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Not happy with HP's seven day return policy

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Mid December, I went on to the HP online store to buy an HP digital camera case as a Christmas present for my daughter.  It came and on Christmas day when she opened her present we discovered that I had ordered the wrong one.

After the festivities were over I phoned up their customer service line to arrange a return and to purchase the correct one and was advised that I had to return the product within seven days.  By now of course the seven days had already passed so this was not possible.  Really helpful!

I then decided to complain online to their CEO and finally got a standard reply from someone in the UK repeating their seven-day return policy.  Again, this was less than helpful.

HP digital camera, bought the wrong case for it. First of all it is certainly not blatantly clear on their web site that Hewlett Packard operate this seven-day return policy, at least at the time of writing that was the case.  Furthermore I would say that this policy would put Hewlett Packard at a disadvantage against other online or offline retailers, all of whom are more flexible with their respective returns policies as far as I can see.

Secondly, on this basis I personally would never buy a Christmas present from HP online, as I find it extremely difficult to return an inappropriate present within 7 days due to public holidays etc. and potential problems with the post.

I shall not be buying anything again from HP online

To repeat woodenly, their unhelpful policy serves only to show how unresponsive and unaware of customer needs Hewlett Packard appear to be.  I shall not be buying anything again from HP online and I certainly would hesitate to recommend them to friends in the future.

By the way, does anyone want a HP camera case?


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Davetee

Davetee

After 16 days I'm still waiting for my card to be refunded for goods that I cancelled, depsite promises in emails and phone calls. Was told item was on the way when they didn't even have it in stock despite, being told over the phone that it was in stock. The worst company I've ever dealt with.
27/10/09 Davetee
-5
tony blair

tony blair

my camera wont flash when taking pictue its a photosmart m447 anyone no where I can get it fixed tony
13/10/09 tony blair
3
HP - bad policy on cancellatio

HP - bad policy on cancellatio

I just ordered a HP notebook online and found that I could get a better deal at Dell. I called HP to cancel my order which was appox. 18 hours old and was told no cancellations allowed. I was informed that I can return it once it is shipped in two weeks. I could not imagine that a company can refuse to cancel an order before it is even built or shipped to the consumer. In effect, I am supposed to pay their fee of $49.00 for shipping it to me and pay another shipping fee to return it. Absurd! HP cannot expect to gain customers by holding them hostage. I will pay the price to ship and return the item on principle alone. I will also go to COSTCO and buy a slightly better model at a higher price for the excellent customer service you can depend on. Lesson learned.
03/04/09 HP - bad policy on cancellatio
-5
MikeP

MikeP

I went to a steak house and ordered a steak. I ate it, and the next day I realised I was a vegetarian and had made a big mistake, so I went to the steak house and asked for my money back. They kept me waiting for a long time before they said I couldn't have my money back.

It didn't say anywhere on the menu that if you've ordered and eaten your meal you can't have your money back if you made a mistake, and the waiter didn't point this out to me either when I order my meal, nor when he served it.

They refused, so I went to Trading Standards, the Department of Health, my MP, my MEP, wrote to the Prime Minister, and sent letters to the press. I will never deal with this restaurant again.

Stupid or what?

About as stupid as the original gripe.

"If you ordered the wrong one then it is totally your own fault. Deal with it.
ciaran 01-Feb-2009 17:29 "

EXACTLY !
01/02/09 MikeP
5
ciaran

ciaran

If you ordered the wrong one then it is totally your own fault. Deal with it.
01/02/09 ciaran
0
Anthony Hill

Anthony Hill

Four weeks ago the HP technical dept agreed that my HP MEDIA SMART SERVER had developed a fault and needed to be replaced. I was told I would be contacted to arrange a pickup but I heard nothing so I decided to be proactive.

Over the last 2 days I have spent nearly 4 hours on the phone (at 8p per minute) trying to arrange the return of the server. I was continually passed to the "right person" who never was the "right person". I was cut off on 3 occasions whilst the issue was being passed on (once after 40 minutes of slow progress). The reference number I was originally given meant nothing to most of the people I talked to (though it did to some). I was continually asked to describe the technical problem again and again even though this was all dealt with 4 weeks previously.

Despite losing the will to live I persevered and on contacting the complaints dept (not sure if it really was the complaints dept) I was given a repair reference number and a phone number to call to arrange the pick up. Feeling I had got somewhere I called the phone number given only to find that the number was unobtainable (I had even read the number back to the person when it was given it to me).

This is without doubt the worst experience I have ever had when dealing with a support centre. It has cost me a lot of time and wasted a lot of my money; though I did have the opportunity to listen to Frank Sinatra, et al.

