HP Customer Service Team

[Tym Hollerup]

Before I Build My Own Computer (Jan. 15th, 2012) I have a couple of HP Customer Service questions to start with...
1) How good is the Customer Service at HP?
2) How good is the warranty Directly from HP compared to Best Buy?
3) I've called HP's Customer Service Line a couple of times - They can't ALL be that stupid can they?
4) If you need anything fixed, are there any hassles?
5) Does the machine always have to be sent in, or can they send someone out to you? I believe HP calls it their "Home Repair Team" or something like that.
6) Is Technical Support really that helpful, or is it just a bunch of broken down English speaking Indians per usual?
7) Referring back to the Second Question, if I ever wanted to just go to Best Buy (for convenience sake) are the prices that out of line for a "normal" 1 day or less (no need to send out) type fix?

I'm sorry for all the questions, but I'm really looking into Building My Own computer with HP as oppose to buying my Envy 17 stock from Best Buy. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Tym Hollerup]

Somebody PLEASE help me here! Honestly I just found some VERY disturbing things out about HP's Customer Service!!! Click here... Hewlett-Packard customer service complaints, reviews, ratings and comments And this isn't all of the feedback that Google gave me!!! Honestly I need to know from someone that's experienced it. Because IF this really is how customer service/tech support is at HP, I'm just going to order my Envy from Best Buy!!! The only thing I'll regret, is not getting my 16GB of extra RAM. I can however get an add on for that I assume. Does anyone know a price point for something like that?

 

[jmacavali]

You might have a hard time getting any resonse here as most of the members do their own builds and therefore don't deal with any Tech Support.

Personally I've never had any experience with HP but I can say a few things in general - 1) Customer Service/Tech Support is generally staffed by people who may or may not not anything about computers. They are most likely people who need a job and are following a script of some kind.

2) Just look at the terms of the warranty. Number of years, parts covered, on-site support.

3) Yes they could all be that stupid (see #1) or you might get lucky and find someone who knows computers.

4) Check the warranty info. See what they will require.

5) Check the warranty.

6) Again see #1 & #3

7) No idea - again most members here (myself included) build their own PC's (or troubleshoot their own problems).

I know it's not much help, but it's something I guess....

 

[iPwn]

In my dealings with HP support, it's been pretty good actually. Don't call them though, you'll just wait on hold and get transferred ten times to the right department. Once there, you get help. I personally always use the chat function on their site. That way I have a transcript of everything that they've promised to deliver on or failed to deliver on. I've had to warranty replace a few HP parts from work here and the experience has always been pretty on par with tech support. You get walked through ten things to try and then they realize it's actually broken and send you a new part. They're a lot better than IBM/Lenovo support and in comparison, they're pretty good.

 

[Dngrsone]

I have several HP laptops in my house.

I always use the online chat feature when making trouble calls, and when a laptop had to go in for service, they would overnight a shipping box to me.

One of the laptops I have was one that was involved in that class-action Nvidia lawsuit-- I ended up sending it back for repair four times for the video chip failing, and I had to escalate the last instance a couple times so they would replace the machine (as far as I am concerned, if a machine fails for the same thing three times in a row, that's a lemon, and should be replaced. The Customer-service rep agreed).

One laptop, the G72, had a pretty flimsy screen, and one of mine broke with no apparent cause. HP refused to acknowledge any problem with design and would not repair my laptop under warranty (I didn't buy their additional insurance). The cost to repair the unit at the time was almost as much as a refurbished laptop, so I ended up replacing the whole laptop.


... after the prices for LCD screens came down, I bought a replacement screen and repaired the laptop myself.