HP India returns money for 2 year old laptop

[koshyjohn]

I don't know how many of you remember this but I had had multiple problems with my HP Pavilion dv9295ea and had taken HP to court (purchased in April 2007; problems in sept; repairs from feb to may, 2008; arguing over the phone throughout may; national consumer forum + consumer court from june to nov 2008; execution on judgement took a couple of months).

I am no longer in India but the laptop was returned to HP's lawyer in Cochin today and they handed over the full purchase price + 18% more.

This is very likely to be the first time anyone has followed through on a consumer level case against them in India and got the desired results (couldn't find any similar story online back when I was facing the problems). I hope this serves as an inspiration to anyone who has been seriously wronged by any laptop manufacturer in India.

Full report: http://koshyjohn.com/hp

Share it around! It's on the first page of Google results for 'hp customer care india' but only on the second for 'hp customer care'.

[Cool G5]

That's great. Congrats.

[thewisecrab]

I remember your case, mainly 'coz it's one of the few examples where a regular guy went through all lengths and odds to kick corporate and fraudulent HP's arse.

Congrats mate, hope this sets a good precedent for us (to fight back) and them (to not take us lightly)

[harshagarwal]

Good work.
Cases like yours, will force these MNC's to provide better quality products to their customers

[sakumar79]

^^^ I doubt that... One case in a few thousand is unlikely to deter the MNCs from their current course... And their attitude also may not change except maybe if we push real hard...

But to the OP, congrats on your victory...

Arun

[topgear]

@ koshyjohn - kudos to your hard efforts. Congrats for being able to get the right thing though I think you should have gotten double the price of the laptop for your waste of time

BTW, many people don't want to file a complaint for this kind of long waiting time. You have gotten the right judgment after waiting for 2 yrs which I think
a very long time.

My friend have a lot of issues with asus DVD RW drives. They replaced it for 3 times but still the same kind of probs occurring. But he is not willing file a case as he thinks it will be more expensive than buying a new DVD RW drive.

Companies really don't care much about customers in here. If we could just make the companies pay for our waste of time & the product price & interest on the purchase rate & ofcourse shorten the delay for getting judgment ( say return of the full product price after 3 times of repair/replacement ) then it's gonna make some difference.

[koshyjohn]

This was a dream laptop for me. I made sure it met all my specifications at the time of purchase. And so when it failed, I was got a earful from my parents along the lines of "are you happy now after purchasing such an expensive laptop?".

I was seriously ticked off by HP's attitude towards a customer who (stretched his budget and) purchased one of their most expensive and top of the line laptops. I fought them on a principle. I remember this discussion I had - most middle class people don't have (or think they don't have) the resources to fight a company like HP and the rich people can afford to fight them just don't care - toss the laptop and buy a new one. And these manufacturers exploit that fact.

My advice to people from extensive experience with 5 laptops:
1. Do not purchase a laptop more expensive than what you can fully write off in 2 years. Never ever expect it to last more than 4 years.
2. DO NOT ever even think you can sell it off second hand for more than 10-15k no matter how expensive it was when you purchased it because nobody buys second hand laptops. Selling laptops second hand is nearly impossible unless the buyer knows you personally - you can only donate it.
3. Parts that will fail - keyboard, optical drive, HDD, battery - so when you purchase spend more money on the other parts. You can "upgrade" (not the keyboard tho) the optical drive and HDD when they fail (so DO NOT buy a Blu-ray drive now).
4. Buy an external keyboard if you are going to game - laptop keyboards cannot handle it.
5. Screen sizes smaller than 15.4" are useful only if you have another machine to work with regularly and portability is a big issue.

VERY IMPORTANT TIPS
1. Use a vacuum cleaner (with just the hose/ no attachments) to suck out dust from the fan and heat sink (the power must be disconnected and battery taken out). You DO NOT have to give your laptop in for such simple overheating problems.
2. Vacuum out the keyboard using your palm to cup the attachment preventing it from touching the keyboard.
3. Use a fine high quality dry tissue paper to gently wipe the optical drive lens if you are having problems.
4. Discharge the battery fully and recharge it once a month.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, remove all personal and senstive files from your hard disk if you do need to hand it in for repairs. They WILL go through it looking for stuff they can use (despite company policy not allowing them to do so). Don't be gullible. They try to force unnecessary repairs (either out of greed or because they don't know better themselves) on unsuspecting people. Ask at this forum or others if you have any doubts.

