Front desk mouthpieces are not technicians.

As you can see, I’m still blogging with no pictures. My pictured posts are piling up by the day and it’s pissing me off!!!!

If you had followed my twitter flow you’d probably know I’d sent in my barely 2 month old HP/Compaq laptop for repair. For the some reason, it kept shutting down whenever I was using it. The moment I switched it on, the temperature would immediately shoot up to mid 70 degree celcius. The moment I opened Firefox, it would climb steadily to NINETY FUCKING FIVE degrees celcius before promptly cutting itself off. Whenever I tried to save a 15mb movie file the laptop cut itself off about 60% from completion.

So yeah, I sent the bugger in for checks & repair and hope to get my laptop back before any important work project. They called me back 3 days later to ask me to collect the laptop. I was overjoyed.

After waiting for 45 minutes at the service centre, I finally got it back. They told me that they’d replaced the motherboard and fan. Great, I thought. Went home like a happy, giggly child thinking the worst was over.

FUCKING WRONG!

I started it up. It died on me less than 20 minutes later. Why the flying fuck didn’t they test the damn thing on heavy load for at least 2 hours before asking me to collect it??????

So, this afternoon, I brought the laptop back to HP service centre to fix it. The moment I submitted to the front desk while telling her what the problem was (read: it overheats and even more so when it’s on heavy load and then dies on me), you know what she said?

OOOHH, AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED THIS MODEL IS ONLY FOR BASIC USAGE. CANNOT USE HEAVY LOAD ONE.

So I told her that my old Lenovo with weaker specs could handle it, why can’t this laptop?

OOOHH, AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED THIS MODEL IS ONLY FOR BASIC USAGE. CANNOT USE HEAVY LOAD ONE.

I tell you, by the time she repeated her stupid statement I was about to tear off her fucking throat from her neck. Who is she to say what my laptop can and cannot do? For fuck’s sake I paid over RM2000 for this piece of shit and it can’t even take my Internet browsing?????

I kept telling her it’s not normal and she had on this smug smile on her face while tapping away on her keyboard. Sometimes she repeated her comment that it’s only for “basic usage”.

Now I ask you, is that fucking normal?

Does a 1.73 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo powered laptop with 3gig of RAM WITH 160GB of hdd do that to you? SHUTS DOWN after 15minutes of reading your emails!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???? DOES IT? DOES IT???

It’s not so much that I was mad with HP but for fuck’s sake ask them front desk people to just keep their bloody mouths shut and ESPECIALLY, refrain from making any comment that only technicians are capable of answering. You don’t know what’s the fucking problem, so just do your job and type what the customers are reporting.

What I’m truly afraid though is, what if the mouthpiece’s attitude is a reflection of HP/Compaq’s modus operandi? What if they give me back my laptop and told me, oh sorry you gotta stick to “basic usage” and expect me to hastily browse the net or type a document before the laptop dies?

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

35 thoughts on “Front desk mouthpieces are not technicians.”

  1. Something’s wrong with the fan. Could also be a runaway CPU.

    Agree with Nicole. Send to HQ for repair and file a formal complaint.

    Good luck.

  2. That is totally unreasonable. And for her to repeat her statement is very condescending to you. It’s a disrespect to you as a consumer, and a show of her lack of understanding that a normal PC – no matter how heavy the load will not just turn off by itself.

    Hate the fact that just a couple of days ago: you were twittering about your joy in HP customer care.

  3. This is my first time here. I am always a compaq user until recently my bf bought a HP/compaq laptop. It is about 1-2 months old. The screen is giving him lots of problem. It will blackout with just a gentle touch on the screen. Apart from that, the keyboard is not sensitive at all. That’s a product of HP + Compaq….. sigh… Hope to see you blog again with photos…
    cheers

  4. i think nicole comment is very cruel and her suggestion might get tat girl into trouble.

    Kim, i think the girl is just giving standard answer to all customers and she wasnt rude as accused by Nick Chan. An example of rude would be “kimberly pls ditch ur pc and buy new one, its a good idea” dun u think so? kakakaka :P

  5. I use a HP as well. Less than 1-yr old. No problems so far. But… but… I paid over RM7k and only got 2Gb of RAM. How come you get 3Gb for so cheap?

    Hmph. I sulk.

  6. I’ve heard a lot of bad things about HP/Compaq laptops. If you want a HP machine, buy the HP branded ones that are not Compaq.

