Tv buying nightmare
I purchased a TV last fri night. After being ingnored and walked by numerous times my girlfriend finally got someone to help us. The guy we ordered from was really helpful, more on that later though. We were promised a tuesday delivery date the following week. Mon comes and my girlfriend has taken the day out of work for tues in prep for delivery. Mon comes and almost goes and we have gotten no call for window to deliver. So I call the 1800 bestbuy number. On hold for 35m while they try to figure out whats going on. End of the call they tell me to call the store where I purchased to see if they can do anything because 1800 bestbuy cant do a thing to help me out. This is where the story gets good. Call the store and ask for the "helpful" guy I bought the tv from. He tells me hold on Im going to talk to the manger to straighten this out. Confident he will I hold....and hold....and hold.... 50min later while all the time Im listening to the goings on in the background as he put the phone down to go speak to a manger. I get another call and have to hang up. Call best buy back to find out what the hell is going on and ask for, remember that helpful guy? Yes, he went home about half hour ago Im told. Really? Can this experience get any better? About the only redeeming factor to this point was the fact the manger refunded me back some of my money to the last sale price of the tv. So this leaves me now with no tv for a New Years party and a changed delivery date for fri. But the story isnt over yet. Just got an email last night they are moving the date again to next monday. Really? Almost a week and a half to get a tv? I called Amazon yesterday and If I ordered that same tv last night I would have gotten it monday as well. If I would have purchased it last friday I would have had it already. What I can remember I have purchased from BB since I was first married in 04. 3 tvs (including this one) all over $1000. 2 home entertainment systems. 2 laptops, 1 desktop, xbox360 and numerous games and accessories, 2 digital cameras sony, 4 galaxy phones, galaxy 2 and galaxy 5. And a while bunch of other accesories and addons I cant remember. I dont get this tv monday order is being canceled and Im ordering it through amazon. Best buy has lost a customer for sure on this one. Worst buying experience ever in buying anything. Buying a car is easier than this.
Hello Darren1977,
Welcome to the forum. One of my favorite things to do on New Year's day is relax on my couch, watch old movies, and eat leftovers. I'm very disappointed to read about your experience with the delivery of your new TV, and I'm very sorry you could not have it in time for the New Year holiday.
Using the e-mail you registered on the forum, I was able to view your purchase history, and it seems there was a exchange performed, and the TV is ready for pick up at the store. Did you request a change in shipping method? Please let me know if I can provide any further assistance. I do appreciate you taking the time to post here on the forum, and I assure I will be documenting your comments for review. We clearly missed an opportunity to offer you, our loyal customer, stellar service, and for that I sincerely apologize.
Once again, thank you for visiting the forum, and please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maria|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message
Similar Messages
-
Buying new appliances has been a nightmare
I'm writing to bring your attention to the unfortunate experience I had with multiple portions of your organization. I recently moved into my new condo after getting married, and my wife and I decided to upgrade our appliances to stainless steel. It started as a rather exciting experience, comparing models, price shopping, learning what features we want / need, but it quickly turned into a nightmare. We decided to go with some whirlpool appliances, but unfortunately Best Buy didn't carry the dishwasher we wanted ( we found it at Home Depot ). It was no big deal really, we still wanted to get our refrigerator and range from Best Buy because we had only had positive experiences in the past and the associate in the store assured us that installation and delivery were included. So, the day finally comes, we are going to pull the trigger on the appliances, but we notice that the range we wanted comes in two different colors ( black and silver )[ Whirlpool WFE540H0ES ]. We both decided the silver was a nicer / cleaner look. After some investigation we realize that when you change the color it actually takes you to a different (more expensive) model range [ Whirlpool WFE715H0ES ]. I will admit they are very similar and the only real difference is the color of the top panel and the more expensive one has a warming drawer. We didn't want a warming drawer, so we called to clarify that the range wasn't available in silver ( at the original listed price ) without a warming drawer. This phone call didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. I will be the first to admit that listing the two models together isn't very far fetched given their similarities, but I don't appreciate being talked down to because I need clarification about something listed on the website. After we decided that we still wanted the range and refrigerator, I added them to my cart online, opted for extended protection on the fridge, and bought a new cable for the electric range. Go to checkout and boom, stuck at checkout. Try multiple times with multiple browsers, both signed in and not signed in. For someone who deals with so much technology this seemed so odd to me. I honestly was convinced that it was somehow my fault and that my computer was messed up, but my wife decided to call and order over the phone where we were told that is was a problem on your end, "the system was down" every phone call that my wife has had thus far the system has been down or working slowly. We scheduled the delivery for Monday July 6th, and we were told we would get a call the day before with some more info about the delivery. We received a call but it didn't really have any more information about the delivery. We called and asked for the "time window", 9:30 - 11:30am. Monday rolls around and they miss the window and don't arrive until 11:40 ( no big deal, we're excited to get our new appliances, 10 minutes isn't bad ). They start moving the refrigerator into the kitchen, but at the expense of my walls, newly painted I might add ( pictures attached ). After finally getting it into the kitchen, the delivery men refuse to hook up the refrigerator or move the old refrigerator ( asked specifically about this, moving the old appliance to the garage was included ). The waterline behind the refrigerator does not have its own shutoff valve, so my wife turned off the master water line, but still they won't unhook the old refrigerator. After finally giving up and deciding that they aren't going to install the refrigerator, my wife gets pressured into signing the document without reading it. Shortly after I arrive home from work, we both notice some large noticeable scratches on one of the doors. I woke up early before work the next morning and installed the refrigerator myself, and we moved the old one out of my kitchen but not all the way to the garage ( I don't have a dolly ). After this poor experience my wife got on the phone and tried to get the door with scratches replaced. This phone called seemed to go perfectly. We were offered a $250 gift card or a replacement door for the refrigerator. All we wanted was a shiny new fridge, so we asked for the door to be replaced. She even helped us set up an appointment to get the old fridge moved to the garage. Unfortunately, near the end of the call, she explained that the "system" was running slow and that she couldn't get us a replacement door. She assured us that she made notes of what were to happen and emailed all the appropriate parties. A day passes and we don't hear anything, so my wife calls again. The first person answers the phone and decides to hang up on her. After waiting on hold twice, she gets through and asks about what steps need to be taken to get a new fridge door. After acknowledging that we were to get a new refrigerator we were just deflected to whirlpool. Given a phone # to call and get a new door directly from whirlpool, but we could have done that from the start. Best Buy offered us a new door, I was expecting a new door, not a phone number to call to find the fridge door myself. This whole experience ( which still isn't over ) has been horribly stressful and frustrating.I've always loved Best Buy, I've always recommended it, and I really don't want to run into this experience ever again. Picture can be found here - http://1drv.ms/1KQ87bM
Hello aaboyd-
My wife and I shopped for a new washer and dryer about a year ago, and I share with you that same excitement of looking through models and anticipating the delivery of the appliances. I’m truly sorry to hear that what started out with such promise ended up becoming a disappointing delivery experience with us.
Our basic delivery would normally include hook up to an existing waterline, assuming that a shut off valve was present at the waterline, so the delivery team would not have completed that work. I’m glad to hear that you were able to do so after the fact, but our delivery team should have moved your fridge to the garage as part of your recycle/haulaway service. Did they give any reason as to why they wouldn’t do this?
I’m sorry to hear that some damage was done to your paint and walls; I understand that our phone agents gave you the number to contact for Gallagher/Bassett; however, they will most likely instruct you to contact the delivery company directly to submit a claim, as they have insurance to cover these damages. I would recommend having an estimate for the damage already available as this should save you some time.
From what I can see, it looks like we had a team back out to your home on 7/9, later in the afternoon. Has everything been resolved at this point with moving the old fridge and replacing your new fridge or fridge door? Please let me know if you still need assistance, in the meantime, I have fully documented this experience for our delivery team leadership so that they have the opportunity to review this with the third party delivery company.
Thanks for posting! -
I have an ipad2, they offered ios6, NIGHTMARE! Nothing works well anymore! Youtube disappeared, a dumb useless clock appeared, navigation is slow... I have 64gb... I'll have to buy samsung?! *****
Posts are not useless, as the money spent on the
Ipad... Many people are complaing, I even saw it on the news today. these Posts reveal apple is in trouble. Posts.
They represent something is wrong with what was meant to be the best product. Many friends regret having the ios6. How can We recover the older version?
Thanks a lot for the answer
I'm about to buy a phone... Now I consider not buying apple...
Well, does anybody knows how to go back and get rid of ios6? I'm greatfull grapefruit. -
I am going to preface this post by stating that I am an elite plus member. If I could take everything I ever purchased at best buy and trade it for a bucket of peanuts, I would. If that meant they would not get any of my money.
A month ago, I purchased a Samsung Steam Washer and Dryer. We had it scheduled to be installed and delivered on me and my girlfriend's off day. Awesome!!! We actually even moved in our move in date up, so we could have the washer and dryer delivered and installed. Yay!
Oh no, wait....some dumb best buy employee decided to cancel the order, and nobody ever even called us. There we are twiddling our thumbs waiting for a call to tell us that they are delivering our W&D I paid almost $1000 for! Nothing, crickets, silence. We called your wonderful customer service team in India to find out that, as I stated previously, our order was cancelled for no reason and we would have to take time off of work in order to be there for the rescheduled delivery on Friday. You put a bandaid on our severed limb by giving us a gift card. Awesome, no seriously, awesome, who would ever think, a gift card that is supposed to make something right would lead to more headache and turmoil.
Took said giftcard to best buy to buy my girlfriend a phone case, and myself one too! However the selection was so limited, I decided to not get one of the beautiful pink cases you offered. Girlfriend happy though, minor victory.
A few days later I discovered that roku now carried showtime. Hooray I thought, I can now use the remainder of my gift card and the paypal balance that has been sitting there for a while to get this majestic streaming device. In stock at my local store? Say no more, I was on my way. I get to the store, ask the nice security camera man standing at the frony where the roku players are. He kindly replies "in the back". After a brief hunt through the back of the store I finally find it. Go to one of your local terminals, add to my cart for store pickup, enter gift card number and code....click on checkout with paypal, and voila! ERROR ERROR ERROR!! Uable to go to the paypal page.
This has to be some mistake. I go to the front to speak with a manager to see if there is something he can do. I explain the situation and he tells me. "yeah lots of retailers use paypal now" Well no shat sherlock, I try to explain again and he just tells me to try a different computer.
A bit dramatic of a post, absolutely, I am just so livid and fed up with your company that I just refuse to do business there anymore. I cannot wait for the day that all shopping is done online so amazon can finally put your butt out of business.Dear rmpagejr3,
Thank you so much for being an Elite Plus member and I’m sorry the poor experiences you have had recently have left you questioning your future business with us! I can understand why you would be upset after having an ideal situation for the initial delivery of your new Samsung washer/dryer set.
I am glad to hear that you were given a gift card for the confusion with your order cancellation. We try to offer as many choices for customers as possible, between our store and online assortment through BestBuy.com. We even carry stuff on BestBuy.com that is provided by our Marketplace vendors to expand your options when shopping on our site. It is definitely true, however, that there are many more cases for some phones than others.
I apologize that you weren’t offered further assistance when you were trying to order your Roku in store. Did you ever end up successfully placing an order for it? If not, I would be more than happy to help you get that so you can enjoy your Showtime shows! Also, I’ve never tried using PayPal in our stores, but I will inquire on whether or not this was an isolated issue for you.
I’m currently looking into why your order was cancelled and I will be following up with the store to ensure that we are properly communicating any changes being made in these situations! Were you able to get the order rescheduled and delivered without any further issues? Please let me know if anything is still unresolved as I am here to help!
