First off, I treat all of my devices with great care. I work for a tech company and my devices are my livelihood. A week ago my laptop suffered some internal damage. I opened it up one day and there were cracks on the inside of my screen. There is no physical damage to the exterior of the device but the screen is unusable.
So I am facing some serious problems with HP support representatives and service partners in South Africa trying to get down to what's going on with the device and case.
A week ago I took the device to the partnered service centre in Cape Town, South Africa called Ensure Services. They told me that it would not be covered under warranty because it was customer-induced damage. I explained to them that the hinge/screen build on this model is not optimal or not designed well (weak) which caused internal damage to the screen while it was being opened or whatever the case may be. I told them I would leave it with them (after being charged a deposit) and that I would contact HP directly in the meantime to discuss the issue.
I called HP support and was redirected and sent back and forth to multiple different departments and branches, having to constantly re-explain myself. In the end, I was told that they needed to troubleshoot the device to confirm what I was stating. I told support that HP partner, Ensure Services has the device and that they should be able to communicate this with them directly. I was told that your support will not contact Ensure Services (which is bizarre since they are an accredited partner of HP) and that I have to go get the device back from them. I was getting frustrated at this point.
So I got in my car for the second time during my work day and went to retrieve my laptop from Ensure Services (it was with them for under 2 hours). I drove back home and called HP support for troubleshooting and after some more redirection across different departments and waiting on hold, began a video live stream to show my issue. Yet again, I was told that the damage was caused by me. Great. Even though it is clear that there is no damage to the front panel of the screen or any other external part of the device. Powered off - there isn't a scratch to be seen. If I cracked, knocked, dropped, or did anything to this device by accident. Surely there would be some kind of mark or damage to be seen?
I logged a complaint and was given a case number.
I have been going back and forth with support ever since having to explain myself again and again. I was called back by a few different representatives for follow-ups. Each one of them didn't have all the information on my case and didn't even know about the troubleshooting video. I was asked to record a video again myself and email it (which I don't think is normal). This entire process has cost me so much time and energy that I'm frankly at a loss for words and have no intention of purchasing another HP product ever again. At this point, I seek to warn my peers and colleagues against HP now.
Now I'm getting more emails confirming that the damage will be listed as customer induced because Ensure Services conducted a diagnosis of my device (all of a sudden they now are able to contact Ensure Services...). What baffles me is the fact that the laptop was with Ensure Services for less than 2 hours! They state that it takes them between 2-3 days to diagnose a device. I highly doubt that any diagnostics took place and that they are all just trying to cover their poor communications and mishandling of my case. I received an email with the report days after retrieving my device stating that there is no physical damage but my back cover, LCD panel, and hinges need replacing. How on earth does this make sense? Furthermore, I was notified that my laptop was diagnosed today and received an outrageous quotation that makes no mention of the hinge replacement.. Ensure Services only had my laptop for 2 hours and I retrieved it from them a full week ago - the same day I dropped it off (as per requested by your support team).
I believe that the support team handling my case and Ensure Services have completely disregarded the procedure and process that is meant to be followed and as a result, I have a laptop that's broken which wasn't caused by me, yet I'm being manipulated into paying for a device repair even though it's under warranty. It seems that HP is doing everything in its power to force me to pay for my laptop's repairs.
Either this gets covered under warranty or paid for by HP or I will never be purchasing/recommended another HP product or service in the future.
It's clear to me that this was caused by a design fault in the device's build - the screen and mount are poorly designed and this is what caused my screen to get damaged so easily. This should not have happened for the price I paid for the device! I can link youtube reviews and forum posts that specifically focus on the poor build quality of the screen for reference. There are plenty more where this came from.
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