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How not to suck when things don't work? *epic length*

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  • How not to suck when things don't work? *epic length*

    This isn't so much a report of a SC, but a question on how to avoid being one...

    I have a Compaq laptop that I purchased for a bargain price. About nine months after buying it, the battery stopped holding more than fifteen minutes or so of charge. The little battery health program on the support website, wonder of wonders, told me that the battery was in warranty.

    I dutifully start an online ticket and the agent sets up a battery replacement. They call me five minutes later to get my credit card number so they can cross-ship. Five minutes after placing the order, I go online and find that the order is canceled. (It was probably canceled because the agent typed in my address wrong so it didn't match with the credit card.) I call back and get a new order placed.

    Five minutes after placing that order, my order status says "Please call 800-blah-blah to speak with a support representative about your order." There is also an estimated part arrival date.

    I dutifully call back and nobody on the phone has any idea what I am talking about. I say that I am only following instructions, but I am assured that everything is fine.

    Naturally, the date of order shipment comes and goes. The date of part arrival comes and goes. Still no shipment. I call again, and again, nobody knows why the website is asking me to call them. I ask where my part is, and I get one of several answers, depending on who I am talking to on that particular call.

    1) There is a "hold" on the order by the parts department. No, they don't know why, but somebody can call me within 24-48 hours to tell me.
    2) They don't know, but can send a message to the department that does.
    3) It's out of stock. (For a month? (which is how long I was bugging them about it) For a part that is shared by zillion other models? For a part in stock on the shopping website? For a part being shipped, right now, on new machines from the factory?)

    After about a week and a half of this, with the website still listing the same message, the same (now past) shipping date, and no call back ever from somebody at HP, I ask for a supervisor. I am then told that there isn't one. Not "there isn't one available", or "not one I can transfer you to", but rather "I don't have one." This woman flatly tells me that she works without supervision. Apparently her paychecks appear out of thin air... She has nobody she can call, nobody that she can transfer me to. Nope, all she can do is send one of these "messages" that does not, in fact, work.

    I'm getting pretty annoyed by this point, and I know that if I was on the other end of the line, I'd be rolling my eyes, and wondering when the customer is going to stop asking for things I can't provide.

    I send an e-mail "to the CEO" from the HP website listing my tale of woe. I get a form letter back saying that my business is very important, somebody will get back to me, blah, blah, blah. Does this have any effect? Nope. Instead...

    They cancel the part order. At this point, I'm furious. I call them again, and this time the person I talk to says, in about thirty seconds, "Let me transfer your case to an escalation manager." (Apparently escalation paths exist after all!) She says one will call me back withing 24-48 hours. I offer to wait on hold, and she does indeed put me on hold. In about 40 minutes somebody picks up, and the guy uses an HP AmEx Card to order a battery from themselves, pay full retail to themselves for it, pay themselves shipping, sales tax, the whole works. I ask him why the original order was canceled. He states "When a warranty part doesn't ship for a while, we cancel the order." He says this like it is the most normal thing in the world to fail to ever send out parts to fix busted machines. He mentions that in the case notes it says somebody left me a message on my machine letting me know the order was dumped. This is a flat-out lie by whoever put that in the log.

    During some of the later calls, I admit that if I was on the receiving end, I would think that I was dealing with a SC. However, what exactly is a customer supposed to do in this sort of situation? Trying to get anything useful out of the call center was like talking to a brick wall. How exactly was I supposed to get the service I was paying for? I wasn't demanding my money back, I wasn't asking for free stuff, I wasn't asking for anything but what I was told I was going to get.

    I know it wasn't the call center reps fault that they don't have any way of contacting the dept. that has screwed up the order. I know it isn't their fault nobody ever calls me back. I know it isn't their fault that they have no idea why the website thought there was a problem with my order. I know that they cannot pull a battery out of thin air and send one to me. I know that call center drones are not equipped with corporate credit cards with which to fix the problem. I expect that their system won't let them escalate cases until they are really bad, not just delayed. But what was I supposed to do? How does one simultaneously avoid being sucky, yet get somebody at the other end to finally step up to the plate and do what was promised? I work in customer support myself and have sympathy for their plight. (Luckily, my employer DOES give me an escalation path that either I, or they, can invoke at will. There isn't an engineer I can escalate them to, but they can talk to however much management they can handle.)

