Bios issue caused my computer to stop working repair department is claiming water damage

[Xenedris]

Is there anyway to prove a bios issue was the cause of my problems? and that water damage happened in transit or in the custody of HP repair?

my laptop was 2 months old when a bios issue suddenly arose and by the end of the day my computer was basically dead, i called support the issues described matched the symptoms of a bios issue according to them and as i didn't want to risk my warranty i elected to send them unit for repair.The unit would barely power on, simply powering the screen but not booting beyond that.

I sent the unit back the same day i received the 2 day shipping box which didn't get to HP for 4 days, i called to confirm receipt of the unit on 11/17/23 despite being assured the unit had been received i continued to receive emails stating that the unit had not been received and that my case would be closed. i confirmed 2 more times via phone that the unit had been received, but still received emails stating my case would be closed.
I was not contacted by HP at any point during this time other than via email to say my unit was never received, and the finally on 11/20 receipt was acknowledged of the unit and since they no outreach has been made. At no point has anyone from support or repair reached out to me but when i called on 11/24 to check status i was told that my laptop showed signs of water damage, conveniently the one claim i can't dispute with the physical evidence i documented prior to sending it out.

now its been 12 days since the unit was confirmed to have received, i have received no correspondence other than what i've initiated. looking on line "water damage" seems to be a common go to for HP Repair going back to at least 2010. i have asked for multiple follow-up or status updates from phone and chat, and only been told someone will follow up with you in 24-48 hours, or that a case manager is assigned and looking at the case but when i asked for the name, the rep is "mistaken" and none has been assigned.

the amount of delays and inconsistent chain of custody and timelines makes me very concerned that this is simple a simple fix to put it back on the customer.

[Xenedris]

 

 so these are some of the pictures they sent claiming a spill/liquid. Which no liquid was introduced from my end it does appear that the battery has a rupture and the level of corrosion shown is clearly indicating a corrosive liquid. 

I have pulled motherboards out of arcade games that sat under seawater for hours that didn't look that bad after a hurricane.

I talked to a few repair shops that said the bios error was probably the laptop manifesting the battery issue before it finally gave out. But customer "service" is not budging 

Has anyone had any luck fighting these claims and if so what steps did you have to take?

[Nal_NR]

Hi @Xenedris,

Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

This situation will need some additional support from our internal teams in HP. 

I have escalated your issue to HP’s Support Team in your region for their review of possible options available, if any, to resolve your issue.  You should be contacted within 3-4 business days (this does not include weekends or holidays).  

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution button, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

[Xenedris]

After escalation now the damage has changed from liquid damage to liquid damage over time.

Which based on the images produced to me is inconsistent with the damage. What is clear by a very cursory search of just these forums, the recent bios updates were borked...I have seen literally thousands of complaints in the last month similar to mine.

I received immense pushback of even getting this "investigation" and all it did was add a word to the liquid damage claim. 

Every promise made by HP has been broken so far, and it should have been a red flag when I asked about taking it to repair center vs mailing it. Especially after the initial intake rep asked me to open the unit myself, an action that would by nature void my warranty. 

Promise to ship a loaner, oh we don't do that till after the assessment (which didn't take place till 16 days after filing)

Promise that I'd have a point of contact, email doesn't accept incoming emails

Promise to follow up, unless I called no one reached out unless I complained about lack of follow-up.

Every rep contradicts the other and now I'm out 800 bucks for a laptop that lasted 52 days.

If somehow liquid builds up in the unit itself that's the only way liquid could have gotten in and not customer induced.

Seems as if we passed FA territory, so I'll file my FO claims as soon as I get my laptop back still broken and pay to have an actual professional assessment.

[Xenedris]

Also fun that the image of the motherboard was removed 

[Irfan_06]

Hi @Xenedris,

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query. I will be glad to assist you.

I see that there is an issue with the laptop hardware and may need repair.

The support here is limited and this issue might require one-on-one interaction to fix it.

I've sent you a private message with the instructions. In order to access your private messages, Click the Private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Community profile Next, to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link

Take care and have a good day.

Irwin6

HP Support

[Xenedris]

I've already attempted this, posting my follow up so that it's on record and people know what it's like to go through the process.

Report an issue to phone support, be asked to violate your warranty, be told you can't take it to an authorized repair center, send it in, have a claim of damage that you can't dispute, escalation, be provided the same answer and be told "should have gotten the accident warranty"

If I had spilled on my unit(would have to been intentionally done) I would have simply lit the unit on fire and claimed it out...