An update. I’ve already replaced and upgraded my wife’s computer laptop memory. As for the hard drive, my Monday night trivia teammate Jeremy has graciously offered to give me his 80 gig EIDE 2.5″ hard drive, as he has no use for it any more now that his electronics setup is SATA-based. Thanks, J-Mac.
But now, the final thing that must be addressed regarding the restoration and upgrade of my wife’s laptop is the defective lithium-ion battery. I’m extremely concerned about the battery, especially since I looked on HP’s website and discovered, lo and behold, that he lithium-ion battery powering that laptop was recalled because of – yes indeed – a faulty design that would cause the battery to overheat and possibly melt the computer’s interior.
A phone call to HP ensued. At which point, I discovered that the only thing HP cares about, when it comes to customer service, is how to service a customer into buying a brand new laptop instead of servicing the old one.
After I asked the online phone support person about replacing the battery, I was first asked a series of questions – very few of which had to do with my wife’s laptop. I was asked my name, I was asked my address (both physical and e-mail), what the laptop model and serial number was, had I ever called HP before, was I interested in buying a new laptop instead of repairing this one, blah blah blah. I had to answer ALL these questions… before they would even answer one question for me.
And in the end, the only response I got was, “I’m sorry sir, but your product is over five years old, it is considered an obsolete product, and we are under no obligation any more to replace the laptop battery for you.”
Which I find absolutely incongruous. Especially since HP’s own website says that the laptop in question (a model ze4500 edition) can still get the laptop battery replaced under recall.
So due to the increase in technology and the like, and the decrease in legacy support for products, my wife’s laptop is being given the equivalent treatment of “Down the chute you go, Grandma”?
After much going around and around the merry-go-round with HP technical support, they said they would send me some links regarding battery maintenance for the current battery. This – and this – was what I received. And trying to find any HP support online for this product only got me this.
After several tries with HP’s phone customer support (where one person suggested that the reason the battery was overheating was because I was actually using it), one tech support person suggested that I might want to purchase the battery directly from HP. Which, at $141, was twice the price I would pay for a comparable third-party battery from a computer battery online store.
Last Monday night, before going off to trivia at Revolution Hall, I tried one more time. I bounced from one HP 1-800 number to another HP 1-800 number. I gave the serial number of the laptop to customer support so many times, I should consider using it as a password for my Times-Union blog account. I’ve been on musical hold, I’ve been on silent hold, you name the hold, I’ve been on it. And still, no success regarding replacing the battery.
After one last, futile, furtive effort to get HP to at least honor their obligations regarding the recall, I decided I had no choice. I ordered an aftermarket laptop battery from an online store.
And if HP expects me to ever purchase another product of theirs – laptop, printer, ink cartridges – they can jump in the lake.
Now I know how Dave Carroll felt when his Taylor guitar was busted by baggage handlers at United Airlines. Unfortunately, I can’t make a YouTube video about the HP technical support and battery recall department.
Instead… this blog post will have to suffice.
Chuck The Writer 
Send the BBB or consumer reports a note. They probably won’t do anything but it sometimes gives satisfaction knowing that something public went out about them. The TU blog helps I’m sure, but the BBB complaint would be something all their customers would see – not just Capital Region residents. More importantly, someone who has power might actually see the negative feedback.
It’d help to include details (down to dates/times you called, minutes you spent on the phone, verbiage from conversations – much of what you supplied in the post) in the complaint. Someone higher up than your customer support rep (Read: Someone with actual power) will likely see the BBB complaint and try to address it internally. Either with modified processes or additional coaching to the rep. One thing I know is that the service rep can complain til they’re blue in the face about the things they have to say & do (this is generally true about most corporations and places that operate like them) but it will fall on deaf ears until a customer complains and complains thoroughly.
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With the title of this post you’re just making it too easy for me…tell HP Customer Service they have to go to the back of the line.
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