Canada-Complaints.com » Electronics and household app. » Complaint / review: Hewlett Packard - Hewlet Packard (HP) - Running Digital Chop Shop | #23543

Hewlett Packard - Hewlet Packard (HP)
Running Digital Chop Shop

I purchased a computer from a friend of mine just over a year ago. He'd purchased the computer about six or so months before that. There were no problems with it, except for a battery issue, he said he'd used the computer a lot, and the battery had worn down considerably. The computer model is hp pavilion dv6307ca. I bought the computer, and for the first little while, it was fine. I was cautious enough to do a thorough inspection of it before buying it. I just wished that I would have done more research on the actual computer model itselfHere's my long, aggravating story.

The first thing to go on the computer, about six months after I'd purchased it, was the wireless adapter. I've owned many a laptop in the past, and sometimes these things happen. After not being able to remedy it (and no other way to access the Internet or any network) I purchased a Wireless-G USB adapter. I wasn't really concerned about the battery issue that my friend had until one day I was at work, and I plugged in the batteryand there was no longer a charge. So at a cost of $75.00 I purchased a new battery. All was well for another 4 months. Don't get me wrong, I'm familiar with computers a fair bit, especially laptops. I don't abuse my equipment, and I keep it maintained with regular cleanings, backups, and just all-around TLC for my computers.

Unfortunately, the peace would not last. I decided to install more RAM on the computer. The default is a 2x 512GB sticks, and I upgraded to OCZ 2x 1GB sticks. On a side note, when they sent the sticks to me, one of them had fallen out of the package and been damaged. When I got the good condition' ones back, all was well again. At this time I also upgraded the hard drive, to a Seagate 160GB hard drive. I reinstalled Vista, and everything was great.

That is, until about a month after I installed the new hard drive, I was starting to hear some strange noises. You know, the noises that tell you that there's definitely something wrong with your hard drive. In short, my hard drive died. So, I went out and exchanged it for a new one. I thought everything would be fine, but when I tried to reinstall Vista, it kept blue-screening on me (various crash logs, various codes, ranging from page file errors to memory allocation errors, to NTFS errors, they ran the whole gamut).

I contacted HP through their chat service and was kindly informed that because my laptop was this special' model number, I was eligible for a free service enhancement program in which they would fix the motherboard. They directed me to this link:
https://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document? docname=c01296338&lc=en&dlc= en&cc=au&product=3379129&rule=32577&lang=en

I was a little disappointed that the things that I thought were from regular laptop usage were actually from an hp-acknowledged flaw in their hardware design, and that I'd spent good money on crap, and then additional good money to fix the crap. I received a box to send my notebook out, and followed ALL of the instructions on the little sheet they include with the box.
About a week later I received my computer back. Fast turn-around time I thought, unfortunately, the computer was not fixed. I was still receiving crash errors like before, even though they'd insisted that they fixed the issue (even though they didn't test the unit as was shown on their report').

I sent it back again. This time when I got it back, they had removed' my brand new 250GB hard drive and replaced it with their stock Toshiba 250GB hard drive (which I would later learn was a fluke, because that is not standard policy). Not only did they remove my brand new-nothing-wrong-with-it hard drive, they sent me back one of lesser quality. But I figured as long as it worked and was the same size I might be able to live with that. Unfortunately.it didn't work. Same issue as before.

But this time I'm getting frustrated. I contacted HP yet again, and they set up a new repair service. All of these happened within 1 day of me receiving the laptop back. When I received the box, I left a note inside stating that I wished to KEEP ALL USER INSTALLED HARDWARE. That being said, when I got it back, the OCZ RAM that I had installed were outside of the container that they had put the RAM sticks in, and bouncing around the box. One of them had a chip out of it, and needed to be replaced. Since I at least got the RAM back, I sent it to OCZ under its lifetime warranty they replaced said
RAM. This time, for the hard drive, I got back a 80GB hard drive.

When I contacted HP regarding this, (oh, and by the way, it again didn't work, hard drive error found in comprehensive test). I asked about getting at least a 250GB hard drive back. After all, at this time it had been two months since I had my computer working longer than for a few seconds. The computer would always end in blue screens when installing Vista or when updating the OS. I understand the updates might be a completely different issue, but that's not the case this time. I contacted the case manager this time, and they said it was no problem, they'd find me a 250GB hard drive. Not standard policy though.

