HP BULLIES CUSTOMER

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halfpiint

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Jul 26, 2002
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I spent $629 for the HP G85 All-in-one because I needed a quality machine for my home office & wanted to buy from a company that stands behind its product. What I got instead was a continual nightmare & unexpected abuse.

After months of telephone tech support on my HP G85,I agreed [gringe] to a replacement. What I received was worst than what I had! Okay, mistakes can happen, that's part of life; but the abusive hostile treatment that followed from HP has been a shocker!

1. 1st Quality Control rep told me, and I quote: "Since HP has not determined a defect in this particular model then your complaints of grinding & not printing are INVALID"
End of discussion [note: why was the model discontinued?]

2. 2nd Quality Control rep who called, accused me of never complaining about the grinding noise til now. I asked if he had read the notes on my case. He said "NO" {???} I asked him to read the notes - I'll wait. then I hear "Ooooh, you did call in the beginning", but that humane attitude lasted only a few seconds. W/o any provocation, he became argumentative & accusatory, repeatedly cutting me off after only a couple of words. I asked if he'd allow me the same respect I allowed him by letting me finish a sentence.
HIS REPLY: "He would continue to cut me off If I said something he disagreed with". When I decided to stop talking he got angry! He told me that as far as he was concerned "a replacement never took place" {???} I told him I hoped this conversation was being recorded.

3. I faxed a letter to the CEO, Carly Fiorina, in hopes someone at HP cared about their customer. The response I received was a call from the 1st rude Quality Care rep denying she said what she did and then telling me it was never her intentions to say those things. BUT, she wouldn't tell me what the policy was on how many replacements I need to accept before they'll allow me to pay the difference in upgrading and after telling her TO NOT SEND ME ANOTHER REPLACEMENT... she sent me another replacement. THE BOX REMAINS UNOPENED.

4. FAXED A 2ND LETTER TO THE CEO, CARLY FIORINA. The response was 2 more calls from Quality Care reps attempting to bully me.

5. FAXED A 3RD LETTER today to the CEO, Carly Fiorina, saying I would hope they would stand by HP's upstanding reputation & help me resolve this matter. I asked to have someone with authority to the correct the problem contact me.

This has been exhausting. Doesn't customer satisfaction mean anything anymore?
 
Sorry to hear of your situation.
Try sending a letter by postal mail - that might change things.

Rob
Please visit <b><A HREF="http://www.ncix.com/canada/about.php?affiliateid=319048" target="_new">http://www.ncix.com/canada/about.php?affiliateid=319048</A></b>
 
Thanks Arrow. I'm not sure what difference a letter would make from a fax or email. The chances of others intercepting it first and making the decisions seem even greater. What do you think?

I received a call tonight in response to my last fax. It started off sounding like I was speaking to someone who actually cared. Someone who had the authority to help resolve this matter, but that was just a facade.

He even had the nerve to tell me he listened in on the call where HE HEARD me AGREE TO A 2nd REPLACEMENT! [Not!]

Why did he bother calling? <sigh!>

What would you do at this point?
 
OldBear's suggestion is a good one.
When you do write them a letter by postal mail, be sure to address it to a person of seniority with authority and who you think will care about the reputation of the company. Sometimes it takes a little threatening in the letter to make things happen (but if you send in a CC of your letter to the BBB, they'll know you're talking serious).

Rob
Please visit <b><A HREF="http://www.ncix.com/canada/about.php?affiliateid=319048" target="_new">http://www.ncix.com/canada/about.php?affiliateid=319048</A></b>
 
Now you know why I buy Lexmark. I got the same kind of attitude from Epson and Canon. Canon especially ticked me off when they told me they "had no plans to support the BJC-5000 series under Windows XP". Perfectly good printer sits on shelf gathering dust.

Lexmark is different. I say that from experience. We had a Lexmark printer that would start printing off the edge of the paper, sometimes, making horrible noises. One call to Lexmark, 2 minutes going through the support checklist, and they sent a new printer OVERNIGHT, at their expense, with a pickup ticket for the old printer. It's hard to beat support like that!

===> Never assume ANYTHING <===

**** Home of Obsolete Hardware ****
 
Apparently there's no WinXP support on the HPG85 either. I don't understand, What does that mean?

I got the bbb's website address and will give it a shot.

