Hewlett Packard(hp/compaq) Support - Very Helpful - Highly Recommended

HP has by far the best support that I have ever had regarding computers.



To start off with, they have 3 main ways of contacting them:

1)Phone - Toll-Free!

2)Email

3)Live Online Help

Now using the phone, it is probably obvious that you will get help much faster - email takes time and typing takes longer than just speaking about the issue, and their resolution. Also, there are chances that you will end up with someone with a foreign accent(this isn't meant as a derogatory remark - just a statement).

Using email is somewhat helpful, but really is not recommended. You can only send one message at a time by it, therefore giving it a high delay in getting your issues solved. The email support should only be used if it is an issue where you do not have an in-depth issue(something like maybe you have a defective mouse, your PC won't even turn on(assuming you're on another one), etc.)

Live Online Help I have found to be the best way of resolving issues. Using this, not only can you speak to them at a decent rate(slower than phone but faster than email) but they can also send you direct links to any software that you may need. Luckily for me, most of my issues seem to be software related, so the Live Online Help is my most effective way of contacting them. Along with this, they are very patient with you, and so if you are busy doing something else you can use their online help while you are multitasking. I've caught myself doing that many times while watching TV, playing games, or just reading other sites.



Along with their easily found contact information, they will help with a very broad spectrum of issues. You can ask for help regarding anything from a keyboard issue to your sound to your internet not working properly(assuming it is not your ISP's issue). I've even gone as far as asking for help regarding items I did not purchase from them/that did not even come with my PC(like a new video card, for example). They are always happy to help, and will even assist in research, when it is necessary.

If you notice that your warrantee is out of service on your PC, do not worry! They will help with issues even when this is the case. The only thing that the warrantee seems to have an effect on is whether you must pay for the physical repairs, or whether they will pay for them for you(do them for free).

Now, one thing to keep in mind is that although they will help with software related issues(such as drivers not working properly), they would much rather you purchase their "restore" discs. If they do try to do this, just tell them that you would rather do a fresh install(or already have) and that you just need the correct drivers to get back up and running again. Generally they will not ask more than once for you to buy their discs, but on a rare occasion I have had someone ask multiple times. This is when you need to just tell them flat out "I'm not interested. I just want the driver downloads."




I'm going to vote HP's warrantees as the best I have seen so far. Let's say that you have an issue like mine. I will use this to explain a little better about how it all works.

---------------------Story Start------------------

One day we had bad storms outside(including lightning) and I left my computer on. I was oblivious to the storms, so I did not even know they were there.

I woke up in the morning and my PC was turned off. So I assume the power just went out, which isn't anything to worry about. So I just boot it up as normal. I jump in a game that I was playing at the time(Unreal Tournament 2004) and notice that there is no sound! So now I'm confused: My PC had never had issues in the past, yet now I don't have sound?

Being that I like to resolve my own PC related issues, I search around software wise(Drivers, msconfig, hardware information, etc.) to find that the sound system is all installed correctly. Yet it still does not emit anything.

After a while of attempting my own resolution, I contact HP(via Online Help) and explain my issue to them. The first step that they did was go look into the issue themselves(their database) to see if they knew of any quick-fix for it. Nothing.

After this, they attempted to help me reinstall the drivers, however once they were uninstalled I could not reinstall them! We worked on this issue for probably around an hour, attempting everything we could think of. I, of course, assisted with my own knowledge as well.

The issue was then determined to be a hardware issue, so they took down my contact information. About 2 days later I received a box to put the desktop in(Note - they didn't ask for the defective part, they wanted the entire PC). In here, it explained to "restore" the PC, back up any information I needed to save, etc., so I went ahead and did this. Along with that, there was a postage paid sticker. Wow, so no cost to even mail it to them.

About a week later I get the PC back, and they added papers explaining the issue and their resolution. More or less the sound board on the motherboard was fried, so they replaced the entire thing. Total cost for me to get the issue resolved(including shipping and parts/labor) - $0. This was, of course, because I had it under warrantee still.

