We think we’ve cracked HP’s business model: they clean up laptops that are sent in for repair, then resell them to a new wave of victims! It would explain both the consistently poor quality of their laptops and the repeated stories of customers who never see their computers again after sending them in for repair. On that note, yet another customer has written to us to say that HP has held on to his laptop for 2+ months now and won’t give him any information on when he’ll get it back. We think that’s probably because they’ve already repackaged it and sold it, Jake.

Jake asks, “Do you have any suggestions?” Below is a summary of what we know so far about how to get a response from the world’s worst computer company.

First, here’s Jake’s story:

I bought an NC6120 professional labtop from them when I started law school. I’m not in my final year. So far, I have had the mother board, hard drive, and dvd player replaced.

A couple of months ago it just started shutting down. Two weeks ago I sent it in at the recommendation of tech support. After the first week I contacted them and asked if they could let me know roughly when the labtop would be returned. No luck. I have been following up with them and escalating my problem and I still haven’t had any luck.

This term is a tough one for me. I have to write multiple papers and its really difficult not knowing whether I should go ahead and buy another labtop (although the one they have is still under warranty). Furthermore, after reading some of the stories regarding HP on the Consumerist I am really concerned they are going to keep my laptop for three months.

Today, finally, I received word from one of the folks I had escalated my problem to that they are really busy and they can’t tell me anything about my labtop or when it will get back to me. I need to get started on these papers and I can’t get my labtop back. Additionally, I was given a new case # and I tried contacting executive customer service and they said they don’t have any record of it. I don’t have the original case # and now I feel like I am really at their mercy. Do you have any suggestions?

We feel for you Jake, and if you can afford it you might want to just grab a new budget laptop for your immediate typing needs while you deal with HP.

Here’s what we have so far for HP, in no particular order:

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1. “Call this number for your problem: 1-303-649-5406
It is the number of Jeff Utigard. Leave a message if he doesn’t answer, and politely explain your situation.” (Thanks to Cell523)

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2. “Try calling this number: 877-917-4380 extension 94 in order to get their corporate case managers. If nothing else they are based in Canada and you can understand them. The person you get will be assigned permanently (for as long as they work there, whatever that is worth) to your case. The gentleman I have been dealing with has been very professional and actually seems to sympathize with my problem.

Also, file in small claims court, they will generally give in at that point and it only costs about 25$ to file. Good luck.” (Thanks to smalleyd01)

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3. Try asking Consumerist reader Jebster for help. He claims to be an HP employee/customer advocate, and he offered to help another reader about a month ago.

Note! If you do contact him and he agrees to help, we recommend you ask him to provide an HP corporate number and extension and/or HP corporate email address to protect yourself from scams. (No offense, Jebster—if that is your real name.)

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4. Try contacting the HP Quality Case Managers:
“These are the guys at HP to call if you need to expedite your warranty repair if regular customer service fails you. Note that you need to already have a case number in the system.”?877-917-4380?x 79 goes to Desktop case manager?x 94 goes to Notebooks

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5. Try suing them in small claims court, if it’s possible and affordable in your state. Read more about one man’s success story here:
“Man Gets Brand New Laptop After Suing HP In Small Claims Court For Losing His”

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Bonus. Here’s HP’s warranty information online: h10025.www1.hp.com (Thanks to Jordan Lund)

(Photo: Getty Images)

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