Ordered an HP Recertified Mini 1116NR from Ecost. Unit bad out of the box - speakers hiss and pop, low audio. Well, things do happen. Call HP. I knew they have moved to India, but thought they should still speak English! After over an hour of trying to load BIOS and new drivers (Oh yeah! That'll fix it!?!) their agent says I need to pay for shipping!!! There and Back!!!  
 
I wonder what "HP Certified" means? I consider an out-of-box failure for something that was obviously not checked to be the fault of the manufacturer. Silly Me! Maybe HP has some side deal with FedEx. We send defective products and you give us a kickback!  
 
I have used HP products for almost 40 years. They used to be one of the best. Now, I'm not sure which is worse. Their incredibly poor tech support, or watching the slow death spiral of another once great American company.

This review was modified by its author, Quark750, on 10/28/09 6:12 PM.

HP'S CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS SO BAD, THAT I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER MACHINE FROM THEM (EVEN THOUGHT I GENERALLY LIKE THEIR MACHINES) JUST SO I WILL NEVER HAVE TO SPEAK TO THEIR "CUSTOMER SUPPORT" AGAIN.  
We are a small retail business and we have two desktop units, two laptops a Color Laser Printer and two Deskjet printers; all HP. We ordered two desktop and one laptop unit. Since one of our Desktops had died, we ordered one of the desktops 2Day shipping. On the supposed shipping day, no fedex#. For 2 days the Customer Support agent lied to me, telling me the unit had shipped, but fedex had not transmitted a number. Poor Fedex, having everything blamed on them. Of course I knew they were lying. When HP, or any other large shipper, ships and order, they place all of the shipping info on their own computers. This is part of the process of creating the label. At this time, (while creating the shipping label) the info is transmitted to Fedex to pickup the shipment. This label has the shipping # on it and is part of the information transmitted by HP to Fedex. When Fedex posts it's first line on the tracking page, it is that they have received this transmission from HP. HP has the shipping # before Fedex. IN OTHER WORDS, IF HP DOESN'T HAVE A SHIPPING #, HP HASN'T PRINTED A SHIPPING LABEL NOR CONTACTED FEDEX TO PICK UP THE ITEM.  
When HP tell a customer that the item has been shipped, but Fedex has not transmitted a tracking # to them, they are lying. As, the continued to do for two days, while refusing to upgrade the shipping to over night to make up for the lost days. I was on the phone talking to people whose only technical skills were speaking English as a second language and putting off customers until the situation came to an end, or the customer's willingness to continue battling the tar baby. The computers arrived when they arrived, with no help from HP. Tracking #'s appeared as soon as they were shipped, days late, and the tracking #'s showed that they were shipped days late. HP never stopped lying about it, or did anything to communicate to their facilities to upgrade the shipping.  
 
Same order: After the computers arrived, and I set them up, I realized the one of the computers is also used (still) to send faxes, and I had failed to order it with a faxmodem. I ordered an internal faxmodem from Newegg (who totally rocks as a company. When it arrived, and I went to install it, the standard USRobtics PCI internal modem add on card, did not fit the add slot. Again I called HP Support and spoke to a person who's only skills were speaking English as a second language and putting me off while she spoke to her 'mentor' to come back with other questions. Look, it is really simple: From the very beginning of the call, she as the following information: The Model# and the Serial# of my machine; that I am trying to install a USRobtics 56k PCI Internal Faxmodem add on card. That the foot of the card and the slot are not compatible. For and hour, she asked questions, often repeating questions previously asked, and went off to speak to some one. Back with more or repeated questions, off to speak to some one. I asked to speak to a real tech or the person that she was going to. Every such request was ignored or deflected ("never say no, just move on" clearly here prime directive) After an hour, she gave me a case # and told me to call back in another # ("be sure to call only after 1 hour")and a supervisor would have an answer or would replace my machine. When I called back, I found out why I had to wait an hour. The call center in the Philippines had closed, and they would not have to deal with my problem any more.  
 
