Anyone else have this problem? (a rant)

[WinkyTheGreat]

So I apologize to anyone who actually reads this. I need to rant and I figure I may as well see if anyone else has a crippling hate for HP like I have recently gained.

Spoiler: Somewhat Long Rant Inside

My sister recently got an HP laptop (Hewlett Packard for those of you who may not know). It was always kind of messed up but it ran fine. One day, it ceased to run fine and all of it's problems came back. We gave the computer to a friend/ tech guy who attempted to do the basics at first. He ran a virus scan; the computer blue screened. He tried to re-install Vista; the computer blue screened. He tried to install XP; it loaded up to about 60% before failing. He ran a hard drive test and a memory test with no results! He gives me this info and I call tech support. After an hour and a half on the phone and running memory tests and harddrive tests, I am now the proud owner of a Vista recovery disk, which would be promptly mailed to me. Today I received said disk and ran it. Lo and behold, the computer blue screened.... I call tech support, explain the situation and ask how I can use my warranty. He asks me to run a Hard Drive test.... At this point, I snap inside of my head and my blood pressure rises to abnormal levels. I *politely* tell him that I don't have time to do this again and that I will just write an email to HP to get the information I need and hang up. He calls back and says to run the test now and use the code he gave me when I call back... I sent the email anyway and if I don't get a reply soon, I worry that the proverbial shit may hit the fan.

So fellow Escapists, do you have any tech support horror stories to share (HP or otherwise)? I'd like to see that I'm not the only one with these kind of things. And if you made it through the story, I congratulate you.

 

[DigitalJedl]

Calling Dell because their faulty laptop chargers for the Inspiron 1525 die one after another.

Worst. Moments. Ever.

No longer will I purchase a Dell laptop either, I'm having problems with this as well. Toshiba, ftw.

 

[Baby Tea]

This is why when it comes to laptops, I only buy ASUS.
F everything else.

 

[bookboy]

I already Hate HP laptops, but your experience wasn't much compared to mine.
1. my HP Pavillion DV6700 crashes like clockwork every 5 months.
2. as I warned everybody in another thread, stay away from HP like the plague, It's what their tech support staff does to you anyways.
3. I said that because every time I try to contact them, I get some Indian guy who just hangs up, and none of my emails get responses (so don't hold your breath waitng for that reply) and when I reported them to the Better Business bureau, I finally got a call telling me to F*** off! (actually, that last one turned out to be a prank played on me, but still....)

I'm planning on getting an alienware laptop when I can afford it, because they are made in America, which means quality control and accountability, rather than the made in China HP shit.

 

[blackcherry]

Honestly, I don't have much to complain about. What ever has ever gone wrong with either the family computer of my laptop I have solved or, given time, it has repaired itself. But I do sympathise.

The few times that we have phones tech support, they have been very patronising and treated us like idiots. That many a time I have corrected them on basic knowledge of a computer hasn't helped.

I would argue its not always their fault though. Many are forced through company policy to repeat the same 10 steps before they are allowed to get on to the matter at hand.

 

[Ghost]

HAHA i bought an hp pavilion laptop last year, it BSoD every few minutes. so it got send away and replaced with another pavilion. it had green pixels, a bit scratch, and after a week began BSoD'ing like crazy. eventually I was like screw you HP! screw you laptops! and got this dell desktop, which is going absolutely perfect.