Yesterday, we shared the story of Nick, a university information technology professional who bought a computer for a new employee that already had Windows 8 on it, tried to downgrade to Windows 7, and was told that doing so would void his warranty. While the person at Enterprise support he spoke to may have said this, it is not, strictly speaking, true. That’s great to hear. The bad news, of course, is that someone told Nick this in the first place. An ordinary customer who doesn’t work in IT would be completely confused at this point. [More]
Beware Of HP’s Free Nook That Isn’t So Free
By January 16, 2013
On Cyber Monday, Brian called HP about their selection of computers, and ended up selecting and ordering a computer of his own. The salesman offered him a promotion: a free Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader with the purchase of his Ultrabook. Well, as long as it’s free… The problem came when he decided the computer wasn’t for him, and returned it. HP wouldn’t take the Nook back, and insists on charging him the $99 plus tax that it costs. [More]
Have You Finished Buying All Your 'National HP Toner Month' Gifts Yet?
By September 10, 2012
With so many things going on in this crazy world, it’s easy to lose track of the holidays. Luckily, Consumerist reader Mike recently received an e-mail from Office Depot reminding him that September is indeed National HP Toner Month, that time when families gather together by a bonfire to roast marshmallows, sip cider and swap tales of past National HP Toner Months. [More]
HP's Repair Depot Fixes The Wrong Problem, Charges Me Extra $200
By August 16, 2012
Dheeraj hasn’t owned his HP Envy ultrabook for very long: barely a year and a half. But the computer, with an upgraded display and purchased for photo and video editing projects, began having overheating and video problems early on. He accepted that gaming on the computer wasn’t going to happen, but sent it in for repair once the other problems became unbearable. After a lengthy stay in the HP Hospital, the computer came back with a new, inferior display and the top panel repaired at a cost of $200. Which is nice and all, but neither of these were the reason why Dheeraj had sent the computer in. And it still had all of the original problems. [More]
HP Chat Rep Promises Free Warranty Repair; HP Disagrees
By July 25, 2012
Elizabeth was having trouble with her HP netbook’s screen. She says that she didn’t drop it, hit it, or otherwise physically damage it – one day, she just couldn’t read the screen, and vertical lines appeared up and down it. Not to worry, though! Her computer was still under warranty. She started a tech support chat with HP, where a surprisingly helpful agent set up a repair for her, at a cost of $0. Yay! The agent even provided some unexpected life wisdom, typing to Elizabeth, “I am aware how inconvenient it can be when things do not happen the way we want them to be, I will do my best in this regard.” [More]
Five Months With A New HP Laptop, But Not A Functional One
By July 11, 2012
Skurk32 bought a new HP laptop in February. So he’s been spending five months enthralled with his new computer, right? Um, not exactly. He’s experienced a series of problems, large and small, with the new computer, that range from the color red displaying as orange (weird) to the machine overheating while idling (dangerous.) HP chooses to acknowledge some of these as problems, but not the ones that are actually important. [More]
HP To Give The Axe To 27,000 Employees
By May 23, 2012
Earlier today, HP announced its latest quarterly earnings and the results were not good — like “We are going to have to lay off 27,000 employees” not good. [More]
HP Recalls 1 Million Fax Machines Because "Fire" Is Not A Paper-Friendly Feature
By February 2, 2012
Hewlett-Packard has announced a recall of more than one million HP Fax 1040 and 1050 fax machines in North America because the machines have faulty internal electric components that can fail, causing the machines to overheat and possibly catch fire. [More]
Letter Detailing Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Former HP CEO Released
By December 30, 2011
Those of you who still remember the summer of 2010 may recall when then-CEO of HP Mark “That’s Not What I” Hurd resigned following vague mentions of an inappropriate relationship with a female contractor. Yesterday, a court ordered that a letter, detailing allegations of sexual harassment, sent in July 2010 from the contractor’s lawyer to Hurd, could be released to the public. [More]
Which Online Retailers Have The Fastest & Slowest Delivery Times?
By December 16, 2011
Today is Free Shipping Day, which is pretty self-explanatory, but free shipping doesn’t mean good shipping. That’s why the folks at STELLAservice wanted to know which of the top 25 online retailers were able to get you your order in a timely manner. [More]
Can Owning A Cat Void Your HP Warranty?
By December 9, 2011
Chris sent his HP Elitebook in for repair, only to learn that he had done something to void the warranty, and it wouldn’t be repaired. What was his heinous offense against technology? He owns a cat, and there’s fur inside the computer, causing HP to declare his computer a “biological hazard” and send it back un-repaired. He sent along photos that HP took of his disassembled computer and used to make the case that his computer wasn’t repairable. [More]
HP Customer Service Rep Suggests I Find A Man To Help Fix A Monitor
By December 2, 2011
What is a poor, weak woman like Consumerist reader Tara to do on her own when she can’t get a computer monitor to work? According to an HP customer service rep, obviously the right thing to do (when his advice has failed) is to get a man to help her. [More]
HP Responds To Claims That Hackers Could Cause Your Printer To Go Up In Flames
By November 30, 2011
Yesterday, we brought you the story of a team of Columbia University researchers who claim they have discovered a way that hackers could infiltrate any number of networked printers to do anything from steal information to cause your paper to smolder and possibly catch fire. But the folks at HP, which was singled out in the report, have now come out to defend their product and refute the researchers’ claims. [More]
Researchers: Some Printers Vulnerable To Hack Attack That Could Lead To Fire
By November 29, 2011
It’s like something out of a movie starring Matthew Broderick. Researchers at Columbia University claim they’ve discovered a vulnerability that could let hackers remotely access your printer for nefarious hijinks, like making said printer go up in flames. [More]
The 4th Replacement Laptop HP Sent Me Doesn't Work, Either
By October 27, 2011
John bought a rather nice HP laptop for his business, and it would be nice if it would work. Ever. Every time they boot up one of the replacement machines HP has sent, it crashes. They’re now on laptop #5. [More]
Adventures In Ordering A Clearanced HP TouchPad
By August 23, 2011
RIP, HP TouchPad. A long time ago–well, about three months ago–HP claimed that their WebOS-based tablet would be the greatest on the market. Now, our tipline is buzzing with customers clamoring to get their hands on a TouchPad tablet: not because it’s a hot tech toy, but because the product’s being discontinued, and retailers dumping them for $100 or $150 depending on storage capacity. [More]
Fighting For A Working HP Laptop For 8 Months
By July 25, 2011
Try as they might, HP just seems to be incapable of getting David’s repair right. When repairing his wireless card that was damaged in a previous repair, they broke the motherboard. Fixing the motherboard, they broke the screen connector. And so on. Even the replacement computer they gave him started to fail, and then they failed at fixing that correctly. This ridiculous dance has been going on for 8 months. [More]
Best Buy Replaces Deaf Bed-Bound Girl's Laptop After Holding It Hostage
By July 22, 2011
After the story of a deaf and bed-bound girl whose laptop had been bouncing back and forth between Best Buy Geek Squad repair for 3 months went up on Consumerist, the ambassador for Geek Squad City, Randy Ratliff, reached out to help. “The buck stops here!” he said in his email. And of all the many who say that, he’s one of the few to mean it. He investigated the issue and now Jenni’s sister has a new laptop. [More]
