. I need to go through the whole calling Microsoft bit, instead of being pre-activated like the systems used to be. I called them back and they wanted to send me recovery discs, not understanding that I already had some on the way.

Well, here it is about 9 months after delivery of my new laptop, and my XD card slot (none of the other ones in the all-in-one controller) does not work, the LCD is getting marks from the keyboard and every time I run a restore, I ran the recovery from the new discs and I still have to call Microsoft to activate. What the heck??

So I called HP one more time. They were going to escalate it. A month later and no one called me. I called back. At this point, I am too tired. I just want this over with, so they are sending a box. Apparently, they don't think I can run a recovery. I also stressed about ten times that the XD Card slot does not work. Wanna bet that comes back broken still?

Why HP customer service sucks - Part 1

I'm not sure how far back to go on this. I actually used to receive great customer service from HP/Compaq. Although the more I think about it, I guess it was Compaq that I got great service from. HP always sucked. As a tech, we could call Compaq 24/7 for warranty repairs. With HP we had to call Monday - Friday daytime. I think their hours got better, but from the customer's standpoint, they really suck.

Any way, about two years ago, I got a replacement laptop from CompUSA. I bought a repair warranty on the original and since I got it replace, I bought it on the new one. The LCD started to get marks on it from the keyboard. I could clean it at first, but eventually, the screen got pretty bad. The first time I sent it in, the network jack got a little messed up. One of the metal tabs that help hold the cable in got bent a little. I bent it back, but eventually, it would get messed up again.

The LCD started getting bad again, so I called again and asked them to fix the LCD and the network jack. When I got it back, they replaced the LCD, but did nothing with the jack. I lived with it.

Again after a few months, the problem happened. I had the issue escalated at some point, and they said the would make sure everything was fixed. They replaced the LCD, keyboard, and system board. Problem was, the system board was a different one with an nVidia card on it. That wouldn't be so bad, except every time I tried to do anything graphics intensive, the system crashed. So, I called again, went through the customer support and they agreed to replace the laptop.