# Anyone ever dealt with HP Case Managers? (For replacement computers under warranty)



## ykerdman (Feb 13, 2008)

Hello again!

I posted a few weeks back because my HP DV2000's air vent was making these crazy noises and I got a lot of good replies back about the possibility of the fan being broken?

So, reading your opinions, I opted against getting a new computer under warranty, and went with a 7-9 day repair. I sent my computer in, in high hopes, but IT'S BEEN 29 DAYS ALREADY.

I've finally managed to get a hold of some sort of supervisor at HP and they told me a case manager has all the decision-making abilities in regards of me getting a new computer, or whatnot

My question - Has anyone ever dealt with the HP case managers? Or any other brand's case managers? Does anyone know how this replacement policy would work?

I have a warranty on it (that's still good) so technically, I'm eligible for a brand new computer replacement. I just need one ASAP and I'm going back up to school in Boston tonight - WITHOUT a computer! :sigh:

...let's see how long I can last in those computer labs.

Thanks for all your help!


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## Gage4701 (May 30, 2008)

Ok, I'm gnona break this down for you, because you are sadly mistaken. You are in warranty, which will entitle you to a repair of the unit, phone technical support, and access to tier 1 and tier 2 customer services. you are absolutely, 100% *NOT* entitled to a replacement just because your in warranty. If you are properly escalated through customer service, technical support, and a supervisor at HP, then you can be assigned a case manager, which will work with you to resolve the issue. I will state that again, they will work with you to resolve the issue. and I can tell you right now that there are a set of very specific guidelines and policies, which are not released to the general public, that your situation must meet before any case manager is even going to consider replacing your unit. 

Moving on, to all other people who decide to read this, stop. quit reading these forums and coming to case managers with some preconcieved notion that you are entitled to a full refund or replacement of your unit, because you most likely are not entitled to either of them. If you want solid information ask questions of the case manager and actually read the terms and agreements of your warranty, because that is the reliable information.'

Also, If you were not properly escalated through HP's technical support line to case management, do NOT come on one of these websites and get the case management number and just call in.... you will get nothing... I promise. Case managers hate dealing with someone who thinks they can work around HP policy. 

before you get indignant about my previous statement, keep in mind, case managers are the end of the line. it sounds unusual to some people, but that line of escalations has to end somewhere, and its with Case managers. there are people above them, but they are way to important and way to busy to talk to you, so dont waste your time writing them an email they are never going to see. Also, do not upset your Case manager. that person really is going to be working with you from beginning to end, and even if your unit is eligible for a replacement, they can still say no, and there is nothing you can do about it. They will be nice and patient with you as long as you follow policy and dont cop and attitude.

Moing on to the next subject then. As stated above, do not give a case manager and attitude, they will make the whole situation infinately more difficult on you, and considering the resources they have, they can make it happen.

To go back to what I have heard before about repairs. Dont complain if your unit is almost a year old and your about to send it in for repair a second time. Two repairs in one year is actually really good. If you purchased a notebook or a desktop from anywhere and its a company premade unit, you shouldnt be expecting that unit to even last past the first year... thats why the factory warranty is only one year! If you were to build your own computer, you will more than likely be replacing something in it about 2-4 times per year, and will have to upgrade the whole thing once every three years AT A MINIMUM.

I have only one other frustration to voice at this time, and its a bit prejudice, but I just cant let it go unsaid. Old people are officially the worst people to have to talk to. you talk too slow, you dont know crap about computers most of the time, you cant hear, and you expect respect because your old. The person your talking to doesnt know you, they dont know the things you have done in this life or anything about your character. because they do not know, you must earn their respect like you do with all strangers. you dont like it, too freaking bad, deal with it. And for the love of all that is holy this world, put your kid or your grandkid on the phone. they will be easier to talk to and more than likely know a lot more about computers than you do (there are exceptions to this, but this is the most common scenario).

Im sure I will have other things to talk about regarding everything from technical support to HP case management, to just how retarded customers are. personal messages are welcome, I am always willing to answer questions, and im sure the onslaught of insults that are soon to come will give me a good laugh as well.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I guess if HP's require at least 2 repairs a year I'll stay with Dell.

Lets see 1 P500 9 years 2 repairs 1 XPS400 3 years 1 keyboard, 1 insperon 1505 1.5 yrs 0 repairs 1 XPS 1530 6 months 0 repairs, 1 home built ecs945t
2 years 1 7600GT fan replacement.


