After Massive Runaround, HP Sends Your Laptop Back Filled With Viruses
HP is known for its incompetent repair process, but what makes Aaron's case special is that at the end they decide to kick it up a notch. When he sends his computer in and gets it back from the repair center, HP has so ever so graciously filled it with free spyware and viruses.
Aaron writes:
The very first computer my family bought was a Compaq Presario from RadioShack many years ago. Due to my recommendation, the first laptop my dad, and my wife, bought was an HP laptop many years ago. The first desktop I bought was an HP, many years ago… etc, etc. We have each had at least one or two more HP products since then.
I have a fairly large social circle, which often turn to me for recommendations as to what kind of computer to buy. I can think of ten people just of the top of my head who have bought HP products because that is what I recommended to them.
I have had a few problems in the past (like a hard drive breaking or DVD-Rom drive not working) and have never had any significant problems with the service on my problems. This in part is why I have recommended this company. They have great value and up until now have always had great service resolutions for me.
My product:
I am a computer geek, love electronics, and am working on a career that relies on computers. This past fall I decided to buy my very first laptop. I have never actually spent the money for a laptop. I have had many powerful desktops, an HP ipaq, and some pretty amazing phones – but no laptop. I wanted to buy a high-end device that would last for awhile and fulfill some of the requirements I needed for my business. After comparing different models from Lenovo, Sony and HP I decided on the HP EliteBook 2730P; it is a small, powerful, tablet-pc.
My issue:
On October 3rd I gave HP $2,036.94 for the brand new 2730P. A week later (October 10th) I got an email stating my product was delayed and would not meet the original delivery date. It arrived nearly a week later on October 16th.
I played with it for a month or so until I was vacationing at my relatives for Thanksgiving (end of November.) While I was there my computer's screen had froze one day, and after manually power cycling it, it would not turn back on. It tried to power on, but would flash some kind of blue screen (The BSOD!) and then just cycle over and over. I put it away for the duration of my visit and planned on fixing it later when I was home.
I am in sales so November and December are a busy time for me. I never got around to trying to fix my computer until December 19th. It was on this day I found out the problem was more serious than I had hoped. I ran the computer's built in diagnostics and it failed the Boot Test. I called HP technical support and went through the process of waiting, and trying basic steps to fix my problem. The Tech support agent determined that it indeed was my hard disk drive that had failed and that I would need a new one. I was given the option of sending in my computer to be fixed, or having a new hard disk drive mailed to me. Since I am rather computer savvy I chose to perform the operation myself.
My problem:
The agent told me that my part was backordered and could easily take a week or so to get to me. A couple weeks and all of the holidays go by and I still do not have my new hard drive. On January 9th I get an email saying that the shipment date of my part would be January 16th. Of course I did not get the part so finally on January 30th I call tech support again and inquire about my replacement part. I am told that it is still back ordered and that my case (3604305572) was being escalated and I was even assigned a customer relations case manager (Nancy van de Wall.)
Nancy must have done a great job because she managed to have a part shipped directly from the manufacturer to me. It arrived February 2nd (51 days after the original request.) But to my sadness it was the wrong part. They shipped me a physically larger hard drive, attached to part of a case with a USB port on the part of the case.
I called Nancy back and left a voicemail but she never got back with me.
An agent called me a few days later on February 5th asking about my part, if it worked, and offering instructions on sending the old part back. I told her it was the wrong part and she quickly transferred me back to tech support and they ordered the right part.
The next day (February 6th) I again got an email telling me the part was backordered and would ship on February 14th. I called back and told them it was not acceptable so they again escalated my case and ended up getting my part to me on February 10th.
It gets worse:
I install my new hard drive and attempt to install the operating system but my computer will not read my external DVD-Rom drive (I know this drive works with my system because I previously used it to clean install Windows Vista, since my computer incorrectly came with the XP downgrade pre-installed.) My computer would not recognize an external device, no matter what BIOS and start-up settings I changed. I then tried booting from a USB stick, SD card, and even tried a friend's external DVD-Rom drive. Nothing would work.
I call HP tech support again, and go through the diagnostic process. The agent determined that there are more issues with my computer than just the hard drive, and told me that my only option would be to send it in for them to fix. I did not want to do this at this point (after reading other stories on the comsumerist.com about HP keeping products for even months to fix) so I waited until Monday to talk again to a customer relations agent.