Warmly,
JD|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message -
Best buy price match nightmare
I placed an order online for in store pick up. A few days later the item went on sale on best buy.com. I am still within the return policy/ price adjustment time frame. The item was for the special edition ps4 white "bundle". It is the special edition that Sony released and was available at all retailers. It called and asked for a price adjustment since it was exactly the same item that I placed. Same SKU and not one of those longer SKU that best buy has for their bundles(ex. When you buy a camera with an additional lenses it has a super long SKU number). I called best buy for the price adjustment and the customer service rep checked it on the best buy website and found the sale price of 349.99. She said it would take 24 hours to process. I waited a week and saw no credit back to my best buy card. Today I decided to call and a supervisor told me it was rejected because it was a bundle. She states that the price guarantee prohibits the adjustment of bundles. I tried to explain that this item isn't necessary a bundle as it already comes with the game inside the system. These are how all game systems are lately. Wii u comes with Mario world and Nintendo land together, Xbox one has assassin creed and ps4 had the destiny. I have a case number which I can give if it helps but I would like someone to look into this issue please. I have a best buy card, elite plus status but after this I may be considering taking my business elsewhere.
Hello angryconsumer17,
Welcome to the forum, and thank you for being a loyal Best Buy Elite Plus member. Our Price Match Guarantee is a great way to ensure you'll always be protected in case the price of your product goes down a few days later. I'm very sorry if you were first told that your PS4 White bundle would qualify for the price match, and had to call to inquire the status only to find out it was denied. I can understand that would be upsetting, and I would be happy to look into this.
Using the e-mail you registered on the forum, I was unable to locate your information or the order. I would appreciate it very much if you could send me a private message with your name, phone number we have on file for you, the case number you were given, order number, and e-mail address. To send me a private message simply click to the right of my signature below. I also assure you I will be documenting your experience for internal review. As you were informed, per the terms and conditions of our Price Match Guarantee, there are some conditions that must be met in order to qualify, but this should have been communicated to you from the first time you called to request the price match.
Again, I truly apologize for any poor service you have received, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Maria|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message -
X300 Order Nightmares, Worst Buying Experience Ever In My Entire Life!!
Hi,
So I am here writing to rant and also seeking assistance in this matter. I have been trying to purchase a X300 for myself for the past week and half only to have my order cancelled one after another. It started when I placed an order on 01/13/2009 and paid via my Paypal account. I had the Paypal account for over 8 years and have confirmed shipping address on file. On the 19th, I received an email telling me that my order was cancelled because Lenovo could not verify the funds. I called Lenovo immediately and the rep (A very rude guy with broken English) told me that my accoutn was identified as fraud... I was outragious at the time but immediately called Paypal. I was then told by Paypal that everthing was fine and that Lenovo still in fact has a pending hold authorization on the account. I called back Lenovo and was basically told that they don't care and if I am interested, place another order!
Since I really wanted the X300, I did place another order using my AMEX card. To make sure things will be okay, i called AMMEX to make sure that the transaction will go through if presented. I then called Lenovo to have them note the account to call me if there is an issues. After did all that, I received an email a day after saying the order was cancelled AGAIN!! Obviously, I immediately called back and asked to be transferred to a supervisor. The guy I end up spoken to then told me that everything has been cleared and you can now go place another order. I then did that only to find out that my account has been flagged and blocked!!! The guy must be on crack or something! I then called Lenovo (while trying very hard to be cool) and asked to be transferred to a supervisor again. After about 15 min hold time, a lady got on the phone and I immediately told her the whole story. The lady, who has a tone of "I don't give it a frack" told me that the credit card was declined and there was nothing they can do. I then told her that checked with Ammex and my account is in good standing with more than sufficient credit and and that THERE WAS NO TRANSACTION BEING PRESENTED BY LENOVO!! How would they know if the card is bad if they didn't even run it??!!! She then placed me on hold for another 10 minutes and then told me that the problem is happening because i was buying the laptop through the Contractor site (I do work for a company that has access to corporate discount). She told me that if i placed my order through the regular site it will go through for sure.
Okay, so here I am, being a sucker for the Thinkpad, placed another order through the regular lenovo site with a new user id (as the rep has suggested). That was yesterday... so guess what happend today??!! I got another email again today telling me the order is cancelled.
So to cut down the really long story short, I have been trying to get the X300 for a week and half. Being accused multiple time that my payment method are bad (They are not!!!!!!!) and had my account blocked. I had a total of 4 orders cancelled and I feel like I am jumping through hoops just so I can give them my money and beg the folks at Lenovo to give me a laptop... This whole experience has been extremely frustrating and insulting. Almost everyone I spoke to at the company have been non-helping and rude. What I can't get is that how a company like Lenovo, which apparantly don't know anything about customer service, can do business here is the US?
It is just sad that how Thinkpad has fallen to the hand of this company....
Message Edited by Shihx79 on 01-22-2009 01:28 PM
Message Edited by Shihx79 on 01-22-2009 01:29 PM
Note from Moderator: Please don't post the same message in multiple boards/threads as it splinters the discussion. Duplicate(s) removed.
Message Edited by JaneL on 01-22-2009 06:29 PMHi Mark,
Thank you so much for looking into this. So far I have called into customer service multiple times trying to get this resolved. I kept being transferred to a sales aget who keep telling me everything is fine now go ahead and placed another order. I even got one rep emailed me after the conversation asking me to put down his sales rep id so he can supposedly "track" my order. The order I placed on the 13th (2D9FRE), paid via Paypal was cancelled because it was said to be a fraudulent account. I then confirmed with Paypal that there is nothing wrong with the account and Lenovo still has a hold on the funds (this authorization hold was not cancelled until I called Paypal myself again on the 22nd). I then tried to order the X300 with my AMMEX cards just to keep on getting them cancelled as I've decribed on the 1st post. (Order # 2D9WYM, 2D9XD6, 2DA18R) I kept being told that the card is bad when it is not, AMMEX confirmed that there has been no authorization request from Lenovo too. I work as a consultant for a large banking/investment firm and needed the X300 due to its features and portability. I never imagined that I'd be treated like a fraudster, and despite that I've made multiple attempt to clear this.
This has been one really really frustrating experience as you can imagine. Again i appreciate you look into this and hopefully fix the issues (or at least, clear my name) for me.
Richard
Message Edited by Shihx79 on 01-23-2009 11:19 AM -
Disastrous customer service nightmare!Please never buy anything at lenovo.nl
Beginning of august I ordered an s440 Thinkpad at the Dutch Lenovo store. The delivery was going to happen in 17 days. Three days after I placed my order I cancelled it thinking that I am in time before the whole procedure of shipping will be set in motion. A few days later I got an email that I was too late and I will still get the product shipped all the way from Korea (as I later saw on the UPS tracking). I was still hopeful and just waited for the product so I can ask for a return. I called the customer service which btw has an unprofessional sounding nonnative Dutch speaking front menu that completely gives off the wrong tone right from the start. I got the lady on the line and asked for a return. She said I will be contacted by the shipping company for a pickup. I assumed this will be within a day maximum two. After 2 days I called again and a poor Dutch speaking voice told me that it will take a week or 10 days before I will be contacted by the company. I said all right.. I can wait. After two weeks I still got no mail or anything from anyone. At some point after 3 weeks someone showed up at my door saying that they are DHL and are here to pick up something for a company named Ingram. As nobody contacted me I am not going to give a laptop worth quite a few 100s of euros just like that. I contacted the customer service and they said they can’t do anything because the shipping company has to contact me. After some failed attempts I got a decent English speaking person on the line trying to do his best and help me out. He arranged a pickup and I got a mail again from an unknown company but I was willing to assume it was for my return. The date was inconvenient so I called DHL. They said they can’t change my pickup date because only Lenovo can do that. I called Lenovo. They changed the date for my convenience. For some reason the guy still came on the inconvenient date and as for my luck I was home and could pass it on. The next day someone came again so they didn’t cancel the original pickup and they came twice (not smart logistics from DHL but that’s another story). This was on the 15th of September. Unfortunately today the 2nd of October I still haven’t received a refund or confirmation or anything. I called twice yesterday and today and a very rude and unfriendly again poor Dutch speaking lady said there is nothing in the computer about my return. So I am kind of scared that I will never see my money back. This is a disgrace to an otherwise good brand. I cannot imagine how this can be called customer service! It is a disgrace to the company name and brand that customers have to wait 2 months for a substantial refund and are treated badly by unskilled people with bad language. If you can’t help me at least try so and learn the language of the country you live and work. I guess downsizing and outsourcing does that to a company, everything as cheap as possible.
I wanted to get the computer directly from the manufacturer because they had good options and wanted to support them instead of a second or third party distributor, but I was incredibly wrong and will never make the same mistake again.I can't even imagine what would have happened if I actually kept the product and had an issue with it after a while,I would have never been helped out! That's "unfortunately" an important thing when buying electronics worth considerable amounts. Please be aware!Vegas879,
I will try to help. Not all the IdeaPads have recovery disks available for them....
I assume that you meant your HDD failed when you said your hardware "blew up"? If so, I assume you want the recovery disk because you have a USB CD/DVD drive and have gotten a replacement HDD?
Also, the OKR - One Key Recovery feature can be used to make your own recovery disks (assuming a customer does it before a failure) I thought I would mention this, because it's an important tip. Not everyone does, and then that places the burden back on Lenovo to solve the problem outside of warranty, and in some cases we wind up with a disatisfied customer which is certainly not what we want.
That said, can you clarify if you have the S10 or the S10e model?
I'll see what is available and can be sent to help you out here. If available, I'll need your contact information name, address, and a phone number which you can send to me via a private message.
Thanks,
Mark
ThinkPads: S30, T43, X60t, X1, W700ds, IdeaPad Y710, IdeaCentre: A300, IdeaPad K1
Mark Hopkins
Program Manager, Lenovo Social Media (Services)
twitter @lenovoforums
English Community Deutsche Community Comunidad en Español Русскоязычное Сообщество -
Re: Nightmare experience buying gift card from Cha...
i just purchased a birthday card for my wife wich she didnt get how do i post a complaint xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hello
It generally takes 3/5 working days for Gift Cards to be delivered by Chat&Vision. If you haven't received by then please advise.
TIME ZONE - US EASTERN. LOCATION - PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA.
I recommend that you always run the latest Skype version: Windows & Mac
If my advice helped to fix your issue please mark it as a solution to help others.
Please note that I generally don't respond to unsolicited Private Messages. Thank you. -
NIghtmare - Brand new S230u from major retailer: Lenovo says warranty expired
I just purchased a new (sealed) Lenovo S230u factory box with security tape on both ends unopened, with no additional tape, from a major online retailer that also have physical stores in selected States.
It is a refurnished machine, according to the major retailer website, it has 90 days warranty from Lenovo with Levono phone number etc. Having bought several 1000+ Thinkpad and 3000 desktop from IBM, with the *very good* price offered and manufacture warranty, I am willing for the first time to try out the Thinkpads after it is owned by a Chinese company Lenovo. I had been very skeptical whether the Chinese company Lenovo would provide the same level of support as IBM. And this is where the nightmare begins.
I called and checked with the online retailer and they had a few hundred machines but I bought one of the last one they have in stock since it went to SOLD OUT within hours. I confirmed with them they are factory refurnished machines and they had hundreds of them. With the low price and short warranty, I made sure I have the ability to purchase extended warranty and went to Levono online chat for warranty to confirm how much it would cost to buy extended warranty and that shipping for any needed service is free BOTH ways. My last machine was HP and I loved how they provided two way free shipping and excellent technical support service. HP helped me fix an unexpected motherboard issue, deemed manufacturer’s defect and replaced it for free. No way I am buying any laptop with worse off warranty for a cheap price. The agent confirmed that I will be able to buy extended warranty with 2-way free shipping but need to receive the machine and give them the serial no. for a quote.
I felt safe, guaranteed by BOTH the online retailer and Lenovo and went ahead with my purchase.