The irony is that I was told that when (if) I do get through to arrange the pick up HP do not have any of these items in stock to replace my faulty one. Perhaps my mistreatment had a conspirital purpose after all.
08/04/08 Anthony Hill
5
jon lowther

jon lowther

By the way, if anyone is interested, the phone number for the UK repair centre is 01925 260060
01/02/08 jon lowther
0
jon lowther

jon lowther

I bought a high end laptop from hp last feb27th. Everything was ok till sept and it started freezing. Sent it back to hp and they repaired it in a week and a bit, well within their 10 working day policy. 10 days before xmas 2007 it started doing the same thing, same fault. Sent it back again, all they did was reload the original operating system and sent it to me as ok. 7 HOURS after receiving it back, THE SAME THING HAPPENED. Sent it back AGAIN and went berserk at them over the phone. They have now had it for almost 4 weeks, 10 working days OVER their repair policy schedule. They say the fault is overheating and are now apparently replacing the cpu, heatsink and hdmi graphics board. All they do is keep bleating on about not being able to get hold of the part it needs. A company the size of hp, I can't believe that. The model is PAVILLION DV9233. Does anyone else have one of these white elephants, or had any problems with one?
01/02/08 jon lowther
-9
frog

frog

I bought a digital R727 camera. It locked up after 16 months. Trying to find a local diagnostic/repair centre is harder than trying to find Bin Laden. I spoke to a clown who after asking me every detail (in broken english) then put me on hold and after 4 minutes transferred me to a technician . Well, I say tranferred, however, after listening to Barry White for 4 minutes (at 60p a bloody minute) I had had enough and gave up.
04/01/08 frog
24
Stavers

Stavers

I bought a Deskjet 6980 about a year ago which HP claims will print 5,000 prints a month for 12 months - so 60k in a year. Mine has been used very little (as I have another printer for b/w) & has broken mechanically after about 60 (that's right - sixty) pages have been printed and HP now refuse to do anything about it since I can't prove when & where I bought it. The bloke on the phone was less than useless as he kept repeating the same thing over & over, and in the end effectively said that the printer was absolutely rubbish. He also said that it broke becuase it hadn't been used (trying getting your head round that one!).
I've had similar issues with an expensive HP scanner which they refused to help with. Unfortunately just before this I bought a full computer from them so I'm now just sat waiting for that to go up in smoke taking all my company files with it!!
21/12/07 Stavers
4
Jim

Jim

OK I spent £800 on a new laptop webcam didnt work properly from day one its been back 3 times for repair now and yes they are pretty grim to deal with, will pass you from one dept to the other to India and back again goes on for hours at times. Many companies like this are equally bad customer service now is just a set routine they go thru whilst actually doing nothing. Hp useless doesnt matter how polite you are!
29/10/07 Jim
6
Grelco

Grelco

I stupidly placed an order with HP France for Ink cartridges. They did not arrive. I tried to contact their service department which did not answer for the first (I've forgotten how many times) and the line cut off. Eventually I did get through to someone who was about as helpful and courteous as brick wall and passed me through to another department. Guess what! The line eventually stopped ringing and went dead. This procedure was repeated three times. Eventually I sent them a fax a told them cancel the order.

Never Never again will I deal with HP.
03/10/07 Grelco
19
Aiden

Aiden

The worst is that you try and order from HP and it doesn't accept the order, speak to each of the morons, get transfered 5 times.

I think I will stick with Dell
09/08/07 Aiden
-2
IHateHP

IHateHP

Bought HP laptop. Design flaw makes keyboard imprint onto screen. Has been to repair department 3 times now. HP will not refund. Very angry! In one of the companies I work for I know the IT Coordinator very well. When he heard my tale and review my details (he and I are buds (buddies)), he decided to see what the competitors of HP offered. Discovered Dell sells better (on paper) color laser than HP produces at cheaper price. Based on my experience with HP our company purchased three of these printers as a test run. HP laptops have been taken off the purchase options as well. Based on my experience and the UNENDING websites where people have been complaining, our company looks to be HP free in all future purchases.
Is HP the next Gateway? Or even worse? Gateway just had production problems. HP seems to actually make their customers (soon to be "ex-") angry!
I'll never buy HP again!
30/06/07 IHateHP
-3
Arno

Arno

In general, for things bought at retail premises, if a product is not faulty the retailer has no obligation to refund you because you changed your mind, or you bought the wrong one. Some retailers will change things if they are returned "as new" and "unopened".

However, things that you buy online, and by mail order, in the UK are covered by the Distance Selling Regulations and there, because you may not have seen the products for real before buying them, you ARE given seven days to reject them.

After that time, the retailer has no obligation to refund or replace something that is down to your error. As ever, faulty products are covered by the manufacturers warranty without affecting your rights.
10/04/07 Arno
3

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