Rodent Regatta

The top layoff leader in terms of layoff numbers is Carly S. Fiorina at Hewlett-Packard. She fired 25,700 workers in 2001, and saw her pay jump 231 percent, from $1.2 million in 2001 to $4.1 million in 2002.

Executive Excess 2003
The Institute for Policy Studies

HP finally fixed my computer. The Pavilion ZT1290 laptop was returned to me late yesterday by FedEx. Booting up, I found that HP had completely reimaged my hard drive with Windows XP Home. All of the bundled software (there’s a lot) that came with the computer has been updated and was reinstalled on the computer.

For about ten seconds I was reminded of why I thought this laptop was such a great buy, even at $2450 plus sales tax. Then, it dawned on me. A Windows XP Home machine cannot (conveniently) be joined to a Windows 2000/2003 Server domain.

Apparently, though I haven’t asked them since getting it back, HP believes the zt1290 cannot be upgraded or reformatted to Windows XP Professional. I have never seen a PC that could run Windows XP Home, but not Windows XP Professional. I think HP has simply taken the easy route.

Bottom line:

FOR SALE: Hewlett Packard Pavilion ZT1290 laptop computer purchased July 26, 2002 from PC Mall in Memphis, TN. 1.8Ghz Pentium 4, 512MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, CD burner, built-in wireless, Windows XP Home, full Corel suite, external floppy drive, 15 inch display running at 1400×1050 resolution (I love this display), Quicken, Britannica Ready, Norton Antivirus 2002, MusicMatch Jukebox. Google it!

Best offer!

So that no one gets the wrong impression, let me add this. I looked long and hard before buying this computer. I like so much about it an awful lot. I simply cannot support the products from a company that behaves the way you see here.

The end.

Is it possible that we’re nearing the finish line on this nightmare?

HP’s information system tells me that the laptop has been fixed. There’s no word on what was done.

However, HP did provide a FedEx tracking number. You can see that the laptop made it back to Memphis over the weekend. It’s scheduled to be delivered here by 3:00 p.m. today. We’ll then know whether or not the drive was reformatted and whether or not HP was able to diagnose and repair the boot problem.

More when I know it.

Be assured that Volume 12 of this mess is far more pleasant than what you’ve been reading. I finally worked up patience enough to call HP last evening. They had my laptop for over two weeks, didn’t fix it and couldn’t provide information about it along the way. Read about the entire train wreck here.

They returned it changed but not fixed. I was ready to solve this once and for all. I dialed the phone at 5:07 p.m. After holding briefly a bot announced that the number I dialed was no longer in use for HP’s support calls. I was told to call 800.474.6836.

I dialed the number and held until 5:45 p.m. when Glenn picked up. Under no circumstance could anyone have been more professional, informative, concerned and helpful than Glenn. He was fantastic.

Glenn picked up on The Saga quickly and without being patronizing, he continued the call with an understanding that many things had been tried, many calls had been placed, etc. He asked great questions and his attempts at some high-level troubleshooting were relevant.

Concluding that the PC really did need to go back to Milpitas, CA for service, Glenn entered the order, provided the information and explained clearly what I should do when repacking the beast.

One note of alarm – this time the hard drive is going back with it. I spent the evening doing all the backups I could think of so that I could be productive. The machine is now packed, labeled and sitting next to the front door for this afternoon’s pick-up by FedEx.

Glenn’s helpfulness uncovered one interesting fact. HP apparently has a policy or unwritten rule that a product must be returned three times for repair before they’ll call it a ”lemon.” So, if they don’t fix the machine this time, they get yet another chance. If it’s not repaired, Glenn said they’d send a factory-refurbished replacement.

Oh, and Glenn asked for an email address. In this morning’s inbox is an email with a link for tracking this product on line. I’ll keep you posted.

Our call concluded about 6:30 p.m. Now we wait and see if HP is able to deal with this correctly this time. Current score: F2/C27/P22.

Because I’ll be providing a link to all of the entries that make up The HP Way, and because some people will want to read them in chronological order, I’m providing a Table of Contents.

This might assist HP’s Investor Relations department as well as anyone I can reach in their executive and quality groups.