Faulty HP Laptop out of warranty?

Question

My girlfriend and her sister both went to American and bought two of the best laptops they had. They were HP DV6-2144nr's and ran for 1200 each. They came with a one year warranty, and were bought 12/25/10. 

     Towards the end of the warranty (call it October or November) it started having battery issues, and running hot and such. It had to be plugged in all the time, otherwise the computer would randomly shut down on us. Both me and my girlfriend work and go to college, so we were always very busy and never got around to fixing it.

      I finally had the time, and took her laptop apart, and cleaned out the fan and heat sink (which wasn't too dirty) upgraded the bios, and upgraded any other available drivers for it. This didn't do anything for the heat or the battery. At this point the warranty had just ended, and HP was no help whatsoever.

    I figured Oh well, I would get a new battery, since that is something that can commonly go wrong with a computer. So before I get a new battery, the computer ran really slow one day. I restarted it now the hard drive is clicking and defective as well. I tried doing all the chkdsk /r, getting an adapter to go usb, and boot disks, with nothing. Since she had important information and pictures, I tried the freezing of the drive and bumping of it with no success. I tried pursuing this with HP, without any help, so I got an identical hard drive for it (Hitachi 320 gb). and reinstalled windows and such. Everything worked, but we lost all of our files.

     Yesterday was the kicker. She had her laptop on, used it that day, and closed it. I went to use it, and there was a black screen. I restarted it, only to see black screen with caps/numb lock lights blinking in twos- meaning a corrupt bios. At this point we've got ourselves a useless pile. I called HP again and complained and they did nothing. The other laptop which her sister uses way more than ours hasn't had any problems and doesn't run hot. We do not abuse our computer whatsoever, and it still looks brand new.

   At this point I am looking to get this fixed on HP's expense for a faulty product. Any information on/the pursuit of action would be appreciated. I looked into the Sales good act, and BBB, and I will probably write a letter to HP. What is the best course of action?    Thanks in advance for your input

? · Accepted Answer

Crikey, you took the HD out and froze it? And then 'bumped' it? And you expect HP to sort it out? You flashed the BIOS (not a wise move as you can brick it) and expect everything to be fine. Why not try launching it off a 12th story balcony and see if that works.




Sheesh.

Nyteslayer · Answer

I completely understand your frustration.  It is not a matter of devices being built to "Last for forever".  It is an issue of Built in Obsolesce, Generally Poor Quality and Corporate Greed which sanctions cutting corners in both Quality and Good Customer Service.

Unfortunately, you are caught in a legal morass as the computer held up within the Terms of Service so legally you can not find any relief although morally you can certainly argue that the computer seem to failed in such a way as to appear to be engineered to breakdown within a predictable Time Frame and consequently the product's warranty was authored in manner to unfairly favor the company.  Of course, proving this is another matter entirely.

I do not think the BBB will be of much help in this instance.  I think you will have to simply "Raise Hell" in a very public, loud way that will not go away to get HP's Attention.  Post complaints on Numerous Online forums such as:

www.complaintsboard.com

www.consumeraffairs.com

www.ripoffreport.com

And use Social Engineering such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace  to launch a very Popular soapbox for other consumers who are in a similar situation.  This tactic has worked when airline travelers in the US have had trouble with the Airlines.  Making a Big Noise and Refusing to "Shut Up" can go a long way.  Take a look at the brief excerpt and link below:

"Social media is changing the way passengers communicate with airlines and how the airlines respond.

By Scott McCartney, The Wall Street Journal
In a headquarters control room, with big monitors on the wall streaming social-media mentions of airlines, a few Delta Air Lines customer-service agents hunt for traveler complaints and try to solve problems, even bending the airline's rules, before snafus go viral and turn into public-relations black eyes..."

http://www.bing.com/travel/content/search?q=The+Middle+Seat%3A+The+Airlines%27+Squeaky+Wheels+Turn+to+Twitter&FORM=RQTRAV

If HP ever gets the notion that people are starting to think their products are "junk"{  rightly or wrongly--it is the perception that counts }  in the "Blogoshpere" ; things may change for the better.

Good Luck with however you proceed.

? · Answer

Since it is a computer it's going to ought to have the right kind of board. The principal intent that you will not be competent to make use of one other kind of board is that there is no common measurement and form for the forums in a computer, which means that one other one simply may not are compatible within it is case thoroughly. There shall be different variations too, comparable to the way it connects to different add-ons such because the show, the positions of the sockets, and so on..

cohan_the_barbarian · Answer

hey buddy there's nothing you can do now except for going to experts for data recovery and a new laptop. please remember its a different story altogether handling a laptop than a desktop.

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Faulty HP Laptop out of warranty?

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