Defective Hinges on HP Laptops Envy

[Mikeamondo]

@Reks812    Sorry to hear you've had such bad luck with your Envy...  other than the hinge issue, mine has been ok.  If you're still in warrantly, they'll fix the hinge, no problem....  however, they will, as far as anyone knows, install the same defective parts that failed the first time.

If you're out of warranty, it gets interesting.  For a long time, they were only fixing if you paid...  alot...   but recently, a few users have reported that they fixed their hinge issue free of charge, even out of warranty.  It will be interesting to learn what they tell you, so please, if you have a minute, update this thread with what are offered, and whether you are in or out of warranty.

Thanks, and good luck!

Mike

[Reks812]

Thanks Mike,

 As of now, HP hasn't even contacted me yet. I have been trying, but as you know HP has alot to learn when it comes to customer care. Once something happens, I will for sure share it on here.

[Pjs2]

i have posted the solution here allready but if you have the same problem you have not yet found my other reaction/post.

turn your laptop upside down and you see rubber caps that keeps te laptop a little bit lit above the table, if you look at the hinches you see those rubber caps are inline of the hinches, you ply them away with a knife or something sharp. and you find i bet on it,  a loose screw, if your fan haven't been destroyed by plastic breaking off the bottom cover  you are in luck otherwise you have to buy a new fan., but you can also just take away the broken piece of plastic away from the fan than that works again too,  but if you have no trouble yet you are in luck.

gently push you bottom cover back in place (your hinche is completly loos inside the laptop, so it would go in place when you push you bottom cover back in place,  just screw those 2 screws in place so the hinche is back securley locking the hinches to the bottom & top cover part,. so your problems should be over when you take away the 2 rubber caps and screw the screws in place (it's really a manufacturing fault because the machine didn't connect the screws and they where never really doing there job, so the hinches pops open the bottom cover, while you can fix it yourself very easilly,

too bad i found out so late, 

[Pjs2]

it's not the design of the hinches,,, **bleep** people just look at there laptop... if you would have opened it, (my warranty allready expired so why not,) you would have found out that it is not the hinche itself, i just screwed my hnches in place with the loose screw laying under the rubber caps, (it is definitaly a manufacturing fault because 2 screws were not screwed, i know for sure that it is not a defective hinche, but and unloose screw...

[Mikeamondo]

@Pjs2 ... I appreciate anyone posting any info about any potential fix....   But.....  I have discovered there are several different hinge designs on several different hp models....  even different ones on various Envy models.   There is a thread on here from another user showing photos of his fix that clearly shows broken hinge mounts, etc, and no extra screw rolling around.  And his hinge design is completely different than mine, and mine failed in a completely different way than his.

Just saying that you're computer's specific failure may not be universal to all having the issue.  Perhaps a photo of your laptop and the exact rubber piece you are removing would help those who have your exact model. 

Thanks!

Mike

[VL9891]

I figured that I should wait a week, but it's been over a week now and I have not gotten a single Private Message from anyone on the HP team. Deeply disappointing, I guess I'm going to have to call in and read off everyone's issues and the prices they got for it to be fixed.

[michellew95]

Bless you and everyone else who has posted their experience with a faulty hinge in this forum, it's almost comforting to know I'm not alone in this issue. By a long shot, apparently. Unfortunately, I can't get my laptop fixed until May because I cannot be without it for even a day, being in college with online classes as well, and it's unbelievably frustrating that I paid so much for this laptop and now will probably have to shell out even more money that I don't have to fix what is a design flaw on HP's part. I just have to pray the stupid thing holds out long enough to get me through to the end of the semester. I'm already worried the broken casing and bits of plastic inside I can hear rolling around are messing with the wiring somehow. I have been leaving it open but in sleep mode on my desk so I don't crack the casing open any more than it already is, and the computer will often wake up on its own despite not being disturbed in any way. It's heartening to hear that some people have had it fixed for free, though. I will definitely be looking into that when the semester is over and I can be without a laptop for any length of time. My next laptop is most certainly not going to be an HP, they've made sure of that. Thank you again for keeping everyone updated! It's been so unbelievably helpful. 

