Terry is a graduate student, and doesn’t really need to be shipping his only computer off for repairs every few months. If the computer is unplugged while asleep, the display refuses to come back on. He paid extra for an “in-home” warranty, so why does he have to keep mailing his computer to HP so they can not really fix it? He tells Consumerist that HP really seems to want him to leave him alone, being consistently rude. Even the person who answered the phone at executive customer service called him an “angry person with a phone number.” Maybe he wouldn’t be so angry if he had a working computer.

My display on my HP dv7 notebook is not functioning properly. My computer is less than one year old and has been in 3 times for repair, but still has the same problem. When you unplug the laptop and it’s asleep, the display turns off and won’t come on. Look at the support forum, I’m not the only person with this issue.

When I sent the laptop in the first time they replaced the motherboard. I got it back worse than I sent it in. I called the tech support and he said, “Since we can’t fix it, I’ll just sell you a new one.” I was upset and got a case manager. My computer went in for repair again. It came back and was still messed up. I called several days and was unable to get in touch with my case manager. Therefore, a new case manager took over my case. She made several promises, none of which were kept. My computer went back for repair. I got my laptop back with “no problem found” even though it still has the same issue. By this point, I was assigned an executive case manager. She was rude and hateful. She misquoted me and I tried to correct her and she said, “No, you’re going to let me finish.” I asked her not to speak to me with such an attitude and she said that she didn’t have an attitude. I was upset at the way I was treated and asked for a new case manager. When I finally got a new executive case manager she said she wouldn’t replace my laptop, she’d just keep fixing it. I never asked her to replace the laptop. Once she made that remark, I asked for a refund. She told me to take it to Best Buy. The Geek Squad said it wasn’t their problem, it was HP’s problem.

I contacted the Better Business Bureau about the problem and the treatment I’ve received. I simply asked for a warranty which is stated in my warranty that I am entitled to in the event of repeated hardware problems. I just received a response she told me to take the computer to Best Buy or that I could ship it back to HP. I’ve already tried to take it to Best Buy once and they said they will not fix it. Also, they have had my laptop three times already.

I’m a master’s student and shipping my laptop to HP is extremely stressful. I tried to get the issue taken care of before I started my classes. It’s even more frustrating that I have an “in-home” warranty.

“A supervisor from Executive Customer Support is the guy that told me I’m just an angry person with a phone number,” he told Consumerist in a followup email. Well, then. It’s time to reach beyond regular old customer service and seek help in the law. His state attorney general’s office can probably help here, but it sounds like Terry has a pretty solid lemon law case. Small claims court has also forced HP to do the riht thing for other readers. Here are their stories:

HP Happy To Fix My Computer For Free After I Took Them To Small Claims Court
Reader Receives $900 For Broken Laptop In Small Claims Court

You can learn how to take any company that won’t budge (not just HP) to small claims court in the following posts:

Suing Big Companies In Small Claims Court Is Fun And Easy
So You Want To Sue The Company That’s Screwing You Over

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.