This is my personal account of the inconvenience and dismayal level of after-sales customer service Hewlett Packard has shown while trying to fix my HP 5610 All-in-One Officejet machine.
Firstly, for establishing information, as of writing my printer was purchased 1 year and 4 months and 17 days ago. I bought it from Courts Toa Payoh for SGD 299. My 56 year old mother is the user of the machine. On average she prints about 20 documents, scans one or two photographs and receives four or five faxes a month. The machine started giving problems two months ago. It prints fine, receives faxes fine but only scans and copies only five percent of the time we want it to.
We have tried everything in the troubleshooting guide as well as the email guide which the customer service officer sent to us. Resetting the machine worked for awhile but eventually the problem returned and refused to go away.
Now for some shocking facts.
Shocker #1
After your one-year warranty is over, even if you make the trip to their service centre in Alexandra Technopark, Hewlett Packard (HP) charges SGD 50 just to inspect your machine. After hours of backwards and forwards on phone with the customer service officer, I manage to get them to waive the inspection charge.
At the service centre, the technician came out, plugged in our machine and tried the steps in the troubleshooting email guide. When faced with the same results, he simply turned to us and said, “Your machine is faulty.” I know the machine is faulty, that’s why I am here, you mean I am supposed to pay SGD 50 just to hear a technician say that?
Shocker #2
Okay, so my machine is faulty. How much would it cost to fix it? He looks at me and says, “HP does not fix consumer printers.”
The physical components work, just not all the time. Surely there is a way to fix it. “This is due to wear and tear,” he countered. Wear and tear? If the machine was 3 years old and my mother was a bootlegger for Enid Blyton, I wouldn’t have bothered trying to fix it at all. But it started giving problems two months out of warranty and base on the stats above, my mother is hardly classified as a heavy duty user.
Shocker #3
So what are my options? “You can buy a remanufactured set for SGD 170 with a warranty of 3 months.” Remanufactured? “They are faulty sets from the production line which we have fixed, we will test them fully before sending it to you.” Why can you fix faulty sets from the production line but not my printer? “Because the printer has complicated parts inside and we can only fix it at the factory and not at the service centre. These remanufactured sets are as good as new.” Why then offer only three months warranty? “Because these are remanufactured sets which we are offering to you at half the cost of a new printer.” HUH? WTF? To be precise its 56.8 percent of the cost. And I wouldn’t pay ten bucks for a faulty set with only three months warranty let alone SGD 170.
Shocker #4
I don’t want a remanufactured set. I just want to fix my machine. “Or you can choose to trade in your faulty printer and purchase a brand new printer with a year’s warranty at a special discounted price.” How much discount? “We have a list of discounted printers and the closest one is the HP Officejet 6310.” Ok, how much is it? “SGD 399” What? “But you get a trade in discount of 50 dollars.” And what will you do with my traded in printer, Mr Wear and Tear? Ship it back to the factory and remanufactured it?
Shocker #5
This is unacceptable. I want to talk to your manager. “I am sorry but we do not have managers here at the service centre.” What? I want to speak to someone who can offer me a better solution. Do you have a supervisor? “I am sorry but we do not have supervisors here.” What? Where are they? “They are all in another office in Depot Road.” Okay then, give me the name and number of your supervisor. “I can’t give you that information but here is my email. I will get them to contact you right away.”
Shocker #6 (not much of a shocker here…)
It has been 2 days and still no response.
I, for one will never buy another HP product again and I strongly discourage anyone from doing so. I know technology moves fast . But if you spend 300 bucks on a printer, you would expect it to last at least 3 years, no? I am not asking for a free printer. I am just asking to get it fixed at price in relation to its cost. Being forced to choose either purchasing a faulty production set with only three months warranty or a more expensive machine is really a lack of consumer protection. It is ridiculous for a large IT company which posted US $104 billion in revenue last year to have such shoddy and inflexible after-sales service.
What is so shocking?
1. Hardware parts are best not fixed, but replaced.
2. They offered you a trade-in for newer machines.
3. They offered you a re-manufacturered machine, at a discounted price + a warranty. And also to be precise with you, inclusive of inflation and age of goods, your 56.8% discount is actually higher.
4. Things wear and tear, heavy or light users. Are you saying your shoes soles will still remain as it is after walking for one day? This is being very unrealistic. Unless you tell me you are using the printer in space.
5. It's not uncommon to see companies charge you an inspection price, then charge you the fixing price, then charge you other for other things. You wanna know how Acer works? If you are curious, I can tell you how they charge, and how HP fares with Acer.
They are faulty sets from the production line which we have fixed, we will test them fully before sending it to you.” Why can you fix faulty sets from the production line but not my printer?
May I ask you what's your understanding of "production line" ?
Since you've said you won't buy another HP product, then it shall be.
It's not shoddy, it's not inflexible. In general, hardware parts are best not to be fixed at all.
1. It makes no sense to, as technology moves on. While it isn't uncommon to still have spare parts for products that are just over a year old, it won't be common to have spare parts that are over 3 years old. Supposed it gets fixed, and it goes kaput after 3 years. It's going to cost a lot to fix, when replacing with a brand new one costs lower.
