Motherboard issue that HP refuses to fix without $400.00 fee! Help! Advice?!

[Mattybobatty]

I've had my Pavilion tx1000 for a little over two years. It's a great notebook and I've been very happy with it. Last night the Wifi indicator turned amber and would no longer connect to my wireless network. I began the lengthy process of identifying the problem and reinstalling all of the drivers (bios, chip set, HP wireless asst, etc), resetting the system defaults, etc. Nothing worked and the problem still exists. I started to do research online and found out that this is a chronic problem with HP notebooks. There seems to be a problem with the motherboards that drastically shortens the life of these laptops. HP has admitted to this problem and even released a software patch to try to repair the problem (which never works if you read the other forum posts). When I called customer service to discuss having this issue repaired they told me I could send the computer back and have it repaired at my cost. This seems unreasonable as it is known problem with the hardware. Customer service refused to allow me to speak to a supervisor (they don't take calls...) and wouldn't work with me to lower the cost. When I asked if my options were to a) let the computer fail and then buy a competitors product or b) swallow the $400.00 and have the unit replaced they said while they do admit this is their problem those are my only options. This doesn't seem like 'customer service', this feels like extortion. My computer's warranty expired less than a year ago and they refuse to help or reduce my costs. Can someone help me?

[bkasch]

While I can understand the frustion, at having to fix the issue, there are some options available. First of all just because you read something on a website somewhere that hp is magically going to fix something. If they dont have a service enhancement notice, or program that covers the issue, its not getting repaired for free. If the only issue is the wireless not working, then I might suggest just going to buy a usb wireless adapter. Its less than 50 bucks and can resolve your wireless problem.

[gwert]

I have a similar problem with my dv 6113us.   Seems if these were cars there'd be a recall.  How do I resolve the flaky motherboard problem?  Why should I give more many to HP who sold me shoddy goods?

[limeman]

I'm sorry for the problems you are having.  Try and look at it this way; any hardware issue with the laptop is HP's fault.  It has HP's name on it, right?  But they are running a business.  They gave you a 1 year warranty and an option to buy an extended warranty.  I agree that a laptop should not break after 2 years, but it happens.  It is not reasonable to say that every component in every laptop will last 6 years.  The good part for you is that the fix is simple.  As the other "responder" stated, go buy an add-on card.  You can find them on ebay for $30+.  There are also companies all over that will repair your motherboard for a lot less.  Good Luck.

[ConsumerHelper]

Check your state for Implied warranty like my state of Maine which backs the product for 4 years.  I called on my Pavilion when i realized that the model shipped is not even what I ordered regardless of what they are yapping about, especially when first tier talk is in a 3rd world country and hard to understand especially with delay back and forth.

To reiterate what I'm saying, in my state, regardless of what the products expressed warranty, ONE year, whatever, you are, based on state laws covered by up to even more years.  Go to your states consumer advocacy site and check your state.  That $400 bucks is something for the birds and especially when you are using product as described and "can't".  It must be cured by them for free and if they refuse then you send a letter to revoke owership and invoke the laws of the state and get your money back.  Don't be on the sidelines especially when these laptops are so bloated and crippled from the start, you are almost bound to fail from the gate unless you use their installed products and services.  A lesson I learned and won't do again but will be an informed consumer and let those know what their getting into.

I'm no expert of any law but I am one that is proactive about products that I buy and don't play as stated.  Also, if you are in Maine and buying extended warranty, question the store in the first place.  Watch how they sell it, if they say such things as what "you" do to damage it, then by all means purchase it.  But sticking a dvd player by your tv and buying 3 years extended warranty when things like the "disk drive will wear out", um, 4 years minimum in Maine.  Phones, another example.  As long as you didn't dunk it in the lake, regardless of what a sign says, labor, etc, the phone must work.  Everyone will act surprised because its a business but "ignorance of the law is no excuse" especially a business, especially when buttons don't work and faulty models from the start are known and break down needing constant firmware updates and company repairs that are not capable of fixing at site location.  Not your fault, not obligated to pay, you get a bill, revoke owership and get your money back for the full purchase price if they don't comply.  US. Cellular loves me.  HP loves me.  Now its your part.

I expect this to get deleted because its giving away secrets but I don't care, If its deleted, then its proof that HP just wants to make money.  If it gets posted, Its like a negative review on an Apple computer site slipping through. 

[JR96]

Open letter to HP management.

This post dated 05/18/09 will be deleted by the forum moderator. It will be mailed to all HP Senior Officers.

Dear HP Officers,

I too have a tx1000 that’s acting up. WIFI no longer works and the screen scrambles and locks up.

HP Conspiracy? No. Coincidence that all these laptops WIFI stop working shortly after the one year warranty? No.

It’s a hardware issue and HP should own up and recall the other laptops affected.