  7. HP/Compaq is notorious for overheating. My ex notebook died on me too during a firmware upgrade (voids warranty for some reason) coz it crashed during the process. I’ll say stay away but it works fine in an air conditioned room. I’m using a Compaq notebook at my main PC.

  8. @milo_gold I didn’t say she is rude, I said it was condescending – she did not even try to rephrase, which kinda means she believes her first statement is already basic, and layman enough. So when she repeated it puts Kim down.

    While I am frank enough to say this about her mistake, I do agree with you about not trying to get her into trouble by taddle telling, or for her to lose her job. I don’t think Kim is ruthless enough to do that, but someone must put her into place (Customer > Company). =)

  9. naeboo: yeah wor. her comments were really unwarranted. maybe she got bored typing the whole day.

    nicole: i may file a formal complaint (if when i get it back and it gives the same problem) but i probably won’t paste my link to them…if they were progressive enough i would have received an apology by now. sigh..

    mac: they did replace the fan and motherboard. not sure about the cpu though…hope they could fix it without compromising the data

    kenny: lol yeah you round up my predicament exactly!

    lainie: maybe just my bad luck lah. but considering the current blog comments about HP/Compaq i agree that you have to reconsider!!

    nickchann: yes!! i really felt embarrassed and i think (hope it’s not my imagination induced by the embarrassment) when i used a wrong terminology, i swear her next door colleague actually giggled out loud along with her!

    ppl3: sorry to hear about your bf’s laptop wei. hope they managed to fix it??

    milo_gold: i think some people do deserved to be in trouble for their sheer lack of clue and bad attitude. while i will not lobby for her to be sacked, but i think HP should be aware of such attitude displayed by their front liners. then again, i’ll wait till i get my laptop back before taking further actions.

    tiger: the answer is in the price difference? hehe i actually added the additional 2 gig ram for RM250. it initially came with 1 gig only

    andrew: unfortunately mine is Compaq. i tot it’d be okay cause my first deskstop compaq presario back in late 96 lasted me for many years!! :(

    HB: i dont operate in air conditioned room :(

    nickchann: totally agree!

  10. f*ck! my HP just died on me..bearly a year old..another month to go before my warranty expires!

    dammit! i really dun wana go through wut u’ve gone through! mine won’t even startup! the lights come on and all..but that’s it

    arghh!! f*ck HP!!!

  11. i would have grabbed the front desk lady’s keyboard to stop her front typing, and raise my voice: And as far I’m concerned, I don’t care about what your concern. Give me your name. I want to write a formal complain.

    I have done something similar to that to a customer service personnel who doesn’t subscribe to serving customer appropriately.

    as for your laptop, it’s unusual that it could not even handle a browser properly. I’m using HP as well, and it has been good.

  12. Buy plenty of dry ice, and seat the lappie on it every time you use it…

    Seriously, this is a “hah?! harlo?!?!” kind of answer loh. You might even want to throw it back at them and demand a refund, although I’m not sure whether they’d layan or not in Malaysia.

  13. Wow lol, thats really bad. I for one wouldn’t even tolerate that kind of customer service.

    Oh yea, it seems that HP/Compaq/Dell all seem to be having some overheating problem, cases of laptops getting burnt, etc.

    However, apparently Dell’s support and customer care is much better. (from personal experience of my parents)

    Hope you manage to get it solved without more hassle.

  14. Well.. I guess u bought a wrong laptop..
    U know what??Most of the people who bought HP stuff especially their laptops and handheld PDAs complain about them and even though they sent it millions times to the service centre, it will either stay for a week or two or gone off after an hour or two.. so babe, better if u can to ask them for a refund or change another model for u.. and hope for the best.

    Cheers~

  15. Dump your HP and stick to the Eee PC. :) I love mine! Or, might I suggest (quite shamelessly) that you consider a Lenovo Ideapad. The Y510 is pretty decent.

  16. ky: whooo?

    huei:quick send it in!!!!

    peter: that’s shit! good luck with your laptop

    andresloft: u are so ganas. if only i had 1/2 your guts!

    suertes: so much hassle meh…if it screws up again i will start demanding for a replacement unit.

    mashimeru: fujitsu is so expensive lor!

    moons: really? sigh wish i had heard them before i plonked down the money.

    ~T@!ra~ : thanks for the wishes. i hope im really not in such a bad position :(

    davidlian: yeah my eeepc is a lifesaver! now if only i could figure out how to install my scanner on it….

