HP Envy Broken Hinges Absurd Amount of Money for replacement parts to fix design flaw

[Concerned2day]

I had all posts with pictures removed by a moderator. To make my situation worse the wireless card stopped working so now I'm having to use an external WiFi USB adapter. All of this and I purchased my HP the end of July 2017. I'm getting a new computer next Friday and I'm afraid to say which kind, otherwise they will pull this message. I just wish I could share my pictures with someone.

[Adam32]

Were the posts just pictures?

[Adam32]

A Laptop should last longer than a year ish, I am guessing the support person who contacted was of no real assistance?

[Rick611]

Hi Adam.  Have you had any luck  with this issue.  I am looking  for a class action myself or possibly initiating it if I can find an attorney to take it,     I can repair most things  myself as well  and like you when I actually  got the hinge cover  off and saw how much tension  was built into the hinge I realized it was designed to fail  because  the plastic  didn't stand a chance.  They hope to get past  the 1 year mark  and then  charge you ridiculous  fees to repair them.  i'm buying  Apple  next time  like everyone suggested but  for now my screen and case are taped together while I decide which way to go on this.  

[Adam32]

Hi Rick,

I have not had any sort of real assistance to resolve my issue. "Designed to Fail," yes, I agree, Designed to profit from the failure through exorbitant parts and repair pricing, yes in my opinion. I don't think anybody really cares. I do not think my request was unreasonable. I just wanted a fair price on the repair parts, not a solicitation to purchase another product that would prematurely fail. I wish I knew what the answer was to get some real action. I will never forget my experience and never stop sharing it.

Let me know if you make any progress,

Adam

[FastOctopus]

Thought I'd chime in as my HP Envy hinges are broken for the 2nd time. The first time they broke under warranty and were "fixed." Here's the kicker - this is a replacement computer from HP for a previous one which the hinges broke twice on and they declined to repair it anymore and decided to replace the computer with something "comparable." READ: Inferior. My old computer was faster, had better components, batteries, etc. I had to "fight" them just to get something that was almost on par. They tried to cheap out on me on the replacement when I didn't even want a replacement, I wanted my old computer (which wasn't old) fixed. I ordered and purchased the computer direct from HP, not a store.

I called them a few days ago and now have a case # after reporting that their "repair" had failed. I was quoted between $400-$500 to replace the hinges, case and likely a few other things. To say I was taken back by the estimate would be a gross understatement. I refuse to pay such an outrageous price for a problem which has apparently been going on close to a decade with their laptops and, worse, for a person like myself who has had to send a computer in 3 different times for the same problem, only for it to occur AGAIN. It seems almost criminal, and apparently they have zero care about returning customers, because my experience has been absolutely dreadful. They have zero accountability.

[kevin-t]

@FastOctopus

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 Community's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.
Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community.

[Adam32]

FastOctopus, my original thread was locked for some reason ... here is a link Original Thread 

This is what you posted:

Thought I'd chime in as my HP Envy hinges are broken for the 2nd time. The first time they broke under warranty and were "fixed." Here's the kicker - this is a replacement computer from HP for a previous one which the hinges broke twice on and they declined to repair it anymore and decided to replace the computer with something "comparable." READ: Inferior. My old computer was faster, had better components, batteries, etc. I had to "fight" them just to get something that was almost on par. They tried to cheap out on me on the replacement when I didn't even want a replacement, I wanted my old computer (which wasn't old) fixed. I ordered and purchased the computer direct from HP, not a store.

I called them a few days ago and now have a case # after reporting that their "repair" had failed. I was quoted between $400-$500 to replace the hinges, case and likely a few other things. To say I was taken back by the estimate would be a gross understatement. I refuse to pay such an outrageous price for a problem which has apparently been going on close to a decade with their laptops and, worse, for a person like myself who has had to send a computer in 3 different times for the same problem, only for it to occur AGAIN. It seems almost criminal, and apparently they have zero care about returning customers, because my experience has been absolutely dreadful. They have zero accountability.

My response:

I am sorry to hear about your problem, and I can empathize with your customer support experience, discutst, and dissapointment. I understand what you are going through. I am not sure about how much you read of my original thread but I document my repair experience with pictures. You may be able to loosen up the preload on the hinges as I did and glue it. It's not ideal but it makes the best out of a bad situation without costing you a fortune. I am still using my computer, must be going on a year or better with my repair. They should not be quoting you for replacing the hinges, they just have too much preload from the factory and this rips the frame apart, there is nothing wrong with them besides being too tight and dry of lubricant. I have my screen held very lightly so it pretty much has to be straight up to hold. Its annoying but it works and cost my some epoxy and a couple nuts and machine screws from the hardaware store.

Good luck!

Hope you have better luck than I did in terms of coming to an acceptable solution to your issue.