I did not send the entire computer out this time, I just received an exchange for the hard drive. It was a 250GB that unfortunatelyyou get the idea. Sent out for another oneyou get the idea. I'm thinking to myself at this time, What the hell is going on? Why am I getting faulty hard drives every single time? To myself, I'm accusing hp of running a digital chop shop' where they take working components from computers that have been sent in for repair and give you back components of other computers that have been sent back for repair and are refurbished' but not quite perfect again.

Yet again, I contacted HP and stated the issue. I've spoken to about five different case managers regarding the issue aside from my main case manager in Canada. He stated that he would buy back the laptop if I had a proof of purchase. He stated he couldn't understand why I was getting another faulty hard drive time and time again. He said that he would give specific orders to tear apart the notebook completely (which didn't happen) and give it all new parts (which probably didn't happen either).

I got the computer back again with a re-imaged hard drive and nothing else. I powered it on, left it on for the four hours that it takes to do everythingand it crashed. Bad RAM, AND a bad hard drive. I put in my old RAM and things were fine. However, the hard drive test in the Bios said there was another hard drive error.

Again, I contacted Hp's Case Manager Line and spoke with my normal case manager. I stated the story to him again, and asked at the end, Just to make sure, I'm getting a 250GB hard drive again, right? My case manager thanked me for reminding him, and he said he would set it up, and if there were any issues to contact him again. That was on Friday.

Today is Tuesday. I got my hard drive in today, and I could tell there was a problem before I even opened the box. It's an 80GB; the standard hard drive size for this model. I contacted HP again to tell them about this issue. I contacted them twice' today, both of them stating that my issue was unfortunately un-fixable.' That I received those 250GB hard drives as a fluke, as this was not standard operating procedure.

I finally explained to them what happened to the RAM (I had never mentioned it to them before) and asked if there was any way that I could get MY hard drive back, or one of equal value. She stated that there was no way they could work that out (this was the same person I spoke to before when they sent me the wrong-sized hard drive). I asked if I could speak with my case manager, but they were unfortunately unavailable.

Then I asked if there was any reimbursement I could get for my hard drive that was essentially stolen from me (right?), because the brilliant hp techs assumed that there was an issue with the hard drive. I said quite blatantly, that this was like taking your car to mechanic, and they assume that it's not your axle that needs fixing, it's your upgraded brand new tires, so they take the tires, give you cheap stock tires and tell you they fixed' your problem, that they did YOU a service and you should be thanking them.

But as usual, getting angry doesn't help. I'm stuck with an 80GB hard drive that's worth about a third of what I paid for my good hard drive that I know worked all along. Now they're telling me that I should have removed the hard drive when I sent it in, and that the RAM that got broken was also my fault.

Surprisingly (yet unfortunately) there are no errors on this hard drive that they sent me today, because I was wrong. HP does 'sometimes' put new parts in, not just parts that they pulled from other computers.

However, I'm stuck. They have my hard drive (which they probably sold to someone or threw away), I want something back in return (money or a similar product of the same quality as what they took from me). I know it's a long shot, but come on! It was their problem that the computer wouldn't work in the first place. Why am I being punished for their incompetence? I'm currently laid off from work, and I need my computer. It's not like I can just go out and afford to buy another one because of HP's incompetence. I can't go out and buy a new hard drive, because why should I? I bought one, and a company stole it. I bought it, and if it happens to be defective I should be able to return it for a refund.

I apologize for the extremely long explanation, but to fully understand my situation, you really have to go through it bit by bit. If there is ANY advice that any of you can give to me, that would be fantastic. I'm on my friend's computer right now typing this out. I've had enough of corporate incompetence and their policies' that are screwing the little guy over.

Again, I thank you for any advice that you can possibly give.

Phoenix_wings
Kingsville, Ontario
Canada

Date:

Company: Hewlett Packard - Hewlet Packard (HP)

Country: Canada   Province: Ontario   City: Markham

Category: Electronics and household app.

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