Defective Hinges on HP Laptops Envy

[Tallis]

I've had my HP Envy for about 2 years and I have had the same proble that everyone is having; defective hinges. After reading these posts, I thought I'd have a fight on my hands when I decided to call up HP (since my laptop is out of warranty), and I didn't want to pay for a manufacturing fault. However, when I called up, they were so helpful and after I sent them a few pictures and a video, they asked me for my address and when was a good time for Toll to pick it up. They never mentioned me having to pay a cent, and when I asked, she said they were repairing it as if it was under warranty. Toll picked it up and it was back after one week (I have just opened it up out of it's box!). HP has replaced the entire chassis except for the lid and the hinges are working fine. I just thought I'd put that out there as I don't understand why some people are being forced to pay.

Thanks HP!

Tallis

[danny-r]

@Tallis

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Forum's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forum.

[Mikeamondo]

danny-r --- I think you didn't read Tallis' post.....  gotta watch that copy and paste muscle memory reaction when you see the work 'hinge' ....

@Tallis....  thanks for sharing your response...  more evidence that HP may not be repairing this issue for free and recognizing that it is, in fact, a design flaw.

Thanks!

Mike

[FasterEddie]

Forum members --

Here's an update on my experience noted above on Page 2 of this Forum thread. It's another long post, but worth a read.

After sending my laptop to the official HP repair cener in Indiana, I eventually got it repaired, despite the repair center customer service reps lack of knowledge about the status of my repair order -- and worse. Read on.

Upon receipt of my broken laptop, the repair center sent me an email telling me the repair would be completed and my laptop returned within a week. I was a happy camper at that point. But after a week had come and gone and my repaired laptop was not delivered, I called the repair customer service number.

CS Rep 1 checked my repair order number and verified that my laptop was in final testing and that it would be returned to me the next day or the day after, depending on when the testing was completed. I thanked CS1 and waited for the laptop to appear on my doorstep. However, it did not come as promised. So I called the repair center again.

CS Rep 2 checked my repair order number and verified that my laptop was still being repaired (???) and then would be going to final testing. The delivery date for the repaird laptop had also been extended by an additional 7-10 days. I told him that was not what CS1 had told me, but he double checked and confirmed the schedule. Pretty frustrating, but when he informed me that in addition to repairing both hinges, the fan was being replaced as was the bottom case. He was unable to tell me why the additional repairs were necessary, but I figured since I was getting a bigger repair at no additional cost, I was OK with the delayed delivery date.

I called the center again on the day CS2 said the computer was to be shipped. He confirmed that the computer had been shipped and gave me a tracking number. This was on a Friday, shortly before 5 p.m. Central time, where the repair center was located. So I was a happy guy at that point, knowing that I would get my computer the next day. However, when I checked the tracking number, no joy: it was obviously for a different order because the delivery address was in Ohio and I live in Oregon. While both states start with an O, the are far apart, and so were my laptop and I. But now it was the weekend, and knowing that the repair center does not ship on weekends, I waited until Monday to call them back.

On Monday, I called again and spoke to CS2. I was still being super-polite, despite my rising frustration with the obvious lack of communication between the CS staff and the repair, testing and shipping departments. From the questions I asked, it was pretty obvious that the CS staff had no way to get timely, accurate information from their colleagues in other departments. I told CS2 that he had given me a wrong tracking number a few days before. He apologized and gave me the correct number and said the laptop still had not been shipped from their facility, but would be sent before the end of the day. So I thanked him for that, then I very politely explained that I would like to discuss my repair experience with someone higher up in his department, because I had some suggestions I wanted to pass on as a customer that might help the repair center provide better customer service in the future. I explained that my suggestions were not about CS2 personally, but that because I am a public relations professional, I know how important great customer service is to a company, and as a loyal HP customer of more than 30 years, we all have a stake in seeing HP succeed at ever step along the way.

At this point, everything went sideways. CS2 said he was "the end of the line" and there was no one above him that I could talk to. Now, in the years of dealing with HP support staff, this was the first time I'd been refused the opportunity to talk to a supervisor, Level 2 expert or department manager. (Heck, I've even had a great conversation with a VP of customer service at HP!) Surprised by CS2's stonewalling, I decided to politely push the issue, despite my rising ire. I asked if he had a supervisor that I could please talk to and he said No. I asked him if he could please transfer me to whomever signs his paycheck and his annual performance evaluation. He again said that he was the end of the line for customer service and that there was no one else he could or would transfer me to. I pressed on a bit, incredulous, and that's when CS2 said if I was going to continue to press the point, he would have to end the call. This was the first time in my life that a customer service rep of any company I talked with threatened to hang up on me. So I backed off and politely told him I would pursue my issue with Richard, my fantasticly helpful Case Manager on the HP AMS TCO Escalations team who authorized the repair several weeks earlier. The laptop shipped a day later (the shipping department delayed again) and I received it overnight, more than 10 days after it had arrived at the repair center.

I opened the box, saw that the entire bottom case (both halves) and both hinges were new, and a new fan was installed. It tested out fine. I then called Richard, my Case Manager on the HP AMS TCO Escalations team, and told him about all the delays and miscommunication I experienced with the HP repair center in Indiana. And that CS2 had threatened to hang up on me because I wanted to talk to a superior at the repair facility.

