Defective Hinges on HP Laptops Envy

[Mikeamondo]

Still waiting on the return of my laptop.  In the meantime, I'm checking daily...  almost as a hobby now....  for new posts at the support forum.  Seach hinge, and then adjust for 'during the last day'...  usually, there are mulitple hinge related problems.

I'm posting to each....  trying to educate victims of this design flaw about how HP will likely respond, so at least they may get the repair done for the lower amounts some have achieved, and not the rip off $300 or so they start with. 

Seriously, HP.  Why are some people charged $280+ and other get it done for $140.  Why are you making money on this at all? 

To anyone affected by the hinge issue...    feel free to post your stories here!

Thanks

[hpEnvy_mjb]

My HP Envy Touchscreen is out of warranty and is having this same left hinge problem. I am sadden that HP knows this exists and then wants the customer to pay for something that is definitely a design problem, wear and tear would be feasible if it happened on either side.  It is a problem with the left side. =[  Looks like I will be replacing this laptop with an Toshiba or Apple.  I do not like Dell and had place HP toe to toe with Apple.  However, if HP is building laptops with design flaws to create "fix it" dollars does not sound like good business practice. Especially if HP is trying to have repeat customers.

Respectfully,

mjb

[kevin-t]

@hpEnvy_mjb

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 Forum's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forum.

[Mikeamondo]

@hpEnvy_mjb       ...  let us know how it turns out... what they offer you.   It seems to change every week.

@kevin-t    ...  Since you are one of the regular moderators who responds to these hinge issues, why not post here, in public, your thoughts (your own) or HP's thoughts on this issue.  Do you, personally, maintain that there is no defect in the hinges, or do you agree, or at least sympathize, with the consensus of HP customers, that there is a design flaw.  What is HP's official stance?  Can you confirm that the hinges now being installed are an improved version?

How about communicating with us...   no private messaging....    It's what most companies would do....

[Mikeamondo]

UPDATE on MY HINGE ISSUE....   REFUND on repair price AND info on whether there is a NEW HINGE being installed.

Yesterday, I received my computer back from HP, repaired and working just fine.  No surprise there, I had paid $140 ish to have it fixed.  Then, last eveing, I received a call from an HP Support person named Tammy, to whom my case had been escalated.  Was this due to my nearly daily posts on this forum?  She would not say... however, she was friendly and listend to my rants.  AND.....   here's the kicker....  gave me a refund of the money I had spent to repair my hinges.  To those with computers with failing hinges....  plese read on.

Tammy explained that because my computer's  hinges had initially failed while still in warranty, they could refund my repair this time, even though it's now out of warranty.  In other words, they are treating my two hinge failures as one, single event, which was documented as having begun while still in warranty.  While I was happy that I was getting a refund and having my hinges fixed for free, I spent a considerable amount of time voice my opinions of the issue over all and strongly suggesting they do something for everyone else.  While she listened and promised to pass along my thought... I am dubious that much will change.  For me, however the fight is over.  Perhaps others will pick up the torch and continue on....

To all others fighting the good fight to get HP to fix your failing hinges and broken cases...  at least at cost, if not for free, I offer the following advice and info....

1)  My first technician, who I negotiated down from $229 to $140 said there was no one higher than her and no one who could authorize a bigger discount.  Tammy's first words to me last night, as she offered the repair refund, were that my first techician could not have offered this to me, but she could because she is in a higher escalation department.  One more dishonesty. 

2)  BETTER HINGE or SAME HINGE?  My first tech also told me that the hinge being installed is a better one.  Last night, Tammy said she was unaware of a better hinge and she would check on it and call me Wednesday.  I'll post a reply here to let you know what she said.

3)  What they are doing for me will not necessarily mean anything for anyone else....  unless you had the hinge first fixed in warranty and then it failed a second time, like mine did.