  17. A story: a guy with a new BMW drove up to Penang and found the car had a noise. He dropped it off at Auto Bavaria in Penang, and got a loaner for use while there. When he got back to the workshop a few days later, the car was in pieces, and the mechanics couldn’t figure out what was wrong. The fella dumped the car with them, vowing never to buy another beemer.

    Moral: if the machine sucks so bad they can’t fix it, you probably want your money back and not a replacement, which would pro’bly suck as badly..

  18. all i have 2 say is HP is onli good with their printers. full stop. e rest…..i’m not so sure.

    as 4 computer services, i know dell has e fastest ever in m’sia. next business day any location in front of u fix on e spot n settle e job. tried it in m’sia, china n s’pore…all r doing well.

    i had experience helping my fren fixing ibm laptops n it takes weeks. anything more than 2-3 days is too much 4 me lah.

    4 me, every brand on e planet have potential 2 die off easily. it is e service dat matters at e end of e day. 4 every 1000 units of a model, there is a big chance 1 is faulty n could end up in ur hands.

    4 e frontdesk,ask her 2 move 2 e backdesk. normally they should ask e technician 2 speak 2 u. dat’s wat dell does when u report a fault. she should just shut up.

  19. Sorry im such a noob, but how exactly do you determine the temperature of the lappie?

    As in “The moment I opened Firefox, it would climb steadily to NINETY FUCKING FIVE degrees celcius before promptly cutting itself off”

    I always sentuh sentuh my lappie only to feel if its hot :P

    Im a tech dungu.

  20. compaq had such a great support service, but now since they were bought over by HP, i think it deteriorated :(

    Terrible la, sigh. Encik Simon, help la go comprain :P

  21. RE: CSR with bad attitude. I think you SHOULD “tattle tell” her supervisors AND corporate about her behaviour. It makes HP (the company) look bad and it makes the local operation (HP Malaysia) look bad too.

    If someone in Customer Service is that ignorant to think that a 1.73ghz Core 2 Duo is designed to do less than websurfing and email for 15 minutes before it shuts down, she demonstrates a appalling lack of knowledge of the products HP and Intel makes. I mean what can you do on a Pee Cee that’s less demanding than reading email?? Or is her attitude more of a local thing?

    In either case, I’d drop the bomb about bad CSR in a letter mailed to HP’s Malaysia and world HQs. US companies don’t take complaint emails seriously but they DO take mailed letters seriously.

    Then I’d ditch the whole thing (unless they give you a new high end lappy) and get a Mac! Less problems, more powerful OS.

  22. Woohoo! My notebook is up and running again but I am considering returning it to Dell. A major component failure at such an early stage gives a very bad impression on the product quality.

    Malaysians are a very sensitive lot. We rather suffer in silence than complain about bad service. We are scared that someone may lose their job if we complain. This is what perpetuates the bad service culture.

    If a frontline staff does not know how to treat customers properly, she should not be there in the first place. This gives the company a very bad image.

    If I were to be treated badly by a customer service staff, you can be sure her boss will get an earful from me. I have done it with Malaysia Airlines and HSBC. I went all the way to the top.

    It is not cruel to complain about bad service. If we do not play our part as a consumer, we will forever be given substandard service. We are paying customers and should be accorded the due respect. After all, without customers, the customer service staff would not have a job.

  23. I fink HP has this thing where they screen website for complaints so your complaint might get picked up. Wink. So habislah the fellur who was rude to you.

    Coz I had an email from the employer who claims he was working with HP. An excerpt below:

    “Hello,

    I read your 10th April blog post and work for HP Malaysia. If you still have not received the parts quotation, I can assist in getting you in contact with the service desk manager.”

    I messaged him to say thanks but email got bounced back. Hmm.

  24. you should have considered an ACER. Though not shwanky or highly branded in advertisements, but the two that i own have been working perfectly since like forever already!

    anyway, take it nicely to the HQ with the complain, about the product, not the customer service lady and ask for a replacement, if not an upgrade also can!!

  25. Compaq is err. the lower end laptop that’s not very durable but in your case, really got problem liao, ask them to test it properly and change the necessary. If it’s still not fix, demand for a new one.

  26. do u have any idea if they’re opened on saturdays? didn’t manage to take leave to bring mine to fix. half a month left! time’s ticking n i have been laptop-less for ages T_T

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