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## ykerdman (Feb 13, 2008)

Well thanks for breaking all that down for me, but since I have no idea where you got those facts from (for all I know, you might work for HP), I'm gonna let you know what happened.

Shortly after I posted that, I got in touch with my case manager who informed me that a new replacement occurs if and only if the computer has been sent in for a minimum of 3 separate times (to try to and fix the problem).

I called every day trying to work all this out, and I had a really nice guy from Seattle (as opposed to India, Mexico, and Puerto Rico - like all the other times I called). He helped me figure everything out and after pleading my extreme case to him, we had a conference call with a lady from Upper Management from Texas and a brand new computer was in my lap after 10 days.

The most interesting part of this, is that even thought the shell of the computer states that it is a dv2000, the inside and operating system is in fact a more high-powered, quicker dv2800, which I am told is a much better computer than what I previously had.

I'm not exactly sure what happened, seeing as how I know very little about computers and warranties, etc, but I guess if you just explain to them your case, they can make acceptions.

While these computers are not the greatest I have seen, the company isn't too shabby with making their customers happy.


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## drow69 (Sep 19, 2008)

*Dispelling myths*

Just for future reference, and in response to a couple of Gage4701's extremely misleading comments (after all, people might check this thread in the future):

>You are in warranty, which will entitle you to a repair of the unit, >phone technical support, and access to tier 1 and tier 2 customer >services. you are absolutely, 100% NOT entitled to a replacement just >because your in warranty. 

This is actually true - just wanted to mention that. However, after waiting 8 weeks for a repair and being subjected to yet another delay, my case manager was smart and nice enough to realize that I was about to stop being passive and go complain to the BBB and both federal and state consumer protection agencies - she offered a new replacement laptop before I even said anything about filing said complaints, and I didn't even want a new laptop, I just wanted mine to get finally fixed. So, although you're not entitled to a replacement automatically, don't bend over and wait for repairs for 6 months either!


>Also, do not upset your Case manager. that person really is going to be >working with you from beginning to end, and even if your unit is eligible >for a replacement, they can still say no, and there is nothing you can >do about it. They will be nice and patient with you as long as you >follow policy and dont cop and attitude.

"Follow policy" and "don't cop an attitude" are both sound pieces of advice. Case managers are humans, it's not their fault your computer broke, and they're (hopefully) trying to help you out. However, this "they can still say no and there is nothing you can do about it" nonsense is utter bull. If you are indeed entitled to a replacement and they say no, you can file a complaint with the BBB (if in the US), your federal and state consumer protection agencies (if any), or go to a small claims court, among other options. Rude customers are bad, but so are useless case managers who leave you waiting for a repaired unit for months and then decide to be difficult once it starts getting on your nerves. 

>Dont complain if your unit is almost a year old and your about to send >it in for repair a second time. Two repairs in one year is actually really >good. If you purchased a notebook or a desktop from anywhere and its >a company premade unit, you shouldnt be expecting that unit to even >last past the first year... thats why the factory warranty is only one >year! If you were to build your own computer, you will more than likely >be replacing something in it about 2-4 times per year, and will have to >upgrade the whole thing once every three years AT A MINIMUM.

This is the most misleading, or ignorant, comment I've heard in a long time, and I sure as hell hope it's the latter. Let's start dissecting this shining piece of spin doctoring:

1) Two repairs in one year is NOT good, period. Certain companies (and individuals) in the US are trying to shift consumer perception so that it is OK for products to fail as long as they're under warranty. Nice try, but warranties should be designed to deal with failures that deviate from the norm, and sending in units for repair is a major inconvenience, especially when it takes weeks for them to be repaired (I don't think I have to explain that this is is especially true for computers, which are usually more necessary than products such as game consoles). Products, especially when they tend to range from 700 to 1500 dollars, are supposed to work and last - anyone who thinks it's OK for their 1k product to fail within less than a year is, for lack of a better word, an utter dunce.