WHILE I WAS WAITING FOR THE HOUR TO PASS, I CALLED USROBTICS SUPPORT, AND WAS TOLD IN THE FIRST 30 SECONDS THAT THE NEW COMPUTER HAD A NEW STANDARD PCIE-16X SLOT, AND THEIR FAXMODEM WAS A PCI. VERY HELPFUL, VERY SIMPLE....MY BAD.  
 
BUT WHY DOES HP CLAIM TO HAVE A SUPPORT DEPARTMENT, THAT DOESN'T KNOW, NOR CAN FIND THAT OUT IN THE FIRST MINUTE OF A CALL, INSTEAD OF NOT KNOWING THAT AFTER 60 MINUTES.....HP IS ONE OF THE PARTIES THAT INTRODUCED THE NEW PCI-EXPANDED STANDARD.  
 
I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER HP MACHINE, AND LOOK FORWARD WITH DREAD THE 4-5 YEAR LIFE OF THE NEW MACHINES I JUST BOUGHT. HOPING AGAINST HOPE THAT I CAN GET THROUGH THEIR USABLE LIVES WITHOUT HAVING TO CALL HP FOR SUPPORT.

The configuration and ordering process was clear and precise. No misunderstanding of what was being ordered and no hidden costs. This was a very straight forward process and I received exactly what I ordered. The unit worked perfectly and all documentation was accurate. After 2 months the unit still works flawlessly. The battery life is better than expected and the wireless functioning is better than I thought it would be. Even with the 16 Gb SSHD which is almost full with the operating system the speed is still good coupled with a 16 Gb SC card and 16 GB flash drive storage is not a problem. I would most definitely recommend this site and this product to anyone who asks.

This review was modified by its author, jseojai, on 9/15/09 3:47 AM.

HP customer support is none existent. My HP Compaq notebook was the V3100 with the built in suicide mode. Yes thats right, after a while, maybe a year maybe 2 years the V3100 will shut off and the screen will not come back on and it is non responsive to any attempts to fix it.  
 
After going to HPs website i discovered the factory recall. they extended the warranty one year and allowed you to send it back in. my laptop is 4 months out of warranty and they refuse to fix it without charging me 265$.  
 
when i finally got through to the customer support escalated case unit in the USA, the lady told me there was nothing they could do. When i asked why they didn't send out some sort of warning she replied it was because "not all the laptops experience the problem"  
 
now i have a paperweight note book and a very very angry HP customer.  
 
Why should i have to pay 265$ more to fix a factory defect. that is ridiculous

WOW!!!! I am surprise by the bad ratings HP.COM. I ordered from them a few years ago for a HP D7160 printer and got it quickly with no hassle. I have use HP printers all my life except once and regret the day I did.  
 
They had some promotion going for ink and you know ink cost more than oil and gold. I quickly ordered mine through HP.com (spent $184) and received free shipping along with $40 gift cards towards my next ink purchase. Can't beat that. I received it soo quickly, I was caught off guard.

I received the HP desktop PC unit broken. It took over one month and several e-mails and phone calls with a manager. Who was trying to force me to accept the product. HP does not listen to the  
customer. I would like to warn everyone that you are taking a risk doing business with HP. It has been nothing more then the biggest hassle I have had with any company ever. The cust. service managers will call and harass you even when you plead with them not to call any longer. I even contacted the corporate office and they just put me back to the the same guy that wasn't helping me to begin with. BEWARE BIG COMPANY LITTLE CUSTOMER SERVICE STAY CLEAR

I purchased a laptop (dv9548us) from Circuit City in July 2007. In July 2009 my graphics chip failed due to a known manufacturing defect involving the lead solder connection (I won't get too technical). Having determined that it was the gpu that was the problem I discovered, to my absolute horror, that there are literally thousands of hp customers with the same problem. I contacted hp with the thought that, as it is a manufacturing defect, surely they will be assisting all their customers who have this issue - WRONG! hp refuse to do anything. Sony have just announced that they will extend the warranties of their customers for 4 years in order to address this problem. hp extended the warranty for one year, on a limited range of systems, and didn't actually bother to inform their registered customers that there was any issue.  
 
