More from the Twilight Zone

Well, I thought an update was in order on my saga, no make that epic struggle to get a working computer. See my previous post for more. Just got off the phone with Beth, the HP caseworker who's now saved me twice, and Vista Home Premium 32-bit is finally on its way to me in the mail. But wait you ask, wasn't it supposed to be sent to you last week Kyle (Kyle your name rhymes with style)? Shouldn't you be using it NOW?

Not quite. You see, HP accidentally sent me Vista Home Basic, which I received on Monday. When I called in to complain, the support center told me it's not their policy to send Recovery DVDs for anything but the preinstalled OS (Vista Ultimate 64-bit in my case), so they're not allowed to fix the mistake and send the correct Recovery DVD. Yeah, that's great for me I told them: Now I'm supposed to be up creek because the guy who was willing to massage the rule to get me what I needed goofed? Naturally, I demanded an audience with his supervisor, who was helpful in setting me up with a promised call from a caseworker.

Yesterday (Tuesday) the caseworker Beth tried to reach me early in the day, but I missed her and was unable to reach her through the rest of the day.

Finally, today, things got resolved when Beth called. Beth, if this were a hip-hop album, this is your shout out for finally getting Home Premium 32-bit in the mail to me (Why doesn't HP offer Vista Ultimate 32-bit again?). It'll be fun to able to use my software again. 64-bit is cool, but I can't go without Itunes, which doesn't work on Vista 64-bit, not to mention Dragon Naturally Speaking.

It's taken me 3 days of calling through to different areas of HP Support to get this thing resolved. And only 9 weeks since the sound blew out on my original DV 9000 laptop. Scary stuff if you're doing business folks.

Okay, if you're thinking I'm spoiled for complaining, I know I'm lucky to even be having a problem at this level on Maslowe's hierarchy. Still, 10 weeks this will have taken when it's concluded. Damn, that ain't cool HP. I've been telling people to buy your stuff for years. I mean, I wore an Ipaq at my college graduation - I should be your flipping mascot. And then this... disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it.

Comments

[brandyk]

I only buy dells and macs. Macs are easy to get applecare after the fact. PCs are really sucky. in the future, i recommend dell + complete care for any laptop. i know it is not helpful for now. but someday you will remember that it is important to get the bestest premium warranty you can get. you really do get better service. my last laptop dell replaced the case 2-3 times, the motherboard, the keyboard, the lcd, etc. all next day, on site. (this was all stuff that probably happened because i don't use a laptop case)

i'm hoping that once you're back online you'll tell us all a story of how being offline for 9 weeks totally changed your life :)

[Walter Terry]

Kyle, you're in Customer Service(CS) hell and looks like you need one of my "Wrath Of God" complaint letters I use when such egregious behavior happens. Using it, I once got a hotel in the Bahamas to refund my entire stay -- room, board - everything except plane fare (and I was there for 16 days). That amounted to over $4K.

Over the years, I've probably got around $20K in compensation for such offenses.

Time to take HP to the woodshed and make sure they compensate you for your troubles.

At the VERY LEAST (and I do mean the least sensible thing they could do) is to FedEx the disk and have a Geek Squad technician drop by and install it and not leave until he's SURE your laptop is fully operational.

I hate the unmitigated arrogance and disdain companies like this show to the people that keep them in business. Grrrr.

P.S. - Some quick strategy tips: quit talking to the CS reps. Find out who the head of the department is and deal only with him/her regarding this, or someone higher in the corporate foodchain. When you get that person on the phone, find out the CEO's contact information.

By doing that, you'll get his attention and he'll do a cost benefit analysis and he'll conclude that it will cost him less to properly take care of you than it will for you to email, phone and send a registered letter to his CEO - - which, btw, you'll tell him how you'll post the whole sordid affair to your blog and optimize it for the search engines.

To get a mule to move, first whack it with a 2x4 to get its attention.

And never, ever piss off the writer.

[kyle776677]

Brandy and Walter,

I can't thank you both enough for the support and advice.

Brandy, this Dude will be getting a Dell next time unless HP gets ahold of me and tells me not only will they resolve any issues I have within a week, but they've gotten the Wonder Years released on DVD as well.

Walter, now that I'm finally up and running again, I think it's time to follow-up on the corporate complaint I've filed with HP (haven't gotten a call-back yet, surprise surprise).

Ironically, like a scorned lover, I'm still drawn to HP products like a moth to a flame.

[Zorak 9]

You're very lucky they even acknowledged your existence. I worked in the HP hell hole for years. If you think they treat customers badly, ask an employee about "HP care".

[Ricky Patton]

If you really want your 32-bit ultimate you can always borrow a retail vista disc off someone and use your key, and before someone tells me thats not possible.... i have the exact same laptop with the exact same problem so i thought i would try it anyway, and guess what!! it works!! Hope this helps, i know how frustrated (understatement) when i couldnt run half my software as well.

You will have to use the automated phone service to activate via this method as it will say your key is "Invalid for Activation" but i didnt get any objections from the CSO when they activated it for me.

Good Luck!

[Kyle McFarlin]

Zorak 9 & Ricky,

Thanks for the support.

Zorak 9, it's really disappointing to hear that my experience extends to employees, and I appreciate a former insider's viewpoint. My hope is that things will get better under CEO Mark Hurd, who did great things at NCR. Next to Apple, HP's notebooks have more aesthetic appeal than anyone except for maybe Alienware, so I hope things get better and I can confidently make my next purchase an HP.

Ricky, I'm glad to hear from someone who had the identical issue, and I'm overjoyed to hear you found resolution. I'm fine with 32-bit Vista Home Premium, so it's case-closed for me for the time-being. Still, it boggles my mind when I'm in Best Buy and I see 64-bit versions of our laptop sold as if they were like all the others. There must be a lot of silent suffering we're not hearing about.