2) Unless you have really bad luck or are choosing extremely low-quality components, you will NOT be changing components in your self-built computer 2-4 times per year or have to upgrade the whole thing once every three years as a minimum. Either Gage4701 has never built a computer himself/herself or is the individual with the worst luck ever in the entire world. Every computer I've built has lasted upwards of 5 years without a complete upgrade, was still running fine after those 5 years (ok, so maybe it couldn't run the latest games, but neither can any HP-built laptop, so that's a moot point), and has required very few replacements. Not to mention that it's much cheaper than getting a brand one and you get much better warranties overall. Sound weird? It's not. On the last computer I built, the processor came with a 3-year warranty, the motherboard with a 5-year warranty, the power supply with a 3-year warranty, the hard drives with a 3-year warranty, the video card with a lifetime warranty, etc. You know how much extra I had to pay? Zilch. Compare that to having to pay for a warranty that extends beyond a single year. Oh, and guess, what? The components I used are of much higher quality than those used by companies such as HP, and the computer was still much cheaper than one with lesser specs from HP. While I realize that many people are afraid of building their own computers and would rather shell out the extra cash to a company, and think that this is perfectly fine, 

3) A company pre-made unit can't last upwards of one year? One word: Thinkpads. And I don't even work for Lenovo.

And Gage4701, regarding your comment about "old people:" Your job is to help people who don't know much about computers, otherwise you wouldn't have a job in the first place.


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## das_wonderkin (Apr 23, 2009)

Gage has it right on the money actually.
I am a former hp case manager for USA desktops.
I was one of the good ones that cared more about people then the company. (and most of us do)

Casemanagers set up overnight shipping with fed-ex. when the repair is set up you should get a box within 1 - 2 days. turn around time for repairs is usually 2-3 days, tops, once it reaches the facility. (alot of people take there sweet time sending it in) I don't think alot of fed-ex's ship on weekends. usually you get your system back within the following week. I am sorry but we cannot tellaport the computer to us. how can anyone expect anything better then that....

well case managers can set up free inhome service even if you don't have in home. (they don't have to do this, they just can, so if your mean to them or don't go through the process, many cm's won't offer it) inhome service is faster but the actual part that needs to be replaced has to be correctly identifed, so being one of those customers that do not follow troubleshooting is not going to help at all.

The sooner the casemanager gets all your issues resolved the sooner we can stop talking to you. we are here to work with you not against you. I like alot of my customers, but we get so many new cases a day no matter how many cases are not closed.
(and to be honest 90% of people that have issues are all because they don't know what there doing and a simple format fixess the problem until they do the same dam thing again... not all people are like this, just a suprise amout of them are)

No matter what, your not getting a new computer unless three repairs have been done in a 12 month peroid. (unless the unit is less then 31 days old) The case manager CANNOT do anything about that. No it really is not possible to talk to anyone else about this. the case manger is never entitled to replace your system. Attemping to call corp just puts you right back to your cm. all e-mails get fowarded right to your cm. Some ******* cm's will never replace your system if you try to go above them. (I was not like that, I replaces alot of systems when I knew dam well nothing was wrong with them in the first place, but I was a man for the people)

Hp is not saving any money by setting up repairs first. (check out fed-ex to see how much it is to ship a package of that weight)

Drow is right about not having to repair a computer 3 times a year.. We agree, the question in our mind everytime we see multiple repairs is what the hell did you do to your computer, what are you not telling us?

The old people comment was kinda rude, but sadly it is true. I hated getting alot of old people. They have a hard time following instructions most are rude. But I love them and I feel so bad for them. I try to do the best I can when I get one, but most situations i got with old people comes down to they changed something or installed something or got dumped on with spyware and they don't know what to do.
Drow was wrong It isn't a CM's job to help these people, it is Tech supports job.
A Cm is not tech support. Though most Cm's are technical (that is because HP tends to promote through techsupport more often) Some Cm's have never worked in tech support.
CM's are no longer alloud to send a customer back to tech support, and alot of tech support personelle especialy in Wipro and India esculate cases to CM's with invalid reasons.


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## drow69 (Sep 19, 2008)

Wonderkin:

"Drow is right about not having to repair a computer 3 times a year.. We agree, the question in our mind everytime we see multiple repairs is what the hell did you do to your computer, what are you not telling us?"

Well, maybe HP isn't telling you either, but remember that dv2000 fiasco with the heat sink/motherboard issue? Well, I had TWO laptops, both upwards of $1,400, fail before HP finally admitted to the problem, and both spent more than 8 weeks (not 2 days, not 3 days, 8 weeks) at HP's repair facilities before they were finally replaced (after having the expected delivery time keep being delayed and delayed and delayed and...you get the idea). There are six computers that are more than two years old in my house right now, and not a single one of them has ever failed, because I actually know my way around computers well enough not to destroy them like a dolt. While I realize that a lot of people out there have no idea of how to take care of their computers and spend half of the time downloading potentially dangerous applications (and porn) without at least having a good anti-virus program running, I also realize that having two computers be gone for more than eight weeks because of a problem that I didn't cause is not acceptable when both computers cost more than $1,400. And you know what? The hard drive in one of the replacements I got already died, after 8 months at most. I got so upset that I didn't even want to find out if it was under warranty, I didn't feel like having to talk with a Tech guy for 1 hour and having him try to sell me an extended warranty before getting me through to the Case Manager for a warranty that was still valid (true story - this happened with the first dv2000 that failed), etc. - I got myself a Thinkpad right on the spot.