I would recommend that everyone avoid hp at all costs, once they have your hard earned money, they don't care anymore.  
 
It really is a case of BUYER BEWARE!

I bought a customized HP from Costco last April 2008 & the motherboard went out in July of this year. Computers should last 3 to 4 years with no serious problems, but I had bought from Costco so I thought, "No problem, I'll have it serviced under the 2 year warranty." I got a dose of reality. You are on your own after the 90 day return guarantee. What happened is I contacted Costco's Concierge services & spoke with a "technician" for about 1.5 hours, who was clearly just reading a list of things to do. Nice person, he just didn't know much about computers. Finally, he said he could get a case number and have a box sent from the warranty company (the warranty company isn't Costco, it's a third party contractor). The return box arrived and it was too small, so I called and they informed me the computer I had bought from Costco wasn't the one in their records, they claimed the computer sent to me was a slimline (what a load of "carp"). I had my packing slip clearly stating it was an A6460t, and my receipt. After dealing with a number of other people the last person said they wouldn't honor the warranty, because there was no proof I bought the computer from Costco. Wouldn't you like to hear THAT from someone that's supposed to be providing service? I took the computer to my local Costco & spoke with three people, finally ending up with someone claiming to be a manager. I had explained the warranty refusal, shown them my proofs of purchase and the computer with matching model and serial numbers. They pointed to the 90 day return policy and refused to take the computer back. I pointed to the 2 year warranty, the accusing attitude of Costco's service company representative, their refusal to honor the 2 year warranty and asked for a return. They refused, gave me another case number, and told me to go through the process again...a "mistake" had been made, so they said. The mistake was mine, I bought a computer from Costco...buyer beware. After 90 days you are on your own, the run around begins. I'm now looking at a month or more to get my HP computer serviced, having to send it half-way across the country to a third party service provider that's proven to be untrustworthy. I'll continue buying from Costco, but never again a computer. The one star is for their cheaply built computers and service. I depend on my computers to run my business, but cannot depend on Costco to support my business critical systems. I will never buy another HP computer.

I OFFER TO BECOME PRESIDENT OF THE "I HATE HP" CLUB!!  
 
I bought a printer from HP online in October 2008. I received the printer broken. I called to have it replaced, and after waiting 2 weeks for the replacement I decided to follow up, and that is where the lack of customer service began. They told me that it would be another 3 weeks. They said they could not expedite the shipping of the product any quicker, and that was all they could offer. I told them then to forget it, cancel the order, return my money, and send me a mail slip to send the unit back. And this was after going through 10 different departments and none of who speak any English.  
 
They never sent anything to send the printer back, and after the charge hit the credit card statement came and the credit was not on there, we called our credit card company and filed a dispute. It took the credit card company a couple of months of going back and forth. Then about 3 weeks ago, 8 months after I ordered the printer and Case Manager, Roland, called and told me to keep the printer, throw it away, they didn't care, but they would issue a credit on our credit card.  
 
After the credit didn't appear again, I called HP back and asked them what was going on. Their first response was they would give me $30 less than what we paid for it, I said no, I want the entire amount. Five minutes later he said that all he could give me was 50%. They said its because I waited too long, which I guess 2 weeks is too long, but of course their internal notes show that I never called. Then they said it was my mistake for going to the wrong division. I have spent hours arguing; now I have decided to waste my time ruining their reputation.  
 
The final straw was that I finally agreed to the 50% and they now want me to send the printer back to them!!! First I thought it was bad that they wanted me to pay them $96.00 for a broken printer, but no, THEY WANT THE PRINTER BACK TOO~!!!! So they want me to spend $96 for NOTHING!!!! Because of their neglect and stupidity this multi million dollar company would rather take money from poor me and my broken printer.  