The agent insisted that I had to send it in, and that they could not just replace it since they had not repaired it three times prior yet. So they overnight me a box, I overnight it back, they take two days with it and overnight it back to me on February 27th.
Here is where I lose all respect for HP:
After using my newly working computer for ten minutes or so I find that I am getting a lot of Windows permission popups asking for weird-named programs to run, and then getting odd pop-up ads on sites like google, and yahoo, and others who would never have popup ads. My first instinct is to install Spy-Bot Search & Destroy. It finds 5 problems; Trojans and spyware. It was unable to remove all of the issues so I downloaded and installed AVG Anti-virus. It found even more Trojans and attempted to remove them but was not able to. HP sent me a computer back filled with malicious programs!
This brings me back in a circle to where I was previously, (see above topic: "It gets worse.") I again cannot reimage and re-install an OS. I boot back into windows safe mode and proceed to reinstall Windows from there, but after copying the files to the hard drive, and restarting itself I am left looking at:
A disk read error occurred
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart
_ (blinking underscore)
This is where I am at now; 72 days later with no way to start my computer or read from an external device (I cannot even run a live Linux cd to at least get a little usage out of my machine.)
What I want: I want HP to send me a brand new computer, and an apology. And I am hoping that the attention that the consumerist.com garners will allow me to have this.
Completely disappointed,
-Aaron N
Post a comment
Comments:
I used to be a big fan of HP, but the recent purchaes and return of two of their computers has completly soured me towards them.
Booting from USB is often iffy (although it's getting better). Remove the DVD drive from the enclosure, pop it in the machine, and boot that way. But first, download the ultimate boot CD. Use the HDD tool for your HD to check for errors. If it finds any, it's up to you if you want to deal with HP anymore assuming it isn't a truly OEM drive to the point it has no branding on it. The HDD tool should give you an option to zero the drive (if not, download and use DBAN), that will guarantee no more virus exposure (of course, it'll erase the HDD, but it sounds like that is preferable in your case)..
Then give the PC a real good memtest (included on the same CD). If it passes that, you should now to able to install your OS.
If course, it's all up to you if this is worth it. If I were re-installing it I'd upgrade to XP rather than using Vista (or, better yet, I'd dump windows altogether).
One more useful suggestion: Once you are happy with your setup, acquire Norton Ghost and make an image of the HDD. You will be happy to have it...
Yikes.
HP printers rock (they last FOREVER), but apparently their computers, not so much.
Missed that it was a laptop--a bit more difficult not to use an external drive if it's not built in, although I would hope a laptop's BIOS has been vetted for USB.
In that case, I'd remove the HDD from the laptop, do all the HDD tests on a "normal" PC (you'll need a 2.5" -> 3.5" adapter, or possibly some sort of sata adaptor, all very cheap) and if it passes, figure out a method of installing to the HDD from the HDD (partition hell, but it can usually be done if you want) or installing from the network (probably harder than it used to be).
I've never bought a namebrand PC since about 1992 so I'm just used to 30 minutes turnaround times from broken to fixed. I couldn't stand waiting for days while crap gets mailed around, it'd drive me insane.
After dealing with some of HP's enterprise grade hardware (enormous cluster&(*& that I don't think I'm really allowed to talk about), I resigned to never buying any of their products ever again.
@shepd:
Remove the DVD drive from the enclosure, pop it in the machine, and boot that way
Now, I ain't no computer-knowing-guy, but I don'think that drive will fit in that thar tablet PC.
I've always had issues with Compaqs and Laptops so I gave up on them. The last Compaq I had, I forced Best Buy to replace before the lemon clause kicked in because I called them and HP out on their absolutely incompetent repairs: (For one, the CD Drive stopped working, I sent it back to BB, and when I got it back, the drive FELL OUT of the computer after about a week.)
@reuvenb: Same here, and also included are dealing with their desktops and laptops at places of work.
HP = Hunk o' Poo
@shepd: If I were re-installing it I'd upgrade to XP rather than using Vista (or, better yet, I'd dump windows altogether.
Can we stop bashing vista, please? It's a fine operating system now - I daresay better than XP in a lot of ways. Way more user-friendly, for one thing.
/has both vista and XP on two computers, does not play favorites
I'm willing to bet they put in another users Hard drive all nicely loaded with viruses. I highly doubt HP would take the time and effort to load your hard drive with that stuff, so why not use a different hard-drive that they have just sitting around leftover from another repair?