[topgear]

^^ Nice points to keep in mind while buying a lappy. Thanks buddy

[phreak0ut]

Yup! I remember your case. That's when I stumbled upon your apps as well This case shows that if you are persistent enough, even the biggies will bow down to you. Good job Koshy.

[MetalheadGautham]

Congratulations.

I guess I figured out what you said just now the easier way - by observing my friends' experiences. I'm going to get a laptop under a budget of 25K now in a few months. It will be cheap but can fulfill my purpose.
-----------------------------------------
Posted again:
-----------------------------------------
Congratulations.

I guess I figured out what you said just now the easier way - by observing my friends' experiences. I'm going to get a laptop under a budget of 25K now in a few months. It will be cheap but can fulfill my purpose.

[Ramakrishnan]

MNC's in india don't care much about us. In US there is a strong consumer movement. They are very particular about their rights. Even a neighbour's dog bark can tick them off to file cases in court. Secondly we ourselves don't care much about us. You have proved that persistence pays. Good

[vaithy]

Congratulation koshyjohn !

I am one of the victims of HP 's battery recall scam.. although the model number and serial number matched, and problems like overheating are mentioned in the US consumer protection council instruction.. HP support staff says the order is applicable to USA customers... So I am taking them to consumer forum..As I am presenting the case by party, I need some guidance from you.. if necessary I will attache or email my draft application for your perusual.. so you can correct the mistakes, or offer your comment..

Thanking you,

vaithy

[csczero]

will Never buy an HP LAPTOP :-P

[qams]

Originally Posted by koshyjohn

This was a dream laptop for me. I made sure it met all my specifications at the time of purchase. And so when it failed, I was got a earful from my parents along the lines of "are you happy now after purchasing such an expensive laptop?".

I was seriously ticked off by HP's attitude towards a customer who (stretched his budget and) purchased one of their most expensive and top of the line laptops. I fought them on a principle. I remember this discussion I had - most middle class people don't have (or think they don't have) the resources to fight a company like HP and the rich people can afford to fight them just don't care - toss the laptop and buy a new one. And these manufacturers exploit that fact.

My advice to people from extensive experience with 5 laptops:
1. Do not purchase a laptop more expensive than what you can fully write off in 2 years. Never ever expect it to last more than 4 years.
2. DO NOT ever even think you can sell it off second hand for more than 10-15k no matter how expensive it was when you purchased it because nobody buys second hand laptops. Selling laptops second hand is nearly impossible unless the buyer knows you personally - you can only donate it.
3. Parts that will fail - keyboard, optical drive, HDD, battery - so when you purchase spend more money on the other parts. You can "upgrade" (not the keyboard tho) the optical drive and HDD when they fail (so DO NOT buy a Blu-ray drive now).
4. Buy an external keyboard if you are going to game - laptop keyboards cannot handle it.
5. Screen sizes smaller than 15.4" are useful only if you have another machine to work with regularly and portability is a big issue.

VERY IMPORTANT TIPS
1. Use a vacuum cleaner (with just the hose/ no attachments) to suck out dust from the fan and heat sink (the power must be disconnected and battery taken out). You DO NOT have to give your laptop in for such simple overheating problems.
2. Vacuum out the keyboard using your palm to cup the attachment preventing it from touching the keyboard.
3. Use a fine high quality dry tissue paper to gently wipe the optical drive lens if you are having problems.
4. Discharge the battery fully and recharge it once a month.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, remove all personal and senstive files from your hard disk if you do need to hand it in for repairs. They WILL go through it looking for stuff they can use (despite company policy not allowing them to do so). Don't be gullible. They try to force unnecessary repairs (either out of greed or because they don't know better themselves) on unsuspecting people. Ask at this forum or others if you have any doubts.

Congrats for Winning the Case!
Thanks for valuable Suggestions!

I hate HP's (Compaqs) laptop, Bcoz so many of my friend got very poor help & support, So i don't recommend HP Compaq laptop to any one.
HP Compaq is a $hit!