    SirWired

    P.S. The screws that hold the case together are now falling out of this laptop. HP will generously sell me replacements for the bargain price of $42.67 for a baggie of six screws, one of each size used in the machine. I would need three of those little baggies. For this, I do not even bother to complain. I'll buy a new machine (sure as heck not from HP) before I'll spend $150 on machine screws. (I eventually order ones that are too long from a random screw-selling website, and cut them to the right length with my Dremel.)
    Last edited by sirwired; 07-31-2008, 03:06 PM.

  • #2
    I don't think I can give you fair advice on how to handle this, because something very similar happened to me, only it involved a lot more money out of my pocket, and when being a nice person didnt work, in the end I turned into SC bitchcake on many levels toward the people on the other end of the line, much to my shame and sorrow. And it still didnt help me. I wont go into it here, but for anyone out there considering satellite internet... FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T DO IT.

    Only thing to really do in a case like yours is exactly what you did. Just keep calling. And calling. And calling. And calling. And calling. And calling. Till they help you.

    You don't suck unless you were asking for something unreasonable, cussing, yelling, or being a brainless or selfish ass. Doesn't sound like you were.

    Comment


    • #3
      Wow, that was a load of suck. I see your last point, it's a shame there isn't better communication, esp. since you gave them your cc info. also, I can imagine your warrenty runs out and they say, "sorry, your warrenty ran out, and we have no proof you did try to order a part when it did have warrenty."

      I ask him why the original order was canceled. He states "When a warranty part doesn't ship for a while, we cancel the order." He says this like it is the most normal thing in the world to fail to ever send out parts to fix busted machines.
      Sorry for the thread jack:
      At the library, people can place holds online or call (and librarians can do it for people who don't want to touch a computer). It's a freakin' nightmare sometimes.
      When anyone does it, they click on hold request, input name, lib. card no. and where they want to pick it up. The request will be printed out with other requests when a librarian or support staff goes into the system to print it out. Usually it's in the morning. Someone goes and pulls the book on the list. If the book is not on the list, and if it's a librarian doing the pulling, the librarian will look to see if other branches have copies. If there are copies at other branches, then the librarian doesn't worry. If there are no other copies, the librarian will call the patron and tell them the problem or leave a message.

      Now we can place the book as "missing" but it's a judgement call. Sometimes it's misplaced and we assume it will show up sooner or latter, esp. if it's a popular book. If it was returned a day or 2 ago, we assume it was returned to another branch, and will take a while to get back to us. If it's not been checked out for over 2-3 years, we assume it was discarded but the person didn't delete it from the system, and we'll declare it missing.

      But when a support staff does a list, and doesn't find a book, they usually don't say anything to the librarian. They don't call the patron. They don't report the book missing.

      So, patron sees for weeks that the book is on hold for them, but it's not ready to be picked up. Months go by, and after 6 months (in fact, when they check their record they will see that it says "cancel if not filled by (date)". So 10% of them wait until the order is canceled and they call us. Of course, they don't remember the title of the book. *sigh* The other 90% will call after a week up to a month and the librarians handle it, usually by going to the shelf themselves and getting it, or else not finding it and telling the patron it's missing.

      I can see how patron's do get upset that no one calls to tell them the item isn't on the shelf, and there isn't any other item in the system.
      Time! Time! Time is what turns kittens into cats.

      Don't teach me a lesson; all I learn is that you are an asshole.

      I wish porn had subtitles.

      Comment


      • #4
        So I'm confused. Have you still not received the battery that HP themselves ordered?

