Why do so many IT companies get the basics of customer service wrong?
I have been buying HP gear for a long time. I have always found it to be expensive (well not cheap) but reliable and robust.
Recently an HP desktop PC refused to start up. I rang technical support as the machine was still under warranty. I had to pay for the privilege.
They told me that the warranty had lapsed – even though I had bought the machine less than a year ago. They explained that they look at date of manufacture not date of purchase, but if I faxed them prove of purchase they would honour the warranty.
You try finding a fax machine when you need one!
They then accepted my warranty claim and sent me a series of troubleshooting things to try:
– unplug the power cable
– open the access panel
– Clearing the CMOS (Remove the silver colored CMOS Battery for 10 seconds and reseat the battery or hold the yellow button next to the memory modules for 10 seconds)
– Without connecting the power cable press and hold the power button for 10 seconds
– Power on the system and check if it boots to bios by pressing F10 on startup
Did all that and got no joy so rang them again. I received the following e-mail:
Disconnect HDD and OPTICAL Drives
Strip the system to PSU, System Board, Memory and Processor
Remove the Memory and check for Beep Codes (Note the no. of beeps)
Reseat / Swap Memory / Try 1 Memory Module at a time Reseat Processor
Reseat Power Connector on the System Board
Now excuse me – but I am a businessman who bought an HP PC to run a business (perhaps this was my first mistake?). I am not a PC engineer.
I don’t know how to do the things they have asked me to do.
I don’t have time to do the things they have asked me to do.
I just want to run my business.
Am I being unreasonable in asking them to repair my machine?
The thing that finally hacked me off was this:
In case we dont hear from you in next two days, we will conclude that you are not having any further issues with that system, and will close the case.
UNBELIEVABLE!
If they don’t hear from me they will assume that all is well!
Any suggestions about what I should do next?