Okay - got my laptop back, and they have replaced the Hard Drive, Motherboard, LCD screen and Keyboard at their cost. Wow that thing must have been fried!!

It has a 90 day warranty, but only against the same fault. I'm peeved that the whole issue happened, and all the delay and messing around it caused - as well as the fact that I'll have to sell at a dead loss just to quit the thing before it blows on me again (judging from feedback here, I'd say it was entirely possible). Now the problem is to try and sell the thing honestly and get a Lenovo instead!!

HP New Zealand seemed quite efficient and fair once I got on to them, and I will not be bad mouthing their brand - just steering WELL clear forever . I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend anyone buy an HP though.

Following the steps in this guide (primarily emailing the CEO and getting a NZ case manager) were the key steps in the Free repair process. Thanks again Evey and crew - your help and generosity is much appreciated!!

I just got off the phone with HP. First spoke to a tech, then asked for a supervisor, then got a case manager, then got an executive case manager. All of them said the same thing, "Sorry, you are out of warranty and there are no known issues with your computer." I did as suggested and didn't hang up. I told the Exec CM that, basically, I was deceived. If I had known back when I was under warranty that the black screen I was experiencing would continue to be a problem, then I would have had it FIXED at that time instead of putting band-aids on it until warranty was up and I was screwed.

I was sure to mention some key things: Mark Hurd, Better Business Bureau, deceitful practices, how much I LOVE my HP Pavillion laptop ;o), the number of people who DID get free repairs out of warranty, and several times I said, "That's not good enough."

Anyway, the Exec CM promised to research a bit and see if there is anything that can be done, like a loophole or something. She actually was very nice. We'll see...

The CM's can do a lot. It is completely in their power to do a lot of things -- they're the CSR's facing HP. Whether they decide to or not, that's up to them. In the US, if you start mentioning those buzzwords around them, they'll just stop listening/tune you out.

If you want to run a civil case (and are in the US) against them, I suggest going to civiltree.com and filing against HP. It'll cost a bit, but you can sue them for the cost of the laptop and the cost of the court filing, etc.

Be sure to mention to them that you were having problems before the warrenty was out. If you contacted them before the warrenty was out, and they gave you things to do to fix it, then be sure to tell them that you contacted them about the problem before the warrenty was out, and they gave you wrong information that did not fix it, and you still want it fixed for free because they still have failed to fix it for you.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com

Here's an update. The nice Executive Case Manager called me back to tell me that the best she could do is offer me... don't laugh now... $100 off the repair fee (which could range from $300-$400). Of course I was fully prepared for a lame offer like this as I've read on this forum. I told her, "Not good enough, who else can I talk to?" She said she was the highest, but I repeated, "Who can I talk to?" She gave me the Corporate number.

So I just got off the phone with a very nice lady from Corporate who listened to my entire story, including all the great information I've learned from this forum (thanks everyone--I think I sounded like I knew my stuff!), and she is having my case re-evaluated. She asked me if HP support offered to look at the computer the first time I had issues and I said no. She said that it seems this was an issue while still under warranty, and it happened more than once, and they have it documented. So, Wayne, your advice is great! I hadn't read it before I spoke to this person, but that is something I should have been saying all along to these people.

At this point, I'm preparing myself for a lost cause, but I figure I may as well make a huge stink about it. I am feeling hopeful though...

Last I heard was a message from the Executive Case Manager who repeated the lame offer of $100 off the repair price. I'll have to wait until Monday to call back, but I'm skipping her and going back to the lady in Corporate to tell her I would like a new CM--one with balls!

In the meantime, I'm checking with my CC company to see if I'm eligible for some sort of extended warranty protection. Maybe I can at least get back the amount I charged. I'll still lose out on the $225 that I paid in gift cards.

I managed to take to a case manage. I asked him if they could replace or repair my laptop for free as I know there is a defective product inside their defective product. He said, that my laptop is out of warranty and there is nothing he can do about it. No free repair. I argued with saying that even my laptop isn't included in the LWSE, the faulty nvidia chip is inside there and I am experiencing all the problems stated in the list. He said, " There isn't a known issue with your laptop." After blahblahs.. He was asking if I tried taking my laptop to any third party and I said no 'cause I know there is something wrong with the laptop and I want you to fix it.

He kept insisting that he couldn't give me a free repair and that there is no company or manufacturer willing to give a free repair after the warranty expires. I said I've read several forums regarding this matter, and most of them got repaired for free and their laptops wasn't in the list. He said, "Most of the things in the forums are rubbish, they can easily say anything rubbish..etc." something like that. He added, "The only thing I can suggest you is that if your not happy with the company you can file a complain to a trading standards etc.." I said "Alright i'll try to, how much is the repair?"
He said "270 GBP..So you might be better off buying a new product."

He also asked me if I managed to talk to the retailer, since I bought this laptop in the Philippines. Should I contact them? Can they do something about this? Sorry for my English, that's my main problem as well cause I've got limited words to use to talk back to the case manager but he was kind enough to give me a tip to complain at HP.

I've talked to a case manager two times, she is not budging. Said that's our "policy" and they won't fix it for free, they want to charge $400.00. I mentioned all the unhappy people online and she said they are only a small % of our customers and we don't worry about the blogs. Most of the things said on there are lies. Hello...not lying here are any of you. Back to the grind of making their life miserable. I'm not done fighting. I've sent letters to Mark Hurd, BBB, and will continue to find others to complain to. They KNOW they are in the wrong. Also, case manager is the end of the line...they will not pass you on to someone "higher" then themselves. She said they make all the decisions.

man, I had mine fail about 1 month before the warranty expired. they fixed it. 1 month later the hard drive went out(they said) since it was out warranty I had to pay 300 dollars to get it repaired. I was in Iraq at the time, my wife was using this laptop. everything worked fine then 8 months later I had the same symptoms creep up.

Hey guys, my laptop just stopped working on my a few days ago and now I am calling HP using the phone numbers you guys provided. They want me to pay $400 to fix it and I said "No, I am not sure even if you guys fix it that it won't have this same problem a year later". So now their supervisor is going to call tomorrow. Any suggestions? Should I just keep at it, refusing any offer besides free repair, and asking to talk to a higher up if they don't?

What should I do if they won't/say they don't have a higher up? Should I say that I am recording this phone call? Any tips make this go smoother?