I'm not blaming you, and I'm not blaming the extremely nice case manager that worked with me twice - I'm just saying that my terrible impression of HP is more than absolutely justified. They can have the nicest case managers in the world, and they can be nice enough to help people who obviously have no clue what they're doing, but when the gears in their customer service system break so pathetically when they are at fault, and the supply chain for their repair service is so incredibly backwards, I don't care if it's India's fault, if it's the OEM manufacturer's fault, or if the sky fell and swallowed all their facilities - it's simply not acceptable. Let me summarize this: having two products, upwards of one thousand dollars, fail in under a year, and then having to wait upwards of eight weeks to get them replaced, only to have the hard drive in one of the replacements die within less than a year, is completely unacceptable. Period. It's nothing against you, and I was always very polite to my case manager as well - it's against HP, and against Gage4701, who outright lied about the durability of self-built computers and tried to sell us the idea that a prebuilt HP laptop (although mine were customized) not lasting a whole year without having to be repaired is somehow acceptable. 

The sad thing is that it's just as much the consumers' fault...XBoX 360 anyone?

PS. Also, the fact that HP uses (or at least used to use) refurbished hard drives as replacements for failed hard drives is fairly well-documented. You know what using a refurbished hard drive is like? Russian roulette.


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## das_wonderkin (Apr 23, 2009)

Wow Drow, thats terrible. I am not with laptops just desktops, so processes may work diffrently. When I was there if the repair centre delyed your repair for more then 30 days, the case manager then has the ability to replace the unit. If a repair was made within 30 days of another repair and there is another hardware issue within 30 days of that return it also justifys a replacement. There should be no reason to have to wait a year. 

We are told that the repair centre uses new parts not referbished, they may have used referbs back when this happend to you though.. your right it is like roulette.

I can't justify H.P's tech support, I know it is messed. We have to make one sale lead on every successfull call, but over seas I guess they whipping them to make sales. Have the day in a cm's job is dealing with sales issues. Unfourtunatly that is a hurdle that can't be jumped.


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## n3vino (Dec 3, 2008)

I was refered to a case manager after two repairs on my desktop that did not work. The issue was that I had to send it in again, but I was not going to get the box and label until the following week. I was going on vacation, and that meant my PC would sit at home broken for an addiitonal week. All I needed was for them to overnight me a label since I already had a box. The case manager contacted me and gave me a temp account number that I could use to send it that evening. That was on Thursday.

They got it the following Monday while I was on vacation and it was back on Friday. I came back on Saturday and found the problem had not been resolved after 1 mother board replacement and two power supplies replaced. That equalled three repairs.

I contacted the CM on Monday, and I explained that the pc was not fixed. I asked her about a replacement. She checked some things out, and she offered me a repacement PC. Mine was no longer in production, so the replacement was a better more updated PC. Two weeks later, on Friday, she called and said that my new PC was in town and I would get it that day. I did have to return the broken pc.

Now mind you, I did spend countless hours doing the same tests that had already been done, and talking to individuals with thick accents. My Pc was down exactly 6 weeks.

But I kept my cool and I follwed their procedures and I was escalated up the ladder. I was also very polite with the CM and kept my cool the whole time. Luckily I still had my older pc and a laptop to see me through. In addition, I did purchase an extended years warranty which included home repair. I used the home repair once, but had to ship it out twice anyway. The tech that did the in home repair, couldn't figure out what was wrong.

But at the end of the day, HP did make it right. I posted this to show that they do have procedures to follow, although they do inconvenience the customers quiet a lot. They will do things their way, and on their own time. It's always a good idea to know how the warranty procedure works. Most people have the wrong concept about warranties. 

I did find out another thing. When I was tracking this delivery, I noticed that it orignated in El Paso,TX. Then when I opened up the box, I find that this PC was built in Mexico. Hopefully this unit won't break to soon.


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## n3vino (Dec 3, 2008)

I forgot to mention that I did send an email to the CEO prior to being contacted by the CM. I don't know if that had any bearing on how the CM handled my problem.


