Third Update: The HP Support Rep contacted me to let me know my case would be closed, and the shipment date of the computer back to me is still "expected" to occur on October 12th. The expected phrase doesnt really give me any confidence, and I'm frustrated that they are trying to close the case before I have the computer in my hands, effectively ending my contact avenue with their customer service group.
To recap, I do not have the computer back, much less know if it is correctly repaired,
I do not have a factory warranty extension, as was discussed between me and the HP rep,
and, I do not have an active cusomter service case number.
Also some guy from HP emails me every time I post to this site, Jeff Christopher, but he always asks for the same information, i.e.; user name, CSO reference number, etc. Its an HP customer relations profile, but he doesn't seem to help at all and my customer service experience keeps getting worse.
Frustrated, no direct answers, no resolution of the accute problem of a broken touch screen, and no confirmation as to how HP will make it right.
I assume HP will ship the laptop back to me, in the next couple of days. I hope the screen works as designed. At that point I will have to call back and spend hours on the phone with customer service to try and get HP to honor the discussion I had with the customer service rep regarding the factory warranty extension.
10-13-201612:34 PM
Fourth Update: HP has notified me via email that my expected delivery date is now October 17th. Another 5 days on their estimate.
Still no contact about the warranty extension that was discussed 3 weeks ago and no further contact regarding the status of my laptop. Not sure what the issues are or if there is an expectation that that they will be resolved.
I have been without a computer for nearly 8 weeks now. An HP has done nothing to try and compensate me for my lost time due to the lack of a personal computer.
10-17-201602:58 PM
Fifth Update: Called HP Service Center today. They esentially told me the same thing that is listed on the customer site connected to my CSO#; The expected shippiing date is 10/17/2016. When I told them that was today and I wanted to know if it shipped yet, they told me that parts were on back order (which is what they told me 4 weeks ago). When I asked them to verify the issue with the repair center, they said they did not have a way to contact the repair center and that they would like to send me an HP gift card. I blew up at them.
Had I known I would be in this position 4 weeks ago, I would have asked them to build me a new machine with the same specs (which would have taken 3-4 weeks) and send me a complete replacement. Now I'm torn between the idea that my computer is on the verge of being repaired and may be shipped to me in the next two days, or that it has been sitting in a bin in a repair shop and will not ever be looked at, and I should just cut my losses and start a replacement order that will take another month to fulfill.
What bothers me is that the customer service people do not have a direct line to the repair center. It appears that they are looking at the past history and notes, but they do not know the current state of the repair process. Makes it hard for me to make decisions about what should happen next.
Again, I'll sign off as usual:
I do not have the computer in my posession,
I do not know when it will be shipped,
No one from HP contacts me regarding the status, I always have to initiate the conversation, and
I have gone 8 weeks without a computer and HP has not looked for ways to compensate me for my lost productivity
Extremly frustrated about my experience and wondering why a new customer, who orders a computer today, will get immediate attention from HP, whereas I have to chase them to get responses.
10-21-201607:43 AM
Sixth Update: I have spoken to the case manager at the Customer Service center. They have given me a spec sheet for a new computer to replace mine. We reviewed the specs verbally (my concern was that I would end up with a computer different than the one I bought). Their process is to provide the spec sheet via email and have me confirm that I will accept the replacement computer. Within a few minutes of hanging up the phone the rep sent me an email with the written spec sheet that was supposed to reflect what we had agreed to on the phone. But the email gave me specs for a 15 inch Pavillion computer. Very different model than mine. It had other specs that did match mine, and I'm thinking my C/S rep was just copying and pasting quickly and grabbed info from another case. The concern I have is that if there is a lack of precision in the simple excercise of emailing me a confirmation, there is a posibility I'll end up with the wrong computer when I open the box.
