The Nightmare Called HP

** Updated 10-30-16 ***

*This is a story of a VERY BAD experience with HP computers. Well, not actually with their computers (for the most part), but more with their customer service.

The story starts with when I purchased my Spectre 13-4195 laptop convertible in Feb of 2016. I loved this laptop. It was the best I have owned. It was sleek, nice looking, had a solid state drive and amazing screen with vivid color. It was also small. For those of you have known me, I am usually enamored with HUGE laptops that weigh a ton, but I fell in love with this small laptop.

I used it all the way up to Aug 23 of this year when upon returning from travel, I noticed I cracked the screen somehow in my luggage.

So I contacted HP support and they responded nicely saying it was covered under their door to door warranty service. They shipped a box to me the next day for me to send to them. I took it to Fedex on Aug 25. The service order said I would have it back within 6 business days. Their estimate was September 5. Not too bad.

The week of Sep 5 I logged into my HP account to check on it and it said it was still in repair but said that I would still receive it by Sep 5. Keep in mind, it was already after that date. So, I decided to call HP. Below is a timeline of subsequent events.

• Sep 8 – called and was told it would be coming soon.
• Sep 13 – called and was told that the service technician would be calling me with an update. No call ever came.
• Sep 20 – called and was promised I would be called one more time. I also noticed that message on my online account now said I would be notified if there would be any delay in my repair AND it still said I would receive my laptop on Sep 6.
• Sep 21 – My I received the following email that did not really seam to be intended for me. Not sure what the ARM is.

• Maybe it was good? It had the word “RESOLVED” in it.
• Sep 22 I receive a call, FINALLY from someone in Customer Service. When I logged into my account it then said that my laptop would be repaired by NOVEMBER, more than 3 months from when it was sent in. They were waiting on parts. When speaking with the customer service person, he indicated that he wasn’t even sure that it would be done in November.
• He asked me if wanted a new computer instead of waiting. I said yes, if I could get me data off the first one. He said he would check and let me know.
• About a week a later he called and said they would ship my old, broken laptop to me so I could copy any files I wanted to an external drive. He said when I shipped the old one back, he would then give me $1300 in HP gift cards to buy another laptop.
• I told him that the replacement was going to cost $1,500 but he would not make up the difference. I would have to pay it.
• It took another week to get the gift cards emailed to me.
• Sep 30 I was able to order my new laptop and had to pay over $200 to get my replacement. When I ordered it via my HP account, I had to enter the shipping address. The HP account had my CA address as the default so I had to manually enter in my UT address. I paid the difference and submitted the order.
• When I received the confirmation email shortly thereafter, I noticed that the shipping address had been changed from the UT address I manually entered to the address in CA where I had the original laptop shipped in Feb 2016. You can see it below.

• So within minutes of placing the order, I called HP to get the shipping address changed. They told me they could not change the shipping address once the order was placed. They said the only option was to cancel the order. So I did.
• So I tried to order again, but I could not because the said it would take a couple days for the gift cards amounts to be reloaded again since the order was cancelled.
• Oct 6 – It was not until 6 days later that I was able to reorder the replacement laptop again.
• Oct 10 – I received the email below saying my order was cancelled.

• I received no communication other than the email. So I called HP Customer Service…again. They told me that the laptop I ordered had less than 5 in stock and that they could not guarantee that I would get it.  I asked, “Why did you sell it if you weren’t sure if you had one?” The lady had no answer.
• So because of their mistakes, I was no longer able to order the laptop that was the closest replacement to the one that they could not repair.
• I was told that I had to wait again to order a different laptop because the HP gift cards had to be reloaded. She told me she would call me back the next day to do the order.
• The next day she called back and told me that something was wrong with their system and that she could not place the order.
• Three days later she called back and on Oct 13 the laptop was ordered.
• I received it 2 days later.
• I got everything loaded onto the laptop – my old files, apps, browser. It finally seemed like the ordeal was over!

WRONG!!

After using the new laptop for a day or two, I noticed something weird was happening. The cursor kept jumping to the left side of the screen and it did not allow me to gain control whether using a wireless mouse or the touchpad.  You can see a sample of what it was doing in the video below.

And yet another video showing the “Spectre” ghost-like qualities of the laptop doing things as if possessed.

Oct 19 – I contact HP support. The logged into my computer and reloaded some things, changed some settings and told me it was fixed. As soon as they logged out, the problem came back. So I contact support again. This time the person told me we needed to reinstall Windows and that I would lose all my apps and settings. I asked if he was sure because it sure seemed like a HARDWARE issue as opposed to a software issue.

He told me that if the Windows reset did not work, that then they would repair the mousepad.

So we did the 2 hour long Windows reset. And can you guess the result? Take the multiple choice test below to see if you got it right.

A. It did not fix the problem.
B. It did not fix the problem.
C. It did not fix the problem.
D. All the above.

If you selected any answer from A-D, you were right!