As a small business owner, I understand HP is in business for profit. A recall of additional model laptops represents a huge loss. A greater loss, is losing your customers trust in HP's products and customer services.

In today’s world, consumers have technology to voice disappointment and have it seen by thousands of potential consumers. Thanks to the internet blogs, forums,  facebook and many other great services, we’re now able to Google a product name and get reviews, kudos and complaints.

I wish, I would have taken five minutes to researched the HP TX1000 model before I bought it, instead of trusting in the HP name brand, I now avoid. Consumer review services and more importantly, potential customers are not having any problems finding all the negative print on your tx1000 and similar model laptops.  Yet HP fails to address the elephant in the room?

HP management should understand, you’re not the only company to ever roll out a lemon.

Microsoft had issues with Xbox 360 and ignored it’s customers complaint too. Sound familiar?

At some point, Microsoft could no longer ignore all the customers experiencing the same problem (ring of death). At some point, HP has to admit the WIFI issue is more widespread and affecting more models,  not yet recalled. Do we as HP customers have to come up with a catch phrase like

"Amber Light of Death"? Maybe at that point it will bring in the mainstream media, shame on HP.

After the mainstream media picked up on the Ring of Death story buzzing the internet,  Microsoft did the right thing by repairing and extending the warranty on it’s xbox 360, at no cost to the customer. Microsoft even issued out refunds to many who had already paid to get the xbox 360 repaired.  Note, many of your customers have been unfairly force to pay for a $400 repair. 

If I dropped my laptop or pour coffee on it, I would have no issues sending HP a check for $400 to fix it.

HP forcing an additional $400 dollars for repairs this widespread hardware issue doesn't sit well with your customers.

Even customers that continue to show loyalty to the HP brand and pay for the $400 repair,  end up getting a few more month of use before the laptop starts showing the same problem signs again!

HP was a wide product line, If customers stop buying your laptop products, what’s going to happened to your other product sales?

Printers and ink to name a couple.

 I was a consumer affected with the Xbox360 problems. I still buy Microsoft products, at the end Microsoft owned up and repaired a known hardware issues with the xbox 360 system.

Did Microsoft repair the out of warranty devices for free because it loves it’s customers?  I would like to think that but also understand business.

Microsoft stated early on, the profit on the xbox360 was very low and they would make the lions share of the profits on the software and online services.

The problem, a huge number of the xbox360 systems were breaking down causing a BIG negative buzz in the internet. If  Microsoft didn't address the problem (elephant in the room) the software sales and other related sales would have fallen significantly.  As officers of HP, you have to answer to the shareholders and the paper trail of the dissatisfied customers is growing more everyday.  Senior Management has been lacking in addressing the issue.    Tech support and customer service is only allowed to go so offer on behalf of the customers.  Many of your tech support and customers service team members are aware of all the forums and mass complaints on these laptops, yet they are simply trained to saying "sorry, your laptop is not part of the recall".

This is not about having your customer go out and buy a $30 usb WIFI as a cheap solution (a pacifier to stop crying ).

From reading the forums, it seems the WIFI issue is only the first sign of more serious problems to come, total failure of the laptop.

This is not acceptable on a 1 - 3 year old laptop by anyone's standards.

Addressing the issue now and offering a free repair and extended warranty will seem to satisfy many of your customers.  It's a wise and cost affective move verses a court ordered replacement program or a more costly verdict,  issuing full refunds.   Many of us, don't want an HP and will flood the market with these laptops.  Ebay customers are going to start wondering, why is the market place flooded with HP laptops?  HP resale value on used laptop is going to suffer greatly.  In short time, it will also affect your new computer prices. 

In closing, like many of your customers, I work hard for my money and purchased a $1,000.00 product from HP expecting more than 1.5 years of use out of it. Your product failed to meet reasonable expectations. 

Sincerely,

John Rodriguez

Miami, Florida

Message Edited by JR96 on 05-18-2009 04:29 PM

Message Edited by JR96 on 05-18-2009 04:45 PM

Message Edited by JR96 on 05-18-2009 04:54 PM

[ConsumerHelper]

Excellent response and valid points about Micro$oft.  I can agree with you 100 percent about the fact that IF WE did the damage, I have no problems fixing it.  Just look at the junk under the hood for this HP.  Can you even purchase the ram they place in this machine, let alone if that memory company even have a website.  To the casual user, the "free upgrade to memory" is almost a death sentence as it relates to the quality of a product.

