Volume 3 Of The Saga

8 August 2003

Current Status: Still no laptop. Still no phone call. Today is Day #14 of this mess. The best way to catch up on what this is all about is to read the category archive.

When we left our last episode, we had called HP, gotten the warranty service call entered and submitted our proof-of-purchase. During that call, we were instructed by Brian to call back in ”a few hours or so” to make sure the fax was received and that a FedEx pickup request was scheduled. Because it was a Saturday, the pickup wouldn’t be done until Monday, but that gave me time to remove the hard drive, pack the machine and enclose the required paperwork.

That original call with Brian ended at 2:30 p.m. The fax I sent was time-stamped at 3:09 p.m. that same day. The cover sheet of the fax included the case number, the serial number, the customer service order number, my contact information – the works.

At 7:26 p.m. on 7-26-03 I called HP again to check on the status of the pickup request. I dialed the number, selected the menu options and waited on hold for 14 minutes. I spoke with Gary this time. Gary said the ”system hadn’t been updated.” He instructed me to wait several more hours and call back.

On 7-27-03 at 4:50 p.m. I called HP once more. This time I spoke with Sonya. Sonya spoke very broken English. Sonya said that if I’d send in my proof-of-purchase, my computer would be repaired in 24 hours and returned to me. She said that ”worst case,” HP would return it to me between 7-28-03 and 7-30-03. Trying to explain to Sonya that I had already sent the proof-of-purchase went nowhere at all. Explaining that HP didn’t even have my computer, yet, was also a futile effort. Sonya didn’t have a clue.

I tried to call identically the same number at HP two more times that evening and was cut off each time while holding.

Fuming, I went to sleep mad and vowed to fight HP another day. In my wildest dreams and imagination, I had no idea what was about to happen!

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An Open Letter To Carly

7 August 2003

Dear Carly:

What you’re reading here is only going to get worse over the coming days. In the meantime I don’t have the laptop I sent to your company to be repaired. The longer it takes to get to me, the less concerned I become about how I characterize your firm’s treatment of me.

First, let me say that I began admiring HP and its products while a sophomore in college. Holding my very first HP35 calculator and checking its results with my sliderule, I discovered a product of enormous quality with great documentation and engineering pride behind it. Through the years, I’ve owned companies that resold HP products. I was a Fortune 500 executive at one of HP’s largest distribution customers.

Now, HP doesn’t resemble the company I so admired. A recent purchase of an HP12c Platinum calculator has been a severe disappointment. It’s slower than it’s 23-year old predecessor in some critical areas. Again, not the HP of old!

Your company has my laptop. Your company farms out phone inquiries about warranty service to a team or contractor in Bangalore, India. They have little or no visibility into the service center in Milpitas, CA. When I tell them that HP cannot find my computer in Milpitas, the folks in India can only refer to what they ”see on their CRM screens.” One person told me that HP is over five days behind in updating that information. How do I know you have my computer? FedEx’s tracking system tells me who signed for it, where and at what time.

Lest this letter become solely a gripe letter, let me offer a suggestion. Rather than posing for pictures for magazines, use that time each week to submit and track a warranty or non-warranty repair with your own company. Don’t have an assistant do it. You do it. Spend the time on hold. Act like a customer. See what your firm is doing to its customers. Get a printer repaired. Call for service on a server. Send a calculator in. Pick some Compaq products and some HP products. Mix it up a bit.

That’s my suggestion to you. I’m still waiting for my repaired computer. The story I’m telling here is already thirteen days old. What’s happened will be reported. Trust me – it’s not pretty. You won’t like what your company has done.

Please for the memory of David Packard and Bill Hewlett, fix it. If you need help, email me. I can offer some assistance that will improve things in less than thirty days. It will cost you, but it will be worth every dime you invest!

Thanks,

Steve Pilgrim

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Volume 2 Of The Saga

7 August 2003

First the only important news: no one who said they’d call me from HP called today; no update to their tracking system on the web was done and the laptop didn’t arrive here.

This began on July 26, 2003 with a phone call to HP, followed by a fax of my proof-of-purchase information to insure that the Pavilion ZT1290 was under warranty. I found a very remote Kinko’s location that still had power. They were able to complete the fax for me.

Brian was the guy who helped me on the first call, and other than the requirement to fax my proof-of-purchase I was not inconvenienced at all. In fact, Brian’s work led me to believe that all was well.

It was a Saturday. Brian said my laptop was eligible for a warranty repair without sending in my hard drive, battery or AC adapter. He told me how to pack the laptop, what address to send it to in Milpitas, CA and he explained that FedEx would pick it up at HP’s request on Monday. Brian issued a case number and a ”CSO” number.