2. Depending on the complications, fixing may worsen situation.
3. It's a complete waste of time. As this is a business, expect talents to come and go. 1 year ago Mr X knows how to repair this range of printers manufacturered by HP. 1 year later, Mr X may no longer be with HP. And nobody has his knowledge. You now have Mr Y, but Mr Y only knows how to repair other products, just not yours.
Hi storagemat
how warranty works is that the manufacturer knows the approximate life time of a product so they will only support up to that projected life time.
Even wonder why most electronics tend to break down a few weeks/months past warranty?
After your one-year warranty is over, even if you make the trip to their service centre in Alexandra Technopark, Hewlett Packard (HP) charges SGD 50 just to inspect your machine. After hours of backwards and forwards on phone with the customer service officer, I manage to get them to waive the inspection charge.
At the service centre, the technician came out, plugged in our machine and tried the steps in the troubleshooting email guide. When faced with the same results, he simply turned to us and said, “Your machine is faulty.” I know the machine is faulty, that’s why I am here, you mean I am supposed to pay SGD 50 just to hear a technician say that?
Well, Many Tech Companies charge for Consultation fees after the warrenty period is over ( your inspection fees are waived during the warranty period, so are charges, and they form a hidden cost inside the pricing of your product.) , it's no surprise that HP charges $50 to inspect, Infact many other companies does that too.
Shocker #2
Okay, so my machine is faulty. How much would it cost to fix it? He looks at me and says, “HP does not fix consumer printers.”
The physical components work, just not all the time. Surely there is a way to fix it. “This is due to wear and tear,” he countered. Wear and tear? If the machine was 3 years old and my mother was a bootlegger for Enid Blyton, I wouldn’t have bothered trying to fix it at all. But it started giving problems two months out of warranty and base on the stats above, my mother is hardly classified as a heavy duty user.
he's just telling and confirming that it's faulty? It is shocking?
Let me give u an analogy, you do not exercise regularly, but only once or twice a month, the rest of the time, you are sitting on the coach, watching dramas. Do you think tis is healthy? well same goes for the Printer. components need to be worked, if it's left to idle, the ink will run dry, the rubber chain will start to melt. Thus it led to -- a short life span. Although i have to agree, a heavy duty user's printer will die off sooner, thus, for the product to reach it's longest life span, it should be in the middle -- not too little, not too much usage.
Shocker #3
So what are my options? “You can buy a remanufactured set for SGD 170 with a warranty of 3 months.” Remanufactured? “They are faulty sets from the production line which we have fixed, we will test them fully before sending it to you.” Why can you fix faulty sets from the production line but not my printer? “Because the printer has complicated parts inside and we can only fix it at the factory and not at the service centre. These remanufactured sets are as good as new.” Why then offer only three months warranty? “Because these are remanufactured sets which we are offering to you at half the cost of a new printer.” HUH? WTF? To be precise its 56.8 percent of the cost. And I wouldn’t pay ten bucks for a faulty set with only three months warranty let alone SGD 170.
In another point of view, the technician is giving you a solution for your problem. A production line is the factory where the poducts are produced, they have all the parts there. Faulty sets are those which are from the production line which have errors in their software, or components not properly fixed, if not they are brand new.
Shocker #4
I don’t want a remanufactured set. I just want to fix my machine. “Or you can choose to trade in your faulty printer and purchase a brand new printer with a year’s warranty at a special discounted price.” How much discount? “We have a list of discounted printers and the closest one is the HP Officejet 6310.” Ok, how much is it? “SGD 399” What? “But you get a trade in discount of 50 dollars.” And what will you do with my traded in printer, Mr Wear and Tear? Ship it back to the factory and remanufactured it?
Actually, getting back $50 is quite good -- it's 1/6 the price of the printer's initial price! What do you exepct? $100?
well, i know and im able to understand your situation, a printer that is just over a year old, cant possibily spoil that fast, and it led you into thinking it's a bad brand.
However do note my comment of your shocker 2 and think back, if it does make sense.
Btw, HP buys back Laptops (regardless) of age, condition for $400 a piece
buy new one. i dun really hear pple send their printers for repair.
acer charges 80 bucks just for inspection if it is not under warranty.
for a laptop LCD screen if it is damaged, they charge you abt 300 plus bucks if ur laptop is nt under warranty.
i suggest if they have those extended warranty and stuff, go sign up for it.
Originally posted by hiphop2009:buy new one. i dun really hear pple send their printers for repair.
acer charges 80 bucks just for inspection if it is not under warranty.
for a laptop LCD screen if it is damaged, they charge you abt 300 plus bucks if ur laptop is nt under warranty.
i suggest if they have those extended warranty and stuff, go sign up for it.
$300 so cheap?!
HP quoted $700 to $800
Originally posted by kenn3th:
$300 so cheap?!HP quoted $700 to $800
the other day when i was in acer (to change my laptop batt, under warranty), i overheard this lady whose laptop screen is damaged, den the person told her that if repair (plus labour), it is abt 330 plus (cant really rmb, but i heard was 300 plus).
if me ar, i would hav gone to get a new laptop liao.