Sherry Lee
SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Just about 2 1/2 years ago (Sept. 2003) we purchased a Hewlett Packard "All-in-one" printer, fax and scanner from Costco which cost $552.00 and had a warranty of one year.
About a month ago I called HP's service tech help line because of a vertical line showing up with every copy or fax via the feeder. Yep, you guessed it, I was talking to a man in India. BUT, I could understand him. The problem was, after going into detail about the problem, he gave me that scripted speech - "it would cost $35 for him to help me since it was out of warranty". And he went on to say that "your equipment is VERY old and needs to be replaced". After blowing a gasket, he told me how to clean it so the line would be gone. Of course, the process didn't do a thing for the problem.
A few weeks after that, the same printer started making a very severe noise during the printing process and the paper wouldn't 'feed'. We took the system to the repair shop which we always use. After paying $25 for a diagnostic work-up, we were told that it was the purging unit and HP does not make replacement parts. I just spent most of this week talking to many divisions of HP to try to get this resolved. After dealing with scripted responses and tons of apathy, I broke down and wrote a letter to Mr. Mark Hurd, CEO of Hewlett Packard. In response, I received a call from their executive office and was told that indeed, there are no replacement parts and I should expect to need to replace it since it is 2 1/2 years old. After blowing yet another gasket, I shared with her that when I buy something for $550, I don't expect it to be DISPOSABLE! Yes, I expect to have to repair it from time to time, but NOT throw it out because parts aren't available.
This HP executive did make some calls to their repair & parts divisions and learned that there are some companies that do make parts, but they can cost $300 plus. To make amends, she said HP will give us $50 off another unit and throw in some cartidges. I politely asked her, "if you spent $550 for something that you knew could never be fixed, would you buy from the company again?" Of course, she could not say "no" since she works for the company, but she remarked that is was a good question. I assured her that I would share this poor customer service with every one I know and I encouraged her to share my letter with Mr. Hurd directly. She assured me it would be passed along.
I must make it clear that this last person I talked to was very professional - she was the ONLY one! AND, we have HP computers that we, thus far, are very happy with.
Also, we just finished talking with another big repair shop in Phoenix whom validated there were no parts (of this type) to be had from HP and that getting them from a secondary company would be over $200 + diagnostic fee of $50, hourly labor of $85/hour and of course, tax.
What did I learn from this?
1) Before you buy anything, make sure replacement parts are available
2) Go for the longest warranty possible (but in checking, they all seem to be a year in this case)
3) Buy separate units. In this case, one part broke and we are out 3 units.
4) HP told me the problem is due to plastic parts which they must use to keep the price down. Guess that old adage stands: "you get what you pay for".
There you have it. I'm just upholding my "civic duty". If this keeps just one person from going through the same experience, it was worth it. Pass it along if you'd like.
Okay, I believe I have one gasket left.........hmmmmmmm!
About a month ago I called HP's service tech help line because of a vertical line showing up with every copy or fax via the feeder. Yep, you guessed it, I was talking to a man in India. BUT, I could understand him. The problem was, after going into detail about the problem, he gave me that scripted speech - "it would cost $35 for him to help me since it was out of warranty". And he went on to say that "your equipment is VERY old and needs to be replaced". After blowing a gasket, he told me how to clean it so the line would be gone. Of course, the process didn't do a thing for the problem.
A few weeks after that, the same printer started making a very severe noise during the printing process and the paper wouldn't 'feed'. We took the system to the repair shop which we always use. After paying $25 for a diagnostic work-up, we were told that it was the purging unit and HP does not make replacement parts. I just spent most of this week talking to many divisions of HP to try to get this resolved. After dealing with scripted responses and tons of apathy, I broke down and wrote a letter to Mr. Mark Hurd, CEO of Hewlett Packard. In response, I received a call from their executive office and was told that indeed, there are no replacement parts and I should expect to need to replace it since it is 2 1/2 years old. After blowing yet another gasket, I shared with her that when I buy something for $550, I don't expect it to be DISPOSABLE! Yes, I expect to have to repair it from time to time, but NOT throw it out because parts aren't available.
This HP executive did make some calls to their repair & parts divisions and learned that there are some companies that do make parts, but they can cost $300 plus. To make amends, she said HP will give us $50 off another unit and throw in some cartidges. I politely asked her, "if you spent $550 for something that you knew could never be fixed, would you buy from the company again?" Of course, she could not say "no" since she works for the company, but she remarked that is was a good question. I assured her that I would share this poor customer service with every one I know and I encouraged her to share my letter with Mr. Hurd directly. She assured me it would be passed along.
I must make it clear that this last person I talked to was very professional - she was the ONLY one! AND, we have HP computers that we, thus far, are very happy with.
Also, we just finished talking with another big repair shop in Phoenix whom validated there were no parts (of this type) to be had from HP and that getting them from a secondary company would be over $200 + diagnostic fee of $50, hourly labor of $85/hour and of course, tax.
What did I learn from this?
1) Before you buy anything, make sure replacement parts are available
2) Go for the longest warranty possible (but in checking, they all seem to be a year in this case)
3) Buy separate units. In this case, one part broke and we are out 3 units.
4) HP told me the problem is due to plastic parts which they must use to keep the price down. Guess that old adage stands: "you get what you pay for".
There you have it. I'm just upholding my "civic duty". If this keeps just one person from going through the same experience, it was worth it. Pass it along if you'd like.
Okay, I believe I have one gasket left.........hmmmmmmm!