It's stressful enough when equipment you rely on breaks down, & you're right in the middle of a job, but to be insulted and played with by the manufacturer when you try & resolve the issue only makes matters worst!

I've been with verizon's dsl service for 2 years. The service is not the greatest, sometimes it sucks, but the ppl at Verizon go out of their way to help; are not afraid to say "I don't know" when they don't and generally make you feel they are trying to please you. That's why I stay with Verizon.

Lexmark has the right idea.

btw, I called HP yesterday to see if there was anyone higher in the corporate office then the CEO Carly Fiorina <sp> . <apparently there's no one higher! 🙁 but, Instead of a switchboard operator answering one of the ppl from the corp office answered and boy was she curt & rude! but, she won points by not only having the switchboard operator call me back right away but admitting to the operator that she had been "rude". The first sign of "HONESTY AT HP!" I can respect honesty.
Thx for your support. Wish me luck!

btw, a couple of times you have mention mailing. why do you guys feel I should mail the letter rather than fax or email?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by halfpiint on 07/27/02 11:46 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
seems snail mail carries more weight than a fax. Also, I would send it registered/return receipt which even carries MORE weight.

<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>
 
It makes some companies ill at ease when you go to that much trouble.
The squeaking wheel gets the grease.

<b><font color=blue>The advantage of exercising every day is that you die healthier.
 
she wouldn't tell me what the policy was on how many replacements I need to accept before they'll allow me to pay the difference in upgrading
Click to expand...
Is this what your'e trying to do? Upgrade to a different model than the one you've got?
 
Yes! after months on the phone with technical support; receiving a defective replacement; no windows xp support; the fact the model is discontinued [not to mention the repeated harsh rude treatment I received] all added up to a $600 investment down the drain. I can't afford that! I need something I can count on.
So, I finally asked if I could pay the difference between what I had and the next model up, which I felt was a reasonable request.

This morning I received GOOD NEWS! HP is going to replace my All-in-One with a newer model.

Another quality care rep called! Told me his primary goal was to find a resolution that was good for HP and would keep a customer. [ I asked him, "In that order?" ] :)
He was polite, and considerate. It was a pleasure to talk to him.

Bottom line: a "win-win" situation.

I want to thank everyone here at Tom's forum for letting me vent my frustrations. Your support and guidance was greatly appreciated. You all are terrific! Who knows maybe someone from HP even saw this post! This isn't exactly good publicity for HP...hmmm, I wonder if that's what he meant when he said his goal was "finding a resolution that was good for HP"

I wonder. . . .
 
no one who reads this entire thread can convince themselves that it was good for HP.

a very long and degrading process (for you and their reputation)

<b>Before visiting THG i was a clueless noob. Now im still clueless, but look at my nice title!<b>
 
I have always used HP printers but after this I will look around before I buy again.
When times are tough the last thing you should do is treat your customers badly.

:smile: <font color=blue><b>You get what you pay for...all advice here is free.</b></font color=blue> :smile:
 
I stand with you. I will do business with Lexmark or someone else instead of HP in the future. Maybe you should tell them to checkout your thread here, or better yet copy them a complimentary link to it in an email. They just lost me as a customer hearing about their poor customer service, and guess what? I'm telling my friends and family about your experience. So, keep us updated.

<font color=purple><b>An average human brain weights aprox. 3lbs., but a thought weights a load.</font color=purple></b>
 
Well, I've gotta say, you got a good deal.

I've supported (among others) Lexmark, Canon, Samsung, Epson, Kyocera, Oki, Minolta, Star, Panasonic, Brother and of course HP printers. And I can safely say that, as far as warranty support goes, none of these companies would either "trade up" a printer as you described or refund money unless there were mitigating circumstances - like dissatisfied customers. That's almost a standard rule with any of the larger companies.

I currently support 46 networked and about 30 or so non networked printers, most of them HP. From the deskjet 840's to their Laserjet 1100 and 3200's to their 8100's, 8150's and 9000 series lasers and even their Designjet 1055CM's. The quality of their printers is pretty good (compared to some)

I personally have found their service to be good. Not the best, but good.

On 2 occaisions, I've had reasons to gripe about their service. Once was when they failed to fix an 8100 that was covered by a 4 HR response/24Hr Turn around warranty, and the other was when HP charged us for replacing a fuser unit (not covered by warranty) without notifying us first.