        As far as the screws, if it's out of warranty or those aren't covered in your warranty, I'm sorry if you feel that's expensive but that's the risk you run. If it is covered by the warranty, I'd suggest doing an EECB.

        In my experience most manufacturers offer poor warranty service. On important items, I generally purchase them at a store that offers an additional warranty (usually Best Buy) and I've never had a problem having things fixed.
        WoW addict: Rogue, Paladin, Hunter, Priest!

        Comment


        • #5
          Oh, I eventually did receive the battery (from that retail order), but only after a month and a half, and a whole pile of suck. I didn't get an extended warranty on what was really a quite cheap machine, and those warranties often don't cover batteries anyway.

          As far as the screws go, no, it isn't under warranty any more, but trying to charge that much for a tiny ziploc bag of machine screws was just icing on the cake. I ordered the four screws I needed online for $0.86 + shipping ($5) and five minutes with my Dremel.

          Certainly HP is allowed to charge whatever they like for their parts, and I am equally allowed to go somewhere else in the future. (I am not the kind of customer that will open up a can of suck just because I don't like something. My suck is reserved for when I don't get what I have paid for.)

          After this incident, I did decide not to patronize HP in the future. Not as if they will care, but it does add up. I didn't bother to waste their time and mine writing them a whiny note to inform them of my one-man boycott. (FWIW, I have stuck to my boycott, making about $1500 of purchases so far with another brand where I would have purchased the HP option otherwise.)

          SirWired

          Comment


          • #6
            to be perfectly honest... my last laptop was HP / compaq. ... i never had a battery issue but i did have constant bsod after 3 months.

            after it died (unfortunately coffee accident) i switched to mac & have been omg-happy ever since.
            plus...every city my bf and i have been in has had a walk-in mac store, so... it's been pretty easy to get service when you can walk right in and talk to someone face-to-face.

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth elysia View Post
              Only thing to really do in a case like yours is exactly what you did. Just keep calling. And calling. And calling. And calling. And calling. And calling. Till they help you.

              You don't suck unless you were asking for something unreasonable, cussing, yelling, or being a brainless or selfish ass. Doesn't sound like you were.
              Nope, no cussing or yelling; just asking for reasonable things the call center drone did not have the power to provide, possibly in a very frustrated tone of voice.

              SirWired

              Comment


              • #8
                Quoth sirwired View Post
                Oh, I eventually did receive the battery (from that retail order), but only after a month and a half, and a whole pile of suck. I didn't get an extended warranty on what was really a quite cheap machine, and those warranties often don't cover batteries anyway.

                As far as the screws go, no, it isn't under warranty any more, but trying to charge that much for a tiny ziploc bag of machine screws was just icing on the cake. I ordered the four screws I needed online for $0.86 + shipping ($5) and five minutes with my Dremel.

                Certainly HP is allowed to charge whatever they like for their parts, and I am equally allowed to go somewhere else in the future. (I am not the kind of customer that will open up a can of suck just because I don't like something. My suck is reserved for when I don't get what I have paid for.)

                After this incident, I did decide not to patronize HP in the future. Not as if they will care, but it does add up. I didn't bother to waste their time and mine writing them a whiny note to inform them of my one-man boycott. (FWIW, I have stuck to my boycott, making about $1500 of purchases so far with another brand where I would have purchased the HP option otherwise.)

                SirWired
                Don't know what to say other than, you get what you pay for.

                If you had done some research (not trying to be snotty) you would have found that Compaq (HP) has some of the worst notebooks out there and CS sucks.

                Some times you just gotta pay the two dollars for it to be cheaper in the end.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Do the only thing you can do.. post your story like crazy on every blog, message board, and CS site you can find.
                  I will never go to school!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth ebonyknight View Post
                    Don't know what to say other than, you get what you pay for.

                    If you had done some research (not trying to be snotty) you would have found that Compaq (HP) has some of the worst notebooks out there and CS sucks.