Having read online discussions, I am very cautious to buy refurnished machines sold on eBay, non-major retailers that may switch off parts and discredit the warranty. I still checked that machine came with security tape sealed on both ends, nothing was altered.
However, when I started using the machine, I realized that it said my warranty expired! I called Levono immediately and the first agent gave me the lenovo_pop email address to send in my warranty and told me they can update and extend it for a year - I thought WOW, great if it is one year. I had tech issues as I performed a series of windows, lenovo, microsoft updates randomly, and getting some registry error message and wanted tech support to guide me quickly to restore to factory condition but the request was denied because warranty expired! Furthermore, he said they do NOT honor any warranty of refurnished machine NOT sold by lenovo.com! WHAT??? That is NOT what they informed me from online support BEFORE i purchased the machine!! And if my warranty end date is AFTER the day I called, they could have easily helped me? The machine expired 1/14/2014 (a year from manufacturer’s date) and I bought it beginning of Feb 2014. Oh great, I guess the few hundred customers that bought the same machine a few weeks before me won’t have this problem as I bought the last few machines – no wonder the cheap price for a wonderful laptop.
This issue was stretched out for weeks! With my case no. CLOSED – reason: no customer contact, when I was waiting for the agent who promised to call me back AFTER I emailed to Lenovo my proof of purchase twice to different emails - yet no one called. An agent then told me new info saying that the major retailer should be responsible to contact Lenovo. Then another agent said they don't honor any third party refurnished machine, even major retailers!! Another case no. opened and a supervisor escalated to a different Lenovo team with screen captures of links to retailer product page, warranty info, as well as my conversation with the Lenovo rep, yet I still receive no resolution 10 days after. This is night and day experience compared to previous IBM or HP experience I had. All contradicting info and the customer penalized.
With the major retailer, I have escalated the issue twice to supervisors, yet the Lenovo closed the first case no. when Lenovo supposed to call me back and the retailer couldn't do much while I still didnt' hear back from the second supervisor but they extended my 14 days return policy to 30 days. Their name not mentioned yet, because unlike Levono, the low level support person called me daily to follow up while I have been chasing after Lenovo every few days and know it would be ignored if I don’t keep pushing it.
This is madness, and if for the diligent cautious buyer I am, this is what I go through from a major online retailer, I can not imagine what a normal buyer would go through. Loyal customers should NOT be the ones who pays for this.
I sincerely hope something can be resolved within a day before my extended return date expired and a senior forum administrator can help me. If not, at least loyal and potential customers would know that things like this could happen and consider this before you buy a refurbished levono anywhere other than Lenovo, and you can be the judge whether Lenovo and it’s policies are worth supporting.
To be honest, I loved IBM, I love my new laptop and I just want the technical support I deserve to check on some potential driver issue and windows 8.1 upgrade support. I want to be able to perhaps buy the extended warranty that was promised. The peace of mind. Now I even have doubt about the company and whether to spend extra money for protection that does not protect customers! To be fair, 90% of the many agents/supervisor I talked to have been professional and helpful which made the process tolerable. The reason I waited so long to post this message on a public forum. It just seems like their system, policies and communication between departments are ridiculous and customers are penalized for it. If you don’t honor ANY third party refurbished warranty - deal with your wholesale agents, retailers, don't sell new or refurbished machines to them. Your loyal customers should NOT be penalized for it and make sure that customers are well informed if they do simple research! Information across departments should be consistent. And the supervisors of the departments should be able to honor and fix a mistake related to wrong info (if it was wrong) provided by another Lenovo department and handle things in a TIMELY manner. I should not have to spent over 15 hours on this for nearly a month! This is NOT what I expect from a top computer company in the US market. Something needs to be done so other loyal customers do not have to go through this and also ensure that customers who support Lenovo would NOT fall into traps of dishonest merchants.wabibi,
Thanks for the additional details via private message. My apologies for the troubles you have had so far - let's look into the situation and see what can be done to help you get this resolved.
Best regards,
Mark
ThinkPads: S30, T43, X60t, X1, W700ds, IdeaPad Y710, IdeaCentre: A300, IdeaPad K1
Mark Hopkins
Program Manager, Lenovo Social Media (Services)
twitter @lenovoforums
English Community Deutsche Community Comunidad en Español Русскоязычное Сообщество -
Envy x360 battery short and CMOS/RTC | No dedicated CMOS battery = Kafkaesque HP support nightmare
Relevant Case Number:
3015038426
Caveat:
If I'm wrong about this, I'll eat my hat with a sauce made of ultra-expensive brand-name HP ink.
Question:
Does anyone at HP want to take reponsibility for a series of the company's tech support representatives giving horribly wrong hardware information, wasting customer time and money?
Summary:
1. I have apparently experienced a short in my main battery.
2. In the x360, the real-time clock (RTC) and BIOS settings are apparently powered by the main battery, not a separate CMOS/RTC battery.
3. (1) and (2) explain why my symptoms include a CMOS checksum error and 0-set RTC on boot.
4. Three separate HP representatives have been absolutely insistent that:
(a) I have a CMOS/RTC battery that just isn't disclosed in the service manual.
(b) My symptoms indicate the need for CMOS/RTC battery replacement.
(c) This requires a 2-week+ send-in service, even though I live right next to an authorized support center.
(d) A much less intrusive main battery replacement could not help me, since I have a CMOS issue.
5. I have already had to pay $54 and change for a local shop to confirm that HP support has been, for want of better terms, full of it -- they have been BSing me by phone and live chat, and there is no dedicated CMOS battery.
6. Because of HP's intransigence, I now face the choice of either
(a) paying another $54+ to get myself a new main battery on the open market
or
(b) completely unnecessarily going without my primary work machine for weeks in order to get a new main battery for free from HP. That's assuming that the people at the service center know that replacing the motherboard won't do anything for this machine.
Hilarious and/or Depressing Support Record:
1. Symptoms
This is an HP Envy x360 15t hybrid notebook, model u011dx (G6T85UA).
It had been suspended but suddenly appeared off. It would not power on until AC power was attached.
It showed a CMOS checksum error (502) on boot, and its real-time clock did not hold the time between power cycles.
It had inconsistent problems with failed or severely delayed POST completion.
If AC power was removed during operation, it immediately died. Information about the main battery still showed up in the OS, where it appeared fully charged but never discharged at all.
The light next to the AC plug would often blink blue depending on the power state.
The machine could POST normally (except for the CMOS and RTC failures) with the main battery physically detached.
2. Call ("Amit")
I don't have a transcript of my initial call with HP ("Amit"), but here is the gist of it. My 502 CMOS checksum error implicates the CMOS battery. My steps are to attempt a BIOS upgrade. Failing that, the computer would need to be sent in for service so that the CMOS battery could be replaced. Amit described it to me as the shape of a small tablet.
3. False Hope
When I had initially called, the case was off of the PC and both sides of the motherboard were accessible so that I could try to see if there were any visually obvious problems with the CMOS/RTC battery. Naturally, I couldn't find it, and I had hoped the call would help me. In any case, Amit would need to call back in 60-90 minutes after I had the chance to take care of other things and re-connect the machine's components so that I could boot it and do a BIOS upgrade.
Just before he called back, the machine appeared for one or two power cycles to have overcome its problem. It even seemed like it was drawing main battery power for a few moments during a session with AC power detached. Amit closed the case for me pending the problems recurring.
I concluded that one of the following two things must have happened. Either:
(a) All of the problems were related to the main battery, and the main battery connector had just gotten jarred loose so that one or two pins were not contacting properly. By disconnecting and reconnecting the main battery in my search for the RTC/CMOS battery, I had solved the issue by reseating it properly.
or
(b) All of the problems were related to the CMOS battery. But by having it on AC power for testing for a little while, I had charged the CMOS battery enough to enable POST and for it to mediate the transition from AC to battery power (I know this probably isn't how it should work, but hey).
I also updated the BIOS to the newest version so that I could ensure I was following the pre-shipment troubleshooting step set out by Amit.
Fairly quickly after the second call and the closing of the case, all of the symptoms recurred. I carefully re-checked and re-seated the main battery to rule out (a) above. I then decided to run the computer on AC power for several hours to test theory (b) above. When this failed, I went back to the HP site and opted for chat support.
4. First Chat (KARISHMA BARPANDA)
Gist:
I clearly have a problem with my invisible CMOS battery. Also, this CMOS battery is absent from the manual because it isn't supposed to be user-removable, not because it doesn't exist. Note especially the exchange at 2:02.
Transcript:
Spoiler (Highlight to read)
1:38 PM Support session established with KARISHMA BARPANDA.
1:38 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Welcome to HP Customer Support & Services for Notebook support. My name is Karishma and I will be your technical support specialist today.
1:38 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Hi
1:38 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: How are you doing today ?
1:38 PM Adam Colligan: Hello; this is related to case 3015038426
1:38 PM Adam Colligan: I'm good; just a little confused
1:39 PM Adam Colligan: PC symptoms implicated RTC battery: CMOS checksum error on boot. But also instant death when AC power removed. Temporarily resolved after re-seating main battery cable, so chalked up to that. Now not so sure: maybe I had just partly charged RTC battery during testing. Now trying long run on AC to rule this out.Query: x360 service manual (unlike other Envy manuals) makes no mention of RTC/CMOS battery. Didn't see one exposed on board. Can you verify presence and location of CMOS batt?
1:40 PM Adam Colligan: Just to clarify: I'm not asking you to walk me through changing a CMOS battery or anything like that -- I know you want notebooks sent in for service if they need that officially. But I just want to make sure that I actually know where the thing is on this model
1:42 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: I am sorry, I can't understand you.
1:43 PM Adam Colligan: Okay, I'll back up. Have you heard of something called a CMOS battery or an RTC battery?
1:43 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Yes.
1:44 PM Adam Colligan: Would you be able to find out where it is located on my Envy x360 15t notebook (u011dx)?
1:45 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Alright !
1:46 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: In this situation, we need to take the notebook in free servics repair.
1:46 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Please, provide me the complete sdhipping address along with the zip code.
1:46 PM Adam Colligan: It is not confirmed yet that the CMOS battery is actually the problem
1:47 PM Adam Colligan: I don't want to set up a service yet. I just want to know *where* the battery is attached to the board.
1:47 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: We need to replace the CMOS battery,
1:47 PM Adam Colligan: How do you know that we need to replace the CMOS battery?
1:48 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Because tHe CMOS battery is not removable.
1:48 PM Adam Colligan: Well, in that case we're probably talking about replacing the whole motherboard. Do you mean *not removable* or just "not user removable" ?
1:48 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: We will take the notebook in service reapir and our HP certified technician will do the complete hardware diagnostic of your notebook.
1:49 PM Adam Colligan: I don't want to do anything yet except *LOOK* at the board and see if there is anything obviously wrong with the CMOS battery connection
1:49 PM Adam Colligan: I just want to know *where* it is; I don't need to actually do anything to it
1:50 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Let me explain.
1:51 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Let me check.
1:52 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Please, allow me few moments.
1:52 PM Adam Colligan: Thank you
1:56 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Thank you for staying connected. I appreciate your time and patience.
1:56 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: I am sending you a link, please go through page number 33 and 34.
1:56 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA has sent a link: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04513489
1:57 PM Adam Colligan: That's okay; I understand that it may take time
1:57 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: CMOS battery is not a customer replaceable part.
1:58 PM Adam Colligan: 33 and 34 refer to the main battery, not the CMOS battery
1:58 PM Adam Colligan: I know that the CMOS battery is not a customer replaceable part. However, I want to visually inspect it.
1:59 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: It is not listed there.
1:59 PM Adam Colligan: Exactly. Compare that to this manual for the HP Envy 17, page 41
1:59 PM Adam Colligan: http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02160120.pdf
2:00 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: If you are facing any issues with the battery then, we need to take the notebook in service reapir and will fix the issue.