---------------------------Story End---------------------

Now, along with them helping when you still have your warrantee, they will also let you lengthen it. This really all depends on the PC, buy date, expiration date, etc. that your PC has. Sometimes, if you ask them, they can even increase the duration AFTER it has expired. I had an expired warrantee for over a year and they offered to reinstate it for like $159 for a year(I'm not 100% sure on the price/time, that is just an estimate). They also said that my current issues at that time would be covered in the warrantee. I found this amazing, that they would offer the warrantee for a decent price even AFTER I let them know about the issues that I was having.




So to bring this to a close, I will definitely give HP a rating of 10/10. This is by far the best support that I have ever gotten from a company before, and they are very linient on their policies. Along with this, I love the fact that they will help with issues that are not related to their hardware and/or software. This, to me, shows that they genuinely care about their customers. They want us to keep coming back again and again for their products, and I give them my full support.

Thanks for reading this review, and if you have any questions you would like to ask me, feel free to. I've had many issues resolved by HP's support team, so there is a chance(although no guarantees) that I can help you find the correct path to take in getting your issues resolved as well.

 

 

 

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I hate hp's support! Absolutely rubbish. My laptop had been damaged ( the screen had been cracked) so i phoned them up and they said to me that i need to send it to there repair services (where ever tht was lol) and then about 3 weeks later i got a phone call from them saying that they couldnt fix the laptop screen and i was liked wat the...... i got well angry cause it had my important things on there like my files and i couldnt get them back.

Now im with acer its absolutely great! my brother split tea on the keyboard which stopped the keyboard from working. Then we sent it off to be repaired and then within 4 days they delivered it back and it was working! it wasnt a new one either lol.

I had another problem i was installing vista on my pc for the first time when i got it and then i accidently tripped and the plug fell out. I put the pc back on and then some error kept coming up. I didnt want to risk using the vista disk incase it didnt have the computer drivers on it. So i went and phoned acer and then my computer was up and running again and i had completed the vista setup within 10 minutes with there help.

About 5 months ago i bought an all-in-one hp printer. It was all looking good untill they didnt supply the usb cable to connect it to my pc!!! How crap is that!!! Luckily though, i still had my old usn printer cable and used that instead!

So in conclusion im never going to get a hp product ever again because of my past experiences and ill always stick with acer!

 

 

 

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Hmmm, about your issues...

The laptop issue...That was a hardware issue that you caused, so it wouldn't be covered(unless you got their special warrantee)..But they couldn't even fix it(with you paying parts?)

Acer I've never really dealt with before, so I do not know that much about them.

As for the printer, yeah...That seems to be becoming the norm, and it is quite ridiculous. During Black Friday last year we bought printers(3) and had to buy cables separately as well. I'm not understanding the reasoning behind that. It's like selling a pencil without the lead, or a spiral notebook without the paper. Obviously if you get one, you will need the other. But that cable issue isn't just with HP, it's with others as well, so it's not really an issue with their support, it's just a general frustration.

One of the things to remember when looking at your bad experience with HP, though, is that it seems to have just been one. All companies will have bad days, or make mistakes. It's how often they make them that determines whether they are good or not.

Also, about your laptop, did you pursue the issue with them? I would keep on that until they gave in. Generally they will, because your business is worth way more(if you're buying their products) than the $40 they would have to pay to fix your problem. Not to mention, you would go get others to not do business with them as well(like posting here, ). I'm not saying that what you're doing is wrong, and I would do the same as well, but at the same time, they understand that too and should/should have been willing to help you fix your issue.

