HP UK Customer Service – or lack thereof
As some of you may (or not) know, I own an HP Compaq Mini 700 netbook. I love my netbook for many reasons, the main one being its size. It fits nicely into my handbag and means I have access to my office when I am out and about. The battery life could be better and it has now been superseded by the HP Mini 110c but I’m not giving mine up yet. It still looks good though and as far as I am concerned, it can handle most things I throw at it. I know there are many users that don’t like netbooks but it depends on what your needs are. I bought one so that I could browse the Internet read emails and use Microsoft Office, whilst on the move. It doesn’t have the world’s fastest processor (Intel Atom N270, 1.60 GHz) and only has 1 GB ram, so therefore I do not expect it to handle HD output or run ram hungry programmes. It is slow but not too slow that I can’t cope with it.
So why am I writing about my netbook today? Well, I’m actually writing a blog post in complaint against the Customer Service rendered to me by HP UK. In June, my netbook lost one of its rubber feet. If you’re an owner of this model, you will have had a similar experience. For some reason the rubber feet are not glued very well to the underside of the machine. Having discovered that one was missing, I proceeded to call HP Customer Service. The call lasted over 30 minutes (including being on hold) and I was transferred 3 times. Each time I had to repeat my request to the person I was speaking too. I was finally given a number to call. I did, thinking it was another department of HP. I gave the serial and model numbers of my machine, and again, requested a spare foot. I was told that HP didn’t stock it as a spare. I then asked what I should do in that case as it beggared belief that HP could make high tech machines but couldn’t deal with low tech problems. I was told “to try and see if I could purchase a replacement foot in a hardware store”. By now I was apoplectic and launched into a tirade (in my nicest voice) about the service I had received thus far and that it was a shambles that HP could not resolve such a small problem. The poor woman I was speaking to, then interrupted and told me that I was not speaking to HP, that she was an employee of a spare parts company. By now my annoyance was complete. I told her that I was going to complain about HP via Social Media and that if I ever had a resolution to my problem, I would call her back and let her know how other customers could obtain a rubber foot.
On 20 July, I made contact with @HPCheer who looks after the HP US Twitter account. @HPCheer responded within a reasonable time period and promised to look into my issue. I gave them my contact details as requested. A week later I was contacted by HP UK Customer Service. Without going into it the flurry of emails I have received, with each respondent, “personally promising to follow up for me”, I have now been waiting for a sodding rubber foot since 28 July 2009. To say I am not impressed is an understatement. It is now 14 September 2009. Do I hold out any hope of receiving a rubber foot? My answer is a resounding NO!
I have since contacted @HPCheer who has promised to chase it up for me. I will say this, @HPCheer has been great. The huge failure in this story is HP UK Customer Service. They need to take a look at their US counterparts and sort themselves out. Insincere platitudes just don’t cut it with me. All I want is a rubber foot. How hard is that? Apparently for HP UK, VERY!!
If anyone else has had problems getting spare parts for their HP Compaq Mini 700, I’d love to hear from you. So, to quote Star Wars, “the saga continues…”
**Sigh**
The monkeys are in charge of the HP zoo here in the UK. I owned several HP products in the US and never had the service problems that I have had here. The US operation needs to send an audit team over here and clean house. I usually don’t generalize about nationalities but there seems to be a typically British attitude to “service” in HP’s UK operation. Don’t bother us with your problems, we’re busy.
Why did I not find this site before buying a H.P. all in one unit.
All I wanted to ask was why is it so slow ?
The “on line” help is only interested in selling you something and the telephone site is no help and being non English impossible to understand.
H.P. help is no help at all ! ! !
I purchased a HPG6032 for my daughter to use for school and home use in February 2008. (S/No CNF7430MVH p/n GZ974EA#ABU) Since then it has been a massive heap of trouble.
This was surprising as my older daughters both have HP computers with just one glich (fixed quickly by COMET who supplied it to my eldest daughter). I too have a HP6735s from school with no problems in 12 months.
