HP Support Rip-off

[sally21]

I used HP phone support for the first time and am extremely angry at the situation. When I called, a man started to help me (and of course got my charge card number), and then the line went dead. He never called me back, though he had my phone number, and when I tried to get back in touch with him, I was told this wasn't possible. I am still being charged more than $50 for nothing. I view this as unethical and bad PR.

[Bskull]

To quote Vaika:

"Well, considering that all computer companies charge for ANY out of warranty service at all, I don't see what your problem with HP is.

When you call Comcast, when you call Verizon, when you call your insurance company, your power company... they support you for "free" because you're already paying a monthly fee, part of which goes to the availability of phone support.

With HP, Dell, Acer, Asus, ANY computer company out there, when you call in past the end of your warranty, there is nothing there to help them make up the cost of the support.  It's not economically feasible for them to give you free support on a product that you purchased for very little, considering the extremely high costs of having phone support to begin with.  HP, unlike other companies, does have FREE chat and email support, that is their way of compromising with customers who insist they be able to get something for free.  If you want phone support, you have to pay for it to help make up the costs of having someone sit there on the phone with you and talk you through troubleshooting.

I understand that you're upset that you can't get free support, but it does not mean that HP isn't standing behind their products (they are, you just don't want to use what they provide), or that HP support is bad (it isn't, but without paying to be assisted, you won't know that).  If you doubt that, try searching for "Horrible experience with <company>" and fill in the blanks for ANY other computer company.  You'll find posts just like this one, saying "I'll never buy a Dell again, I'm going HP next time!" because they just aren't aware that this sort of thing is industry-wide."

However, if you did not get any support at all, you may be able to call support back to get a refund.

[smartfriend]

If I am not mistaken, sally mentioned that she was charged already $50 after the tech got his card number and the call got disconnected.

Sally, I suggest you try  calling them back and explained that you were charged already. If they won't listen to you, you could always asked for a supervisor and provide them with a proof that you were charged.

[topher]

Trying reading posts before responding to them, Bskull. She was charged and not helped. She was perfectly willing to pay for the support, but she didn't get it. Hence, she was ripped off.

And I say bother them until they help you or refund you your money.

[Bskull]

I do not need a second person reminding me of a mistake I made and now apologizing for. Anyways, admins, please close this thread as this portion of the forum is for suggestions for the message board. Thank you.

[WendyM]

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forums. This forum is to leave feedback and suggestions directly relating to these message boards. If you have feedback for HP about their products or services, please use the link below:

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/wwcontact_us.html

This is a user-to-user community, and not a venue to receive direct help or feedback from HP. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to send me a Private Message.

Thanks!