Down the Rabbit Hole -- Customer Service Rant and Rave

[Jack Hogoboom]

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

[Dave Richards]

Jack, I feel your pain. Unfortunately HP isn't the HP of years past. for that matter neither are any of its divisions that have gone off to other companies. Philips is worse.

Good luck getting your adaptor replaced. Do you know the output specs? You might find a replacement at Radio Shack or Best Buy. Watch polarity on the plug and plug size.

[Chuck Wintle]

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
Jack,
do you have any electronic stores near you? Look at the voltage output marked on the ac adaptor. Its probably 9 or 12 volts dc@xxxmA and as Dave mentioned above watch the polarity. Any decent electronic store should be able to replace it.
also found this link....
http://h20141.www2.hp.com/hpparts/

[Bill Lewis]

Jack,
I am PM'ing you. I can help.

[Steven Wilson]

You like cheap prices, right? Well get use to this level of service; a little KY jelly will help. Guess what, your x-rays are (or soon will be) being read by offshore folks too. Enjoy it and don't forget to vote for more tax cuts for the wealthy.

[Joe Pelonio]

HP seems to be one of the worst. My wife's laptop started to turn itself off suddenly, especially when running heavy hard-drive applications like a virus scan. This one month after warranty expired. Turned out to be a heat problem their thermal sensor/switch is a known problem that per forums affects every laptop they have made. No recall, or free fix, in fact it's $600 plus shipping both ways to fix, for a $1,500 computer. We solved the problem by keeping it up on blocks to allow 1/2" of air under it.

As for the telephone help issues, HP, Microsoft, Compaq and the rest all do it, when you do get a human they are in India and you cannot understand them, so don't waste the $35. Dell is just as bad. Bet
you can find the part at Radio Shack as Dave said, just take to old one with you. BTW I heard it's bad for adapters to remain plugged in when not in use, I use a switched surge protector strips and turn off everything at night.

[Mike Cutler]

BTW I heard it's bad for adapters to remain plugged in when not in use, I use a switched surge protector strips and turn off everything at night.

Not to be contrary Joe, but my experience says just the opposite. Thirty plus years of experience in the electonice field, have shown me that most acute power supply failures occur with supplies being switched on and off.
Power supplies that remain on show a slower degradation over time in the form of increased AC ripple on the output.
Most AC adapters are a simple stepdown transformer with a very crude full wave bridge rectifier, and voltage regulator (bunch of diodes).
There are also only a few voltages that are out there The most common being 12vdc, 24vdc, 7vdc, and sometimes 9, usually it's a multiple or a derivation of "6" because of the characteristics of cheap diodes and their operational regions. The actual plug that interfaces the device can be proprietary sometmes, but is generally some form of an RCA or GE adapter.
As stated before, Go to radio shack. They have a multi function adapter that has switchable voltage outputs and an assortment of adapters. It will also be cheaper than an OEM adapter.

[Joe Pelonio]

Not to be contrary Joe, but my experience says just the opposite. Thirty plus years of experience in the electonice field, have shown me that most acute power supply failures occur with supplies being switched on and off.

I'll defer to your expertise on it, plus I found where I got that information. It was a warning from Dell back when they recalled over 1 million of them that were smoking and melting. They said to unplug when not in use, for obvious reasons. Assuming it's not defective your way makes sense.

[Bob Weisner]

What is the model # on the ac adapter

[Mike Cutler]

I'll defer to your expertise on it, plus I found where I got that information. It was a warning from Dell back when they recalled over 1 million of them that were smoking and melting. They said to unplug when not in use, for obvious reasons. Assuming it's not defective your way makes sense.

Whoa! That's a bit different than what I was implying. I was referring to the actual electronic components. That's some type of a heat dissapation design issue.
I stand corrected. Do as Dell recommends, That's a real fire hazard issue.