Rant, Rant Rant, Rant. There I feel better
 

I purchased an HP computer in April. Among other things, it included memory card slots/readers. Yesterday, those card readers stopped working. The computer would not recognize them.

I called HP support and got through surprisingly fast. I was patient while the guy took control of my computer and checked drivers, then uninstalled and reinstalled the hardware. None of this corrected the problem. He monkeyed around for over an hour. I said, "the reader is bad, please send a new one."

"We have one more thing to do, unplug everything from the back of your computer and take off the case." "I want you to check all of the cables running from the card reader to the mother board." "Then I want you to check the mother board to see if there are any burn marks or broken pins."

I said, "I can't believe that you are asking the consumer to remove the case and stick his hands inside the computer."

He replied, "yes, before we make any warranty repairs, we need to check everything."



Now, let me say this, I know how to do all of this stuff. I install my own hard drives and replace my own power supplies. That's not the point.

What about the 80 million other people who can't do that stuff? What if I stick my hands in there and break something else. Is my warranty voided?

We all know that warranties are voided when consumers attempt to repair something themselves, then afterward call customer support.

So, here I was, on the floor, under my desk, with a flashlight, unplugging all the USB cables, internet, monitor, speakers, printer, keyboard, mouse.....everything. I had to drag the computer to the top of my desk and pull off the case. Of course, everything inside was fine.

Then I had to get back on the floor and redo everything.....while the guy waited on the phone.

Total time 2 hours 15 minutes. They're sending me a new card reader.

Rant......Rant......Rant.......:cus:


There, now I really feel better.

The worst part was that my wife was standing in the kitchen laughing at me.

I did tech support for an IP provider..
 

I did tech support for an IP provider..
I usually agree with you on most things but on this I do not. If he had not had you do those things, and just sent you a card reader, IF there were other problems inside the case such as a burnt motherboard or broken pins on the connection, you would rightfully have been upset about waiting for the part and the part not fixing the problem. Best to check everything right now, and get it fixed right.
Not only that but now installing the new part will be a snap.
Computers are complicated mixture of parts and software. I know what it is like to repair them. They are much better now a days, with no IRQs etc, but still it takes some willingness to get your hands under the hood unless you are willing to pay more and buy from a local shop that will do all the checking for you.
I would be glad to try to answer questions for anyone. Broad questions such as my computer won't work cannot be answered here... be specific and I will give it a shot for FREE..
JJ

One Word.....
 

Mac :)

Thanks JimJo
 

If a problem should occur, glad to know that "Jimjo" is THERE!....

Memason: Would have gone Mac but too old to teach this dog new tricks!

That demonstrates you are of superior integrity.

"Hello, Service Department, can I help you?" "Yes, my brand new car broke down and won't start. it's sitting on the side of I-75"

"Okay, before we do anything, I want you to open the hood and check the fuel pump to see if it's working. If that's okay, please pull out the computer control and see if it's okay." "Then get under the car and see if there are any reptiles wrapped around the wiring harness." "If there are, please remove them." "If none of that solves the problem, we'll send out a tow truck to get you."

:thumbup:

When this happens you could plug it into your computer to get some diagnostic readings. Oh wait, that's the slot that doesn't work on the computer.

I would have just told the tech that I already checked all the things he was asking and let him send the part!

Another HP tech support story
 

One of our HP printers has an additional high capacity paper tray and a print on both sides option. Often when we would print on both sides the paper would jam. Called tech support. Told them I thought the paper was not feeding from the aux tray properly and getting stuck. (Actually ripped to pieces.) They took me through the usual routine, is it plugged in? Unplug it, let it sit for 30 seconds, plug it in. Does it power up? Does the display come on? Is there paper? Is there ink? And on and on for about one hour. Finally they said they were sending a new printer. (They actually sent a refurbished printer.) It was stripped down and I had to take apart the old printer and rebuilt the new one. One of the things they did not send was the extra paper tray. (It's a little more involved than just an extra tray, it creates a whole new footprint for the machine.) Of course the problem was not fixed and they had to do what I originally requested, sent me a new extra tray.

Guess what I'm trying to say is that they assume you can do the various tests but don't trust your judgement on what is needed to fix the problem. I told the tech I was confident that the tray unit would fix the problem but he insisted on sending the new unit. Of course when he said that I thought I was getting a complete (with aux tray) unit so I agreed.

At least I'm diversified, I have 3 HP printers and 2 Epsons. (And one Primera Bravo but that's a specialized unit.)

I have never heard of a major computer company support person asking a customer to perform debug to the level described on a computer that is still under warranty. Normally, if they can't fix it pretty easily, they just ask you to send the system back to them or take it to one of their repair centers. Must be another way they are cutting costs. I just can't imagine what the conversation would be like if they were talking to somebody that only knows how to turn the system on and access Internet Explorer.

