here we go again...
Published on August 9, 2007 By straniera In Misc
About a month ago our printer broke. The power light and the color copy button just kept blinking and it wouldn’t let me print or copy. My brother, who is great with computers and works tech support, was here so he tried to give me a hand. He was stumped so he helped me go online to seek support from the HP website.

We were pleased to discover that they have an online chat feature. I know some about computers and my brother was there so I was sure we could effectively communicate the problem. We launched in with high hopes. As the conversation continued we started to get confused. We kept getting responses like:

“Thank you for that information.”
“I appreciate your help.”

These may not seem that strange, but they were slightly akward in the conversation. I wish I had saved it so I could share it with you here. Both my brother and I were a little confused and discussed different possibilties: we were talking to a computer, it was an automated system, it was a real person but they had some automated responses so they didn’t have to type so much…

The tech eventually diagnosed it as a hardware problem and told me that since it was in waranty we could have it replaced for free. They would send me a brand new refurbished printer. I had to talk with someone on the phone to confirm the information. A few minutes later someone called me…we had a very interesting conversation where he mispronounced everything and I spelled everything to make sure he got it right. It was obvious that English was not his first language.

Our printer arrived a few days later and we promptly sent the old one back. We have had the new one a few weeks, but haven’t used it much. Today I started printing stuff out for some job applications. I printed something, detached the laptop, walked into the other room, remembered I needed to print something else and walked back. The “on” button was blinking, rapidly, in a way I have never seen it do before. I worked with it for a little while until I was so frustrated I wanted to throw it across the room!

Later I decided to try the online chat thing again. I gave as much information as possible and explained what I had already tried to fix the problem.

“Thank you for your effort”
“I appreciate the information”

Then he proceeded to tell me to try all the things I had already done! At one point he said,

“I appreciate what you have done”
And I waited for him to tell me what to try next. Five minutes later I sent back the nice message

“And I appreciate that you are busy, but it is very frustrating to get automated responses and then wait for more than five minutes to get some real help.”

Eventually, he once again diagnosed it as a hardware failure and told me he would replace it. No, not again! I didn’t really feel like “he” had properly understood the problem and therefore couldn’t properly diagnose it.

We researched the possibility of taking it in to get looked at, but everywhere we called said they would just have to send it off. SO, I finally gave in, but this time I CALLED HP so I could talk to someone and make sure they really understood. Once again the person I talked was not a native English speaker. However, he was really good. He was very patient with me and I tried to be just as patient with him. I explained everything that we had already tried, and he proceeded to ask me to try everything again! I humored him. We did it all again and in the end he was sure it was a hardware problem.

I promise you guys I was very patient. I wanted to scream and jump up and down. How could I have to have my printer replace twice in the course of a month! But I tried to contain my anger because I knew it wasn’t this guys fault. Eventually he put me on with his supervisor, who was also very nice. Ultimately it was decided that the printer had to be replaced. So, here we go again…

Comments
on Aug 09, 2007
I love that about tech support. They pretty much HAVE to do certain steps, probably because it weeds out about 95% of their calls that are really people who don't know an LED from lead. "Oh, you have to plug it in, I see now" kind of calls.

I had a call once where I told her I had just gone through the self-diagnostic process and she proceeded to lead me through the exact same steps. What, did she think I did it wrong? How's her leading me through steps I already did going to help? If she was there, then she could do the steps herself, and make sure they were right... but if I was doing it wrong, how would it help to have me do it wrong again? Bah!

Good luck with your new printer. I hope it does not fail.
on Aug 09, 2007
If she was there, then she could do the steps herself, and make sure they were right... but if I was doing it wrong, how would it help to have me do it wrong again? Bah!


Exactly!They have pages and pages of self help stuff on the website which I perused and tried several suggestions, but they kept making me do that stuff over again. That is why I really wanted to take it in somewhere. I had this sneaking suspicion that it was something simple that someone could point out to me, show me how to fix and we would be on our way. I really wanted to know if I had done something to cause the problem, but of course since they couldn't figure out what the problem is, they couldn't tell me. And I'm sure the tech who works on it (in Mexico or wherever they are!) isn't going to call to explain it to me!
on Aug 09, 2007
It does not speak highly of that model printer that it would happen twice in that short a period of time.  If it is a real new model (like it just came out), chances are it is a software gliche, and they will get it right in time.  Hopefully with the next one you get.
on Aug 09, 2007
They screen out the 999 average idiots who call every hour who need this sort of hand-holding! They are the GATEKEEPERS, you see, sparing that single big-buck geek the utter indignity of having to talk to them, hahah


I realize that, which is why I tried to be so patient. But after I went through the first guy and explained everything we had already done to the second guy I thought surely...

I got a case number this time so hopefully things will go smoother next time. Actually hopefully there won't be a next time!

It does not speak highly of that model printer that it would happen twice in that short a period of time. If it is a real new model (like it just came out), chances are it is a software gliche, and they will get it right in time. Hopefully with the next one you get.


It isn't that new of a model. And I actually might have figured out what was wrong with the first one if they had just listened to me. I wish I would have just trusted my instincts instead of getting a "new" one. We have the most recent replacement and so far it's working. We'll see...