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## AnnaDawn87 (Nov 15, 2010)

I have been dealing with HP ever since I got my Mini about four months ago. After about a month my computer began to run extremely slow. I called HP and they walked me through restoring my computer to factory settings which worked. A couple of weeks after that, I turned on my computer to check my emails and noticed that my computer was running slower than an old school computer running from the phone jack. A short time later my computer kicked me off of the internet, and began to display this icon in the bottom right hand corner of a computer with a little red X in it. I restarted my computer a couple times and still was unable to get back online. I called HP and they tried to help me run a few troubleshooting techniques, but that did not work either. They told me that my ethernet card must have some how become disconnected and they walked me through opening up the back of my computer and trying to reconnect it. That did not work so they said they would send me out a disc and that I would need to upload it to my computer and that would fix the problem. They said that the disc would arrive in 1-2 days. Six days later and no disc. I call them up am placed on hold for close to an hour. As the story continues, over a month I talked to person to person who claimed that THEY would solve my problem and send the disc. It NEVER came. I finally called them back and told them that I needed them to ship me the box so that I could ship my computer to them to be repaired and that I would have my computer back in about 5-7 business days. Well suprise, the box NEVER came either even though I supposedly spoke to the Supervisor of Tech support (much support he was). After becoming extremely frusterated I called back to speak to another Supervisor about my problem, and they told me that my case manager would be calling me back in 48-76 hours! I NEVER GOT THAT CALL EITHER! By then I was furious and called back the next couple of days almost religiously (I think I made over 50 calls in 3 days). I finally got to one Tech support agent that gave me the direct line to a case manager, partly because of how much I yelled at him. When I called my case manager and told her everything I had gone through she barely apologized. I asked if because I had been having sooo many issues with the computer if I could just get a new one, and she said no, and that my box would be at my house the next business day. Finally it was, I shipped it out, and in 7-8 days I had my computer back. Only problem was, is that the box had tape on it from Mexico City (I live in California) the tape had been sliced in half, and then covered in new clear tape (so I could see the cut in the tape underneath it). My computer not only had the same exact problem as it had before, but it also had body damage. I called the number to report this, as it says in the paper that comes back with your computer. When I called the agent told me that his computers would be down for about three hours and to call back then. When I called back everyone just told me that they could ship me another box and I could have it repaired again! This is NOT ACCEPTABLE! I told them to have my case manager call me! Waited, she didn't call. I called so many times the second day that I was finally able to get a number to the higher authority (I suppose) who then told me my case manager would call me that day before she left! I DID get that call, and my case manager sounded a little more apologetic this time and promised to make everything better (minus getting a NEW computer). She said I would get a 2 year full extended warranty (valued at $185, nearly the cost of my computer) and that she would have them repair the body damage and spend extra time on my computer to ensure that I would not have to deal with anymore issues. She said the box would arrive at my house the next day. IT NEVER CAME!!!! That was a week and a half ago! I decided to wait, just to see how long it would take, so that I could build a better case against HP, and they are just making it too easy! I finally broke down and called today, and the man I talked to said that he couldn't figure out why my box had not arrived or why there had been a delay, but he assured me that the box had already left the warehouse, and had been en route since being requested (the same day I talked to my case manager). What a JOKE! Nothing takes a week and a half to ship ANYWHERE! He told me that it appears that my box would be getting delivered tomorrow (well isn't that a coincidence). I just now got an email from HP saying that my box is being shipped next day! I thought it was already on it's way. . . and if it had been before, why would I have not gotten a tracking number and an email as I had with the box before? I have a call into my case manager, we will see if she can answer any of my questions. I am thinking of writing to the Better Business Bureau, Costumer protection agencies, and anyone who will listen, because obviously HP is failing to do so. Has anyone else on here been lied to, hung up on, transferred numerous times, been transferred to "case managers" that are just tech support agents manipulating you? This is the worst customer service I have EVER received and I advise anyone looking to buy a product from HP to look elsewhere until they learn how to treat their customers.

Peace,
Anna

In this I only mentioned a couple of the issues that I ran into, but I have over 50. Since purchasing my product I have called into HP over 100 times and have yet to have my problem fixed!


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## Lyuba (Feb 11, 2010)

I had a case manager but he only covered HP, and didnt work with me. Even trough My problem was faily essey to reslove they didnt...The laptop should still be under the waranty, but because they broke it....they refuse to take any responsebilitys.


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## Lyuba (Feb 11, 2010)

Can someone flag the post just to keepit near the top? as I do think most people deserve to know what they are getting into.


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