2:01 PM Adam Colligan: Sigh.
2:02 PM Adam Colligan: Look, here is a theory. What if this PC does not have a separate CMOS battery, and it's been using power from the main battery to keep the clock and BIOS settings current? In that case, the symptoms might just be a result of poor seating of the main battery cable. To rule that out, I would like to confirm for a fact that a CMOS battery actually exists on this motherboard, and I'd like to see it with my own eyes.
2:02 PM Adam Colligan: ...before I go without my PC for days or weeks
2:03 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: The CMOS battery exsist in the motherboard and it is not a customer replaceable part.
2:04 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: You cannot see it.
2:04 PM Adam Colligan: So where on the motherboard is it?
2:04 PM Adam Colligan: It's on the motherboard but it's invisible?
2:04 PM Adam Colligan: Maybe it's under a piece of foam by the HDD indicator light? There aren't many places for it to hide
2:05 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: I would suggest you to sent the notebook in service repair, and if there will be any hardware issues, then HP technician will take care of it.
2:06 PM Adam Colligan: Please answer this question honestly for me. Is the location of the CMOS battery actually available to you? It's okay for you to say, "I don't know where it is, and I don't know how to find out where it is". But it seems like you are avoiding saying that.
2:10 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Let me know are you facing any issues with the HP notebook right now ?
2:11 PM Adam Colligan: Yes. Why won't you answer that question?
2:24 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: I would like to inform you that, the CMOS battery is not a customer replaceable part.
2:24 PM Adam Colligan: What does that have to do with whether or not you know where it is?
2:24 PM Adam Colligan: Is there some rule that you are not allowed to say "I don't know" ?
2:24 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: That is the reason, it is not shown in the manual.
2:25 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: That is the reason, it is not shown in the manual.
2:25 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: The CMOS battery can be replaced by the HP hardware engineers.
2:26 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: So, the CMOS battery can be replaced only in our service center.
2:26 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Do you want to send your notebook for a free service to replace the CMOS battery ?
2:26 PM Adam Colligan: I think we've established that. I am not asking you about how to replace it. I'm asking if you can find out where it is.
2:26 PM Adam Colligan: It's perfectly alright if the answer is "I don't know", but I do expect that amount of honesty
2:26 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: No, it is not listed in the manual.
2:27 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: I can understand your concern.
2:27 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: As, it is not listed in the manual, let me know how can I assist you.
2:28 PM Adam Colligan: So then the next question is: can I contact a technical support professional who can tell me where it is attached so that I can visually inspect it before committing to a service by mail?
2:30 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: This is the only technical support and you can contact our voice technical support. However, they will tell you the same thing, which I have told you.
1:38 PM Support session established with KARISHMA BARPANDA.1:38 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Welcome to HP Customer Support & Services for Notebook support. My name is Karishma and I will be your technical support specialist today.1:38 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Hi1:38 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: How are you doing today ?1:38 PM Adam Colligan: Hello; this is related to case 30150384261:38 PM Adam Colligan: I'm good; just a little confused1:39 PM Adam Colligan: PC symptoms implicated RTC battery: CMOS checksum error on boot. But also instant death when AC power removed. Temporarily resolved after re-seating main battery cable, so chalked up to that. Now not so sure: maybe I had just partly charged RTC battery during testing. Now trying long run on AC to rule this out.Query: x360 service manual (unlike other Envy manuals) makes no mention of RTC/CMOS battery. Didn't see one exposed on board. Can you verify presence and location of CMOS batt?1:40 PM Adam Colligan: Just to clarify: I'm not asking you to walk me through changing a CMOS battery or anything like that -- I know you want notebooks sent in for service if they need that officially. But I just want to make sure that I actually know where the thing is on this model1:42 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: I am sorry, I can't understand you.1:43 PM Adam Colligan: Okay, I'll back up. Have you heard of something called a CMOS battery or an RTC battery?1:43 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Yes.1:44 PM Adam Colligan: Would you be able to find out where it is located on my Envy x360 15t notebook (u011dx)?1:45 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Alright !1:46 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: In this situation, we need to take the notebook in free servics repair. 1:46 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Please, provide me the complete sdhipping address along with the zip code. 1:46 PM Adam Colligan: It is not confirmed yet that the CMOS battery is actually the problem1:47 PM Adam Colligan: I don't want to set up a service yet. I just want to know *where* the battery is attached to the board.1:47 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: We need to replace the CMOS battery, 1:47 PM Adam Colligan: How do you know that we need to replace the CMOS battery?1:48 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Because tHe CMOS battery is not removable. 1:48 PM Adam Colligan: Well, in that case we're probably talking about replacing the whole motherboard. Do you mean *not removable* or just "not user removable" ?1:48 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: We will take the notebook in service reapir and our HP certified technician will do the complete hardware diagnostic of your notebook. 1:49 PM Adam Colligan: I don't want to do anything yet except *LOOK* at the board and see if there is anything obviously wrong with the CMOS battery connection1:49 PM Adam Colligan: I just want to know *where* it is; I don't need to actually do anything to it1:50 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Let me explain. 1:51 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Let me check. 1:52 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Please, allow me few moments. 1:52 PM Adam Colligan: Thank you1:56 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Thank you for staying connected. I appreciate your time and patience.1:56 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: I am sending you a link, please go through page number 33 and 34.1:56 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA has sent a link: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c045134891:57 PM Adam Colligan: That's okay; I understand that it may take time1:57 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: CMOS battery is not a customer replaceable part. 1:58 PM Adam Colligan: 33 and 34 refer to the main battery, not the CMOS battery1:58 PM Adam Colligan: I know that the CMOS battery is not a customer replaceable part. However, I want to visually inspect it. 1:59 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: It is not listed there. 1:59 PM Adam Colligan: Exactly. Compare that to this manual for the HP Envy 17, page 411:59 PM Adam Colligan: http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02160120.pdf2:00 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: If you are facing any issues with the battery then, we need to take the notebook in service reapir and will fix the issue. 2:01 PM Adam Colligan: Sigh.2:02 PM Adam Colligan: Look, here is a theory. What if this PC does not have a separate CMOS battery, and it's been using power from the main battery to keep the clock and BIOS settings current? In that case, the symptoms might just be a result of poor seating of the main battery cable. To rule that out, I would like to confirm for a fact that a CMOS battery actually exists on this motherboard, and I'd like to see it with my own eyes.2:02 PM Adam Colligan: ...before I go without my PC for days or weeks2:03 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: The CMOS battery exsist in the motherboard and it is not a customer replaceable part. 2:04 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: You cannot see it. 2:04 PM Adam Colligan: So where on the motherboard is it?2:04 PM Adam Colligan: It's on the motherboard but it's invisible?2:04 PM Adam Colligan: Maybe it's under a piece of foam by the HDD indicator light? There aren't many places for it to hide2:05 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: I would suggest you to sent the notebook in service repair, and if there will be any hardware issues, then HP technician will take care of it. 2:06 PM Adam Colligan: Please answer this question honestly for me. Is the location of the CMOS battery actually available to you? It's okay for you to say, "I don't know where it is, and I don't know how to find out where it is". But it seems like you are avoiding saying that.2:10 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Let me know are you facing any issues with the HP notebook right now ?2:11 PM Adam Colligan: Yes. Why won't you answer that question?2:24 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: I would like to inform you that, the CMOS battery is not a customer replaceable part.2:24 PM Adam Colligan: What does that have to do with whether or not you know where it is?2:24 PM Adam Colligan: Is there some rule that you are not allowed to say "I don't know" ?2:24 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: That is the reason, it is not shown in the manual.2:25 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: That is the reason, it is not shown in the manual.2:25 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: The CMOS battery can be replaced by the HP hardware engineers.2:26 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: So, the CMOS battery can be replaced only in our service center.2:26 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: Do you want to send your notebook for a free service to replace the CMOS battery ?2:26 PM Adam Colligan: I think we've established that. I am not asking you about how to replace it. I'm asking if you can find out where it is.2:26 PM Adam Colligan: It's perfectly alright if the answer is "I don't know", but I do expect that amount of honesty2:26 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: No, it is not listed in the manual.2:27 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: I can understand your concern.2:27 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: As, it is not listed in the manual, let me know how can I assist you.2:28 PM Adam Colligan: So then the next question is: can I contact a technical support professional who can tell me where it is attached so that I can visually inspect it before committing to a service by mail?2:30 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: This is the only technical support and you can contact our voice technical support. However, they will tell you the same thing, which I have told you.
5. I pay money to have the CMOS battery checked
Clearly, I wasn't inspired by that chat. Maybe the rep was just wrong about the hardware. More likely, it was just my own ignorance that kept me from finding the CMOS battery, and so I would benefit from a real technician checking it, maybe replacing it or telling me I really did need to send it to HP for service, and also looking at the main battery circuit.
A couple of hours and $54.13 in diagnostic fees later, I had my answer from the technicians. My main battery had a short in it and needed to be replaced. There is no dedicated CMOS / RTC battery on this motherboard. The clock and BIOS use main battery power, and it makes perfect sense that the main battery fault would therefore include symptoms normally associated with a simultaneous failure of a main battery and a dedicated CMOS battery in another computer. This PC is not unique in lacking a dedicated CMOS battery. I could buy a new main battery for around $55.
Obviously, I was now thoroughly upset at HP Support. With this clearly being a main battery issue and the main battery being easy for me to replace and covered by warranty, HP could just send me a new main battery. I wouldn't even care if they wanted to tell me that swapping it myself would void the rest of the warranty period -- better than going without my PC for weeks on end. Failing that, I would probably rather even pay the money for a new battery from a retailer rather than go through the stupidity of sending this PC in just to have the battery swapped out. But now I had already paid the equivalent of that new battery cost just to get the correct information about my hardware, solely because official HP Support had given me false information -- twice!
6. Second chat ("Justine")
Gist:
So I re-connected with technical support in the hope that something could be done to make the situation right. I briefly summarized the problem and gave the case number in the webform submission not shown. Make sure you're sitting down for this transcript and have either whisky or popcorn depending on whether you work for HP or not.
Note in particular at 5:28, where my soul tries to escape my body, and 6:00, where Justine accidentally states the whole issue without actually understanding.
Transcript:
Spoiler (Highlight to read)
5:10 PM Support session established with Justine.
5:10 PM Adam Colligan: Hi Justine
5:11 PM Justine: Thank you for contacting the HP Customer Support & Services. My name is Justine and I will be your chat support specialist today. Please give me a few minutes while I review your issue description details. NOTE: For security reasons, PLEASE DO NOT send credit card information via chat. Also, If you are using a mobile device (iPad, iPod, iPhone, etc....) and experience difficulties viewing the chat window, please initiate a new chat from a Windows or Mac computer or use a different browser for better compatibility.For DISCONNECTED or failed to reconnect, we keep records for all interactions feel free to initiate another chat.
5:11 PM Justine: May I have the phone number and e-mail address associated with your HP product?
5:11 PM Adam Colligan: [redacted]
5:12 PM Justine: In order for me to assist you better, can you please provide the Product and Serial number of the system that is having an issue.
5:13 PM Adam Colligan: Are the contents of the form I filled out not sent? The SN is [redacted] . This is a model G6T85UA
5:15 PM Justine: Thank you for verifying me those information, Adam. I have read your issue description and it seems like you need help in processing a replacement for your computer's battery, is that correct?
5:15 PM Adam Colligan: Yes.
5:16 PM Justine: I apologize for the inconvenience. I will do my best to help you resolve this issue.
5:19 PM Justine: Alright, regarding the incorrect information that our tech had provided you, what is that information again, Adam.
5:20 PM Adam Colligan: My own hunch was confirmed by an independent service center that I had to pay to diagnose this problem: this machine has no dedicated RTC/CMOS battery.