Everything seemed great. Thus concluded call #1. Was I ever in for an eye opener.

In our next episode, we’ll talk about what happened when I called to get the FedEx ”pick-up” number that resulted from my faxing my proof-of-purchase. We’ll call it, ”HP’s Image Corrodes.”

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First, Do No Harm

7 August 2003

I’ve never really wanted to inhibit a company’s success and progress though I’ve predicted the demise of some that were unprepared to do business. I find myself torn between a 29-year loyalty and respect for Hewlett Packard and the wrath I feel toward them now.

Thus begins a saga on July 26, 2003.

I was mired in a power outage in Memphis, TN resulting from a powerful straight-line wind that came through at 7:35 a.m. on July 22, 2003. That was a Tuesday.

By Saturday the 26th I felt like I had to start being productive again. I had been helping neighbors while attempting to provision for nights with no lights and Deep South summer heat with no air conditioning. I had gone four nights without power.

That Saturday I realized I must take care of a warranty repair on an HP notebook computer I bought in July of 2002 or risk losing the warranty. >From the moment I purchased the computer, it required 15 to 20 restarts to get to a stable Windows XP desktop. Each restart would progress a bit further before locking up. My travel needs changed about the time I bought it, so for many months I was content to leave it on to avoid having to shut it down only to endure that repetitive start-up process.

Now, with no air conditioning, no Internet access and no power, it seemed a good time to send that laptop back to HP for warranty repair. So, I placed ”THE CALL.”

THE CALL has changed my life and my outlook profoundly. When I think about it in the context of Memphis Light Gas and Water (the local utility company) behaving like the monopoly they are along with local media outlets cheerleading for their ”phenomenal efforts” following the storm, I realize just how significantly my outlook has changed. HP, the local utility company and the local newspaper altered my view of commerce.

This category of entries called ”THE HP WAY” is here to record the failings of HP and the failings of MLG&W during the great power outage of 2003. This entry marks Volume 1 in the series. As we begin, MLG&W has restored my power. It’s now August 7, 2003 and HP has NOT returned my laptop PC. In fact, they can’t find it.

More later.

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Atlas Did More Than Shrug

6 August 2003

By nature and personality profiling I’m a rather creative type. Don’t confuse creative with ”artsy.” I have no artistic skills to speak of. For me, creativity entails pursuing things others say ”can’t be done that way.” Often, my response is, ”but what if they could?” In other words, what competitive advantage would you or your business achieve if you actually could find a way to do something that appears unlikely.

Being creative, I also don’t like to be denied something. When the power was out, I just knew there had to be a way to do things I needed to do. At every turn I was frustrated. Even electric generators were good for little more than keeping the freezer food from spoiling. Alternatives for Internet access were completely out.

When a swath of wind approximately 50 miles wide and moving at between 80 and 105 miles per hour crossed the Mississippi River at Memphis moving from west to east, Memphis was devastated. Oak trees that were hundreds of years old split open or uprooted.

The wind downed all of the media outlets. It downed every cellular network for a time. Falling trees and snapping telephone poles wiped out electricity and land phone lines. Those with electric hot water heaters lost any hope of hot water.

Deaths in the area from carbon monoxide poisoning outnumbered deaths from the storm itself. Some people simply couldn’t respect the fact that the exhaust from a generator required that it be outside and well-ventilated.

At night the city was black and quiet. Burglaries jumped by 600% in the first few nights of the outage. Traffic was snarled by closed routes, downed power lines and debris everywhere. 75% of the city’s stoplights sustained damage. For almost a week, every intersection was a four-way stop. Few know how to use a 4-way stop. Many simply disrespect it and jump at the chance to ”get ahead of you.”

None of this got much attention on the national news. All of it was poorly handled by the city government and the leaders and communicators at the public utility.

During this quagmire, and after BellSouth provided some limited phone services, I decided to get an HP notebook PC repaired under warranty. In the next few days, you’ll read a series of entries in this new category called ”The HP Way.” It will chronicle HP’s handling of a simple repair. It will explain why I intend to go to my grave attempting to influence as many people as I can to select alternative products to any and all products manufactured and sold by Hewlett Packard.

If you haven’t read Atlas Shrugged, the title of this entry may not make much sense to you. If you have read Atlas Shrugged, then you know that walking away from the rat race – the rodent regatta which we live in – frequently seems to be the right course of action. I’m not ready to walk away just yet, but having watched a monopolistic utility, a city government and Hewlett Packard fail customers and constituents so miserably, I’m now ready to rededicate myself to warring against lousy service, poor communication and dismal performance.

Stay tuned.

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