Jack Hogoboom
03-07-2006, 10:10 PM
I'm burned up big time about the following situation:
About 2 months ago, I bought an external DVD burner from HP to burn Tivo shows to disk. Last night, the drive suddenly doesn't work. Using my limited powers of deduction, I discover that the likely culprit is a dead AC adaptor.
Knowing that HP is a big, well respected company, I thought it would be fairly easy to get a replacement adaptor....WRONG....
First, I defy anyone of average or above average intelligence to navigate the HP website. After at least a half hour of searching, I find a number to call for customer support. The first call results in a recording that my free support time has expired but I can talk to a live person for $35 a minute. Since the power cord probably costs less than $35, I prudently ended the call. After another 15 minutes of searching, I find another number. After going through about seven voice mail prompts, I get someone who speaks with a heavy Eastern European accent. When I realize I will never be able to communicate with this person, I decide to terminate the call.
Being intrepid and somewhat dogged, I try now to simply replace the AC adapter figuring my time is worth too much to try to deal with the warranty. After another 15 minute search, I discover that the HP replacement parts store has no entry for my drive, even though other parts of HP's site have no problems IDing my drive. Frustrated, I give up and go back to work.
This evening, I tried the number again. Only this time, I call a special line for dvd drives (even though my drive isn't listed as one of the supported drives). This time, I get a person with a heavy, but understandable Indian accent. Figuring this is as good as it gets, I explain my problem. The response is that I have to call back after noon US time, even though the website advertises 24 hour, 7 day a week service. When I inquire about this, I am told a need a "level 2 tech" and the person I am speaking to is only a "level 1 tech". For the life of me, I can't imagine why I need such specialized capabilities to replace a defective adapter. I then ask if I can just buy a new one and deal with the warranty issues later. However, I am told that I cannot do this except by calling back after noon tomorrow.
By this time, I am fit to be tied, but to my credit, I keep my cool. I look at the adapter itself, which has mostly Asian character writing on it, but does contain a manufacturer's name. Needless to say, a Google search identifies a website, but unless you can read Chinese, which I can't, the website is utterly useless.
To state the obvious, I am beyond frustrated with this entire experience. It is shocking to me that such a big company, with the kind of technical and marketing resources it has, could make it so difficult to deal with one small problem. After this experience, I will never, ever buy another HP product.
I know there are a lot of computer and IT people on this website. I know none of you would ever countenance this type of customer service. However, it is experiences like this that are making all of you as reviled as people in my profession (law) are. If I ever tried to treat one of my clients the way HP treats its customers, I'd be out of business in no time. It is just unfathomable to me that customer service has gone out the window to the extent it has, all in the pursuit of the last dollar of incremental sales.
Sorry for the rant, but it feels really good to get this off my chest. I hope this never happens to any of you.
Jack
About 2 months ago, I bought an external DVD burner from HP to burn Tivo shows to disk. Last night, the drive suddenly doesn't work. Using my limited powers of deduction, I discover that the likely culprit is a dead AC adaptor.
Knowing that HP is a big, well respected company, I thought it would be fairly easy to get a replacement adaptor....WRONG....
First, I defy anyone of average or above average intelligence to navigate the HP website. After at least a half hour of searching, I find a number to call for customer support. The first call results in a recording that my free support time has expired but I can talk to a live person for $35 a minute. Since the power cord probably costs less than $35, I prudently ended the call. After another 15 minutes of searching, I find another number. After going through about seven voice mail prompts, I get someone who speaks with a heavy Eastern European accent. When I realize I will never be able to communicate with this person, I decide to terminate the call.
Being intrepid and somewhat dogged, I try now to simply replace the AC adapter figuring my time is worth too much to try to deal with the warranty. After another 15 minute search, I discover that the HP replacement parts store has no entry for my drive, even though other parts of HP's site have no problems IDing my drive. Frustrated, I give up and go back to work.
This evening, I tried the number again. Only this time, I call a special line for dvd drives (even though my drive isn't listed as one of the supported drives). This time, I get a person with a heavy, but understandable Indian accent. Figuring this is as good as it gets, I explain my problem. The response is that I have to call back after noon US time, even though the website advertises 24 hour, 7 day a week service. When I inquire about this, I am told a need a "level 2 tech" and the person I am speaking to is only a "level 1 tech". For the life of me, I can't imagine why I need such specialized capabilities to replace a defective adapter. I then ask if I can just buy a new one and deal with the warranty issues later. However, I am told that I cannot do this except by calling back after noon tomorrow.
By this time, I am fit to be tied, but to my credit, I keep my cool. I look at the adapter itself, which has mostly Asian character writing on it, but does contain a manufacturer's name. Needless to say, a Google search identifies a website, but unless you can read Chinese, which I can't, the website is utterly useless.
To state the obvious, I am beyond frustrated with this entire experience. It is shocking to me that such a big company, with the kind of technical and marketing resources it has, could make it so difficult to deal with one small problem. After this experience, I will never, ever buy another HP product.
I know there are a lot of computer and IT people on this website. I know none of you would ever countenance this type of customer service. However, it is experiences like this that are making all of you as reviled as people in my profession (law) are. If I ever tried to treat one of my clients the way HP treats its customers, I'd be out of business in no time. It is just unfathomable to me that customer service has gone out the window to the extent it has, all in the pursuit of the last dollar of incremental sales.
Sorry for the rant, but it feels really good to get this off my chest. I hope this never happens to any of you.
Jack