Richard sympathized with me and asked me to hang on for a moment so he could check something. When he returned, he apologized on behalf of HP for "all the trouble" I had experienced and said he would like to refund my repair cost if that was all right with me. After what I had just been through with the repair center in Indiana, I was shocked. I thought I had misheard him for a moment, but he assured me that he had approval to refund the cost of my repair to compensate me for my trouble. I thanked Richard and told him I would write a nice note on the HP Forum about how helpful he is and that he certainly knows what good customer service means. When we ended our call, I was obviously far happier with the outcome and delighted with Richard, despite the poor customer service and threats I got from the repair center in Indiana.

So if you ever need to talk to the HP Escalation team, ask for Richard. I know he will go out of his way to make your experience as pleasant as possible. And if you ever have to send your computer or peripheral to the HP repair center in Indiana, keep notes and good records of every conversation you have with thier customer service reps; you may need the info later for discussion with the HP Escalation team.

[Mikeamondo]

@FasterEddie

Thanks for posting your full story on the forum!  And congrats on finally getting your repair done, and getting a refund!

Your story illustrates that the basic failure of HP is inconsistency.  One tech handles things great, then next is a waste of space.  One person gets a repair free for the asking, the next is charged $140 and the third poor shmuck shells out $299 for the identical service.  This is why I wish I could make my life as a consumer advocate!  It's not that frickin' hard, HP...  treat us like you would like to be treated if you were us.  Most of us learned this in kindergarten.

An important note here....   There have been several reports of folks getting their hinges fixed for free now, without the fight that you and I had to put up.  Perhaps they've come around.  I'm starting a new thread to try and catch some of the new people just having the issue....

Good luck with you newly repaired laptop!

--Mike

[Mikeamondo]

Folks... if you've been dealing with the defective hinge issue on HP's Envy laptops, or if you're just experiencing the issue, here is a link to my thread and story....

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Defective-Hinges-on-HP-Laptops-...

I'm posting this because I've seen at least three fellow forum users post that HP fixed thier hinge issue even though they were out of warranty.  This would be a complete change from how they were handling it previously.  Most were charged between $140 and $300 to have the hinges replaced.

If you contact HP about a failing hinge on your Envy, please post the results here and update the forum so others can see how they are now handling the issue! 

And, HP....  it would hurt to chimein here....  I'd really love to be able to say that my favorite computer company is stepping up to the plate and fixing their design flaw! 

Mike

[HPowner3]

Was the hinge design different or the same once they repaired and returned it to you?

[FasterEddie]

---

@HPowner3 wrote:

Was the hinge design different or the same once they repaired and returned it to you?

---

Hi, HPowner3. 

The new hinges and the entire main case (top and bottom) look exactly the same as the original design. While the newest HP ENVY laptops have an entirely different design, I would imagine that the original design cannot be changed or updated due to the arrangement of the interior components. So if you get a repair done, it's going to look the same. I'm not inclined to take my laptop apart to find out if the hinge design and mounting has changed in any way. 

Hope your repair works out OK.

[FasterEddie]

---

@Mikeamondo wrote:

@FasterEddie

Thanks for posting your full story on the forum!  And congrats on finally getting your repair done, and getting a refund!

Your story illustrates that the basic failure of HP is inconsistency.  One tech handles things great, then next is a waste of space.  One person gets a repair free for the asking, the next is charged $140 and the third poor shmuck shells out $299 for the identical service.  This is why I wish I could make my life as a consumer advocate!  It's not that frickin' hard, HP...  treat us like you would like to be treated if you were us.  Most of us learned this in kindergarten.

An important note here....   There have been several reports of folks getting their hinges fixed for free now, without the fight that you and I had to put up.  Perhaps they've come around.  I'm starting a new thread to try and catch some of the new people just having the issue....

Good luck with you newly repaired laptop!

--Mike

---

Mike--

My experience with HP customer service reps has generally been very good, provided I ask to talk to a Level 2 support person. Being an experienced computer user (starting with Gopher and BBS through early Mac and Windows to the present day), when I call HP support I have already worked through the suggestions I'm going to get from a Level 1 support tech. That's why I ask for a real troubleshooter rather than someone who is working from scripted solutions.

Regarding the experience I had with the HP repair center in Indiana, I suspect it is a contract facility not owned by HP. I have never, never had an HP support person threaten to hang up on me in all the years I've dealt with HP. This was a very unusual situation. That's the main reason I wanted to talk to my case manager about the repair, and when I did that, I was offered my refund. Patience and politeness in dealing with HP is what gets me results.

Keep the faith, Mike. You are doing a good job of bulldogging the broken hinge issue.

[Reks812]

I have another case here of a broken hinge on my laptop. I have had nothing but problems with this thing since day one. First one I got from HP had a screen problem, sent back to HP and they sent me a BRAND NEW ONE. The Second one had a bent frame and woudn't sit flat, sent that back to HP and they sent me a BRAND NEW ONE. The third has been sent back at least once for problems with the keyboard, the letter p and letters around it stopped working. This is the third laptop ive had sent to me from HP and still problems, whats it gonna take HP to get it right once?? Ive seen forums like this for a long time and was hoping I would get thru without it getting me. I was very wrong. HP, I love your products, but this is ridiculous. 

HELP HP!! From a loyal customer

Reks