Oct 20 – I contacted HP support again. I told them I wanted them to ship me a new laptop and overnight it to me. It has been almost 3 months since I shipped mine in. He told me that he was going to ship me a USB drive so I could reinstall the operating system. Again, I said I think this is a HARDWARE problem.  I was not being heard. As we were discussing the resolution, he abruptly ended the chat session.

I have not heard anything else. I have not idea when the USB is coming.

On another note, because I bought a 2 year extended warranted called a CARE PACK on my original laptop in Feb of 2016, I asked that they place that on the new computer. They agreed. When I received the email that it had been done, they sent me a document that shows the warranty started in Feb 2015, a year before I purchased it. Below is the receipt from when it was purchased.

I have emailed the person who sent me the update and have not heard anything back yet.

It does not look like the end is anywhere in sight. All I can say is I have no idea how HP is in business. None whatsoever.

I will update this blog as this NIGHTMARE CONTINUES….stay tuned…Halloween is not that far away.

*** UPDATE: It is not Oct. 30 and I still do not have a properly working laptop. Someone from the social media “customer care” (yes in quotes because I now firmly believe that they do NOT care about their customers) contacted me more than 5 days ago. They asked a few questions and I immediately provided the answers and I still have not heard ANYTHING.

Below is a transcript from my online chat session with their “support”:

“7:23 PM Checking configuration…
7:23 PM Connecting…
7:23 PM You have granted full permission to Technician.
7:24 PM Connecting…
7:24 PM Checking configuration…
7:24 PM Connecting…
7:24 PM Connected. A support representative will be with you shortly.
7:25 PM Support session established with Indu safi.

7:25 PM Indu safi: Welcome to HP Customer Support for Notebook Support. My name is Indu and I will be your technical support specialist today.
NOTE: For security reasons, PLEASE DO NOT send credit card information via this chat window. If I need that information from you later, I will link you to a separate, secure, HP web page to provide your credit card details.
7:25 PM Scott Andersen: 980-328-xxx is my phone. Address xxxx S. Geneva Rd Exxx Vineyard, UT 84058 is address
7:26 PM Indu safi: Hi Scott
7:26 PM Scott Andersen: I have spent months, days and MANY HOURS tyring to fix your bad equipment. Please ship new one ASAP.
7:28 PM Indu safi: Let me check the order detail.
7:28 PM Scott Andersen: Here is the orginal service order # that was created Aug 24 BJBL8884-01.
7:38 PM Indu safi: Is it showing shipment complete
7:39 PM Scott Andersen: Have you looked at the entire service history? We have reinstalled windows, updated drivers and done a system reset and it has not yet solved the problem. The issue is not shipping. The issue is my laptop is not working.
7:40 PM Scott Andersen: The shipment was for the thumbdrive that had the system reset on it.
7:40 PM Indu safi: Even after getting the notebook back from repair the issue is not fixed.
7:42 PM Scott Andersen: I did not EVER get the laptop back from repair. HP gave me 1300 in gift cards to buy another one because HP could even fix the first broken laptop. So when the 2nd laptop came, it had a problem with the screen/mouse preventing the laptop from being usable. So they logged into my laptop, yo update drivers. That did not work. Then they had me reinstall Windows. That didn’t work. Then they shipped me the USB drive to reset the system, that did not work. Have you even read the history of this case???
7:44 PM Scott Andersen: I sent you 2 service order numbers. Maybe you could also look up support case 3032417138. That is the number given to me by the Case Manager.
7:45 PM Scott Andersen: You could also read the entry on my blog that has most of the whole story. Here is the link http://www.theumenum.com/kids-and-abnormal-life/2016/10/20/the-nightmare-called-hp
7:46 PM Indu safi: I see in our data base service order for recovery media was created on 10-23-2016
7:47 PM Scott Andersen: So you think I called service and asked for recovery media for no reason??? WHY does it say it was needed? Is that the only history you have??? I have sent you several case numbers.
7:48 PM Scott Andersen: Would you please just have a MANAGER CALL ME ASAP? The number is above.
7:48 PM Scott Andersen: This is absurd.
7:49 PM Indu safi: As you want to talk to the case manager you can call our voice support on the below number and they will transfer your call to case manager
7:49 PM Indu safi: 1800-474-6836
7:55 PM Indu safi: Are you with me?
7:56 PM Scott Andersen: Yes. So have you been able to find the COMPLETE history? Or are you putting the responsibility on me again?
7:58 PM Indu safi: I have found 2 order one was for repair and the other was for recovery media
7:59 PM Scott Andersen: Well then this is part of the problem…you guys do not even KNOW what the problem has been and currently is.
7:59 PM Scott Andersen: So there is nothing you are going to do to resolve this?
8:00 PM Indu safi: The thing that you need I cannot do it you need to call our voice support and they will transfer your call to case manager.”

All that I know is that my laptop has only gotten WORSE with each thing they have asked me to do.  I have spent over 38 hours trying to fix their bad equipment and customer service. And the hours are still adding up.

Stay tuned as the HP drama continues.