Interview: Janice Liu of HP – Part 1 of 2

September 12, 2006Behind the Scenes, Customer Service Experience, Employees, Etiquette, Hiring & Training, Interviews, Specific Companies 27 Comments

This is the first of two parts of an interview with Janice Liu, an executive at HP. Her official bio is below:

Janice Liu has been with HP for more than 13 years and currently manages the Consumer Services Marketing group in the Americas. Prior to her current position, she was the business lead responsible for creating online merger business plan for pre-merger HP and Compaq online support assets. She graduated with a Master’s in Business Administration from University of California, Irvine.

Janice has a lot to do with HP’s customer service efforts and answered my questions about HP and customer service. Click read more to read the entire interview.

Question 1: What has HP been doing lately to improve its customer service?
Answer: HP is constantly looking at ways to improve customer service:

  1. We really focus on improving agent skills.
  2. We provide a lot of free online support tools and really strive to make those easier to use for customers.
  3. The third main area is making our service plans more robust. We have extended service plans, SmartFriend by HP, and PC TuneUp. That really allows the customer more personalized service beyond their standard warranty terms.

Question 2: What type of effect has outsourcing had on HP’s customer service?
Answer:  We do research and tracking of our own and what we have seen is that we deliver a consistently positive customer service experience from all of our call centers.

Question 3: What percentage of HP’s customer service calls are routed overseas? What percentage of the calls stay in the United States?
Answer: As with any global company now, calls are taken across the world. However, we do not to share call volumes or locations.

Question 4: It is no secret that the PC industry is extremely competitive. Is HP making customer service more of a selling point than before?
Answer: I think in general, support is becoming more visible. It is because the differentiators between brands are becoming fewer and fewer. Absolutely, support is definitely an area of focus. In fact, there is an association called SSPA (Service and Support Professionals Association – a non-profit association that puts on several yearly conferences about customer service) and they recently did a study that showed that 50% of customers showed it was one of the top three buying criteria.

For HP, customer service has always been a priority. If you look at our services, for example, HP provides a generous standard warranty, which covers more than break fix. For instance, it offers free email and chat support for the life of the product and we’ve won awards for our service and support recently. I mentioned the SSPA award and we were also recently awarded a JD Power Certification of Customer Satisfaction, which we thought was a huge testament to all of the work we have done over the years to improve our support.

We’ve also maintained our standard 1 year warranty on our PC products while others have reduced them and realized it didn’t work and then brought them back. We really have kept them steady to ensure that the customer has the best experience possible. We also offer generous extended service plans and the other service plans I mentioned earlier like SmartFriend by HP and PC TuneUp are for customers who need more personalized assistance instead of the general support that would be covered under their standard terms and conditions.

Question 5: On the subject of competition, how is HP competing with other PC manufacturers like Lenovo that have recently entered the market and are becoming more and more mainstream?
Answer: I’m responsible for the consumer side of business. We consider Lenovo to be more focused on the business-to-business segment. That’s not saying we ignore them – we track all of our main competitors just like they probably track us as well.

Question 6: What are the regular challenges that HP experiences when providing customer service to consumers?
Answer: One of the biggest challenges is that every customer is unique with their own problem that needs a quick, effective, solution. For instance, each customer has a different level of technology knowledge. Some are more sophisticated, some are not as sophisticated (maybe just buying a PC for the first time), so the agent needs to quickly understand the issue based on what the customer communicates and adjust their information to the solution to that customer’s knowledge level, so that’s very challenging for anyone, but for an agent who is getting calls one after another, it is extremely challenging. This is why developing our agents’ skills and the content we provide them is so critical.

Question 7: Any other major barriers?
Answer: There are always areas where our processes and toolsets could be better. We could have faster systems that provide the customer information quicker. There are many other areas, but from a customer standpoint, that is one of the biggest challenges. The agents need to adjust their answers to the customer.

Question 8: A big customer service complaint, especially with outsourced support is language barriers. What is HP doing to remove or minimize these challenges?
Answer: We focus on the agent skills. Additional training – we have agents go through a 12 week training period. Before they get on the phone, they do mock calls, there is mentoring, and we do call monitoring. There is a lot of effort to go into agent skill sets and trying to reduce that language issue that we (not HP in particular, but the industry in general) hear so many complaints about. We also require agents to pass a certification test so that they are certified HP technical agents and we also provide an awards program for when agents get high customer satisfaction performance. All those together are really trying to address not just the language issue, but one of many things we are continuing to try and improve.