The most irritating aspect of any laptop, especially this HP is that its so subsidized by BLOATWARE that you spend hours and hours just removing the nonsense but then, if you even remove all the "free internet, decline the purchase of the extended warranty garbage", the machine has a homebrew microsoft windows vista version, which they never give you the original (but pay for the full price nontheless), loaded to start poping up when you approach the three year mark to keep hitting you with ads to purchase the garbage.  But i found the fix for the obsurd popups.  Here is how:

1. Go to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Task Scheduler.
2. On the left side, you should see "Task Scheduler Library" - click on that.
3. In the middle window, you should see the names of scheduled tasks. Look for "InternetServicesOffer" or anything by HP to sell you a product.
4. Simply just delete that scheduled task and you should be good to go.

Now, you will not get these retarded popups even when you think you have all the gear available to stop popups.  They may appear but it will be a dead window to the internet.  Took forever to figure this crap out. 

My dream on day is to have a computer where you purchase the hardware, send me ZERO items on it because I could care less about this garbage products your trying to pump to lower the prices yet all you do is LOSE CUSTOMERS.

When this happens, I'll be the first one in line like the day xbox360 was going on sale.  But this is only a pipe dream and whats even more laughable is HP's bloatware department thinks we actually want these products.  Reminds me of ads before a movie; do a poll after the movie and ask anybody if they remember a single commercial they saw prior to the 3 maybe four trailors prior to the feature film.  I guarantee you 75 percent don't remember a single commercial, the remaining remember something because they were so aggrivated over the wasted time when we could be watching the film.  It all boils down to a simple transaction of money.  We paid for the movie, not the commercial, we are so immune to this crap that it just doesn't register, nor sell a single thing.

[redsoxfan]

I have a pavillion dv2500 and mine did the same exact thing! The only difference is that I am only 4 months out of the 1 year warranty. Their customer service is HORRIBLE! I told them several times this is a known problem but they never admitted to me that it was. I have spoken with 2 different retail stores and they said that hp should have done a recall but they never did....I think you know why. Why should I have to pay to fix this when it is the PRODUCTS fault. If it was the user I could understand but its not! If they were in this situation and purchased an expensive computer they would want the same treatment. I got a case manager and they also did nothing for me besides being a huge jerk! I would never EVER buy anything HP again and I will certainly tell everyone I know to never buy this piece of crap! They don't care about customer satisfaction AT ALL!

[redsoxfan]

Chapter 04: Consumer Goods and Maine Express and Implied Warranty Laws

The Maine Implied Warranty is the little known law that protects Maine consumers from being sold seriously defective items. It can be an Unfair Trade Practice to refuse to honor the Maine Implied Warranty Law within four years of sale. The basic test for possible implied warranty violations is as follows:

• The item is seriously defective,
• The consumer did not damage the item,
• The item is still within its useful life and is not simply worn out.

Thank you for informing me of this! I will certianly be using this against HP. It pays to do your homework!

[ConsumerHelper]

There is a ton of good info about that law.  Especially cell phones, televisions, shoot-any product you purchase that does not perform the way it shood and through no fault of your own, the product does not perform the way its suppose to.   Lemon law for consumer products.  Nobody knows about this here in Maine and gladly purchase the $399.99 warranty for crap like the remote, useful life is not up during the full 4 years and people go and actually purchase it.  I try to tell people because the companies don't want you to know this because its cold hard easy money cash.  I actually have the nerve to tell the consumer and 9 out of 10 don't believe it and go ahead and purchase it.  Even on things like a 5 year warranty hard drive and throw in an extended warranty and have the "geek squad" install it for another cool hard cash purchase of $40 bucks.  Its easy prey.

Come to think of it, best buy has a 3 year no interest on purchases of 799 or more and when I applied for the card, I checked that I do not want the stupid extra protection like on all credit cards for identity theft etc.  Just call your credit reporting agency and put a ID Theft marker on all your reports and believe me, you are not on the hook.  Knock yourself out.  I never put my signature on my credit cards so lets match that signature.  If you (company) can't produce it, then guess what, your <text deleted>out of luck asking me to pay for it when you the cashier are suppose to do your do diligence.  Take me to court and all i'll ask is proof it was me who bought it, show me the signature, and have a nice day.  Watch out for credit cards and their small print.  I have a card that if your card was used for unauthorized purchases, it has to be over $50 bucks and HAS TO BE IN THE SAME STATE.  or else what, I have to pay.  I don't think so, and the $50 dollar minimum, we waive the no arbitration rule in such situations but when it goes to collection, if it gets that far, I would love to have them prove to me how I made the order and where it was shipped and how I am liable.  I dare them.

It just truely sucks that if your not an informed consumer, you may be left holding the bag or paying for a lawyer for something you can easily find on your states consumers page regarding protection.

One last thing, if they send you a so called "fixed" computer and it still does the same thing, you can revoke ownership in writing regarding that product and stuff it where the sun don't shine whilst getting your money back.  Consumers have power and don't forget it.  if we didn't, this company among others wouldn't exist!!  

Message Edited by WendyM on 05-25-2009 11:16 PM