How HP let one traveler down

All I ever wanted was a printer that worked, but apparently that’s too much to ask from a company like Hewlett-Packard. After my last unit’s untimely death, the Palo Alto, Calif., company gave me such grief that I’ll never buy another product from it again if I can help it. But I’m not sure if I can.

I’m sharing my tale of technological woe with you for several reasons, none of which is necessarily to embarrass Hewlett-Packard. First, as a warning to those of you who buy a product without checking the terms of its warranty. Second, to help you understand when a troublesome product is, indeed, a lost cause. And finally, to caution you about falling for a manufacturer’s “trade-in” tricks.

The following is a true story.

Ever since I’ve been a writer, I’ve owned an HP printer. My first unit, a three-in-one printer/fax/scanner, lasted almost six years. Whenever I had a problem with it, I called the company and it helped me fix it. In late 2000 I bought a new printer, an R80, expecting that it would last at least as long. I was wrong.

Not 15 months later, the R80 stopped working. First the document feeder stalled, then the scanner broke and finally the entire printer just quit. Now here’s where it gets interesting. I called HP for help and learned that in order to even talk to someone about getting technical support I’d have to pay the company $20.

The technician didn’t take much time to figure out that my printer was beyond repair. “You could take the unit to your nearest store to get serviced,” she said. “Or we could offer you a ‘trade in, trade up’ program, where you send us your old printer and we’ll send you a new one.”

In technology, as in car sales, when you hear the term “trade-in” you should run for the door. But I didn’t because I felt as if I had no choice. I need a working printer yesterday, and this next-day service was the quickest way to get there. In my own defense, let me also say that the idea of recycling my old printer appealed to the environmentalist in me. In retrospect, I should have just driven the doggone thing straight to the nearest landfill and disposed of it.

Instead, I bought a replacement printer, a G85, for $495.58. I reasoned that I was buying this directly from HP, which means that if anything ever happened to it, the company would give me the benefit of the doubt. After all, they sold it to me directly. How could they not stand behind it?

The next day the printer didn’t arrive.

I checked the FedEx tracking number and found out that it was invalid. Had the product been shipped? I phoned HP – not a toll-free call – and was told that the company didn’t know if the product had been sent out. “Well, if that’s the case, then please don’t ship it until Monday,” I asked the rep. “I’ll be out the whole weekend and I don’t want the printer sitting on my front porch exposed to the elements.” The associate assured me it would get taken care of.

But I wasn’t surprised to see the box on my doorstep on Sunday afternoon when I came home. The box had been there since Friday and it had rained heavily while I was away. Would the unit still work? I unpacked it, plugged it in and (thank goodness) everything seemed to be OK.

I repacked the old printer and called United Parcel Service to pick it up. “There will be a $10 pickup fee at this time,” the UPS operator announced. I hate it when they say “at this time,” as if, if I waited a while longer, maybe there wouldn’t be a charge – which is absurd. I told her to forget it.

Now I was really upset.

I called HP back with questions. Why was I being billed for next-day service when it didn’t deliver my new printer the next day? Why a $10 fee for something that I already paid for? Why did I even bother to pay $495.58 for a trade in when I could have ordered a new G85 for as low as $439 online? And, by the way, if this printer broke, would you service it without forcing me to “trade in” the printer again?

The technician I reached didn’t seem to care. “Time’s a-wastin’,” he said on numerous occasions. To his credit, he agreed to submit a service report requesting a refund on my next-day charge of $30, but otherwise he didn’t seem capable of addressing any of my other questions.

So I hung up and called the same number again. I was now seriously worried that history might repeat itself, and my suspicions turned out to be correct. I learned that I had a one-year limited warranty on the new G85, but that because the printer was a trade-in, I couldn’t get an extended service agreement.

“You mean to tell me that you won’t cover a brand-new printer?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying,” the Hewlett-Packard employee said.

I requested a supervisor. No can do. The representative instead gave me another number – not toll-free – for the “President’s Office.” I called the number and was asked to leave a message. Much to my surprise, someone called me back within about an hour and reviewed my file. The company issued a $30 check for failing to meet its next-day obligations, paid for my phone expenses and return shipping on the old printer, and offered an extended three-year warranty for an additional $69.88. Against my better judgment, I bought the warranty.

Maybe I’ve been spoiled by a company like Dell, which backs up its units with no-questions-asked warranties that you don’t have to pay extra for and lets you use a toll-free number when you’ve got technical support questions. Maybe my standards for Hewlett-Packard are just too high. Should I really expect one of its printers to last more than a few months?

This much I do know: I’m not alone. Every day, thousands of other consumers go through the same experience I did. Not all of them have a weekly technology column. But they do complain to me, and I have collected their e-mails. Hewlett-Packard should be ashamed of taking its most loyal customers for granted, of using sales techniques worthy of used-car salesmen, and of not living up to its implied promises.

And we should be wary of companies like Hewlett-Packard that offer products with lots of strings attached.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

Be the first to comment