I bought a new desktop computer for myself this Christmas. I saw that I was relying on a 3 year-old laptop … and I was concerned that it wouldn’t see 4 years. Too many blue screens in December. Time to be flexible.
So, I bought a new computer … an HP Envy 700. On sale today at Best Buy. 2 TB hard drive. 12 gig of RAM. Sold.
And then it proved to have a problem.
Tech Support
The computer went to sleep, even while I was copying files.
The computer would reboot every time it went to sleep.
It went to sleep, even when I told it to NEVER go to sleep.
So, I called HP’s tech support. I eventually worked through 4 different tech support reps … Sameer, Christopher, Hamid and Dhuval. They each tweaked the system. Christopher really annoyed me with his strong sales pitches for warranty extensions and in-home tech visits (I said no 4 times before he stopped pitching me.)
They each tweaked the system. After Sameer, they each told me they had fixed the problem.
And when I put the system to sleep, it automatically rebooted. When the system went to sleep automatically (it timed out) … it still rebooted.
The only solutions offered to me were more calls with tech support … or buying an extended warranty. For a new computer.
No thank you.
Customer Service
After getting frustrated with HP’s tech support, I called Best Buy … I had purchased this computer online through Best Buy.
Best Buy’s response? Take the computer back to any Best Buy, and get a new one on the spot.
My understanding is their policy is that any customer could exchange a problem computer within 30 days. I am an Elite customer (formerly Best Buy Rewards Zone), so I have 45 days to return a computer … and it was day 23.
My local store, 10 minutes from my house, had the computer in inventory. 30 minutes later, I was checking out of customer service with a new computer.
And that’s how it’s done. Am I a loyal customer with Best Buy? You bet.