The second part of the interview will be published tomorrow.

No related posts to display.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

27 Responses to “Interview: Janice Liu of HP – Part 1 of 2”

  1. Service Untitled » Janice Liu of HP - Part 2 of 2 said:

    Sep 13, 06 at 4:26 pm

    […] This is the second part of the interview with Janice Liu of HP. Click More to read the questions and answers. […]

  2. Deborah Herzberg said:

    Oct 18, 07 at 11:48 am

    In my personal experience, they are trained to make empty promises to appease the customer and then drop off the face of the earth, which has been the script with almost every conversation I have had with this company.

    I have been trying to resolve a video issue with my laptop since June 2007, and thus far, have over 40 pages of documentation, approximately 15 names, numerous phone numbers and extensions (including one for the personal line of one of the VP’s whose mailbox has been full for days now…).

    I have gone through the heavy accents of the untrained foreign Tech service, insisting on asking the same questions and offering the same canned remedies over and over and over and over. I have had to fax my purchase information to them to prove that it was under warranty, and even after doing so, they continued to insist that it wasn’t covered.

    We have sent it for repair twice – the first time it was returned to me unrepaired and I was notified that it was out of warranty, which we’ve already determined is not the case!!! My warranty expires 4/3/08).

    The second time, they made a repair, but it did not fix the problem, and the case cover for the hard drive was stripped that the screws fell out and can’t be tightened back in.

    Repeated calls to Tech Service, Case Management, Senior Case MAnagement, Executive Customer Service and even Jeff Utigard have been pointless. I have untold hours invested in trying to get this issue resolved.

    There are many unhgappy HP customers like myself, and we are only becoming more frustrated with HP’s falase claims of high standards in this area. It is a grave failure on HP’s part, and someone is snowing the executive levels into believing this nonsense.

    I want a job with HP!!! I can give lip service all day and not follow through on any promises. I can read from a script that offers no solutions! I can be the best you got! Of course the commute to India might be a bit rough.

  3. Service Untitled said:

    Oct 18, 07 at 8:17 pm

    Deborah,

    You should have heard from HP by now. I heard they gave you a call and are sorting things out. Best of luck!

  4. Deborah Herzberg said:

    Oct 18, 07 at 8:25 pm

    Thank you, yes. Jeff Utigard did return my calls and has offered to make this right. Barring unexpected glitches, I am hopeful for a final happy ending and a renewed faith in HP. Hope that something is being done to correct the process that customers need to go through to get results. It really does need to be looked at carefully and reconstructed.

  5. Service Untitled said:

    Oct 19, 07 at 4:48 pm

    Glad to hear that you heard something Deborah! Best of luck!

  6. Brittany Hendershott said:

    Nov 20, 07 at 4:16 pm

    I need help! I’ve done everything I can to get through to HP, only to deal with their horrible customer service! I was in my final year of college last year, and my laptop decided to quit working in the fall. So, during my final semester (in January), I purchased an HP laptop so I could finish out college. Less than a month after I purchased my laptop, I called HP tech support and it was determined that my backlight had burnt out in my monitor. The guy in HP repairs said as soon as I sent it to them, it would be 7-10 days for the repair and I would be getting my computer back. A few weeks after I sent my computer to them, I was growing impatient so I called tech support again. After speaking with numerous people and being forwarded to a case manager that was absolutely no help, among many other things, I became extremely upset. It was only after my dad called HP Case Management and left a message threating to get our attorney involved that my computer was promptly shipped back to me, with no apologies from HP at all. HP had my computer for 2 months, and when it was returned to me, I received a list of things that had been repaired on my laptop. One of which was my wireless card which worked perfectly fine the day I sent my computer to HP for repair. But, when I received my repaired computer, the wireless internet was no longer in function. They had messed it up! So I called HP again and went through an hour and a half of tech support to determine that I needed a new card. I was told that someone would call me back within 48 hours to get my information so they could ship me a new card. Surprise, surprise,I NEVER recieved a phone call!

