03-02-2010 05:55 PM
Can anyone help???? I have been using my wife's iMac for the last 8 years.
Now that she has been getting real busy with her online business, I decided to get just a basic laptop to get me around every now and then.
Believe it or not, other than the PC's I"ve used at my jobs, this is the first PC I have ever purchased other than the Commodore 64 I had as a kid.
I only took it out of the box and fired it up twice and used it no more than a total of 1 1/2 hours each time. Basically, just doing the set up stuff that the system directs you to do when you start up a new system.
On the third time taking it out of the box, it was completely dead. Nothing but black screen, no response whatsoever!!!
I can't believe that it died right after the 14 day exchange/return time. I am so shocked that this thing only lasted about 20 days.
Why can't they just give me a new one, its only been about a week since the deadline. Why should I be inconvenienced for 3 to 4 weeks while they send this out to their service center.
After discussing this with employees around the office, I started getting very many bad remarks about BB and their return policy and and about the squad. Such things like, they are more concerned about the sale and are not remotely interested in customer satisfaction after the sale. And that many of them have refused to shop there any longer and will only go to F.E. from now on.
This is quite disheartening, before this incident I totally had a different perception of BB and what they stood for.
My sister suggested I work with her BF from channel 3 news and do a "3 on your side" segment to get BB to address the problem. I told her that I will see if they will work with me first before I call in that chip.
My biggest fear is that they will send it to the service center and they will tell me that it was somehow my fault and then I will be stuck with a $350 doorstop that was only used as a computer for 3 hours.
Where do I go from here!!!! Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely Sad,
Mikey
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03-02-2010 10:14 PM
First of all was the laptop plugged in to the wall outlet or the battery charged? not to make you look stupid or anything but laptops need to have a fully charged battery or need to be plugged in to a outlet to work. secondly as far as computer brands go compaq is one of the worst brands you can have.
03-03-2010 01:24 PM
Yes, I had it plugged in when I went to sleep.....in the morning it still wouldn't start.
I was thinking the same thing too. But, it still wouldn't start in the morning. Then I unplugged the the ac adapter completely from the laptop & it still wouldn't start.
Could it have been exposed to some sort of power surge????? Is there some way to reset the laptop. I don't see any other buttons to push or a reset button anywhere.
Mikey
03-03-2010 01:40 PM
Did you try calling HP for help? They might charge you for repairing it. Usually when something like this happen, you either get it repaired or just demand for a new one. I would just demand for a new one until I get it.
03-03-2010 02:06 PM
I am going to try to get BB to do an exchange, even though it is slightly past the 14 day exchange/return limit.
Looking thru the reviews of this model on this website. This model seems to have huge amounts of very happy customers.
Unfortunately, there was only one guy on 2/24/10, that had this same problem, where it would not start up shortly after purchase.
I called the BB consumer relations number & they suggested that if I offer to buy the 2 yr protection plan on an exchange, they would be more willing to do it.
The way he put it....a WIN, WIN situation. I get a new one & they still make more money.
Mikey
03-03-2010 02:44 PM
Eh, what the CR guy suggested could be considered inboarding...
03-03-2010 03:25 PM
Yeah, I kinda figured as much.
But I 'm okay with it, because I heard all sorts of horror stories about laptops not lasting very long or developing all sorts of problems within the first year or two, and getting the service agreement for $79 might just be the safest bet.
Especially, since this model only runs about $350.
Is it true what I've been hearing that if it lasts 3 years or more, then you are lucky??? Or that by this time, it runs so slow you don't even want to use it???
Mikey
03-03-2010 03:47 PM
That particular laptop, or laptops in general? I have a Toshiba that's going on four years. The battery doesn't hold any charge anymore, so I have to keep it plugged into the wall, and I had to order a new AC adapter, but it still works fine. It has a Core Duo (nope, not a Core 2 Duo), so it's not too pokey.
03-03-2010 04:36 PM
Im not a laptop person but as a former HP/Compaq customer myself HP/Compaq tech support will take several tries with bench repair before you get a new one. I have had several long talks with tech support before my problem was fixed. I don't deal with HP/Compaq any more. My current computer is a desktop from Gateway bought at Best Buy.
03-04-2010 07:02 AM
When you buy a computer at Best Buy, you automatically have a 1 year manufacturer warranty on the unit from the purchase date. If it boots up to a black screen (with no mouse cursor or anything else showing at all from initial startup) then it sounds like it could be a hardware problem. Best Buy could ship it out, repair it, and cover the costs per the warranty.
If you end up getting an exchange and buy the proteciton plan, stay away from Compaq, Emachine, Acer/Gateway laptops. I personally wouldn't buy an HP either. I can't count how many of their laptops I've seen have the same problem that your having.
