Yes, the HP I am going to talk about in this entry is
none other than Hewlett Packard. I am not a highly technical person and the point of this entry is to share my experience with others and make them think twice about getting an HP laptop.
I have been an HP product user ever since I started using
computers and peripherals. My personal printer is an HP PSC1400 series. I've
used a Compaq Presario (V3770, if I remember it right) laptop from 2008 till 2011, (with out any problem) until the demands of
my photography necessitates an upgrade of my laptop. And so this is how my very disappointing relationship with an HP Pavilion DM4 laptop began.
On July 11, 2011, I bought an HP Pavilion DM4 laptop from Complink Mall of Asia (this is where I have been buying my laptops). I first encountered the problem of the Win7 OS not fully loading up a a little more than a week after I bought it. When I say "the OS fully loading up", when I press the power button, there were times that it displays "Starting Windows" but nothing else comes up. Thinking that this could just be a glitch, I let it be. This and the fact that it was beyond the 7-day replacement period.
From July 2011 until February 2012, I frequently encountered this "booting" up problem. During these 8 months, I had the laptop reformatted, I had the OS re-installed, but I still got the same situation. Due to heavy work load, I wasn't able to bring the unit to the HP Service Center until April 27, 2012. By this time, I felt like I was playing with a guessing game with DM4 whenever I'd use it. Guessing game in the sense that when ever I'd use it and press the power button on, at the back of my mind I'm waiting if the OS will fully load.
So on April 27, 2012 I personally went to the HP Service Center in Makati to have my DM4 checked and repaired. Six days after, on May 3 I got my DM4 back. Since it was still under warranty, it was delivered to me. The repair summary indicated: "DO PM and reformatted unit due to intermittent wont continue to windows. Run hdd test passed. Burn in tested the unit passed, camera is working as well as keyboard. Cleaned unit done - marjune tuppal" The unit was delivered to me in the morning of May 3, 2012. When I got home that night and tried to use my DM4, I encountered the same problem. I immediately texted HP Service Center about this and I think they got back to me after a day or two. :(
My DM4 was pulled out and was submitted to the Service Center for the second time. I told their messenger to take note also of my observation that whenever I get to use my DM4, it feels hotter than usual and I noticed that the fan isn't working as it should. Imagine my surprise when after a few hours of having my laptop pulled out, one of their supervisors (identified himself as Butch) called and told me "Ma'am, I will personally handle your account, since I noticed that this is the 2nd time that the unit is being referred to us. Let me verify Ma'am, your concern is that the unit is overheating?" Aaaaarrrrrrgghhhhhhhh!!!! This made me lose my patience and told Butch that the MAIN problem is not the overheating. It's secondary to the OS not fully loading!
This time around, the unit was with them for 2 weeks. This time, when the unit was returned to me, the repair summary indicated: "Replaced thermal module and reapplied paste on the processor. Never encountered overheating. But encountered intermittent no display. Checked and reseated all the connection / cables but still the same, requested a new case. f. miralles". The handwritten report summary on their PSG Repair Check List also indicated: "Replaced defective thermal module, system board and battery. Updated the BIOS. Burn-in test passed. Keyboard test passed. POS test of memory, battery and full HDD test passed. Cleaned the unit." It was also during this time that they informed me that the additional 2gb DDR3 memory which I had installed was the one causing the problem since it is not a compatible brand, so they had it removed.
On June 6, 2012 they had my unit delivered back to me. With all the parts replacement they did, I was expecting that my DM4 will now be problem-free. However, when I got home that night and tested the unit, I was disappointed to note that 2 USB ports weren't working! Sh*t, right?! So I texted them again and on June 8, 2012, my DM4 was pulled out again and submitted to HP Service Center for the third time. This time, they lent me a service unit already.
Two days after, I got a message from them that my unit is now ready to be delivered to me. Their engineer told me that it was just a matter of a part of the casing not being closed properly, hence the 2 USB ports not working. This made me go "huh?! don't you guys have a quality control of some sort, just to make sure that units you release are really working?" But anyway, I let it be. So on June 11, 2012 I had my DM4 back.
By this time, my DM4 has been in and out of the HP Service Center not just once, twice but three times already. Its system board, thermal module and even the batter have been replaced. It was also reverted back to its original state of 2GB DDR3 memory. For exactly a week, my DM4 was working fine albeit slower. However, on June 18, 2012, the OS failure to load happened again!
By this time, I really can't take it anymore. I sent them a very long sms complaining about this. They replied if they can pick up my unit again and lend me another service unit. I refused and asked someone with authority to call me, because clearly, the problem isn't being addressed properly by the staff anymore. And so I got a call from one Jonald Cata who introduced himself as a Lead, Case Management.
I asked Mr. Cata if I let the unit be pulled out this time, what are they going to do? Observe it again? I told Mr. Cata about my frustration with all the people I have been dealing with and their misunderstandings of my complaint. I flatly told Mr. Cata that this time, I am not amenable to repairs anymore. I am not a highly technical person, but the fact that the System Board has been replaced already and I still have the same problem means only one thing, it needs to be replaced! This problem with my DM4 has already cost me money and backlog in my photography. In fairness to Mr. Cata, he was sympathetic and promised to do everything he can.
On June 26 and 27th, I encountered the same problem when I turned on my laptop. I was captured on video on June 26 and sent it to Mr. Cata. But for June 27, I just took a picture because the vid file was just too large. On June 27, Mr. Cata told me that his people are really requesting that the unit be pulled out again so that they fully work on my request for replacement. Hesitantly, I agreed to it. I was told that I will be issued a service unit again.
But imagine my dismay when on June 28, their messenger came to the office and brought me a service unit that has AMD Dual Core processor and 1GB memory! Gosh! I really lost it! I felt really insulted by this! My DM4 is an i5 2gb DDR3 laptop! With this specifications, I am having issues with the speed of my DM4 and they will give me a service unit that's DUAL CORE?????? Gosh! Even my Compaq was a Core 2 Duo, 2gb DDR2!
I really lost it! And I told their messenger I will not accept their service unit and he can take my DM4 as well, as a DONATION! They can shove that effing defective DM4 up their noses, I don't care! They might want to use it as a specimen to better understand why their products suck! But hey, come to think of it, they don't need that do they? All they need to do is to have better QUALITY CONTROL!
I told Mr. Cata that I was really insulted! They can have my DM4! I didn't take any papers from them (not the pull out form or anything else). I am serious when I said I am donating it to them! I was very forthright also with Mr. Cata that I honestly believe that my request for replacement will not be granted anyway. They would just wait for my warranty to end and they'd give that as an excuse why my request for replacement is denied, in short, they will be employing a DELAYING TACTICS! Oh well, there is Karma anyway.
I bought that laptop for like P35,000. With what happened, I'll just think of it as stolen! I know God will give me a new laptop in His time. I hope it will be Macbook Pro! But until that happens?
COUNT.ME.OUT.AS.AN.HP.CUSTOMER.
NEVER.AGAIN.WILL.I.BUY.AN.HP.LAPTOP.NEVER.WILL.I.RECOMMEND.HP.LAPTOPS.TO.FRIENDS.AND.FAMILIES.
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