The computer in question was returned for repair 3 times between May and July of 2008. We had been promised a replacement at one time which never materialised. Each time with the same problem – the wireless was dropping out. It had fitted a main board (repair 1) a main board and wireless card (repair 2) and, for some odd reason a keyboard (repair 3). After which it seemed to be OK for several months but then the same problem re-occurred. I managed to get around this by resetting the computer to a previous restore point – seemed to work for a few weeks most times. Then this stopped working. Sometimes the wireless would work – intermittently but not often. Sometimes it could be fixed by removing the power cord and battery and holding the on button down for 45 seconds and then re-inserting the battery while still keeping the on button depressed. (Found this fix on a website along with hundreds of complaints about this model of laptop). Currently no fixes seem to work. The system tools show the modem as working properly if the switch is on so is of no help as the PC light shows orange in any position.
I have since spoken to Citizens Advice. They say this is not unknown to them and their advice is that the laptop was basically sold ‘not fit for purpose’ and that this fault is well known to you. Their advice was in the first instance to contact yourselves and if no suitable outcome is found then to make a case in the small claims court on the basis that the product is not fit for purpose and that the problem is one which has been well known to yourselves for some time (their should have been a product recall). I have been told that the known problem is with the voltage on the motherboard and that it is particular to the G6000 models and a well documented problem. I have confirmed this online and have been advised that this would be suitable evidence to submit in a small claims court should it prove necessary. I await your prompt reply. In terms of service/support experience – your previous repairs should have been (a) faster and (b) pointed out the problem and given product replacement at the time. Website/customer service experience also poor as most of the routes to contact you with problems/complaints just seem to be dead ends. Comments please. This email is being copied as a letter and also as an email to any other avenue I can find to contact yourselves. It is also kept on file in case it should be needed as evidence.
HP customer service is none existing.All I want to d0 is take to someone.I was supposed to get my notebook picked up today to get the hard drive replaced but no one turned up.Trying to get the right phone number is impossible.
I have been tweeting and twittering HP at HP_PC for about 2 weeks and have just received a response to the effect that someone will be contacting me to resolve my issue!!
I wonder how long that will take??
If I am asked to rate laptop manufacturers, HP will be the last on the list.They make up policies as they go along, lie to customers,recruit staff who are trained to be rude and never honour any of the terms of their warranty.
It is high time retailers demand a better service from them or refuse to stock their products.Perhaps our efforts should be channelled to alert retailers from stocking their products.
Dee VAS
Thanks for the tip re twitter. I have signed up to twitter and logged my first tweet against HP
Geomacl
Geomac.
I agree with you about HP Customer service. As an Office Manager I dealt with shoddy service from Dell on more than one occasion. The IT department of the company I was working for at the time, felt that our experience would be better once we moved over to HP products.
I am now a business owner and my experience of HP “customer (dis)service” has been shambolic. They only started to take my complaint more seriously because I complained via Twitter.
In the email communications that were sent, it was remarked that I was an “influencer” on Twitter. My number of followers shouldn’t determine whether or not my complaint is taken seriously.
I have tweeted @HPCheer (now renamed @HP_PC), to let them know that nearly NINE months after my original complaint, it has still not been resolved. My netbook has now lost its remaining 3 rubber feet.
I for one will not buy anything HP again until the after sales care improves.
Dee.
I have to agree with your appraisal of the HP customer service (a total misnomer) My HP laptop developed a major problem some 15 months after I bought it direct from HP UK. Fortunately I’d take out an extended warranty and HP cmae to collect and return to their UK repair shop (Flextronics?). Initially I was promised a turnaround of 5-7 days, then that became 7-10 working days (despite warrantly documant saying “target of 7 working days from first intervention (contact with HP). Talking to their complaints department is so frustrating and useless. Responses to when I will get my laptop back get “I’ll find out and get back to you” – NOTHING! Then it requires 3 new parts which are on order but with no ETA” Latest (Friday) “your laptop required 7 new parts – 5 have been delivered and we are waiting for 2″ The tow they are waiting for are the main processor and the motherboard!!!!
They will simply not answer the question – When will it be returned?” and there is no hierarchy/manager system so I cannot escalate my issue.
All in all – PATHETIC!