Andy’s HP desktop computer had a faulty graphics card that was recalled. Now he’s missed the window and is stuck with a broken computer that HP won’t help him fix.

He writes:

I’ve owned my current desktop computer, an HP 9500, for about 18 months now. It worked well for the first six months or so, but then the cooling fan on the graphics card would have ‘spurts’ where it would make horrible noises while running, but after a few days or so it usually would settle down.

Imagine my surprise when, on September 16th, a window I had never seen before opened up. It was an HP program that apparently was supposed to let me know important news regarding my system. To my delight, I saw that there was a recall on my graphics card because of known issues with the cooling fan. Imagine my greater surprised when I saw that all claims must be made by July 15th, 2010. Of course, this notice appeared just a day after the fan had begun another of it’s hissy fits.

Regardless, I contacted HP support to explain that their program had never notified me of a recall, and asked if there was any way I could still get a replacement. Of course, the response back was “All claims must have been made by July 15th”.

When my Chevy car had a recall, Chevy sent me a post card every month for half a year and was happy to help me when I brought it in finally. Now HP won’t help someone who was never notified because there own program apparently can’t work as intended.

HP urges those who missed the recall window to contact HP at this site for more information. The outlet hasn’t worked out so well for Andy thus far.

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