[Cody Dawg]

(Actual letter from me to HP)

Dear HP:

My experience with HP has been TERRIBLE.

I had an HP OfficeJet 7130 catch on fire a week and a half ago. I called HP as it was under warranty and was told that they would send a brand new unit. It arrived a few days later and guess what? It did not work. The ink cartridges were dry to begin with. I was told to purchase new ink. I did. I spent $93.98 on two sets of #14 combo inks. The printer still would not work correctly. It was then determined that the printheads were not working correctly. Who determined this? My IT person at our company and my spouse. We swapped the printheads out with another unit and printed a status page. We were happy that it finally worked.

However, guess what? The printer had already printed several thousand pages! It was not even new even though it had initially arrived in a sealed retail box. It was also very loud and rough. This printer literally shakes the wooden desk it sits on when it prints.

Please tell me why a printer that was manufactured in May of 2003 (OfficeJet 7130) was sent to me as a replacement for an OfficeJet that actually caught on fire? I had to (per the directions of "Rahul" in India) purchase TWO sets of #14 Combo (black and color) sets of inks because the ink AND the printheads in the "brand new retail box" were expired. That was an extra $46.99 x 2 or $93.98 to get my "brand new out of the retail box" printer working correctly.

I then paid for expedited shipping for the replacement printheads from HP. They did NOT arrive on time. That means that I paid extra for nothing.

Next, I spoke to a quality control customer service officer with HP and she assured me that all would be taken care of. Was it? No.

In fact, when I called XXXXX, who is a quality control officer, about the problems, including questioning where the replacement printheads were as they had not arrived on the date promised, she did not return my calls on Friday February 11th or Monday February 14th. I finally called HP Canada on Monday evening, February 14th, and spoke to them and after giving them the serial number of the replacement OfficeJet printer, I was told that the reason the printer we had received had bad inks and bad printheads was because it was a "May of 2003 manufacture date." In fact, they questioned why it was sent out at all. (Very nice tech support persons, by the way.) They stated that it "was well beyond the shelf life date."

Additionally, I told them that when I opened this supposedly "new" Officejet it had, according to the status page, already printed several thousand pages. It was then that I was informed that even "new" printers were remanufactured units with the only difference between new and remanufactured replacement units being warranty time and boxes (retail box versus plain brown box). That is the reason that the printheads did not work because they were expired and the included inks were dried out. This was a unit that was shelved and for whatever reason, it was sent out to us.

Am I happy with HP products? As a general rule, yes. However, when I have spent one ENTIRE week with several different support locations and persons and no one seems to know what is going on (I spoke to India, Canada, Texas, and California) and when I have to pay $100 to get my supposedly "new" printer working (which is actually remanufactured) and now have a unit that sounds like a freight train when it prints, I can categorically state that I am NOT pleased.

Incidentally, this particular model has been replaced by HP *4* times in the last year! Every single unit has failed or had significant problems with the last unit having the most significant issue in that it starting burning from an electrical issue.

I have to believe that this type of customer service will ultimately lead to HP's deterioration as people move away from your products in search of a company that is able to maintain QUALITY CONTROL.

Sincerely,

XXXXX XXXXX

[tooki]

What was the goal of that letter? It seemed to just be venting.

Tips for writing complaint letters: state the order of events (which you did), and then state specifically what restitution you want. Someone reading your letter will say "um, ok, that sucks" and then move on, because you didn't ask for anything. (The only question you ask is why you were given a used printer, which you then answered yourself later on.) It's also very long -- the people reading these things likely will only read the first paragraph before deciding to put it in the circular file, so the first paragraph had better sum up what you want and why!

Sorry you had such a bad experience, though! I'm not a huge HP inkjet fan, but that's just ridiculous!

tooki

[Cody Dawg]

Actually, tooki, I appreciate your advice.

I didn't put in any demands, you're right.

What should I ask for?

Thanks so much.

[Cody Dawg]

DP.

[Xeo]

Tooki has it right. Rewrite the whole thing. Start with exactly what you want. Then go step by step as to what you did that brought you to writing the letter. Don't ask questions in the middle like "who determined this?" because you aren't talking, you're writing and when you read that, it sounds like you are asking them a question. You can't put the same intonation into a letter that you are saying in your head so keep that in mind.

What you should ask for is a new printer, for real this time, and to reimburse you for the ink you didn't need to buy along with the other costs you incurred during this time. If you don't want anything from them and you are just sending feedback, then so be it. But then you just have to hope it gets to someone who takes complaints seriously rather than someone who will just trash it. Either way, without asking for something you won't ever find out what happened to it.

If you ask for something, you'll at least get a response that they read it.

[Cody Dawg]

Thanks Xeo.

I'll have to get my courage together and call them and make a demand, you're right.

I'm just not great at demands.

But, I'll try.

[Cody Dawg]

IT WORKED!

They are sending me a brand new upgraded printer (worth more than the one I originally purchased) and a supply of ink.

THANKS!

I'm feeling like this is my Valentine's Day present from HP.



Thanks, Xeo and tooki!

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Everytime I call Apple.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by Cody Dawg:
IT WORKED!

They are sending me a brand new upgraded printer (worth more than the one I originally purchased) and a supply of ink.

THANKS!

I'm feeling like this is my Valentine's Day present from HP.



Thanks, Xeo and tooki!

That's good to hear! Do we get to read what you sent them? Or did you call?

[Cody Dawg]

I called them. Corporate offices. And asked to speak to the director of customer service. I didn't get that person, of course, but I got someone else who took sympathy on me.



I feel that my faith and trust in HP is renewed.



Thanks again!

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by Cody Dawg:


I feel that my faith and trust in HP is renewed.



Thanks again!

Wait till the drivers stop working ever time you do an OS update.

[tooki]

Glad to hear they worked it out for you.

tooki