                    Some times you just gotta pay the two dollars for it to be cheaper in the end.
                    Oh, I know that it was a lousy brand... we nickname it the "Craptop" in our house. It's sole purpose in life is to get hauled around on road trips, and provide a convenient surfing platform on the couch. I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised or upset if it died one week after the warranty ran out. (It's now been working almost 2 years.) The only other part it has needed was a new power brick.

                    I actually was shocked the battery was covered at all. I didn't think it would be.

                    What really annoyed me was having to jump through hoops to actually get a hold of the part they promised to send me. I wasn't asking for, or expecting, PhD engineers in tech support, Amercians on the phone queue, or even a very sturdy machine. I just expected them to be able to successfully mail out a single part in less than a month and a half. I should be able to get that much, even with a bargain machine. They shouldn't be writing proverbial checks they can't cash.

                    SirWired

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      It sounds like you were as understanding and polite as can be expected when a company is treating you this way. My boyfriend had a company treat him as poorly and he found the solution: File a report on the Better Business Buereau website. The company responded quickly. They tried to get him to close the case before he received the part he needed and he replied to them on the open case at the BBB that he would _not_ close the case until he received full satisfaction. That way, he wasn't a SC to some poor guy working on the phone but really got escalation people involved and those people made it other peoples' priority to help. I never knew businesses would even care about the BBB, but they do - and it works!

                      Good luck with the laptop in the future!
                      Interesting Fodder: http://interestingfodder.typepad.com

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Yep, all of HP's tech support is outsourced to a different company who is half inept and half completely powerless to actually do anything to help you. I don't work for them and never have so I'm free to poke them with a stick. But I know enough people that have worked for them and done HP support to recognize exactly what you went through and not be remotely surprised.

                        I have an Asus eeePC myself and love it to death. -.-

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth patiokitty View Post

                          willing to embrace the mission of screwing the customer so hard they run to Dell.
                          Funny part is, Dell used to use them. I worked for them in late 2000.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            There's a simple reason you got this problem.

                            Customer phone support is handled by the lowest bidder.

                            Nobody does their own support anymore. It's all farmed out to call centers, most of which handle multiple clients. The people who work here are in no way affiliated with the company you want to get service from. They have no way of contacting them, other than a preset and VERY LIMITED escalation path, and they have no way of getting info back from them. Some of them work from their own homes (aka woman with no supervisor)

                            No, many of these people are in fact competent, caring, professional people. We KNOW people who do this for a living, and we know they are. Some are knowledgeable and competent, but bitter, hateful shells of men plotting the destruction of human civilization as we know it, but unless you're ordering pink camo pants you're not likely to get Gravekeeper.

                            So, the only thing these people can do is work within the system the company gives them. This is why when things go snafu, or for some reason the system doesn't like the order, everything goes off the rails. They simply have no ability to help you. And even if they do... these people are generally paid minimum wage, in whatever country they're in. Not many of them are actually going to be competent enough to help you, and it's a crapshoot to try and get one that is.

                            Thewse days, you are TERRIBLY disconnected from the company you actually get your service from. Your communications travel through multiple layers, and two or three different COMPANIES before they ever reach the people handling your actual issue. Sometimes this works, but when it fails, it tends to fail BADLY.
                            Check out my webcomic!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Quoth PepperElf View Post
                              to be perfectly honest... my last laptop was HP / compaq. ... i never had a battery issue but i did have constant bsod after 3 months.
                              One of my last computers was a Crapaq. I never got the BSOD, but I had plenty of other annoyances--my wallpaper would disappear at times, the thing wouldn't turn off...forcing me to pull the plug, etc. My brother's HP desktop, basically a rebadged Crapaq design...truly was a piece of shit. That thing *never* worked right...and it was brand new! HP simply wasn't interested in fixing it--no sooner would he get it back after being "repaired," it would fail again.

                              After about a year of that, we decided to have a little fun--the drives went into a new computer...and we beat the shit out of the rest with the fence maul

                              After dealing with that, I decided I wasn't buying any OEM computers again. Just not worth the hassle, IMHO.
                              Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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