5:20 PM Justine: -
5:22 PM Justine: So the issue is that you went to a local tech and they are charging you for your battery replacement correct?
5:22 PM Adam Colligan: So I wasted both a day of work and over $50 because two technical support representatives told me in no uncertain terms that I was looking at symptoms of a CMOS battery fault. And I *now* face also having to double that money on a new battery unless you guys can make it right.
5:23 PM Adam Colligan: I paid for the diagnosis because they had to go in and determine that HP tech support was, for lack of a better phrase, full of it
5:23 PM Adam Colligan: I even have a hilarious piece of transcript: 2:02 PM Adam Colligan: Look, here is a theory. What if this PC does not have a separate CMOS battery, and it's been using power from the main battery to keep the clock and BIOS settings current? In that case, the symptoms might just be a result of poor seating of the main battery cable. To rule that out, I would like to confirm for a fact that a CMOS battery actually exists on this motherboard, and I'd like to see it with my own eyes.2:02 PM Adam Colligan: ...before I go without my PC for days or weeks2:03 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: The CMOS battery exsist in the motherboard and it is not a customer replaceable part. 2:04 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: You cannot see it.
5:25 PM Adam Colligan: I had even checked the x360 service manuals and compared them to other Envy models, since the CMOS / RTC battery is specified for the other ones. Hence this (apparently completely false) gem: KARISHMA BARPANDA: I would like to inform you that, the CMOS battery is not a customer replaceable part.2:24 PM Adam Colligan: What does that have to do with whether or not you know where it is?2:24 PM Adam Colligan: Is there some rule that you are not allowed to say "I don't know" ?2:24 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: That is the reason, it is not shown in the manual.2:25 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: That is the reason, it is not shown in the manual.2:25 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: The CMOS battery can be replaced by the HP hardware engineers.
5:25 PM Adam Colligan: Apparently the truth is that it's not in the manual because *it doesn't exist*
5:27 PM Justine: I apologize about that, Adam. But to explain this properly, yes the CMOS battery is not a replaceable part. We do not ship CMOS batteries. But if you want, you can consult your local tech about it.
5:28 PM Justine: May I ask why do you want the CMOS battery to be replaced, Adam?
5:28 PM Adam Colligan: Oh my god.
5:28 PM Adam Colligan: You're going to have to just give me a moment here.
5:29 PM Justine: Okay Adam. Please take your time.
5:31 PM Adam Colligan: Before I explain again, let me just ask a question or two. Let's say that, hypothetically, HP Support thought that I needed to replace my CMOS/RTC battery. So I ship it off. Imagine that it arrives at the service center and the techs there discover that there is nothing wrong with the CMOS battery. Instead, they find that the main battery has a short in it and needs to be replaced. Would I have to pay for the replacement of the main battery?
5:32 PM Justine: Alright, first the repair process is that whatever that is we need to replace, we will. also, fortunately, your warranty covers the repair for this computer. We could send it for repair for you.
5:33 PM Justine: Whether the CMOS battery or the main battery, we will fix this computer like brand new for you.
5:34 PM Adam Colligan: And you're saying there is no charge for this?
5:35 PM Justine: Yes Adam.
5:36 PM Justine: It will be for free.
5:36 PM Justine: May I ask for your shipping address?
5:37 PM Adam Colligan: Wait; see, I don't want to do that yet. How long would the whole shipping and repair process take?
5:37 PM Adam Colligan: I've already been told that I have to go through the whole shipping nightmare even though I live right near an authorized service center
5:38 PM Justine: Okay, we will ship you a box with a return label within 2-3 business days, then the repair process would be 7-9 business days maximum. This is for us to make sure that everything will be checked and diagnosed so that when it comes back to you, it would be like brand new.
5:39 PM Justine: We could still send you the box if you want, the box would be active within 30 days, so you could decide when you want it to be dispatched.
5:40 PM Adam Colligan: See, and that's the problem: I might rather just buy a new battery for $53 rather than be without my main work machine for 2 weeks+.
5:40 PM Adam Colligan: And so here's what happened:
5:41 PM Justine: Well, if we send it for repair we can determine if it is really a CMOS issue or the main battery.
5:41 PM Justine: But it would depend on your decision, Adam.
5:44 PM Justine: Are you still there? I want to get your issue taken cared of today. Please respond if you are available to chat.
5:44 PM Adam Colligan: In order to make that choice, I needed to know whether this could really be a CMOS battery issue. If it were, then I would have no choice but to send it in, because that would mean replacing the motherboard (or at a minimum re-soldering to it...so probably replacing it). I would probably also have to spend the time before and after the shipment taking the thing apart myself and putting it back together again because I have my own RAM and my own SSD in there. And so I discussed my symptoms (which included a CMOS checksum error) with two technical support representatives. The initial one was going to take me through a BIOS upgrade attempt and informed me that if it did not resolve, it would need to be sent in for a CMOS battery replacement. I think I had already let him know that I had looked for it just to check if there was anything obviously wrong and couldn't find it, and I had wondered if there really was one.
5:46 PM Justine: Actually if it already gave a CMOS error, it is already that.
5:46 PM Adam Colligan: In the end I did upgrade the BIOS, but when it appeared to work afterward, it was a coincidence. The ticket was closed but I discovered quickly that the problem was still there. It appeared that maybe I had partially charged the CMOS battery and so just needed to try running the machine for several hours to see if it would recharge. When that failed, I contacted HP again, which is where those snippets of transcript come from
5:47 PM Connecting...
5:47 PM Connected. A support representative will be with you shortly.
5:47 PM Support session established with Justine.
5:47 PM Adam Colligan: Once again, I was assured that this really was or could be a CMOS battery issue. I specifically raised my concern that there might not even be a CMOS battery, which is why I tried to focus the conversation on getting the rep to tell me where it is. She very directly and repeatedly told me that it was there -- which meant that I had no choice between a long service and replacing the battery myself.
5:49 PM Justine: The issue is that the CMOS could have already failed so technically, even though it is physically there, the computer is not detecting it anymore. For this, since there is already an error with the CMOS, it should be replaced.
5:50 PM Adam Colligan: But between the fact that the reps had not sounded competent and the possibility that it might be worth it to replace the CMOS battery myself and void the warranty, I was still suspicious. And that's why I found myself spending $54.13 for a third party service provider to tell me what HP should have known all along. This machine does not have a separate CMOS battery. When the main battery fails -- as mine has -- it will cause all the symptoms of a main battery failure *plus* the symptoms of a CMOS battery failure, since *the main battery* powers this board's real-time clock and RAM environment memory
5:51 PM Justine: I could wait for your decision if you want to send it in for repair, Adam. I will still send you a box for the repair, that would be available for use within a month. It is still up for you to decide, Adam.
5:51 PM Adam Colligan: And now you're saying the same thing: that my CMOS checksum error (and also my clock resetting) means there is a problem with the CMOS / RTC battery.
5:51 PM Adam Colligan: Am I correct that that is what you are saying?
5:52 PM Justine: I highly suggest sending it for repair, really. In this case we could provide a proper explanation in your issue.
5:52 PM Adam Colligan: Are you or are you not telling me that I have a CMOS / RTC battery and that it might need to be replaced?
5:53 PM Justine: Every motherboard has a CMOS battery, yours have already failed so it needs to be replaced.
5:54 PM Adam Colligan: See, I think -- and the service center that just looked at it thinks -- that that statement is flat-out untrue.
5:54 PM Justine: You could replace it by yourself like what you want, but first, we do not ship CMOS batteries, and replacing it by yourself will jsut tamper the warranty.
5:55 PM Adam Colligan: And so the important question is: will HP give me a free main battery, which I can install myself without needing to send the computer off, if it turns out that you just became rep #3 to give me false information?
5:56 PM Justine: Actually, we cannot determine that without really having it physically here for further details and with sufficient tests. Our technicians will be testing it not just inside, but physically.
5:57 PM Adam Colligan: You don't need my computer in front of you in order to know whether or not this model *has* a CMOS battery. You are essentially swearing up and down that it has one. If you're wrong, then you've not only cost me the $54 I already spent but will also unnecessarily cost me two weeks+ without my computer
5:57 PM Justine: I apologize but we can only replace the battery if we have the computer in question, and we cannot do that without the error in the main battery itself.
5:57 PM Justine: Every computer has a CMOS battery, what I mean is that we have to perform tests on your computer physically to determine the real issue.
5:57 PM Justine: I apologize about that.
5:57 PM Adam Colligan: So I want to know: if it turns out that this model has no CMOS battery, will HP comp me a main battery in return for the time and money that it has already made me waste?
5:59 PM Justine: Actually, we can send you a box with a return label, so that you can decide. At this point we will just wait for your decision.
5:59 PM Justine: We will only replace or provide on the part that neede to be replaced.
6:00 PM Justine: The CMOS and the main battery has different roles, so we couldn't send you a main battery when it is a CMOS issue.
6:00 PM Justine: Is that okay?
6:00 PM Justine: May I ask for your shipping address please?
6:01 PM Adam Colligan: That. That last thing you said. That is the heart of the whole problem! If the CMOS battery doesn't exist, then you would *know* you could just send me a main battery?
6:01 PM Adam Colligan: As long as it's not costing me anything, sure, send me a stupid box. My address is [redacted]
6:02 PM Justine: If the CMOS battery doesn't exist, the main battery doesn't have anything to do with it. If it does not exist, we can send it for repair, since we do not send CMOS batteries. That is the only thing that we can do.
6:02 PM Justine: Alright, is there anything else I could help you with?
6:03 PM Adam Colligan: Oh lord. If the CMOS battery doesn't exist, then the main battery is the whole point, because it's the main battery that's supplying the power to the components that normally draw from the CMOS battery on most other systems.
6:03 PM Adam Colligan: Nope, there's nothing else. You've provided another great transcript for the file.
