HP

I do have to say that HP's phone technicians have been very friendly since day one. They were the most friendly and positive of all of the many CSRs that I dealt with. It started in July after several major fails on Geek Squad and Best Buy's part that I decided to reach out to HP.

I told the rep how Geek Squad had reformatted my machine and put Windows 8 on the device in error and I asked for help. They reviewed the device with me and pointed out that Geek Squad had not restored Windows 8 (even this they got wrong) and that I needed to reformat again. They said they would send the disks out for a restore. They said I would have them on Tuesday the following week.

I called back on Thursday not having received the disks and was told that it showed in their system that they were suppose to be sent, but the ticket was closed with no tracking number so it was not sent. He wasn't sure why, but said he would over night it to me. Friday I didn't have the disks and I didn't want to have Windows 8 anyway so I went ahead and got another copy of Windows 7 Pro and had Geek Squad install it on the machine so that I was back to square one. I received the HP disks mid-week the following week. They were HP's restore disks, not Windows of any kind.

I called and let HP know that I was having issues still with hardware and so they sent an in home person. I requested that they come in the afternoon because I would be busy until 1pm. I got a call at 10am that they were on their way and almost to my home. I got a second between meetings to remind them I would not be home until 1pm and they could come after then. They agreed and showed up a few hours later.

The technician was very knowledgeable and friendly and put the new motherboard in and battery and began playing with the device. He said it was all fixed and left. I got a chance to play with the machine and review if it was working and noticed many items on the keyboard and the touchpad were not working (not obvious things, so I don't expect he would have found them). I also noticed the computer was still acting funny.

I received an email from HP that my ticket was closed. I called back on the number I found in the latest email and was told I called the wrong number and should have contacted my technician directly (how again was I suppose to know this?). Fine I tried to locate my HP technician's information, but all I had was an email - I emailed and didn't hear back. I called HP again the next day and they said oh yeah we know you need us again. I was told the person would talk to my technician and one of them would be out to see me in the next few days. Once again the same technician came, new motherboard and power again and asked me to test. I showed him how it wasn't working, he played with a few settings and updates and it seemed to be working.

It feel asleep and then wouldn't wake up again, I emailed and called my technician immediately. He said it must be a software issue and not HP so I should reinstall Windows 7 Pro. I went back to Geek Squad to have them reinstall Windows 7 Pro. They first tried to fix the issue with some progress, but incomplete and they said the issue was not resolved. I requested per HP's instruction that they reinstall Windows 7 Pro. No luck.

I called HP back and the customer service rep was very friendly. She looked into my matter and had difficulty finding the synopsis with all of the support tickets associated with my name (she was sympathetic that I had so much trouble getting assistance). She said it had been sent to their office in Costa Rica and they would determine what could be done for me.

I emailed the President of HP several times through their website to try to alert her to my experience and share what was happening. I'm sitting at my desk with four HP laptops on it and an HP flat-screen monitor. It was sad for me to go through this experience and have to find a new company to use and recommend for technology moving forward.

I finally received an email from HP saying they would replace my device and that I had 7 days to respond and say I agree to receiving a new machine. I immediately responded, followed up the next day to confirm with a second email and then called on the third day after hearing no response.  I was told by the rep that it would come in the next 3-4 days and then they would instruct me what to do next.

 I received a refurbished machine today. I was disappointed that it's a refurb to replace a new machine. I barely got to use my new machine, but at least I can finally, hopefully, get to use the device.