So you get your 2,000 dollar laptop back after all of that hassle, and you go right for the porn upon startup? Can't really blame you, and with a lap top you can access internet pron on the crapper.
HP- I'll never spend a penny on your stuff again.
I have found the printers to be unreliable and very expensive to use ( ink).
I made the mistake of "updating" software with HP and found functionality and ease of use to be greatly diminished.
MK
jeez! you spent 2 grand on an hp laptop (after comparing with sony hahahaha) and then installed vista on it. hahaha too funny
I had an issue similar to this with Gateway, but consumerist refused to post my story and didn't say why. Sadly my laptop has not been repaired.
@HogwartsAlum: working in retail ive seen the quality come waaay down on hp printers but there officejet pros are still freakin awesome and I recommend them for most people over lasers and they come back and thank me again and again
Maybe it is. But that's not my experience. I installed it on quad-core system with 1 GB of RAM with 5 HDD SCSI RAID and it runs so slowly that when I connect to terminal services on it via the LAN it is slower than doing the same via the VPN at work. And that's just to establish the connection. God forbid I try to open notepad and edit a file...
@HogwartsAlum: The printers must be going downhill too; I just had a <2 yr old laserjet 1200 die on me yesterday. Although, that means back to the backup, an hp deskjust 930c I've had for... 5 years?
Dell onsite tech support rules for just these types of shenanigans. Small Business FTW.
You bought a computer infected with Windows!
There's your problem right there.
Vista is crap. I will never stop bashing it. It is a resource whore.
Had it on my business machine for 9 months before downgrading back to XP.
@shepd: Vista and 1 GB of RAM?
No wonder Vista's slow.
Not that any OS should need more than 1 GB of RAM.
I went through a similar issue myself with HP. I e-mailed the CEO and a day or so later was in contact with their executive support. Be concise. mention and service/ticket numbers, and they'll be happy to help you out.
Good luck!
2 words bud..
AS US...
Just bought a G70, amazing laptop. plays all my games at 30+fps, has a subwoofer, and it's no bigger than my Toshiba 15" (and it's got a full size keyboard with a keypad).
I hope he paid for it with a credit card. I would totally dispute the charge. You ordered a Laptop, not a piece of Crap.
Wow. Apple buying someone a full suite of CS4 out-of-pocket because their sales rep inaccurately described a confusing Adobe promotion within a day or so of communication seems SO irresponsive now.
@tc4b:
LOL. I have an 842C that is still going strong after nearly 10 years. The 3600 series I got free with my desktop is in the bottom of the coffee table. I don't use it because the ink cartridge is so small that it uses up really fast. And it's no cheaper than the big one!
Printer shrink ray!
@reuvenb:
I agree.
I have worked with a Superdome for the past few years and that thing is SO unreliable.
The HP desktops and laptops that my company uses are also very trouble prone.
HP = junk
@sleze69: Agreed. I haven't even had a tech out for service in over a year -- whenever they start to suggest it, I let them know that there is no part on this machine haven't/can't replace(d) myself. The most any techs have ever said about that is that by doing it myself I am liable if I screw up....
I'm no great fan of HP (particularly not their typical half-hearted blind stab at customer support), but this sounds like a mixed case of HP sucking and a user getting in way over his head when trying to repair things. I'm taking this both from his terminology ("They shipped me a physically larger hard drive, attached to part of a case with a USB port on the part of the case." - you mean a desktop hard drive?) and his apparently mystified reaction to things like the old "A disk read error has occurred". That's not to say HP would have definitely done a lot better if he'd just mailed it in to them in the first place, but I wonder if a replacement laptop and an apology are entirely warranted.
Then again this is the Consumerist, and the spirit of service is that the customer is always right, but... I can't help but see this story partly as a reason not to go fiddling with things you're not entirely familiar with, or can't Google up in a pinch.
Consumerist keeps ignoring my issue..the one where I sent a 3 week old laptop for repair to Gateway, in October...and they are STILL claiming that the new motherboard is "on order"!
wow if that happened to me i would drive down just to slap somebody, it would be worth the prosecution
What kind of a computer geek are you? I understand bying a made laptop, but you even buy ready made HP desktops? All the computer geeks I know build their own computers, and all avoid HP and Dell products when it comes to laptops. Sucks for the OP, but the OP should shorten the letter and forward it to executives I guess in an EECB. Even though I'm not a computer geek, it would have just been easier to request a refund for a defective product rather than go through a warranty process, so that way you could have bought the same thing again (probably on sale later).
