I have an intermittent thermal shutdown issue that HP support hasn't resolved in months

[mfleck_us]

I'm super-frustrated with HP support.  My experience has been horrible.

I first experienced a couple of intermittent thermal shutdowns back in March 2019.  I contacted support numerous times, they had me try different things (they had me reset BIOS, they wanted me to reinstall Windows 10, we ran diags, etc.).  I have Speccy running all the time reporting temps in my systray.  I rarely see temps ever go above 35-40C.  Yet I continued to get random thermal shutdowns.  I wanted to upgrade BIOS but HP support told me they advised against upgrading BIOS on a desktop.

The fans are working fine, the desktop is in the open in an air-conditioned room.  I see no evidence that the unit is actually over-heating to the level that would be above chip design specs.

The problem continued to happen 2 or 3 or 4  times each month.  I called again and went thru some of the same testing and BIOS resets again.  I insisted they do something because my warranty was about to expire.  They had me ship the desktop back to their Support center.  I got a message on 11/15 that they found & repaired the issue and it's being sent back to me.  However, the repair record states the issue was "CDROM not being recognized by the BIOS".  I fail to see the connection between a thermal shutdown and the issue they documented.  Maybe there is a connection, but I can't get HP to respond with an explanation or any details.

Now my desktop is showing out of warranty (even though it's in warranty based on my purchase date).  I can't get HP to update my warranty dates even though I sent them an image of my receipt.

HP Support is really horrible from my experience, and I've been in the IT support business for decades.

[Hibb1]

Have you been calling them? Or just communicating via email?

I would suggest speaking to them or at least via live chat.

I doubt your issue is thermal related, particularly since it's the Intel CPU. Thermal issues are more common amongst AMD cpu's.

I also highly doubt replacing the ODD will fix your issue, even if it was faulty.

My suggestion would be to get back in touch, get them to read the history, advise you've already been through all the trouble shooting and updates and you'd like an expedited repair as the issue is ongoing and you rely on a working PC.

[mfleck_us]

Thanks Hibb1,

I had previously been talking to them as well as chat and email communication.  I had escalated to a supervisor or duty-manager who had me try another BIOS reset and told me "don't worry, we'll take care of you and fix the problem if this doesn't work".  I've sent them screen shots of the error, screen shots of the actual temps (as reported by Speccy); and I even wrote a note on the repair sheet indicating I have all of this material that I can share with them.

The problem is they don't read the case documentation, they don't really comprehend that material and diagnostic information I share, and they don't communicate with each other.

Now my warranty is showing as expired, so the system won't let me open a chat session.  I had previously sent them an image of my receipt showing they have the wrong warranty start date (apparently they are using the manufacture date).  Of course all I got was a case number and "bot" reply (regarding my warranty dispute).  They never corrected the date based on my receipt.  I've now submitted a 2nd warranty dispute, but still have heard nothing.

Yesterday (11/16) I opened a case requesting that they call me, and explained that I have concerns about the repair, and that they still have the wrong warranty dates for my desktop.

From my experience, I'd consider their support to be pathetic.  I'll never buy another HP computer.  While Dell has gone downhill as well, I still have had much better experiences with them.

[Hibb1]

That's a shame you've had such a bad experience especially when you have a hardware issue and it's still under warranty.

[edit]

Do you have something similar in the US that you could engage to try to help you?

[mfleck_us]

I was able to reach someone this morning by calling the "for fee" repair line and having them transfer me to the warranty support team.  The agent told me that the case regarding my warranty date had been closed without them taking any action to correct my start date.  He could see that I sent an image of my receipt (he had both copies), and he claimed he would correct it himself.

That still leaves me without knowing if they really fixed the problem I've been dealing with for months.  He said they reinstalled the BIOS.  I told him that they already had me reset the BIOS and factory reset/restore the BIOS.  If they installed the same (original) version of the BIOS, then I don't see how that's going to solve the issue.  If they installed the latest version, that might correct the problem.

At least I have 90 days to see if the problem reoccurs.  I'll know when it arrives whether it has upgrade BIOS or not.  I believe it's expected to arrive on the 18th of Nov.

[Hibb1]

OK. Well good luck. Hopefully it's fixed.

You can reach out here again if you like & we'll see if we can help you.