So what can you do?  MAKE SOCIAL MEDIA NOISE.  Do the following....

a) Post here daily.  Search for the word 'hinge' then filter for the last day, and post a link to this thread so they get the most info possible.

b)  Sign up for a Twitter Account and post to hp's timeline.  Use appropriate hashtags...  hp hinge broken, hp laptops, hp service, etc.   DON"T BE RUDE and RANT...    think more professional attorney and less unabomber.  I did not post to Twitter, but it's been suggested by a good friend of mine.

c)  Post to their facebook page.  Your post is quickly hidden in the left hand column for the page, but that is how I got my first call back.  She said she was forwarded my info from the "Social Media Team".  Again... don't RANT.... be specific, push, but be polite...   Typing everything in all caps is the same as yelling at someone.

d)  In all postings, remember.....  the person who loses their temper first loses the fight.  Be respectful.  HP does not have to do anything if the computer is out of warranty.  They should, but they don't have to.

A final message to HP:  I am not marking this or any other case posting as solved.   I appreciate that you are refunding my repair charge, but the issue is much bigger than me.  Do something for all the other people having a problem with your hinges, and then the issue may be considered solved.  This has been, and continues to be, a customer service failure.

Good day to all...  I hope that my info has been helpful to others and the someone else now takes up the fight!  I will post after I hear back on Wednesday.  Good Luck!

[FasterEddie]

---

@Mikeamondo wrote:

@NHDADON

My situation was IDENTICAL to yours.  I had the hinge failure in warranty, and it was fixed.  Then it reoccured 8 months later and they initially charged me for the repair.  After making continuous, nearly daily, posts on here, directing people to my story at the link below, I was given (without even asking) a refund on the repair.

Here's a link to my thread.... 

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware/Defective-Hinges-on-HP-Laptops-Envy/m-p/5337134/highl...

It's important to read my thread... the first tech could not do this for me, and said she was the end of the line...  a lie.  Only after posting for 2 weeks straight about the issue and making noise, did I get a call from the higher level tech, who even said that my first tech would not have been able to refund the charge. 

If they did it for me, they should do it for you.  Hope the info helps...  good luck!

---

Thank you, Mikeamondo, for giving me good infomation that helped speed the plow for me on this issue. Here is my experience.

After posting to the Forum in this thread on 11/14, I received a quick reply from the moderator, danny-r, telling me he had contacted the HP support team and to look for a private message asking for details about my laptop.

I received and replied to a private message on Monday, 11/16, responding to questions about my laptop and restating my problem.  I was informed that someone would follow up with me soon.

A short time later the same day, Monday, 11/16, I received a phone call from Richard at HP Case Support, who was really personable and offered to do what he could to help me. He took notes as I explained my broken hinge and damaged case problem, and I told him that from my research online and in the HP Forum, I was aware that the broken hing/separated case issue is a fairly common problem for HP ENVY Laptop owners. I told him about this and other threads in the HP Forum, and was aware that HP had discounted the repair cost to $140 or less. I politely suggested that he may want to ask a Level 2 supervisor about facilitating a repair and a discount price. Richard was extremely polite and helpful, and told me he would look into my case and call me back as soon as he had more information. Richard also sent me an email with his contact information and a case number so I could reach him directly in the meantime.

I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

Richard called me back on Wednesday, 11/18, but I was unable to answer the phone, so he left a message and his call-back number. I didn't have time to call him back that day.

Richard called me back the morning of Thursday, 11/19 at 10:09 a.m. PST. We had another nice conversation. Richard explained that the normal price for fixing the broken hinge/separated case is $229.99, but that he was authorized to offer me a 25 percent discount, bringing the cost to $172.49. I very politely told him about reading Mikeamando's post, above, showing that HP's Level 2 support could discount the price even further, to $140, and guided Richard to the thread. I said I knew that as a Level 1 tech, Richard did not have the authority to offer a $140 price to me, but I asked him if he would please check with a supervisor to approve making me the same $140 offer that Mikeamondo got. He read the post and then said, "I think I have found the supervisor (Tammy) mentioned here. Can I put you on hold while I check and see what we can do?" What a helpful man! After being on hold for few minutes, Richard told me he got approval from Tammy to offer me the repair at $140. For my trouble, he said he was also expediting the repair work and sending a repair return box to me overnight for free shipping. He said the repair would take about 2-3 business days max to complete. He told me the hinge/case repair work is guaranteed for 90 days.