If an EECB doesn't help, call back support and ask for an escalation to the case managers: [consumerist.com] 877-917-4380 x 93
You need a ticket/transaction number to get through to them, though I've had luck calling directly, giving my support number as all the information I was given.
I just got a brand new laptop from HP because the depot scratched my screen, then refused to repair the "out of warranty" damage because I wasn't covered for accidental damage.
I eventually got through to a customer service representative who said, "I'm sorry there's nothing I can do, except feel bad for you."
I pressed, and was escalated to a case manager, who replaced my entire machine.
You won't get an apology, but you should get a new laptop easily - at least compared to your journey thus far.
Vista compares favorably with ME. That's about it. Every other NT-based Windows has been better.
Not a fan of HP. Last time I bought a laptop from them they sent me the wrong one, and then sent me the wrong one AGAIN. Asked for a refund and the lady just kept on trying to get me to send it back for a replacement.
Bought a Toshiba....came fine and worked fine. I dropped it on the floor accidentally.....still worked fine.
And after 2 years it's still running AWESOME. Try to do that HP.
@Xerloq: Oh, and to echo the other respondents in this thread, shorten your letter and stick to the facts. HP doesn't care about how skilled you are with electronics, and they are less likely to help if you insult them. Also, it's highly likely that the HD they put in your machine was from another customer and they forgot to wipe it rather than the malice of a repair tech.
Simply state you've had the laptop in a non-functional state for 71 days since you purchased it (nearly 50% of the time), it's had two parts exchanged, one repair attempt that gave you access to another customer's data (including viruses and spyware) but that the issue persists. You may point out that HP has not kept is SLA (Service Level Agreement) with you by not reparing the laptop.
@HogwartsAlum: HP printers from the 90s are built like tanks. My printer from 98 still works great! Newer ones are much more cheaply made.
I only use and recommend Dell; but either Lenovo or Apple could edge Dell out and get the nod for the next round of laptops.
@ameyer:
Yeah, I can't buy RAM for this machine anymore. Takes ECC-SDRAM, and getting it used is just not worth the $$$. But considering there's a grand total of 2.8 Ghz of P3 CPU power behind it (Equivalent to about 4 Ghz of P4 CPU) it still do a HELL of a lot better than it is.
About a year ago my at-the-time brand new HP laptop all of a sudden fried, not allowing me to back up my data. I sent it in to HP for service just for them to send it back to me claiming to fix it only to have it fry again within a week. Sent it back only to have them send it back to me with the RAM not properly seated, a screw loose rattling inside, and my hard drive completely wiped...all for a fan replacement issue. Yeah, I don't think I'll be complaining about that anymore.
OK, Not to bash the OP but, there are some serious issues with the story as is.
Firstly, I think we can all agree that he is no "Computer Geek" He just did not know enough about computers to properly troubleshoot something like a BSOD.
Also, when HP says the BSOD is a hard drive failure..We will send you a new one. BAH!
The hard drive is working enough to try to boot windows and get to the point of Blue Screening.
Did he try to format at that point? Restore disks? Safe Mode, Spinright 6?
What was he doing when the machine locked up the first time?
When he finaly got the corect hard drive and used the machine for 10 minutes, Did he have to install Windows first? Were his files already on the machine?
Why the hell would you try to install Windows from within Safe Mode? I hope you choose to FORMAT the drive or delete and recreate the partition before installing a new copy of Windows onto a infected drive...
Where to start...
Next time send it in, or have a "REAL" computer geek friend check it out first (Without voiding any warranties of course)
As an HP employee(not in consumer products) I sent this in as a voice of the customer issue. Every employee can do this. I hope you receive satisfactory resolution.
When HP took over Compaq they "lost" documentation of my extended warranty. I was in grad school at the time and moved twice a year, so I no longer had the receipt or documents proving my mother purchased the extended warranty from them. As such, they would not repair my laptop and it ended up in the junk pile. Unfortunately, this was not the first time I had had issues with Compaq/HP (experiences from prior purchases), but I made sure it was my last. My next computer was a Mac (my next laptop, which I bought solely on price several years later, was an Acer).
Yeah. If I ever got a computer back from a service center filled with viruses and spy-ware, I woudl ask for a complete refund of the PC and all related costs then never shop from that manufacturer again.