I purchased an OfficeJet V40 in June 2003. In early August it stopped working. A quick call to HP tech support and I was told a NEW unit would be shipped to me, and to put the damaged unit in the box and return it.
Two weeks later I checked the status on their support site... the shipment was still pending. I called again and was told that they needed proof of purchase. So I found it and faxed it per their request.
A week later I checked back... the shipment was pending. I called and was told they didn't receive proof of purchase and I needed to fax it. I told them that I had received an EMAIL reply from the first attempt stating that they did in fact receive the POP... regardless I faxed it again.
A week later, I checked their online site for status... shipment still pending. Another call, another "we need proof of purchase" story.
I hung up and called HP Corporate (behold! they speak ENGLISH there!!!) and explained my problem to STUART (not 'Ahmed' or 'Zippy' or any of the other "professionals" in the tech support area).
Stuart said that there was a "problem" with the way the original call was put into the system and that my printer would have NEVER shipped with the way it was recorded. He promised to fix the problem.
That afternoon I received an email that the printer would ship OVERNIGHT via FedEx. Finally someone who cares!
A week later, no printer. I checked the status site and it said the printer was shipping overnight, to arrive sometime last week. (sigh)
The next day, more good news... there was actually a FedEx tracking number (now we're getting somewhere)...
Finally, I went to the FedEx office yesterday and picked up the printer. Took it home and opened the box... the foam packing was destroyed (could be FedEx's fault...)
Then I discovered that there are SEVERAL 'revisions' of the OfficeJet V40... the paper guides, etc from my old unit didn't fit the new one!
Another call to HP Tech Support. A lady (whose name I can neither spell nor pronounce) took my call. After a half hour she was still convinced that there was only ONE "V40" on the market. I finally read her the model and serial numbers from the two units and she understood.
Next, the document guides that fit on top: that is really the only part that I'm lacking, so I figured she could just drop one to me overnight... NO!!!!!!!!
After several more minutes on hold I'm told that the "ADF" is a user-add-on and will be sold to me and arrive in 5-10 days! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't want to buy an automatic document feeder, I just want the f$#!@$ plastic guide that snaps on the top of the printer!
I finally hung up.
Today I called HP Corporate again and spoke to EDWIN (who spoke perfect English... no accent, no broken words... as if he was BORN and RAISED here).
He took the time to listen to my problem and said he would "see what he could do" about getting my issue resolved one way or another.
Oh... another thing: this is probaby status-quo for warranty replacements, but HP shipped me a REBUILT unit, when I had only had the original for less that two months! EDWIN informed me that this is "HP Policy" and stated in the fine print when I purchased the unit. I understand that companies must do this but I think it sucks. Maybe I should have paid for the product with money I had "USED" to wipe my ass. It's still money, right?
Still waiting on a call from EDWIN to see where we go from here....
09.23 - EDWIN called back and said that he was shipping the CORRECT rev of the OfficeJet V40 to me overnight. He also said that he sent a copy of my account info to "Quality" to see if they could send out a new unit instead of a refurb....
09.24 - FedEx shows up this afternoon with a box... a plain brown box. Oh well, its a refurb, but at least it came overnight.... wait a minute... I pull it from the box, and ONE OF THE PAPER GUIDES FALLS OUT OF THE PRINTER AND INTO MY LAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here we go again...
09.25 - VICKI at HP Corporate took my call this morning (EDWIN was in the office but didn't take my call)... I told VICKI what I experienced the night before and that I now have THREE defective units and what should our next step be. Instead of focusing on a CUSTOMER that has NO WORKING PRINTER she went into a lengthy speech about "WHY HAVEN'T YOU RETURNED ANY OF THE DEFECTIVE UNITS???" and that HP has a "policy" of not sending out any more product until they get back something from me. I told her I PROMISE to get the defectives back to her TODAY (see how easy that is?) and that I expect a NEW printer tomorrow.
Well.. she said that HP wouldn't consider sending a NEW replacement until I had been through FOUR defective remanufactured products!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? They actually have a POLICY stating that they can send FOUR defective units before sending a new product. Perhaps on a $3000+ laser printer I could understand this. But we're talking about a $300 consumer-grade product, to a company that is worth, well, I'm not sure what they are "WORTH" to me right now.
It's sad that a company with such a wonderful history and legacy in the printer world should drop the ball on a small matter like this.
09.25 3:00pm - Just packed up the first two defectives to RMA back to HP... got an email from them stating that PRINTER NUMBER FOUR is on it's way. Called HP Corporate again and spoke to SARAH... she couldn't tell me if this will be a used or new unit, and promised to call me back with more info.
The saga continues...
