HP Laptop Service
Lately I had an accident with my HP Pavilion laptop and wanted to share the HP service story with you. Hopefully it will save people time and money.
Less than a year ago I bought a brand new HP Pavilion dv9000 17" laptop. The price was high, I was naive, and have decided to purchase an extended warranty provided by the store (Future Shop in my case).
11 months of a very heavy usage, I happened to forget half a glass of Sprite beside the laptop. Boy that was a mistake. My 'little pup' (accelerate Golden Retreiver) waved his tail and boom! Sprite on the keyboard. The fact that I shut it down, removed the battery, and turned it up side down has helped. The only issue was with a keyboard. Because of the sugar (this is probably another blog entry) in Sprite, keyboard became sticky inside and typing was impossible.
What do you do? Try to claim the extended warranty. Nope. Future shop will cover anything, but not the real damage. So I called HP to have an idea what are my options. Man I was surprised. Apparently, I could have warrant my laptop with HP for the same amount of money and have spillage and accidental drops covered. Like a mad bull I took the receipt to the Future Shop to claim my 'wasted' money back. Interestingly, they did not even try to argue and reimbursed the whole amount. Nice, as a customer I felt good. But still my laptop has an issue.
So I called HP customers service again, and told them the whole truth and truth only. They assured me that it's still under 1 year warranty, and I can safely ship it over for a fix. Cool, life is sweet. Not so fast. Later I am receiving a phone call from HP - "our technicians have discovered traces of a liquid spillage on the keyboard... spillage is not covered, so as a general test/fix it will cost you $650 or more."
WHAAAAT?! You gotta be kidding me. $650 for a keyboard replacement? And why did you have to "investigate" when I said it in plain English what happened when opened the support case. Hallo, are you insane?! No thank you, give it back to me and I will handle the situation. The technical support manager kindly agreed that as a person she understands me, but these are the rules. Also I was warned that if I plan to open the computer, the remaining warranty will be voided, and only HP certified technician should perform the replacement. Right. Keep the warning in mind, we'll get to it later.
Next step (besides cursing) - eBay. HP Pavilion dv96XX keyboard, $30 including shipping. Done. A week of waiting and it arrived.
Next step - Google. Quick search brought a few useful results, especially the one at http://www.insidemylaptop.com. Folks, thank you so much for putting all the information online.
Final step - quick (about 10 minutes with no rush) operation on laptop itself. Done. But wait a second, the screw holding the keyboard from beneath (mounting screw) is missing. Oh, now I get it, those were the HP certified technicians. Aaaa, now I see. You have to be HP certified to do some sloppy job and screw hardware. Clear as mud.
Morals of the story
- Extended warranties / service plans - don't get those from retailers, rather consider the one from manufacturer, and even then think twice
- If as a customer you get screwed, don't give up. Customer is always right, remember that
- Don't blindly assume that people that are suppose to know their job will necessarily do it proper, especially if you are going through layers on indirect communication
- Don't be afraid to experiment. A good saying tells "Who's not taking risks does not drink Champaign".
(Some pictures of the patient before and after the surgery)