I thanked Richard several times for his help and told him that I would write a nice post on the Forum about how helpful, personable and gracious he was in addressing my problem. I also asked him to send me information about purchasing an extended warranty for my laptop so I could decide if it was worth the money, which he did right away by email.

We ended our conversation after being on the phone for 29 minutes.

Tips:

1) Read Mikeamondo's posts and take his advice.

2) Write a polite request for help on the forum, asking the moderator to help you solve your problem (see my original post on 11/14/15).

3) Reply to any requests from HP promptly and politely. Even if you are upset, be polite and HP staff will normally go the extra mile to find a way to help you. If you come across as a cranky adversary, you are not doing yourself a favor.

4) If you can't get help from the first tech who is assigned to your case, politely say that you are a loyal, experienced and informed HP customer, and ask them to please transfer you to a Level 2 support supervisor for help. In this case, Richard was super-helpful: we communicated great and got along well, too. I have, however, had other cases with HP support where I have had to ask nicely for a referral to a higher level.

5) When you get to a resolution you are happy with--or that you can at least accept--take the high road and thank your HP tech sincerely for solving your problem, and offer to send a return email with your thanks that they can send to their supervisor. This is when the tech is likely to help you further, by offering expidited shipping and repairs, for example.

OK, long post here, but if you follow this, your chances of being successful are higher. I will update this thread with my repair experience later.

[Mikeamondo]

Thanks for kind words, @FasterEddie      I'm glad my rantings have helped!   Today, like most days there were 3 more posts from 3 more users about these failed hinges.

I'm still waiting for a call back from Tammy, who is checking to see if they are installing new, redesigned hinges or not.  This should be a 2 or 3 minute question, so I'm guessing the answer is no.   I'll post again, If and when I hear more.

Good Luck to all.. keep up the fight... 

[Mikeamondo]

UPDATE.... I've been contacted a couple times by the second level tech rep at HP.  I've continued to inquire about whether the hinge they are now installing is different / improved from the original.  Tammy has been unable to answer this questions, and is still trying to get an answer.

At this point, I think it's clear that the answer is "No"... I don't beleive they are installing an improved hinge... although if I find out anything different, I'll let you know.  If they had fixed the hinge and were installing something new, I'm pretty sure everyone in the system would know, and would be selling the repair based on that fact.

Tammy still maintains that she sees very few of these inge issues, which implies it 's not a big problem.  I just searched "hinge" for the last week...  7 days...  and there were THIRTY discussions that came up, and all of the first 10 I looked at were people with new hinge failures.  Tammy... if you're looking at this....  that is a big number.  This is a real issue, affecting real people. 

The reason I'm still in this...  still posting.... is because a lot of the posts I read are from students, who entrusted HP with their limited resources and are now being charged for a repair that is caused by HP's desgin flaw.  Some people can afford to just pay for the repair, but for other's, it's a true hardship, and a company like HP should own up to the problem and take care of it. 

A monkey can give good customer service when everything is going smoothly.  Customer service genius is born of adversity.....  and HP is failing thier customers.  Often, dealing with a problem in a 'customer first' kind of way means you don't get to make a profit... but you are helping to ensure FUTURE profits.  Somthing that seems to be lost on HP.

And that's why, even though I got my money back, I feel compelled to continue posting and trying to help others with their hinge issue.

[HPowner3]

Thanks for posting this thread. I deffinetly need to contact HP again. My price quote was higher for the same fix.

[Mikeamondo]

@HPowner3     You should definiately call them back, and referrence the forums.  Ask for a higher level of customer support.  And please let us know on this thread how it goes!  

As a general rule, the more noise you can repectfully make, the better.  I did not use Twitter to make posts about the issue, since I don't use it, but a friend said it's better than Facebook, since HP has no control over it.  Facebook comments are hard to see on the Facebook page.

Good Luck!