My HP Warranty RMA Experience
TL;DR: I bought a computer last year September, it broke down this year January. I have been working with HP since then, by waiting for parts to come in or having HP certified third party technicians come to my apartment 5 separate times. HP sent me 3 seperate computers, all downgrades that I returned except for the last one, and now HP has closed my case, despite me sending in timestamped photos and offering to video call. I was yelled at and told to appreciate that I got anything at all. My PC was $2,700, somewhere in the process I was offered $1,500 and I declined. I spent many hours over the phone with HP, I have a tight schedule and a wife who hates when I waste time with HP saying I'm fighting a losing battle. I had to stop working my online video editing job and instead pick up overtime at the hospital I work at, 13 hour shifts per day. Someone else on the Linus Tech Tips Forums made a similar post named @Pickletickler9000.
My post is too long, read the detailed history: https://imgur.com/a/q2uM0aq
Photos: https://imgur.com/a/yq5Xoos
You should take their deal or lawyer up, those are your choices really. I like the idea of the internet swooping in at the injustice of it. I've been in the same boat for things much worse. But save for a few inspiration examples the internet never swoops in, in a PR context, about the same odds as becoming a Hollywood superstar when you set out to be an actor.
Take the deal or lawyer up. Online PR / notoriety won't save you. The government won't save you either. "Don't screw the consumer" type organizations typically don't save the little guy, they work in aggregate.
If you want to be ethical and meta you need to advocate to change the rules of the game which is a years long process If you want vengeance and revenge, there are ways to do that but I leave that to you, unethical in one sense but the intent is to forcefully punish the behavior so it never happens again
This is for you, @Pickletickler9000, and everyone else who has bought a pre-built PC. You can build your own PC. It is very easy and you can build them in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It is also much less expensive. The sky is the limit for $2700. Take the money and build something to your specs so you can go back to your video editing gig.
All of these blow what you had out of the water.
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildmeapc/comments/1b599jy/the_abs...
I want to share my own unrelated-OEM RMA experience, and provide an example to OP/all on why to buy future items (like OC's) from CostCo/Sam's/BJ's:
The first power-outtage of its brand-new life, my online-purchased UPS failed to back-up the load. The OEM had intentionally made the return process difficult and time-consuming, hoping that most consumers wouldn't be willing to "jump through all the hoops" of completing a return (e.g. shipping costs, phone-trees, insane warranty disqualifiers). "Out of principle," I went ahead and did this, but with this promise:
I will purchase all my future UPS systems from CostCo, because then all I have to do is drive to member services and drop off the dud/fuddy/DOA (bigger vendors have more "leverage" against OEM), for a full refund.
(Disclosure: I am a CostCo shareholder, and would not judge OC's return of defective hardware to the original vendor)
Dear OC: hindsight being 20/20, in your current position I would take the offered $1500 refund (maybe you can part-out the DOA computer?)
Buy your electronics from Costco whenever you can. If said electronics fails, you just bring it back for a full refund, no questions asked. If Costco does not sell it, there is a good reason why not.
From all indications, Costco is still run by highly ethical people. That makes it a national treasure.
Best thing to do in the future is to get an American Express card that has return protection and extended warranty.
Return it if you can, otherwise wait for the one year warranty to expire and do a claim with them.
HP has tried to disable their printers when owners attempted to use non-HP cartridges. I don't understand why anyone would do business with such an anti-consumer corporation.
HP is not your grandfather's HP. When the HP board of director foolishly ignored the HP Way to promote from within and hired on Carleton Fiorina as CEO the company changed the same way cancer changes a person's body.
The pattern repeats. Boeing used to be a great company until it contacted the cancerous culture of the failing McDonnel-Douglas. Now Beoing has problems with the 737 Max, the Starliner and its union is on strike because of poor treatment.