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I'll put in my two cents regarding HP's support and service because I am currently using or owning if you liked to say, a compage laptop and a HP printer in addition that came free with my laptop as an incentive to buy it. I am not too sure on the specs on the laptop and so on off it, so I wont go into much detail regarding that, but nonethless I think Hp support has been very good. Recently, my printer began acting up. Everytime i went to print something it didn't print out what I had meant it to. It kept priniting out this weird manual that was in French, Chinese, and a couple of other languages that are not too important for me to remember what they were Anyway, so I called the HP support about the issue. Lucklily, I found out that the printer had a warranty to it, and they told me to ship it back, and they would give me a brand new. So, as you can probably assume, i was more then ecstatic that they were going to give me a whole new printer and everything. So got the printer, and for a year everything went smooth, and then BOOM, the whole stupid printing problem soon came back. I was about to call them, and rembered the printer had only a 6 month warranty to it, so I thought that the because there was no warranty to it anymore, that the people at HP would be asses, and not fix the problem. I called them nonethless, because I thought there was no harm in trying. The person told me that the printer isn't under warrnaty, so they will not give me a new one, nor fix it. The guy was generous enough though to assist me through they whole issue. For some reason, the problem could be easily fixed. *Have no clue why the first lady I talked to didn't just tell me how to fix the issue, instead of making me ship it and get a new one Anyway, there was some weird printer setting screwed up, and it all tied in with me uninstalling the printer software. So he told me to download and install that, and the problem was fixed. So in my experience, I do agree that Hp does have good suppot indeed. I will most likely look to buying another HP product when need be.

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Out of curiosity, when you had your issue and had to ship your printer to them, did they give you a postage-paid box for it, or did you have to pay for shipping?

And your estimated turn-around time? Like if you shipped on 2nd and it came back on 9th, that's 7 days.

Trying to see how other people's experiences with them compare with mine. Maybe I've just been real lucky with them, or maybe some others are just very unlucky.

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When I called them, they said they would send me a box to ship the printer parts to them. It came in a week, because I called on Friday, and they gave me the cheapest shipping they had, to save on costs, so they I guess the shipping place wouldn't ship on Saturday or sunday. It ended up coming the following saturday, with everything, and I had to ship it back to them. In about a week, they sent it back, and it worked like a charm. I forgot to mention that a part of the printer was broken as well, which may have contributed to them deciding it was best for me to just sent it to them, as there was no chance of them being able to fix that issues via phone. Anywho, so after I sent it, it took a week for them to send it back. So yeah, it does take a while for them to send it back, but Im glad it was free.

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Yeah, I'm glad to hear that you had a lot of luck. I was wondering if they only did free shipping on PC's and laptops, or if it included other items as well.

Thanks for your input on here. Maybe this will sway others into trusting HP more as well, .

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Most people have different views on the support service of different companies. I for one have used the HP online tech support where I am able to chat with a customer service representative and resolve the laptop problems and I would say that HP has been the best in resolving those. There are time when one Customer Service Representative is not able to solve the problem, but most of the time the second one get the problem solved.
I would rate their online technical support, 8/10 from my experiences.

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The most aggravating thing I have experienced with their online support is when you have a question and they explain that you must call in, and during that time the person you're speaking to does everything in their power to sell you something new, regardless as to how many times you say "no."

I ran into that when looking at whether or not my existing HP Media Center case would fit my new motherboard I was buying. I had to call in, and the guy kept bothering me about buying something new...


Him - "We have a sale on the current model xxxxx at $599.95 with free shipping."

Me - "No"

Him - "If you buy now, we will also upgrade the ram from 1 GB to 2 GB free"

Me - "No"

Him - "We will also give xxx"

And he kept going on with it. The worst part is that this was all *before* I got my answer, and so I was forced to sit there listening to it. I finally hit the point where I said that if he gave me all the stuff on that list, *plus* either $100 off or a free 19" flat panel, I'd take it. But he said no.

Aside from that frustration, I haven't had any issues yet.

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I never ran into these type of problems before. Though these tele-marketing strategies are one way to generate revenue. I haven't had any of these type of experiences. Good for me eh.
You really gave them an awesome offer but I wonder they take you up on it
Well this is one thing that really aggrevating, not getting an answer when it's wanted and to keep on waiting listening to BS until you recieve an answer. I wonder if you guys are charged for the call you've made because where I live, not many use the 800 toll free number. If these type of things happen my phone bill will skyrocket.

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