I regrettably need to add to the crowd very displeased with HP Customer Service. I purchased a HP Wireless G Print Server so that I could print wirelessly from several computers without each having to plug in. The device worked great at first but then would intermittently fail. If I take the power cord and force it harder into the Server things would work... so there is a bad connection to the power supply somewhere in the unit. I call HP and they send me to printer help and ask me for the model and SN# of my printer. I ask why that matters since this is not a printer problem. They keep asking and when I mention I could use a different printer they ask for the model and SN# of that printer. Then they tell me their computers are down and need to call me back in 15 minutes. They don't. I call back the next day... what are the model and SN# of your printer? After I give this they say that I need to speak with printer support. I say why as this is not a problem with the printer. They repeat and I respond that I will probably have better luck with them so go ahead and refer me... only to find out the office is closed and I need to call back tomorrow. So I try e-mailing them. They ask what is the model and SN# of my printer. I respond that I don't know why they need this but go ahead and give it to them anyway. No response.  
It is clear to me that the Customer Service is in some foreign country and that they all are following the same sheet with steps on it. No one is thinking and the best response to a problem is to disconnect or ignore it. And this is the abbreviated version.  
I like HP products but this is the worst tech support I have ever encountered.  
 
Update: I tried HP's e-mail tech support and after e-mail them every day for a week I finally got a response... believe it or not IN FRENCH! Now I get spam from HP every day.  
 
My advice if you find yourself in my shoes is to contact your credit card company and ask them to file a dispute. If they accept, this process can work. This is my next step.

This review was modified by its author, ostromn, on 7/12/09 5:10 AM.

Been going on 6 weeks now trying to resolve two separate issues. After doing the basic troubleshooting, where the tech person you speak/email with just goes over the same info available online, they finally agreed to replace two parts. They say they will contact me to set up the replacement. They claim they would contact me within 48 hours to set up replacement. It's been 2.5 weeks now. Every time I write back about it, they apologize, have me go through troubleshooting again, then agree to replace. Cycle repeats. Problems have been going on for a total of over 6 weeks now (the 2.5 weeks is simply the amount of time since they agreed to replace, 6 weeks is total troubleshooting) with no resolution.  
 
So, like many of the other reviews here, I say the customer service/technical support is horrible, perhaps the worst of any corporation, including the likes of cell phone carriers, which are notoriously horrible.

HP customer support is the most inadequate, disrespectful, waste of time I have ever experienced in my life!  
 
Nearly a month of emails, phone calls, and online chatting and I still have not received recovery discs that I had to order and pay for.  
 
Don't buy HP or Compaq. Read the company reviews and you'll see that HP/Compaq policies are to get customer's money and then do nothing!!  
 
HP/Compaq is one of the worst companies that I've ever dealt with in my entire life!!!

Worst Laptop I have Ever owned. Worst customer service. Refused to fix a known defect:  
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01611512  
 
Refused to fix because I am serving my country overseas and support is only available to those in the US. This defect caused the other hinge to break so now monitor will not support its own weight.  
 
Additional problems include:  
 
1) CMOS Battery has not operated since 6 months of owning the laptop.  
2) Speakers Intermittent Functionality  
3) Power Issues - Cannot power off the laptop unless the power cord is disconnected - if power cord is connected laptop will restart over and over again.  
 
Now laptop has completely failed. Will attempt to boot to windows and go to a black screen.  
 
Attempted to resolve the problem through Customer Service. Two E-mail ignored. 6 Phone calls hung up on or transferred to the wrong extension. I AM OVERSEAS I DO NOT HAVE TIME TO CALL HP EVERYDAY.  
 

Hewlett Packard is the best place to shop for computer hardware in the world (meaning laptops and if the case arises desktop computers). The whole Hewlett Packard experience is hassle free.

Good company, got plenty of ink on sale!!