[KellyGonzii]

Hello, I wish I would have known about HP's defect with their hinges on their Envy laptops! I bought my 17-inch HP Envy complete with touch screen and LEAP built-in sensor for  $1,000 as a birthday present on December 18, 2014. My warranty is probably over now so I can't fix this issue without getting charged.

 I was using my laptop one day and I lifted it to move it to another surface and could hear this little piece of something rattling on the left side of the laptop near the hinge. I inspected and it looked like the hinge was loose and the base of the laptop was separating from the surface.  It also sometimes requires to be rebooted or nothing is clickable. Anyway, now it is January 21016, and I don't know if I should juat take it to a regular repair center instead of going with HP. My laptop has never been dropped or had anything spilled on it. I enjoy my laptop and I boast to people about how it has 1TB of storage and 12gb of ram(along with it's other features). However, this is getting out of control and I don't know what to do. 

Could you enlighten me? What would you recommend I do? Did the "new/different hinges" last for you? Should I just switch to a Mac?

Thank you.

[Mikeamondo]

@KellyGonzii ...  The failure of your hinge is right on schedule... sorry to hear it.  Like you, I love enjoy the laptop and all that it can do, and that contributed to my willingness to pay (at first) to have it fixed.

IMPORTANT NOTE.....  the new/different hinges turned out to be just 'new hinges'... they are the exact same design as the original.  An early technician on the phone told me they were different, but that was misinformation.

The 'new hinges' are working fine after a few months....  but they arn't scheduled for failure until October or November of this year...  🙂

@KellyGonzii and @michellew95 ... I got results by making noise, complaining and continuing to ask for higher level techs.  At first, I got a discount down to $130ish for the repair.  After repair, I became an advocate (or took on a vendetta depending on your point of view) for others with the hinge issue, making regular posts on a daily basis, and they called me and refunded my money.  The tech who called said it was because my original repair had been in warranty, the second failure should be cover, but she also said the original tech I spoke to could not have done that.....  

My advice to you and anyone else on this.....   1)  politely, and without loosing your temper, post on this forum daily.  Start your own thread, make a standard post you can copy and paste, comment on other's threads who have the issue and post links to my thread here.  I would search every few days for the word 'hinge' and then filter for the past week only to find new postings of people with the issue.

2)  create a twitter account, or use yours if you have one.... and tweet hourly.  Yes hourly.  Again...  be professional.  HP take care of your failing hinges.  or whatever, and hashtag it with your forum username, and a variety of tags about hp hinge failures, laptop failures, defective hinges, etc.

3)  Post regularly to their Facebook page, along the same lines.  Write up a couple things you can just cut and paste, easy peasey.  Again.... be professional, be honest.... they don't have to fix anything, and you want to sound more like a lawyer and less like the Unabomber.  Remember that the person who looses their temper first looses the argument.

I have no idea or guarrantee that these actions will work.  I posted daily on the forum, once on their Facebook page.  A friend recommended the Twitter, but I did not have an account.  The thing about the Twitter is that HP can't do anything about hiding the info.  On Facebook, user posts show up, but can be deleted and are quickly hidden under other user comments. 

I would make sure to casually say in any conversations that result that I intended to maintain posting/tweeting etc.  if for no other reason than to let other victims of their hinges know how to proceed. 

It kills me that this company that I like is being so bad at customer service. Good luck with your efforts!

[Turac]

Hello Mikeamondo,

I recently got a similar issue with my HP Envy SpectreXT: the left hinge broke in the every day use. During my research I found your posts and decided to carry your fight on, for me and for all the other customers with the same problem.

Therefore I cited your thread in HP Envy SpectreXT broken left hinge and hope for the best!

Best regards from Germany,

Turac