    By this time it was March, and I had been computerless for 2 months. I decided to finish out the semester with my computer as it was and mess with calling HP again after school was out. After one hour long tech support call in the summer, I was fed up. I gave my computer to Radio Shack in October because they are authorized to repair HP products under warranty. They sent my machine to HP on October 23rd. I called Radio Shack a few times to check on the status on my machine, and on November 12th I was told that HP still had my computer because they were repairing a list of things, so I made them give me the repair order number so I could call and deal with HP myself. I’ve made 3 very long phone calls to HP in the past week, getting absolutely no where except for finding out that my ETA is November 30th — over a month after my computer was sent to HP.

    I need help! HP’s had my computer almost as long as I have! I just want to have a working computer in my hands! That’s what I paid for!

  7. Service Untitled said:

    Nov 20, 07 at 6:10 pm

    Hi Brittany,

    I’ve forwarded your issue to my contact at HP. She is currently out of town, but I imagine the issue will get resolved when she comes back. HP is pretty quick.

  8. Brittany Hendershott said:

    Dec 11, 07 at 12:06 pm

    Hi again. Thanks so much for forwarding my issue on to your HP contact. By the time she got back to me, my computer was on it’s way back to my hands.

    The computer worked fine after I discovered the need to install some drivers that HP had apparently forgotten. Which leads to the question . . . how did HP know my computer was in working order if the drivers needed for my wireless card to work had not even been installed?

    Last night, about 2 weeks after I got my computer back, I pressed the power button, hoping to use my machine. And low and behold, I saw only a flash of the start up screen, then a blue screen containing a lot of text I was not given time to read. Then, my screen went black. I restarted my computer manually, 3 times, before giving up with no success.

    Now, once again, I’m left with a broken computer, and the dread of calling HP tech support. My warrenty runs out in January, and honestly, I’m done fighting with HP to give me a working product. At this point, it would be very nice if I could just get my money back so I can go purchase a computer that will actually funtion.

    I must tell you, I’m not someone who ever complains about anything. Most of the time, I just live with things how ever they are. But this is getting out of hand.

  9. Service Untitled said:

    Dec 11, 07 at 9:13 pm

    Hi Brittany,

    I’ll ask HP to get in touch with you again. Hopefully a resolution will result!

  10. Brittany Hendershott said:

    Dec 12, 07 at 3:59 pm

    Thanks for your help! I was contacted by someone from HP today, and he said that I just need to see if my recovery discs fix my computer, before he resolves my problem. He told me that HP will either replace my computer, or give me my money back. I’ll let you know how things turn out!

  11. Steve Baer said:

    Jan 10, 08 at 2:15 am

    I too am looking for any help or assistance that you can provide. I purchased an HP Pavilion desktop at Christmas time 2006. Within two weeks the machine started shutting down and would only turn back on after repeatedly pushing the power button. Then it totally failed and wouldn’t power up. I spoke with HP service and they sent a return box and repaired the PC in a timely manner. (The only complaint was that there 2 lose screws rolling around inside and a broken trim piece when I got it back) The PC again started shutting off intermittently during the Spring of 07 and I should have called them then.

    During July and August it got worse and started shutting off regularly. It even corrupted the hard drive from all of the hits and I had to do a restore. I placed four or five calls to India and each time was told that I had a virus, to which, I responded ‘How can a virus prevent the PC from turning on’ and they could never give me an answer. Finally, after yet another call, I reached a technician who agreed that I had a hardware problem. He again arranged for the PC to be shipped back and repaired.

    It was returned to me during the first week in October and in less than a week it started shutting down again. I started placing calls in October through November and on November 28th finally talked to a Customer Service rep named Nick. He apologized for the problems that I had been having and said that a case manager would call me within 48 hours; ticket # 8005026749.

    I received a call on 11/30 from a case manager who was very friendly and helpful. I expressed that I felt that I should expect better service out of this PC and HP, especially with the fact that I started having problems right after I bought it. I also explained that I can never tell how long it will run at a time. Sometimes it shuts off several times a day and other times it will run for a week or two. When it does shut down it will not turn back on for several hours and sometimes several days. He agreed and we talked about replacing it. As we talked some more, he asked if he could try one more repair to which I reluctantly agreed. He felt that the fan was malfunctioning and was allowing it to over heat. I said I didn’t think that was the case, but said okay.

