Hewlett-Packard took over three months to fix reader Mark’s ailing laptop, which they then shipped to the wrong address. HP charged Mark several hundred dollars for the repairs in July, and gave an expected delivery date of August 5. In early September, Mark was told that the laptop would definitely ship by September 24. On October 10, Mark learned – after sending an email to the CEO and leaving ten messages – that his laptop could not be repaired, and that he would instead receive a new Compaq Presario by October 23. The laptop finally shipped on October 25 to Lavergne, Tennessee. Mark lives in Iowa.

When I was heading off to college two years ago, my parents bought me a brand new laptop from HP (summer of 2005). In July of this year (about a year after the warranty has expired), the hinges of the laptop’s lid started to crack open (despite that I’ve never dropped it and take very good care of it), the touchpad stopped working (the left button would act as the right one, and the right one wouldn’t work period), and the wireless built into the laptop had stopped working over the course of the previous year (it somehow began to degrade in its signal quality). So I talk with my dad (as the laptop was purchased in his name), and we talk about whether I should buy a new laptop or try for repairs. On the 23rd of July we got online to HP’s website and chatted with a representative, informing us that the price for repairing the laptop would be a few hundred dollars (less than half the price of your average college-student laptop). The rep in the online chat was very helpful and set up an overnight delivery for the repairs, and my dad paid (thanks Dad) for the repairs through a checking card. The next day (July 24) a laptop box is delivered to our house, and is mailed out the next day. We soon receive an email (July 26) with a link to a Status Webpage, which stated that HP had received my laptop and would thusly begin repairs. The webpage also stated that the Expected Delivery Date was August 5th.

When August 8th rolled around and my laptop had not returned, we checked the Status page, and the date had been changed to August 21st. After August 21st, the Status page would continually update the Expected Delivery Date by two weeks at a time, and by the time the third date change had appeared, we got on the phone to call HP. Within an hour (after a couple of dead-ends with holding for a living person), we were able to talk to someone who informed us that my original laptop could not be repaired (apparently they couldn’t find any way to repair the hinges of the lid), so they were going to simply custom build me a brand new laptop that would have more RAM and a larger Hard Drive as well as each of the previous features of my previous laptop, which was ordered with a double-size battery and a syned media remote (according to the rep on the phone), but an exact model of the laptop was not specified. The representative also stated that the laptop would definitely be delivered by the most recent date on the Status Webpage (September 24). September 24 rolls around… and… guess what? The date changed again.

Needless to say, we’re each a little frustrated. Over the following three weeks I sent three emails to Mike Hurd, the CEO of HP (or, at least what HP’s website claimed was his email), and my dad had left HP at least 10 voice messages on their machine. As you can guess, zero responses. Eventually it got the point that my dad said, “If they don’t give us any replies by Wednesday, we’re just gonna call the attorney general.” As luck would have it, someone from HP called my dad back on that Wednesday (October 10) to say that the new laptop would be a Compaq Presario, and it would be delivered by October 23 (the most recent Expected Delivery Date). October 23 came, but no laptop. My dad then decided to wait one more week (just for a little leniency time in case of the delivery being late… in relation to October 23). However, the EDD had once more changed to November 7th.

Of course, the reason we noticed the repetitious changing of Delivery Dates was from the Status Webpage. Yesterday, I checked the page, and lo and behold, there was something new! It said that the Scheduled Ship Date (which previous had always said “not applicable”) now said October 25, meaning the new laptop had been sent out. There was even a link to a Tracking Webpage! And today, the laptop arrived to its destination! Lavergne, Tennessee! Except, we live in Iowa. HP (or FedEx, or both) put the wrong address on the package, even though the Status Webpage has a completely different address than the Tracking Webpage.

So, in a short summary: HP received my dad’s payment, got my laptop, decided not to repair it, took three months to build a new laptop, and mailed it to someone in a completely different state (her name, her address, her city, and her state aren’t even close to resembling ours). And they didn’t even tell us, except for our incessant prodding.

Thanks HP!

HP should provide compensation for their untimely service. Call their corporate headquarters, ask for CEO Mark Hurd’s office, and ask HP to refund their repair fees, and to find your now-missing laptop.

(Photo: jenn_jenn)

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