I responded that the email was wrong, and before I even sent the reply back the C/S rep had already sent a corrected email, but without an explaination or commentary. Poor email etiquette. I confirmed the correct email and asked that they send me a confirmation sheet once the computer had been ordered so I could confirm the specs again. I also asked that they give me a 2 year warranty on the new computer, just as a form of compensation for my lost time and to give me assurance that if I have further problems with this model I'm safe. He said no at first, and then looked through his notes. It sounded like someone was standing behind him and prompting him on his responses. He confirmed they would extend the warranty, but I would have to call back after I got the computer in the mail. They're trying, but it just sounds like they don't exactly know what they can and can't do and it just causes me concern. I just want a machine with the specs I paid for, in good working order, in the shortest time possible.
They are telling me that the computer will be built and shipped on October 31st. I have doubts, since they have missed every other date they've given me. Further my maching was a Microsoft special edition, which just means that it didn't have any bloatware on it. I asked that they reimage the drive on the new computer with my models factory image. Their solution was to send me the hard drive from my old computer. Not helpful. I'll have to go through the new computer and uninstall all the bloatware and deal with any conflicts that causes me for the rest of the time I use the computer.
Again, not a lot of confidence about this. If they meet their shipping estimate, I will have gone over 2 months without a working personal computer. I have had to spend many hours in chat sessions and on the phone to get this far and I am, as of today no better than I was after I shipped the computer to them on September 1st. Over the years I have bought many HP prodcuts, PC's, Printers, Calculators, Laptops - This is the first one that let me down, but it has been such a horrible experience to work with them. I only had the computer functional for 3 weeks. So it is strange to have spent this much time and frustration on a item that I hadn't really got to use that long.
You would have thought someone along the way would have tried to soften the blow of HP's problems by giving me an extended warranty or small amount of cash back, or thrown in a printer or a calculator or something. I'm not trying to get free stuff, that wouldn't fix my problem but at least it would let me know they were sorry for the trouble their process has caused. But I've had to explain to them why a warranty extension is appropriate in this instance, and they still talk to me as if I am being unreasonable. When I asked for a two year warranty on the replacement, the rep said, "well this is an expensive computer we are giving you, it has expensive upgrades". I said, "I know, I paid for those upgrades when I bought that computer 3 months ago, I'm not getting something that I haven't already paid for, the extra year of warranty will just make up for the time I've lost".
I know they're only allowed to operate within certain policies, but this is an extrodinary situation, so you would think someone that reviews the interaction would make an exception and just toss in a 3 year full warranty with accident protection and a note that says they hope I continue to be a loyal customer and sorry for the trouble.
At this point I'll just be amazed if I get a computer back, and even more amazed if its actually the same model as what I originally had.
11-04-201607:51 AM
Seventh Update: HP missed the shipping estimate they gave me. Not surprised. The customer service rep has called me a couple of times during the build process to let me know they are working on it. But I'll confess, that was because I emailed and asked how it was going. He called yesterday to let me know the item had shipped and that he had emailed a shipping confirm. He said the new computer would arrive on November 8th. When I entered the tracking number into FedEx's website, it stated that the item had been requested for shipping, so a sticker had been placed on the box, but the box had not left the factory yet. Also, FedEx estimated the arrival date as November 9th. So the customer service rep fudged the date. I assume he thought it would be an easier conversation if it was a day earlier. At this point what difference would a day make when they are already 8 weeks past due in resolving their problem. Kinda silly, all he accomplished by giving me the wrong date is to confirm to me that HP cannot accomplish things on time.
The replacement computer was supposed to be shipped on October 31st. My original computer was supposed to be sent back to me by September 16th.
How does something like this happen and HP not try and make it up to me? A top of the line convertible laptop stops working, and they fall down at every stage of the resolution process and they wouldn't even pay for next day shipping.
I know this post isn't being read much because I used a very specific thread name for my computer model. Think I'm going to repost it under a simpler thread name so others can benefit from my experience. If you have screen troubles with your HP laptop, do not let them talk you into a repair, have them immediately replace the computer, the extended build time may seem like a long time to go without a computer but it's nothing compared to working with their customer support group, who cannot even talk to the repair center. And the repair center must not have the ability to make screen repairs. If you have a Spectre x360 or any Spectre laptop, just hope you don't run into screen issues.