    I received the fan and replaced it on 12/5. The PC failed again on 12/9. I believe the case managers name was Bob and he gave me his extension, which somehow, and I’m really mad at myself, I misplaced. But I thought, no problem he told me he would follow-up with me in a week and a half to see how my repair went. He never called back.

    Ever since I have been in HP’s customer service black hole. I have called five times since 12/15 to India trying to get them to put me in contact with him or another case manager, which they act like that can’t do. I was given a new ticket number and five times now have been PROMISED a call back within 24 to 48 hours and no one ever calls.

    I don’t feel that I’m asking for too much to have a PC that I bought in good faith, work. I even let the rep that I talked to in August talk me into buying an extended service plan from HP. That appears to be wasted money as I’m typing this on my old HP Vectra because my new one shut off again two days ago and HP won’t even talk to me about fixing it.

  12. Service Untitled said:

    Jan 10, 08 at 3:09 am

    Steve,

    I’ve sent your issue to HP. You will probably hear from them soon. Best of luck!

  13. Steve Baer said:

    Jan 17, 08 at 2:56 am

    Thank you for forwarding my problem to your contact at HP. Robert called me this afternoon and said that after their review of the problems that I continue to have, even after their repairs, they are going to replace my desktop PC. I want to commend you for the time and effort you gave to assist me in bringing my problem to their attention and to also thank HP for replacing a faulty unit, although I’m disappointed that their customer service center couldn’t accomplish what you did. Thanks again!

  14. Service Untitled said:

    Jan 17, 08 at 9:07 pm

    Steve,

    Glad things are going well and that your computer is going to be replaced.

  15. Dave Laney said:

    Feb 07, 08 at 1:51 pm

    Steve:
    I am so glad to have found this site ! I have had a very frustrating time trying to get HP to repair my TC4400 that had a problem form the day I first powered it on. This is a tablet PC that has the feature that the screen can be rotated so that the user can use it in a portrait or landscape mode. Upon initial power up and ever since then, the screen rotates on its own continuously while running on AC power. The problem does not occur running on battery power. This makes the machine useless while plugged-in. Over the last 3 monthes HP has made 7 attempts to repair the problem. Two parts — a replacement pen and power supply — were sent on separate occasions. The problem persisted. HP then performed on-site service replacing the system board — the problem persisted. I called again and another on-site repair engineer came out replacing the system board again — the problem persisted. I called tech support again and they said I needed to mail the machine in for service. That was 3 weeks ago. The promised I would receive the machine back in 5-7 business days — it didn’t. I understand from my latest call that they again replaced the system board and the problem persists. They now say that they need another system board and possibly other parts that are unavailable. They are unable to provide an ETA of the parts or when my machine might be returned. I have also tried sending the HP CEO — Mark Hurd a message requesting help with no response after a month of waiting.

    As an electrical I have two decades of experience with the OLD HP electronic test equipment — mostly general lab equipment and very expensive microwave test equipment made now by Agilent. That experience instilled a very positive bias in favor of HP. I’m honestly dumbfounded by this experience. Any help would REALLY be appreciated.

    Best Regards,
    Dave Laney, Ph.D.

  16. Dave Laney said:

    Feb 07, 08 at 2:50 pm

    Sorry, I meant to address my earlier post to the kind person who has an HP contact. Thanks again!

  17. Service Untitled said:

    Feb 08, 08 at 12:24 am

    Dave,

    I will send your message to HP. I hope the issue gets resolved!

  18. Brittany Hendershott said:

    Feb 08, 08 at 11:51 am

    I just want to say thank you to the great person who got me in touch with HP! I finally got my issue resolved. HP bought back my Notebook, so I am currently shopping for a replacement of a differnt brand with the money that I received. I couldn’t have done it without your help! Thanks so much!

  19. Garret Frodel said:

    Feb 20, 08 at 7:11 pm

    Can anyone please help me. Ive spent hours calling different HP service lines and am constatly getting transferred to supervisors who transfer me to another supervisor and its never ending and no problems are being resolved. I bought a dv9500t last June for college. Ater recieving it the price dropped so I called back to find out if I would be refunded, the agent said that there was no refund available. Then I find out 6 months later that I was lied to and there is a “Price Guarantee” and that I was covered under the time period. Every agent I have recently called agrees I should be refunded but all say they dont have the power to refund the amout because the computer will not allow it after 21 days. This happens with everyone I talk to and havent been able to get a single straight forward answer regarding who can complete the refund transaction.

