COMPAQ WATCH

Never Trust COMPAQ!

Day 1:

12/4/02

Battery stopped working on the bus.  When I got home, I plugged in the computer.  I figured that it was just a dead battery, but then I noticed that the battery was at 50%.  When I unplugged the power charger, the computer turned off.

Tried to contact Compaq Customer support, but their website is down (well, actually only the helpful parts of their website is down.  I can still upgrade my warranty, but I can't view my current warranty.)

Currently downloading Compaq website to document that it does not work.

"Friends don't let friends buy COMPAQ's"

^ Picture Taken at 9:34, about 2 minutes after battery was put in.  It says it is charging. 

Picture taken 3 minutes later.  It stopped saying it was charging.

Picture taken 30 minutes later. It is still at 50%.

Day 2:

12-5-02

Took a picture of my battery today (I should have it posted up soon) to show everyone that it is not the battery leaking.  The site is still broken!  Here is the link to the error it is giving me for the "Contact Support," "Support Tools," "Forums and Communities," "Ask Compaq," and "Reference Library."  Lovely. I also found out that HP doesn't accept e-mails for Compaq Presario Notebooks.  I can go to the Compaq section (which produces an error) or go to HP notebook support which doesn't have any mention of Compaq.  I also went to look to see if my computer is still sold.  It turns out they are using the picture of "my computer" as a business notebook.  Check out this copy of the site.  My computer is the one on top (next to the "  • Check out the super low priced N1015v!")  I guess I can tell them, well it looks like my computer is now considered a business computer, so give me service! Well that's it for now.

Later on Day 2:

I just got off the phone with 3 different Compaq people. (One time they sent me to the wrong person, one time my phone died, and the third time we completed the conversation.)  They have some serious problems with their computer systems.  Between the 10 minutes of my conversations, my warranty increased by 2 years.  The first person told me I had a hardware warranty which expired on November 20, 2003.  The second person was Indian and couldn't speak English very well.  The third person told me I had a hardware warranty until November 5, 2005.  He gawked at that and then let it pass.  Hey 2 free years of any service, even Compaq service, is great.  The first person told me that I was sent to the desktop department by mistake and sent me to the second person, the Indian.  He asked me which system I needed service on, the Presario 900 or the Presario 1720US.  The Presario 900 is my computer which had the cracked LCD screen and Compaq replaced with a new computer (the 1720US).  I told him it shouldn't be there and he said, "Umm... OK" in an Indian accent.  He asked me what my problem was and was convinced it was a software problem.  He had me try uninstalling some drivers, and then thankfully my phone died.  I called back and the guy who answered was much much nicer.  He could also speak English.  He told me right away that I had the extended warranty (to 2005) and that I had two systems on the warranty.  I told him that the second system was declared an "Act of God" and he laughed.  He immediately told me that he would send me a new battery.  (I knew it wasn't a software problem.)  He was very nice.  I guess not all of Compaq is evil.  Well still, don't buy Compaq.  :)

I guess this means the case is closed and I can no longer spend all my time worrying about this.  I guess I will also take down this page in a few days.

-ben