5:10 PM Support session established with Justine.5:10 PM Adam Colligan: Hi Justine5:11 PM Justine: Thank you for contacting the HP Customer Support & Services. My name is Justine and I will be your chat support specialist today. Please give me a few minutes while I review your issue description details. NOTE: For security reasons, PLEASE DO NOT send credit card information via chat. Also, If you are using a mobile device (iPad, iPod, iPhone, etc....) and experience difficulties viewing the chat window, please initiate a new chat from a Windows or Mac computer or use a different browser for better compatibility.For DISCONNECTED or failed to reconnect, we keep records for all interactions feel free to initiate another chat.5:11 PM Justine: May I have the phone number and e-mail address associated with your HP product?5:11 PM Adam Colligan: [redacted]5:12 PM Justine: In order for me to assist you better, can you please provide the Product and Serial number of the system that is having an issue.5:13 PM Adam Colligan: Are the contents of the form I filled out not sent? The SN is [redacted] . This is a model G6T85UA5:15 PM Justine: Thank you for verifying me those information, Adam. I have read your issue description and it seems like you need help in processing a replacement for your computer's battery, is that correct?5:15 PM Adam Colligan: Yes.5:16 PM Justine: I apologize for the inconvenience. I will do my best to help you resolve this issue.5:19 PM Justine: Alright, regarding the incorrect information that our tech had provided you, what is that information again, Adam.5:20 PM Adam Colligan: My own hunch was confirmed by an independent service center that I had to pay to diagnose this problem: this machine has no dedicated RTC/CMOS battery. 5:20 PM Justine: -5:22 PM Justine: So the issue is that you went to a local tech and they are charging you for your battery replacement correct?5:22 PM Adam Colligan: So I wasted both a day of work and over $50 because two technical support representatives told me in no uncertain terms that I was looking at symptoms of a CMOS battery fault. And I *now* face also having to double that money on a new battery unless you guys can make it right.5:23 PM Adam Colligan: I paid for the diagnosis because they had to go in and determine that HP tech support was, for lack of a better phrase, full of it5:23 PM Adam Colligan: I even have a hilarious piece of transcript: 2:02 PM Adam Colligan: Look, here is a theory. What if this PC does not have a separate CMOS battery, and it's been using power from the main battery to keep the clock and BIOS settings current? In that case, the symptoms might just be a result of poor seating of the main battery cable. To rule that out, I would like to confirm for a fact that a CMOS battery actually exists on this motherboard, and I'd like to see it with my own eyes.2:02 PM Adam Colligan: ...before I go without my PC for days or weeks2:03 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: The CMOS battery exsist in the motherboard and it is not a customer replaceable part. 2:04 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: You cannot see it. 5:25 PM Adam Colligan: I had even checked the x360 service manuals and compared them to other Envy models, since the CMOS / RTC battery is specified for the other ones. Hence this (apparently completely false) gem: KARISHMA BARPANDA: I would like to inform you that, the CMOS battery is not a customer replaceable part.2:24 PM Adam Colligan: What does that have to do with whether or not you know where it is?2:24 PM Adam Colligan: Is there some rule that you are not allowed to say "I don't know" ?2:24 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: That is the reason, it is not shown in the manual.2:25 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: That is the reason, it is not shown in the manual.2:25 PM KARISHMA BARPANDA: The CMOS battery can be replaced by the HP hardware engineers.5:25 PM Adam Colligan: Apparently the truth is that it's not in the manual because *it doesn't exist*5:27 PM Justine: I apologize about that, Adam. But to explain this properly, yes the CMOS battery is not a replaceable part. We do not ship CMOS batteries. But if you want, you can consult your local tech about it.5:28 PM Justine: May I ask why do you want the CMOS battery to be replaced, Adam?5:28 PM Adam Colligan: Oh my god.5:28 PM Adam Colligan: You're going to have to just give me a moment here.5:29 PM Justine: Okay Adam. Please take your time.5:31 PM Adam Colligan: Before I explain again, let me just ask a question or two. Let's say that, hypothetically, HP Support thought that I needed to replace my CMOS/RTC battery. So I ship it off. Imagine that it arrives at the service center and the techs there discover that there is nothing wrong with the CMOS battery. Instead, they find that the main battery has a short in it and needs to be replaced. Would I have to pay for the replacement of the main battery?5:32 PM Justine: Alright, first the repair process is that whatever that is we need to replace, we will. also, fortunately, your warranty covers the repair for this computer. We could send it for repair for you.5:33 PM Justine: Whether the CMOS battery or the main battery, we will fix this computer like brand new for you.5:34 PM Adam Colligan: And you're saying there is no charge for this?5:35 PM Justine: Yes Adam. 5:36 PM Justine: It will be for free.5:36 PM Justine: May I ask for your shipping address?5:37 PM Adam Colligan: Wait; see, I don't want to do that yet. How long would the whole shipping and repair process take?5:37 PM Adam Colligan: I've already been told that I have to go through the whole shipping nightmare even though I live right near an authorized service center5:38 PM Justine: Okay, we will ship you a box with a return label within 2-3 business days, then the repair process would be 7-9 business days maximum. This is for us to make sure that everything will be checked and diagnosed so that when it comes back to you, it would be like brand new.5:39 PM Justine: We could still send you the box if you want, the box would be active within 30 days, so you could decide when you want it to be dispatched.5:40 PM Adam Colligan: See, and that's the problem: I might rather just buy a new battery for $53 rather than be without my main work machine for 2 weeks+. 5:40 PM Adam Colligan: And so here's what happened:5:41 PM Justine: Well, if we send it for repair we can determine if it is really a CMOS issue or the main battery.5:41 PM Justine: But it would depend on your decision, Adam.5:44 PM Justine: Are you still there? I want to get your issue taken cared of today. Please respond if you are available to chat.5:44 PM Adam Colligan: In order to make that choice, I needed to know whether this could really be a CMOS battery issue. If it were, then I would have no choice but to send it in, because that would mean replacing the motherboard (or at a minimum re-soldering to it...so probably replacing it). I would probably also have to spend the time before and after the shipment taking the thing apart myself and putting it back together again because I have my own RAM and my own SSD in there. And so I discussed my symptoms (which included a CMOS checksum error) with two technical support representatives. The initial one was going to take me through a BIOS upgrade attempt and informed me that if it did not resolve, it would need to be sent in for a CMOS battery replacement. I think I had already let him know that I had looked for it just to check if there was anything obviously wrong and couldn't find it, and I had wondered if there really was one.5:46 PM Justine: Actually if it already gave a CMOS error, it is already that.5:46 PM Adam Colligan: In the end I did upgrade the BIOS, but when it appeared to work afterward, it was a coincidence. The ticket was closed but I discovered quickly that the problem was still there. It appeared that maybe I had partially charged the CMOS battery and so just needed to try running the machine for several hours to see if it would recharge. When that failed, I contacted HP again, which is where those snippets of transcript come from5:47 PM Connecting...5:47 PM Connected. A support representative will be with you shortly.5:47 PM Support session established with Justine.5:47 PM Adam Colligan: Once again, I was assured that this really was or could be a CMOS battery issue. I specifically raised my concern that there might not even be a CMOS battery, which is why I tried to focus the conversation on getting the rep to tell me where it is. She very directly and repeatedly told me that it was there -- which meant that I had no choice between a long service and replacing the battery myself.5:49 PM Justine: The issue is that the CMOS could have already failed so technically, even though it is physically there, the computer is not detecting it anymore. For this, since there is already an error with the CMOS, it should be replaced.5:50 PM Adam Colligan: But between the fact that the reps had not sounded competent and the possibility that it might be worth it to replace the CMOS battery myself and void the warranty, I was still suspicious. And that's why I found myself spending $54.13 for a third party service provider to tell me what HP should have known all along. This machine does not have a separate CMOS battery. When the main battery fails -- as mine has -- it will cause all the symptoms of a main battery failure *plus* the symptoms of a CMOS battery failure, since *the main battery* powers this board's real-time clock and RAM environment memory5:51 PM Justine: I could wait for your decision if you want to send it in for repair, Adam. I will still send you a box for the repair, that would be available for use within a month. It is still up for you to decide, Adam.5:51 PM Adam Colligan: And now you're saying the same thing: that my CMOS checksum error (and also my clock resetting) means there is a problem with the CMOS / RTC battery.5:51 PM Adam Colligan: Am I correct that that is what you are saying?5:52 PM Justine: I highly suggest sending it for repair, really. In this case we could provide a proper explanation in your issue.5:52 PM Adam Colligan: Are you or are you not telling me that I have a CMOS / RTC battery and that it might need to be replaced?5:53 PM Justine: Every motherboard has a CMOS battery, yours have already failed so it needs to be replaced.5:54 PM Adam Colligan: See, I think -- and the service center that just looked at it thinks -- that that statement is flat-out untrue. 5:54 PM Justine: You could replace it by yourself like what you want, but first, we do not ship CMOS batteries, and replacing it by yourself will jsut tamper the warranty.5:55 PM Adam Colligan: And so the important question is: will HP give me a free main battery, which I can install myself without needing to send the computer off, if it turns out that you just became rep #3 to give me false information?5:56 PM Justine: Actually, we cannot determine that without really having it physically here for further details and with sufficient tests. Our technicians will be testing it not just inside, but physically. 5:57 PM Adam Colligan: You don't need my computer in front of you in order to know whether or not this model *has* a CMOS battery. You are essentially swearing up and down that it has one. If you're wrong, then you've not only cost me the $54 I already spent but will also unnecessarily cost me two weeks+ without my computer5:57 PM Justine: I apologize but we can only replace the battery if we have the computer in question, and we cannot do that without the error in the main battery itself.5:57 PM Justine: Every computer has a CMOS battery, what I mean is that we have to perform tests on your computer physically to determine the real issue.5:57 PM Justine: I apologize about that.5:57 PM Adam Colligan: So I want to know: if it turns out that this model has no CMOS battery, will HP comp me a main battery in return for the time and money that it has already made me waste? 5:59 PM Justine: Actually, we can send you a box with a return label, so that you can decide. At this point we will just wait for your decision.5:59 PM Justine: We will only replace or provide on the part that neede to be replaced.6:00 PM Justine: The CMOS and the main battery has different roles, so we couldn't send you a main battery when it is a CMOS issue.6:00 PM Justine: Is that okay?6:00 PM Justine: May I ask for your shipping address please?6:01 PM Adam Colligan: That. That last thing you said. That is the heart of the whole problem! If the CMOS battery doesn't exist, then you would *know* you could just send me a main battery? 6:01 PM Adam Colligan: As long as it's not costing me anything, sure, send me a stupid box. My address is [redacted]6:02 PM Justine: If the CMOS battery doesn't exist, the main battery doesn't have anything to do with it. If it does not exist, we can send it for repair, since we do not send CMOS batteries. That is the only thing that we can do.6:02 PM Justine: Alright, is there anything else I could help you with?6:03 PM Adam Colligan: Oh lord. If the CMOS battery doesn't exist, then the main battery is the whole point, because it's the main battery that's supplying the power to the components that normally draw from the CMOS battery on most other systems.6:03 PM Adam Colligan: Nope, there's nothing else. You've provided another great transcript for the file.
7. In desperation, I try in vain to attract @HPSupport's attention on Twitter
Spoiler (Highlight to read)
@adamcolligan
6:20 PM - 13 Apr 2015
(1/3) Hey @HPSupport : would you make a wager with me? The question: whether 3 separate HP reps cost me $54.13 + 8 hrs' work with false info
@HPSupport (2/3) If I'm right, you send me a new battery for my x360-15t and say you're super sorry on your twitter feed. If I'm wrong...
@HPSupport then I guess no hilarious Reddit thread with support transcripts, and I'll spend like $1m on 2ml of your official ink. Deal?
@HPSupport (4/3) It's easy to resolve. Alls you have to do is know, and I mean *know*: "Does the G6T85UA have a dedicated RTC/CMOS battery?"
@adamcolligan6:20 PM - 13 Apr 2015(1/3) Hey @HPSupport : would you make a wager with me? The question: whether 3 separate HP reps cost me $54.13 + 8 hrs' work with false info@HPSupport (2/3) If I'm right, you send me a new battery for my x360-15t and say you're super sorry on your twitter feed. If I'm wrong...@HPSupport then I guess no hilarious Reddit thread with support transcripts, and I'll spend like $1m on 2ml of your official ink. Deal?@HPSupport (4/3) It's easy to resolve. Alls you have to do is know, and I mean *know*: "Does the G6T85UA have a dedicated RTC/CMOS battery?"
No response; not sure if I expected one or not.Update time! I know you've been dying to know how this has been turning out.
I provided all the requested information in response to the private message from HP staff. Nothing ever came of it; as far as I can tell, no real human being ever attempted to contact me after being "forwarded" the details of the case.
Three days after I tweeted at them, @HPSupport sent me a series of public replies. In essence, they told me to abandon useless post-sales technical support and get information from HP Sales.
Adam Colligan @AdamColligan · Apr 13
(1/3) Hey @HPSupport : would you make a wager with me? The question: whether 3 separate HP reps cost me $54.13 + 8 hrs' work with false info
Adam Colligan @AdamColligan · Apr 13
@HPSupport (2/3) If I'm right, you send me a new battery for my x360-15t and say you're super sorry on your
Adam Colligan @AdamColligan · Apr 13
@HPSupport then I guess no hilarious Reddit thread with support transcripts, and I'll spend like $1m on 2ml of your official ink. Deal?
Adam Colligan @AdamColligan · Apr 13
@HPSupport (4/3) It's easy to resolve. Alls you have to do is know, and I mean *know*: "Does the G6T85UA have a dedicated RTC/CMOS battery?"