    Next, I talked to a rep before I bought my computer and he assured be the best route to go was buying the 64 bit version of the computer and operating system. I was told it was compatible with all software and networks so I would have nothing to worry about. Well I get my computer in June and when I get to college in September, my computer isn’t compatible with the network and I’m I have been stuck with a laptop without internet in college. So my $3,100 laptop is useless and has to gather dust in my dorm room.

    Then to add more the computer is constantling having problems. After I log in the computer will just remail a black screen until I restart the system or pull out the battery. This happens every few times I boot my laptop. Then I ahve the same issues as other dv9500 owners, theres a high pitch hissing noise at ALL times and theres nothing I can do to fix it. Another problem similar to other HP user’s is the screen panel beginning to disconnect by the security lock.

    I desperatly need help. I can’t get any straight answers from HP service and I’m afraid of sending my computer in even though I have the 3 year coverage with accidental damage because I cant afford to be without a computer for months while HP makes repairs. I’ve read the numerous (as in hundred’s) reports online about HP’s evasive customer service.

    What should I do? Is there any chance of a full refund? Is there even a chance of me getting my money back for the price match gaurantee? Should I trust HP with my laptop for repair and run the risk of being in college computerless for months?

    Any help would with these issues would be greatly appreciated.

    I’m not angry with HP but dissappointed I spent over $3,000 and HP won’t even take my case seriously. I spent too much money to have it not work at school and be used only for word processing. I feel there is nothing I can do. Even threating legal action would be a useless cause.

    Please help with my situation,
    Garret Frodel

  20. Service Untitled said:

    Feb 21, 08 at 10:45 pm

    Garret,

    I will see what I can do. It has been hard getting a hold of HP lately.

  21. Denis said:

    Feb 22, 08 at 11:28 am

    Finally an HP site that maybe able to help get my HP problems resolved. After months of phone calls, run arounds, and no returned calls hope your site will make things happen.
    Service ticket number 8005554654 is for a Pavillion laptop, which was to be replaced due to the numerous problems I have had with mine, even after being sent back to the “bench”. Way too many calls to post the string of problems, but I understand everything is documented in my cse file.
    Noah from HP executive office was to e-mail Caroline’s supervisor on February 19, 2008 to get my issues resolved. To date February 22, 2008 again no phone calls, even a coutesey call to let me know things are being taken care of.
    I am totally frustrated and disgusted with the lack of service and regard to a long time HP customer.

  22. Kathy Wold said:

    Feb 25, 08 at 7:02 pm

    Dave,

    I too am also having this problem with my HP TC4400. The screen rotates on its own if the computer gets hot or if I’m connected to a power source. The computer does best when it runs on the battery and the extra 52WH battery. Some times the screen rotates so fast that I have to do a hard shut down. Once the computer cools, then the screen is ok until it warms up again. I work for a large company and IT has no idea how to fix the problem. I am hoping someone has insight into how to fix this problem.

    Kathy Wold EdD (which means its only more frustating)

  23. Dave Laney said:

    Feb 25, 08 at 9:57 pm

    Kathy:
    After HP replaced the system board twice the screen rotation problem on my TC4400 went away but a new problem appeared. So, you might push for having the system board replaced. If you’ve owned it less than 30 days, I think they will give you a refund (I made the mistake of working with HP and that time limit expired). Also, they have the rule that if they’ve tried 3 times to repair the same problem, they will replace the computer (Didn’t apply in my case because they said the first two repair attempts didn’t count — first replacing the pen and then the power supply AND it was a new problem that appeared with the third system board — no modem). Since your problem sounds like it is heat related (mine wasn’t) it certainly sounds like a hardware problem. Don’t let them convince you to reload the operating system. Honestly, I kept getting the run around but finally gained some traction when I repeatedly copied the CEO Mark Hurd (external.ceo-communication@hp.com) on my repair correspondence and finally that I was willing but reluctant to take some legal action. Don’t expect anything other than an automated response but it did seem to get my case into the customer care system or whatever they call it. An interesting side note, I tried to get a complete copy of the warranty for my TC4400. I was unable to find a detailed copy online and when I called no one at HP was willing to provide me with a copy. At this point I can only believe that HP currently has a corporate culture of dishonesty. Not the HP of yesteryear.
    Good Luck,
    Dave

  24. Amil said:

    Mar 24, 08 at 8:39 pm

    Here is my story. I own an HP branded laptop Pavilion dv 9000 which is still on warranty (it was 83 days left, by the day of my first contact with hp support) the computer was purchased, from eBay online reseller from USA, was registered with HP and accepted as warranty legitimate item, which was confirmed by my first contact with HP support, on Sunday March 9th 2008 around 6 pm Atlantic time.

