Why never to buy a Compaq!

Compaq not only makes the trashiest computer products that I have ever seen, but they have the worst customer service out of any computer company.

            In January 2001, my LCD spontaneously cracked.   The computer was less than 2 months old, and already had many problems. After several e-mails, 8 calls (including one where they hung up on us), a letter, and sending in the computer for two weeks to be serviced, there was absolutely no progress in the service.  Compaq told me that it was an “Act of God”, (no I am not making that up).  However, the indention of the touchpad could be seen in the LCD screen, and the screen was rubbing paint off of the side of the keyboard.  Obviously the computer had a design flaw.  They said since they didn’t know what happened, they couldn’t service it.  When I found out that they wouldn’t fix the LCD screen, I was really mad so I decided to demand that they fix all of the other minor problems which I had lived with.  I made out a list of about 20 different problems (including some which I could fix myself, but I had a warranty so they needed to fix them). 

They told us to send in the computer, but the technician we talked to told us to take it to Radio Shack or CompUSA so we would get better service.  It turns out that when we took it to Radio Shack, they told us that they couldn’t send it in.  We took it to CompUSA, where the people were very nice, and they sent in the computer.  After 2 weeks we had heard nothing from Compaq.  A few weeks later, we got word that the computer was back at CompUSA.  We picked it up, and when I turned it on, I noticed that it resumed from hibernation, and still had the document which I left open.  This means they didn’t even turn on the computer!  There was also a note saying that they could not diagnose it because they did not have my permission to work on the computer.  I sent in the computer to be worked on, but they weren’t sure if I wanted them to work on it.  They also said that they e-mailed us and tried calling us, asking for permission, but could never get through. 

We later found out that they called us once.  Well, by this time I was really mad.  Luckily I had an aunt who is in law school, who had worked as an intern for the Attorney General’s Office for Consumer Protection here in Texas.  She agreed to write a letter to them.  We found out that Compaq currently had 11 other cases against them.  After the Attorney General sent a letter to Compaq, it was less than a week before they called us asking us to send the computer back to be re-examined.  This time, instead of calling it an “Act of God,” they took the credit.  They now agreed that it was a design flaw.  A few weeks passed, and they e-mailed me asking me if I wanted a replacement computer, which was better than the other one.  So, on May 20, a short 4 months after my computer broke, I received a replacement, which worked fine for the first 6 months.  However, on December 4, 2002, the battery died.  The computer just suddenly died.  Now I must have the power cord in the computer for it to work.  I went to Compaq’s web site, in attempt to contact them, and the “Contact Compaq” button did not work.  It gave an error saying:

Active Server Pageserror 'ASP 0130'

Invalid File attribute

/support/includes/hpq_leftnav.inc, line 105

File attribute '/support/includes/hpq_spotlight_one.inc' cannot start with forward slash or back slash.

Not only does that section not work, but all other sections of the site which might help you (i.e. the Forum Section, the Reference Section, and the Support Tools sections) are not available.  I tried some other sections, which worked,  of the Compaq support site, and all the support offered is for Business computers.

            The support for the Armada and Evo notebooks is much better.  In fact, I was helping a friend, by working on his Compaq Armada e500, and I e-mailed the Business tech support.  With in 2 hours I had a response. They said to send in the computer and that they would fix it, whether it was under warranty or not. Compared to 4 months, 8 phone calls, several e-mails, and a letter to the attorney general, this was incredibly efficient.  For example, on the site to check your warranty status, the following message pops up:

Look up the expiration dates of a warranty

Presario and Consumer Product Users:

This application does not apply to Presario and consumer products.

            That means your warranties only matter if you have a business notebook.  Although Compaq doesn’t let you check how much more warranty you have left, they jump to sell you an additional warranty:

(on the same page)

Purchase a warranty upgrade or extension for a Presario product.

            Several of my friends have Dell laptops.  One of them had a hard drive stop working.  He called Dell, and they immediately sent him a new hard drive which is 4 times larger.  They didn’t even ask for the broken one back.  The same computer also had a network problem.  They shipped him a whole new computer… no questions asked.  I used to think that Dell was just overpriced, and you should always go with the cheapest company.  Well, I went with the cheapest company and have regretted it every day. 

Don’t be fooled, Dell’s are worth the extra money.  It may cost more, but you have a computer which will work.  Compaq computers break easily, and they have no support to speak of, unless you are a rich lawyer who can sue them, or a business man who could also sue them.  Notice people say “Dude your getting a Dell,” but when you tell someone that you are getting a Compaq, they just say, “I’m sorry.”  Perhaps there is a reason behind this. 

*Note: As much as this might sound as though I was hired by Dell, I was not, these are just my feelings*