On the other hand, one time they arranged for a Businessjet 2500C to be replaced straight away as the printer only had a few days warranty left and they didn't want to leave us with a broken printer after the warranty expired.

They fix what they're required to and charge for what they're not. Just like every other company I've dealt with. I'd have to say that I've had more bad experiences with Lexmark and Canon Printers and their support than I have with HP, but there you go.
 
Good points but why should larger customers get better treatment than smaller customers?
Besides if I were going to buy for my company after I was personally treated wrong, do
you think I would buy from that company? He got a good deal because the model was discontinued
and they couldn’t provide a working unit plus he didn't take no for and answer.


:smile: <font color=blue><b>You get what you pay for...all advice here is free.</b></font color=blue> :smile:
 
why should larger customers get better treatment than smaller customers?
Click to expand...

They don't as far as I know. You get whatever treatment you pay for. We have several Deskjet 840C's and 930C's which are covered by the same warranty that is sold with the printer when you buy it out of the shop. We get the same treatment as everyone else for those. The same can be said for our Laserjet 1100's and 3200's. It's only when you start getting into the larger printers that you get better service, and even then, it's only because we pay for the extra maintenance.

Of course he got the replacement because he didn't take no for an answer. I admire Halpiint's persistance in this. What I meant when I said he got a good deal was that some companies wouldn't even have done that. Of course, there are exeptions where a company performs above the required standard, but in my experience, that's an exception, not a rule. The 2 points I was trying to make was that 1. I think that Halfpiint would have gotten similar if not worse treatment from other printer manufacturers out there, and 2. My experiences with HP have been good.

The reason I wanted to make that second point was because you can't really get an indication on how good a company is from the experiences of one person. I wanted to give other readers a broader opinion of HP's support by giving my own experiences as well. I hope others post their experiences here too. Because I might have dealt with HP and other brands at different levels and for different products, but I sure as hell haven't seen and don't know everying. That's why I read these forums.
 
I'd like to say until this experience I always had pleasant experiences with HP! HP's Technical Support has always been wonderful. Still is!

This thread was never about their technical support. It was always about customer relations. I have never been treated this rudely by any company. Even when my "new" DELL "arrived DOA" and I found out they might replace it with a refurbished, [!!!} my patience was tested but I was never offended or insulted.

Not sure if its because I'm a girl that I was bullied, or they thought if they kept calling me a liar & pretending they did nothing wrong long enough, I would go away . It did the opposite, It only made me madder!

Novakain, I know you can't relate to my situation, but, How would you feel if it were your wife or your sister or even your mother who received this kind of treatment? I don't think you'd like it.

By your own words, a replacement is a reasonable policy when there is a "dis-satisfied customer". [mitigating circumstances] But Large Corporations sometimes get so caught up in the details of daily business and big mergers they often forget about the little details; like "satisfied-customers"!


Someone wise once told me "It's not our problems that do us in, but how we choose to deal with them that will make us or break us."

HP has the opportunity to choose to evaluate the effects of their current customer relation policies and deal with them. That's good for HP

HP finally chose to treat a customer with the respect a customer deserves and "pays" for. That's good for HP.

HP kept a customer! That's good for HP.
 
I stopped buying HP for two reasons:

1. They take forever to mail rebates back. That's if you even get them and that's after calling several times complaining and clearing up their paper work mistakes. Any mail in rebate that takes over 8 weeks is a scam in my opinion. 6 months is fraud.

2. They basically cut off all support for all their products once WinXP was released. The few software updates that they finally released 5 months later have been useless and too late. That's assuming they released one on the internet and not one that you had to mail in and pay for.

<font color=red>I have a computer and it does weird stuff. please help.</font color=red>
 
There's a dirty little secret with mail-in rebates... perhaps you've never heard it.

They don't WANT you to respond to it.

They're counting on the fact that the majority of people don't send in their mail-in rebate and those that do, usually don't do any follow-up on them. It's not just HP. If you haven't received a mail-in rebate within 4 - 6 weeks, you should be contacting the company and asking where your rebate is.

<font color=red> If you design software that is fool-proof, only a fool will want to use it. </font color=red>
 
simple solution... make your own.
1. you learn new stuff
2. it costs less
3. u can optimise it to buggery
4. u can brag on toms about it.
5. its not a dell (or a HP...or a gateway... or a compac)

<b>Due to Customer Complaints, this sig has been witdrawn from public use. Thankyou. :lol: </b>
 
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