    I spent about 2 hours, trying to solve a technical problem occurred to my computer that day. After doing all these steps required by the support person, I was told that my computer has a major motherboard problem (I have to mention that the computer wasn’t misused or physically damaged), which has to be fixed, in the HP service center and they going to send me a package for my computer to be shipped to the nearest HP service center. The person filled out all needed forms but at the end of the process, he said that their system cannot accept my Canadian address, and I have 2 options or to provide an address in USA (which I don’t have) or to apply to one of the local store like STAPLES, as it’s associated with HP, where I’ll be charged for fixing my laptop. I was told that there isn’t any opportunity to ship or deliver it myself to the service center. So I decided to contact HP support by email and here is the link to the blog with my email correspondense sinse then.

    http://shame-on-hp.blogspot.com/

    And so far nobody, contacted me, about fixing the problem I was put on hold, for that long. And the whole thing isn’t about HOW to repair the computer, it’s all about to fix OR not to fix it, the computer is covered by warranty in Canada and US.

    I have to tell that I am a photographer and carry on very important social project for a non profit organization that provides home and work for people with disabilities in rural Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; in June it’s going to be 25th Anniversary of the organization and one of the things that are planed for that even – it’s a photo exhibit which has goal to reflect unique values of people with disabilities and their integration into society.

    It’s a huge project which involves scanning old pictures and slides as well as editing, printing and framing contemporary photographs. I am in charge of this project and the successes of the job can be seriously affected by not having the major tool required for it. Fairly, I can call myself calm and reasonable person, but the fact that I face an example of poor and irresponsible computer support, from being just a technical problem became something that affects my sleep, rhythm of life and well being in general.

  25. karen Griffin said:

    Jul 23, 08 at 7:38 pm

    HP has had my laptop for 2 monthes and keep calling me moving the date that it will be returned to me back. The left click keypad button stopped working. This is the second time I have sent it in to them for this problem.
    I have written the CEO, called customer service over and over and can’t get anywhere. I need HELP!