Adam Colligan @AdamColligan Apr 13
@HPSupport No but seriously. Does the HP Envy x360 have a dedicated RTC / CMOS battery or not?
HP Support @HPSupport Apr 16
@AdamColligan Hello Adam, Eddie here. Saw your tweet. Our Product Information team will be able to assist with your inquiry. Dial:.. ^HPCare
HP Support @HPSupport Apr 16
@AdamColligan 1800-752-0900. Follow prompts for “product information”. If you prefer email click this link http://ow.ly/HYnHT .. ^HPCare
HP Support @HPSupport Apr 16
@AdamColligan Once there be sure to choose "Contact an HP sales specialist" as your subject. Let me know if you require further... ^HPCare
HP Support @HPSupport Apr 16
@AdamColligan information and/or assistance. Have an awesome day! Thanks! ^HPCare
Now, being the exhaustive give-it-a-try kind of guy that I am, I tried *both* the phone and the email path to support. I may have been told once on the phone to try the email, but it's hard to even remember at the moment. I'll just paste the email outcome here.
Me (into the webform):
HP reps have directed me to contact sales support after others in the company were unable to help with a technical product question. I need to know whether the HP Envy x360 model G6T85UA (should be board 780958-501 and main battery 760944-421) has a dedicated CMOS/RTC battery. If it does, I need to know *where* it is connected to the board. This is a fairly urgent issue for me implicating a disconnect or swap-out of the main battery while AC power is not being supplied.
HP:
Dear Adam,
Thank you for contacting the hp.com Sales Center.
I understand the you are still seeking resolution for your technical concern and I’m sorry to hear that this remains unresolved.
I'm very sorry, but our email sales team does not handle technical or product support concerns. We can only handles sales inquiries pertaining to orders placed in our store.
HP Technical Support will be able to provide you with service and support for hardware, software, and parts replacement of HP products that are still covered under warranty.
I strongly suggest that you contact the HP Technical Support Team since your matter requires technical expertise. HP Technical Support can best assist you and can be reached 24 hours a day at: http://www.hp.com/contacthp
Below is step by step guide how to obtain the webform/online form:
1. Please copy and paste this link http://www.hp.com/contacthp into a new browser.
2. Please enter your model number in the "Enter my model number" search field provided then hit the "Find my product" button to generate the result.
3. Select the correct product from the search results.
4. On the next page wait for a few seconds to load the webform.
5. Scroll down to find the webform.
5. Complete the webform then hit the "Submit" button.
6. After you fill out the online form, you will receive a Technical Support case number. You will also be able to engage with a Tech Support product specialist either by chat or they will give you a call at your earliest convenience.
By the way, I have seen a link which might help you with this concern. Here's the link:
http://partsurfer.hp.com/Search.aspx?SearchText=G6T85UA
The link shows the the HP ENVY 15-U011DX X360 CONVERTIBLE PC (ENERGY STAR) has the 780958-501 motherboard but has a different battery. It doesn't show also the RTC Battery and where you can find it. Please contact our HP Technical Support for other information.
I hope this information has been of assistance to you, Adam. Please reply to this message if there is anything further we can do. For your convenience, you may also call the HP.com Sales Center directly at 1-888-222-0029 between 7:00 AM - 2:00 AM EST, seven days a week.
Customer Satisfaction is our store’s top priority. Please tell us about your email experience today. To participate, please click on our Customer Satisfaction Survey link below.
Thank you for choosing HP. We appreciate your business.
Regards,
Regine G.
Oh dear. So technical support doesn't have technical information about HP machines, and sales support doesn't answer technical questions about HP machines and refers you to technical support. Brilliant. But by this time, I of course knew better than to actually *believe* what someone was telling me, so I used the sales phone number instead.
The sales guy was super eager to help, especially since I framed this as a problem of future use. I work on disaster vulnerability issues. If I buy Envy x360 15ts and use them in a place where there isn't AC power for a while, can I swap spare batteries into them without screwing up the BIOS and real-time clock settings?
He put me on hold two or three times for what I was led to believe were very thorough attempts to get me a totally definitive answer. And this is what someone eventually told him to tell me. All HP machines ship with CMOS batteries.
So I must have been mistaken all along, right? The CMOS battery must have stopped working at the same time as the main battery. It must just be that neither I nor my local repair shop could find my CMOS battery because we all have the wrong prescriptions on our glasses and contact lenses. Well, there's just one small issue with getting to that conclusion: what HP told me about my machine was, once again, totally false.
How do I know? Because I still didn't believe HP, and rather than shipping my compter off for weeks in the big padded box, I ordered a new main battery for a total of just over $60. I swapped it. Guess what happened, HP? If you guessed, "every aspect of the problem instantly resolved, because there never was a CMOS/RTC battery in this machine in the first place", you would win a gold star. But I'm assuming you'd also lose your job, because this particular piece of information has somehow been banished and outlawed from the minds of HP employees and contractors.
I wonder: would anybody at HP be interested in apologizing to me, much less in finding a way to make up for the $115+ I've lost because nobody at any stage to this point has been willing to act like a human being?
BUT WAIT, THERE'S GREAT NEWS
I shouldn't make it seem through this thread that HP totally lacks competence and doesn't care about me at all. Because within two hours of receiving the email from HP Sales telling me that they weren't going to do anything about my problem, I started receiving advertising email blasts full of great offers and promotions about buying a new HP laptop and other great products! Yay! I guess I'm not invisible after all. And I'm sure if I bought *more* stuff from HP, they would take care of me then. Right? -
How do I file a complaint to Best Buy?
I have had a long, drawn out (unpleasant) experience with Best Buy that someone needs to be aware of.... I finally just had enough aggravation that I wanted to pass along, so hopefully others do not have to. I think their intentions are good, but it seems there needs to be some improvement in a few areas.
We had a Samsung dishwasher that was constantly needing repairs-- because of this, I had decided to extend my Geek Squad protection plan after the 5 years was up and did so on Jan 14.
I had an ongoing repair problem that started on 12/26-- and after a couple of calls, I spoke to a Geek squad agent who said we qualify for a lemon replacement, which was approved and set up around 1/29.
We went to the store on 1/31 (Wentzville MO) and this is where things began to go bad-- we got to the store right after 10AM, started working with the geek squad agent and sat there until 1 PM!!!!!!!! It was a nightmare--because the agent was having trouble setting up our delivery and install... I think her name was Sheila-- she made at least 15+ phone calls getting the run around -sitting on hold- being referred to another person, etc etc... As we sat there, the manager-April, was fully aware since Sheila had called her early on, for direction. The crux of the problem was they had changed delivery services and we being just under 50 miles away from the store apparently were in a no delv zone.... (Which is ridiculous-- if we want to spend a bunch more money, which we did-- shouldn't have to worry about delivery). So we sat and sat--listening to the whole debacle until I finally told her-- Please---GET her manager over here to get this squared away! April came over and gave about 10 min of her time to help and didn't seem too concerned that we were sitting on the same stool for over 2 plus hours. After her 10 min, she left and we still ran into some problems where Sheila needed the manager for an override or something and had to call and call until another mgr came over. IF I was that manager, I would have stayed until the entire process was completed and apologized -- but she didn't- and did not seem to care at all. SO three hours later we walked out in total shock that it was such an ordeal.
Delivery and install of the new machine went fine-- but here we go again, another problem.
Geek squad and the store told me that to get a refund for my old protection plan and extension on the old machine, I just need to call them and set it up. I won't go into the gory details, but I've had to make calls on 1/31, 2/8, 2/17 and 2/26-- had 2 cases opened and spoke to some extremely unknowledgeable agents, with one telling me on 2/17 that I can't get my money back. My last case # was {Removed per Forum Guidelines}-- I was told on 2/27 that the case was finally approved on 2/26 (again, I started this on 1/31).. but that I have to wait "1 to 2 billing cycles" to get my money back--which converts to 1 to 2 more months. I have never heard of a refund taking that long and now I regret purchasing another 5 year protection plan on our new machine. This has been some of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had--and really sours me from using Best Buy /Geek Squad protection any longer.Hello raemo,
As AWBrown said, we certainly aren’t perfect, and we recognize mistakes are bound to happen every once and while. However, I feel that this was maybe not a mistake but rather a series of events that just never quite lined up as they should have. When an exchange is offered underneath a Geek Squad Protection Plan, it’s supposed to be a smooth and easy transaction, and clearly, your experience was far from this.
Delivery is a great way to get larger product to your home and should be hassle free. As we realize this is a popular service, we do hire a 3rd Party installation team called Optima to assist us. While Optima does have services throughout the United States, there are rare times where a customer falls outside of their serviceable area. I’m glad to hear though that Sheila was able to talk it through with them on your behalf and ultimately scheduled you for the delivery.
On the customer service side, managers are meant to be on hand to assist with the difficult transactions and support our associates and customers when help is needed; I’m not sure why April wasn’t available to provide the necessary support. I realize this situation is one that would take time to correct, but our level of customer service shouldn’t drop, and I’m sorry if she seemed dismissive of your concerns and time.
On top of this, I did see you experienced difficulties in receiving a refund regarding your renewal of your protection plan. When the exchange of your dishwasher processed, you were still covered by the original plan as the extended coverage you purchased wouldn’t have gone into effect until March. Therefore, you shouldn’t have encountered any issues when you asked for the refund. However, I do see here that our systems released the refund just a couple of days ago. As your credit card’s issuing bank also needs to process the refund, it could take up to a few more business days before you see the fund appear back onto your account.
Having said this, I do want to speak with you further regarding your recent experiences, and to do this, I will send you a private message. You may view this message by logging into your forum account and clicking on the envelope in the upper right-hand corner.
Thanks for posting!
Alex|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message -
My experience with new HP ENVY 17-j113el : 1200 euros spent to buy a lot of problems...
Good morning,
In April 2014 I have bought a nice, full-loaded, expensive (1200 euro) portable PC, HP ENVY 17-j113el.
Before I was using a smaller, cheaper HP G62 notebook: never have had any problem in three years, great prodct for the price.
With nice and new machine my nightmare started: wifi does not works form the first day, thanks to Ralink 3290 card. Low signals, intermitent functioning, disconnections. Requeste a replacement card to HP support, received after almost a month.
Replaced the card with the "new" Ralink 3290, and wifi signal started to be at normal level. After a short use, the signals started again to be intermittenly much lowest than the normal. Better than my original wifi card, but not as good as the signals received with my previous HP G62. Still having lowwifi signals, "floating" levels", and having the PC at 2 meters from the router shows up just a poor "-65" on inSSIDer.. And no, it is not a problem of my wifi router: never had any problems before with ANY device device.
In addition, since I have installed the new Ralink 3290 card and using wifi on this pc, another problem came out: somethimes there is a strong "click" form the audio speakers on the bottom, even if not playing any music or audio.
That is really annoying.
Other issues: after bios upgrade to 56 (recommended by HP, executed as HP Support Assistant software directed) I have experienced sporadic computer shut off immediately ater power up.
You push the power button, the computer starts, and after 2 or 3 seconds the computer shut down.
You have to push power button again to restart.
Additional minor issues (still not espected from a 1200 euro notebook): mousepad left key, even if clicking, does not recognize the "click". You have to push strong to make it work.
And also, the keyboard: poor, poor, poor keys feeling, and on left side it bend miserably when used.
Just to note: I am a 43 years old professional, I work as electronics and IT tecnician since more than 20 years, and I am not one of those who complains for nothing.
BUT, after buying HP for years with good satisfaction, this time I am realy disappointed with the lack of quality.
Came on HP, people does not spend 1200 euros to have a PC with this kinds of problems: bring a solution!
I espect from HP to fix all this issues with my "new" (sigh!) nice, wonderful looking, full loaded and expensive PC.
V/R,
Riccardo G.Hello Rightrik,
Thanks for posting on the HP Forums.