Good point, from now on if I have to call tech support I'll try the "I know nothing" routine and see how they respond.

BTW - did you hear Jay Leno talking about the new language discovered in India? He says it is only used by about 1000 people - Tech Support.

When you send your computer back.. you go with it...
 

When you send your computer back.. you go with it...
Remember your data is on your harddrive... even if you back it up on your external drive or on the internet.... so get those passwords off and your songs and pics and movies backed up.. and by the way.. there are probably copies in temp files all over the hard drive.. temp internet files. etc...
If you can do it at your house over the phone.. my advice is DO IT..
you will learn something in the process also.. and that can be fun and empowering..l.

I think your example is mistaken...
 

I think your example is mistaken... I think it would be more like this..
We can send you a tow truck.. and you can be without your car for a month or so while we send in your car to the manufacturer for warranty work.. or you can check the battery cables and if the battery is low, jump it and go on your way..
Your choice..
JJ

I owned two powermacs... and
 

I owned two powermacs... and macs break down too.. trust me..
Macs are over priced and expensive to upgrade...

If you want something other than windows.. I have a couple of dozen live cds that you can put in your dvd drive, boot from the cd drive, and risk nothing..
Of course, it will not be the Windows 7 or xp experience ( I WOULD own a mac if I had to own vista instead.).

but my final answer is.. as my momma always told me..
to each his own..
JJ

I had a Dell at one time and for whatever reason, I had to send it back to them. They had me remove the hard drive, sent me a box to ship it in and had it repaired and back to me in about a week. Really a very pleasant experience. I expect things have changed now though.

That will work unless the hard drive is the problem or..
 

That will work unless the hard drive is the problem or.. they cannot tell over the phone if it is a hardware or software issue...
Talk host: should we refuse to take out our hard drive to protect our data before we send in the computer? I do not think so.
JJ

I experienced a terrible time with a Toshiba laptop where the display window burned out. My call for Toshiba service ended up with them suggesting I return the laptop to them along with $400!!! I told them, for $400 I can buy a new laptop. Bye bye and never to speak to you again. BTW, my laptop was still under warranty.

Went back to my trusty HP's. About four years ago my HP got sick and I called HP for help. The tech asked me to try this 'n that and finally asked me to open the casing. I was petrified!!! He said not to worry that he will walk me along the procedure. I opened the casing, at his direction, very delicately reset the modem and closed the casing. Still no help. The tech said that he would send a new modem. I casually mentioned, "and who will switch the modems?" He said, "You will." Hmmmm Well, when the modem arrived, I called HP was walked thru the procedure to switch modems. Voila!!! It worked fine!!

This last HP laptop I bought at Best Buy, I decided I'd go along with a year's insurance for maintenance, especially after my horrible experience with the Toshiba laptop. All is well (knock wood) and I do feel so much more secure with HP.

I too was going to try a Mac and upon being told the differences between the Mac and HP and the like, I decided I was more comfortable with my HP and Windows and not interested in learning the differences with the Mac.

After thinking about this, I believe that the problem was the screen. Had nothing to do with the hard drive.

That's fine for those of us who know how to do it, but what about Aunt Sadie who didn't want the damned thing in the first place.

Also, the question remains, what if the amateur consumer damages something else inside the machine during this "talking him through it" routine. Is the company going to warrant that too?

Most people who are forced to fly airplanes because the pilot dies, are not successfully "talked into a landing." They end up as dead as the pilot.

Aunt Sadie, meet JimJoe. :D

Was the tech support guys name Peggy?

Isn't that a scream?

The support guys name was probably Muhammad. Tech reps are in New Deli

tech support
 

I was ROFLMAO.....I too have been lying on floor unplugging things from computer at tech support's urging. I wanted to send them the chiropratic bill.

Probably not. New Delhi is mostly Hindu.

No, this guy was in the good old USA.:Screen_of_Death:

tech support
 

with the recession tech support has returned to the USA, too many people out of work permanently, not a good thing

JJ... you're right. Hardware is hardware and anything can fail on any computer, whether it's the hard drive, memory, display...you name it.

But from a "hassle factor", for me, the Mac is more hassle free. Mostly, because there isn't anything I can do to it... I can't tinker around with the OS as easily as I can with Windows.

As for support, I can't speak to Apple support, since I've never needed to call them for the MacBook Pro, iPhone or iPad...all three just work. I probably shouldn't have said that.....one of them will probably fail today :loco:

Finally, your advise on data security is spot on. When you send a computer back to the manufacturer [or whomever], you don't always know what you are giving them. It's very difficult to know if you've cleaned all your personal information from a hard drive. About the only way [that I know] is to reformat and "overwrite" everything on the hard drive.

Cheers....

That's the wit and humor I've missed for the past couple weeks!

Welcome back PT!