  26. Stacey said:

    Jan 22, 10 at 3:51 pm

    I purchased a HP computer for my 15 year old July 27, 2009. Within three weeks I contacted the store where I purchased the computer and let them know that the computer power cord came apart a piece was in the computer the other piece was in my hand, and I asked them if I they could give me replacement cord? They told me that I had to go through HP…so I did and I got a cord sent out to me within 4 days. This happened during a time when my daughter was doing all kinds of reports because school was about to reopen. I noticed that the computer was running hot and I was told that it is normal for laptops to run a little hot. On Decemeber 16, 2009 my daughter was doing homework and her computer started getting sticky key errors then a loud high pitch sound. I took it back to the store where I purchased it from and they informed that the keyboard had went up and told me he would send it out to be repaired. I told him that this computer is still under manufacturer warranty and I would contact HP about this issue. The guy at the store hooked up a keyboard with the USB and looked at the computer errors and told me that it didn’t look good that there were software issues. I took the computer home and the next day I contacted HP and I explained that this computer was my 15 year old daughter’s and that her computer runs so hot that it becomes hot to the touch and that she has put it on her lap for a few minutes and it has actually burned her legs. The power cord ( the hard black case connected) gets very hot as well. I told the customer service represenative that I was afraid to accidently leave it plugged in that it would start a fire. From there they appointed me a case worker. He said he was writing his notes and told me that I had to send it in to be looked at and fixed. My question to him is why is it that something that is 4 months old would have to be fixed to that degree? My daughter didn’t cause any of the issues that this computer had. I asked the case worker if it could be replaced and I was actually scared of the product. I am sure that HP doesn’t want any serious injuries sustained due to the computer and I most certainly dont want my daughter to be injured nor do I want a fire in my home. He said he understood and I did what he asked me to do even thought I didn’t agree with this but I wanted to try to get this issue resolved. My daughter was almost left without a computer for a month. They got the computer and it was suppose to be fixed. The computer came back on 1/13/10 and I will be honest they returned the computer promptly but it doesn’t work properly. They fixed or replaced the keyboard and that is all the paper said was done to it. Oh, I forgot to say this before I returned the computer the computer stopped working all together. I asked the case worker if they could back up my daughter’s data off the computer because it would cost me $140.00 if the geek squad did it. I was told no they don’t do that there I would have to do that myself. I then asked them why…even if the damage on the comnputer is due to the product and not to her usage. He still told me no, so I had to pay to get her school work off of the computer then I shipped it back. Now up to speed…I got it back and the same day I contacted the case worker and told him that the computer is running very hot and shutting down, the back cover wasn’t flush and I had to forced the back cover back into place, her mic doesn’t work properly the sound is horrible, the web cam is not working properly, even restoring the computer or whatever they did to it or whatever is going on with it makes it run very slow which wasn’t a problem even with all the things that my daughter had on it and last but not least the frame which the keyboard that they fixed isn’t sitting flush either the right side of the frame is sitting up. When I spoke to the case working on 1/13/10 the case worker told me that he understood how I felt and he would talk to someone about replacing the computer and would give me a call back on 1/18/10 he never called so I called him on 1/19/10 and left him a message to call me back before shipping the computer out once again to them. He never called so I called him back on 1/22/10 and he apologized for not calling stating that he didn’t get the message until now. I could accept that…he then told me that all he could do was have me send it back in. Now all along this case manager has been telling me that he didn’t have the authority to replace the computer and if it was up to me I would replace it but he had to talk to some other people. But today he tells me that I had to send it back in. I said who is your supervisor? He said he can’t give me his name. I said what is your last name Kyle? He said for security purposes he can not give me that information. I said so you are telling me that there is no one that I can speak to over you? He said that is correct. I said you are denying me access to a supervisor? He said that is correct. He said they gave him authority to make the decision about your computer and it needs to be fixed. I then told him I thought that you didn’t have the authority to replace the computer. He told me this since day one and even on 1/13/10 I was still told the same thing. But today he tells me that he has had the authority all along to replace the computer while telling me that he didn’t. I ended the phone call and I informed him that all of this will be included in my letter that I will write. I hung up very disappointed, frustrated and not to mention that my daughter has several research papers to complete and this isn’t fair to her at all.
    My question is this as a consumer why is it that when we do everything that we are suppose to do to maintain our products. We are not negligent in our usage and something goes wrong with a product how is that the company isn’t held totally responsible for defective products? Meaning nothing 4 months old should run so hot that it damages the keyboard,software,hard drive, mic and web cam that is still under manyufacturer warranty should be replaced because obviously it is a problem with the product and my theory is if you are fixing all of this on something 4 months old doesn’t allow my child’s computer to develop normal wear and tear on it and if all of this is getting fixed now what will happen later on?
    I didn’t want much I feel that my child is entitled to a machine that will perform the way that HP says that their products will. I want her computer to be reliable and if something goes wrong I want it to be due to normal usage and this wasn’t fair to my daughter at all. Can you have the right people to contact me because everyone has someone over them…I will include my case number so that someone is able to look over my case #7501251784 and case manger name Kyle(no last name for security purpose)

  27. Victor Ho said:

    Feb 19, 10 at 6:09 pm

    HP’s customer service needs to be improved. I ordered not one but 2 laptops on January 9th 2010 along with a printer some other miscellaneous laptop accessories. Everything got delivered on time except my dv7T quad core laptop. Its built got delayed two times 1/25/2010, 2/9/2010. It was on its way finally on
    2/9/2010 it was on its way with an expected delivery date of 2/16/2010. It got all the way to the local Fedex depot and I was waiting for it when it got mistakenly rerouted back to Hp in Palo Alto. I have been on the phone every single day with customer service to try to get it resolved. It was finally guaranteed for delivery tommorrow 2/20/2010. I look at the fedex tracking and found it was on its way back to Hp Palo alto again.
    What is going on? Why does it take a consumer to experience so much anguish in getting a finished custom built laptop delivered to him? I do not believed that the core values of good customer service are in placed here.