It seems the computer is facing a number of issues, most which are likely relating to hardware. In my opinion, since the computer it still relatively new, I would contact HP phone support. Your computer would either be serviced or replaced, and the issues will be resolved.
You can utilize this website to learn how to contact HP appropriately, based on your region: Contact HP Worldwide
Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.
Mario
I worked on behalf of HP. -
Is Best Buy credit card linked to Citibank?
This is posted in response to one moderators comment about Best Buy credit card.
His claim was that the Best Buy credit card was not really owned by Best Buy. As a result, there was nothing any Best Buy employee could do to help out with complaints about their Best Buy credit card.
The claim that Best Buy could not be responsible for the problems occurring with Citibank credit cards. Best Buy was just the "name" on the front of the card. The analogy called to mind is that if you are using the Best Buy Credit Card, it is just an advertising ploy. Best Buy cards are labeled with the Best Buy name and trademarked logo as an advertising premise. They are not linked in any way with Citicard and how Best Buy customers are treated.
The premise is not true. If Best Buy is not affiliated with Citibank or their cards; whey do we get "reward points" to only Best Buy if they have no involvement with Citibank? Other cards I have allow "reward points" to be used in multiple forums.
The Best Buy card has culpability in the mess with Citibank and cards issued under the Best Buy name. Best Buy retailer has culpability in this matter. I have no idea what the legal analysis of this leads to: I am not an attorney.
My posts have scared the "moderators" to the point that when I pass on the help attained by other members, they have pulled the posts; "locked the posts to read only" in mid-post. It's creepy. It also helps determine culpability and who is liable for the Citicard mess with Best Buy.
If Best Buy moderators pull posts that do not violate rules; if they restrict the use of a post to "read only while I'm typing" they are watching on a computer terminal as I write/type. When they restrict information that might show a path of resolution for those of us stuck in a loop; they are showing that they know that Best Buy is responsible in some way for what is happening with Citibank and the Best Buy issued card.
What can we do as consumers at Best Buy? Write the Board of Directors; copy the letters to your local store. And of course, take your business somewhere else. {removed per forum guidelines} This is a speculative comment. What if there is a relationship between Best Buy and Citibank that allows Best Buy to "capture" a portion of the fees that we have been charged by the "malfunctioning" computers? I have no idea and there is no way in the world that I would, at this point in time, talk with an attorney.
Sad that Best Buy moderators won't even apologize to the consumers who post on their website that there are major problems with purchasing an item at Best Buy on the Best Buy/Citicard. They could post an appropriate link or phone number that "might" help consumers with the problems with purchases. Sad that there is not acknowledgement of problems since Citibank took over the "Not Best Buy credit card".
Best Buy could have a conversation about what is going on and let people know that they want our business and they will do their best by establishing a better conduit of communication and information when there are problems with "not Best Buy credit card."
I wonder if they will pull this post? It is only fear that moves them. That is the key ingredient that makes something in a corporation sweat.
We all like shopping at Best Buy. Those reward points are great! Some of the stores provide excellent service.
Now that I understand that Best Buy credit cards have no relationship to Best Buy and it is just advertising for Citibank by putting all their store information on the front of the card; I think it's on the back too; rememember, it is not the fault of Best Buy. It is Citicards fault. Call Citicard....good luck.
Best Buy does not care about their customers who use the "Not Best Buy Card". There has to be a reason. Why would they want customers to shop somewhere else? Is the strategy now, "Best Buy is too good for consumers?" "Best Buy prefers that you pay cash for all purchases?" "Best Buy, we're so rich, we don't have to care about our customers! They keep coming in the front door!" This could be a public relations nightmare for Best Buy. That is why they don't want consumers to talk about how their "real-life problems" originated at a Best Buy store.
I despise how I have been treated by Citibank. I know I post on a forum that is "owned and promoted" by Best Buy. In the corporate world, they set the rules. Most of us understand that corporate wins over consumer at all times in this business environment. I'm sure they will be very happy that this is my last post regarding this matter.
Learn what federal regulations are in place to help you. Stop using the "Not Best Buy card". It is our choice to use them. if you have to shop at Best Buy, use cash or another credit card that is not affialated with "Not Best Buy card".
Sorry about the spelling errors. This laptop was bought at Best Buy. The hard drive was replaced by the "Geek Squad". It was repaired, but some functions no longer work.
Yeeup! I went and bought another computer at Best Buy! It was only a couple of thousands of dollars. I went with a tower! I already have a notebook. Getting away from a laptop was expensive!
I'll have to ponder as to whether I will ever shop at Best Buy again. It is due to the reactions of the moderators; the finger pointing from Citibank and Best Buy and most of all; a lot of my money has been emptied out of my bank account since Citi took over my "Not Best Buy card".
I am not an attorney. I did graduate from college and there is a wonderful member on this forum who has helped me out with the system.
Cheers! I hope this post isnt' pullled since it is designed to mitigate frustration among members of the "Not Best Buy card"Hello AlwaysWondering-
It certainly sounds as if you have had a bad experience with Citibank regarding your Best Buy credit card, enough so that you’ve chosen to join our community to speak to that dissatisfaction.
When it comes to the Best Buy credit card, the information that you have been given to this point is correct. While the Best Buy logo is on the credit card, Citibank does providing the financing for the card and as such, we have no access to your account, nor any ability to make changes to it. However, this does not mean that we cannot attempt to help our customers with concerns that come up with Citibank. In fact, we welcome feedback about our third party partners regarding the service that they are providing to our customers and when possible, we will try to work as an advocate for the customer with that partner. In the end, any final decision regarding your credit card account is at the sole discretion of Citibank.
Everyone that joins our forums does so with the understanding that they must abide by our Terms and Conditions, as well as the Community and Forum Guidelines.
As part of those guidelines Best Buy® retains the right to remove and edit content and to limit and/or ban users' access to the Forum. Best Buy® retains the right, at its sole discretion, to limit users' access to the Forum and to remove material, in Best Buy's sole judgment, that does not comply with the Usage Guidelines or Terms and Conditions or that is otherwise inappropriate for the Forum, harmful, objectionable, or inaccurate.
Moderators may take any action they deem necessary in their own judgment to enforce the Usage Guidelines and Terms and Conditions, and, in general, to address content that can detract from the experience of other users or the purpose of the Forum. Such actions may include editing, moving, or deleting material and banning individual users.
This can include blocking further replies to posts that have already been provided a resolution or removing replies from an older post that no longer needs additional commentary. In general, we would rather not take this route and welcome the input of our users in a timely manner and by keeping the discussion relevant by staying on the topic when posting.
If you have a customer service issue regarding Citibank or any other aspect of your interactions with Best Buy we would urge you to create a post regarding that interaction and we would be glad to see if we can help you. Otherwise, we encourage you to follow the Community Guidelines as posted and see what you can provide other users on our forums to assist them in resolving their concerns.
Sincerely,
Bill|Senior Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message -
Tonight was by far the worst experience I've ever had at Best Buy...Debating on ever returning
Okay so here goes...bit of a story but bear with me while I go through the details (there are quite a few).
First off, 3 days ago I finally decided I had enough of my Nokia Lumia 822, cracked screen mind you, and decided to add a new line of service to my existing verizon account and just pay the extra 40 bucks until my real line is up (5 months left). I purchased an S5 and was very happy with my purchase. Had a customer come into my store today, am a manager at Gamestop, and she told me about this awesome deal where if you buy an open box iphone you get a free 200 gift card! Of course I wasn't told this when I bought my S5 but I was within the 14 day period so I called about 15 stores, found two black 5s' in stock and booked it over there as I got off work. Buying a second for my brother for his 21st birthday, which I got home just in time to spend an hour with him for. To start, the relatively easy return process took about 15x longer than it should have... I got there at around 630-7 and it took until about 9 oclock to finally return the phone and get my money and everything back. This isn't including purchasing the new phones. Because it was such a good deal, I decided to add two lines. So essentially, delete the line I just created and add two. Simple right? I think not. Not only did the manager leave me with some untrained very impatient sales rep...she also left him and I unattended for about 45 minutes at a time, only to come in and fix his problems within five minutes. If it was so simple for her, why didn't she just do the whole thing? That bugged me but I didn't say anything because I figured it would get resolved. The phones ended up taking a bit longer to do activate on my account, and then for some odd reason not explained to me...only one of the 200$ gift cards printed. They have to request another one...AND THEN to top my night off, I go to see my new phone and the phone is icloud locked, meaning whoever did the return didn't even check to see if it was reset. I have this old owners contacts, email and everything on my phone and NO WAY of activating it because I don't have the apple id passwords. So let's go over this...Extremely long wait time for a return that could've easily been done by a manager, extremely long activation time and the promos I specifcally came in for (and called TWICE ahead of time to confirm) did not completely work (only recieved 200 out of the 400 in gc's) and I am now home only to have one working iphone that wasn't even for me and another bricked iphone that I can't even activate. So I'm left with no phone with my number on it, no way of contacting anyone either. This store is an hour away from me but they were the only store with stock and I wanted the deal...To be honest, I'm wishing I never even did the deal because it seems as though murphys law was in effect tonight. They've already told me they don't have any more open box phone but I have to drive back tomorrow (another two hours there and back and i drive a jag that gets 8 miles a gallon) just to finish a transaction that I WONT even be rewarded for. Absolutely ridiculous. I've spent over 10k in the past year at best buy and I swear every time I have an issue, I meet the same stubborn employees and am offered one, no compensation for literally time and trouble and two, absolutely no customer service leaving me completely unsatisfied with all my purchases. This is an extreme case and I know a variety of factors go into it. It's very unfortunate.
To be fair, the young (definetely not properly trained) gentleman that helped me was extremely respectful and I think he was just as frustrated as me...but it wasn't towards me at all. The time he took with me was definetely not overlooked. That might be the only positive out of this...However the negatives just overwhelm the situation. I hope I can talk to someone who might be able to figure out a solution to this nightmare! Thank you for reading.
Chris {removed per forum guidelines}Hello Chris,
Welcome to the forum. I sincerely apologize for the delay in replying to your post. I was sadly disappointed to read about your experience when exchanging your phone for the two iPhones. I can understand wanting to make the long trip to take advantage of the open box iPhone deal, and I truly regret we have let you down
Have you had the opportunity to visit the store again? If so, were they able to rectify the $200 gift card problem, and unlock your phone? I completely agree with you, while it's great that the sales associate was helpful, the manager should have overseen the transaction to make things move along faster. I assure you I will be documenting your comments for further employee training opportunities.
Once again, I am very sorry for any inconvenience you have encountered. I hope they were able to turn this experience around into a much better one, otherwise please let me know if I can further assist.
Sincerely,
Maria|Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message -
Breaking the trend : help before buying...
Hey guys,
I am so glad that I decided to do some reading up before buying my new computer.
It is my first upgrade in years, and last time I just bought a package and never put it together myself. So yes, I am a newbie, tho I have spent awhile reading up stuff on the net regarding what I want.
I live in Hong Kong, so certain brands availble to you lot are not availble to me.
However, I have decided to get the K7N2 Delta-L. One reason - it looks fantastic. Another reason - the price is very good and acceptable to me. There are many who say this board is great, other saying it is a loss cause. I am willing to take my chances here.
Anyways, I should stop talking.
Here are the specs I have planned to buy next week.
MSI K7N2-L Delta
Corsair TwinX CMX512-3200LL (256 X 2)
Western Digital 80GB / 7200rpm /UDMA100
SamSung CDRW522452 Internal 52x / 24x / 52x (8mb)
SamSung DVD-ROM 16X
Aero 7+ (CPU FAN)
ATHLON XP 1700+ (0.13) (TRAY) SOCKET-A / 1467MHz / 256KB (Already bought)
Sapphire ATI 9700 pro (Already bought)
So the main problem that I have after readin this board is the ram. I am totally confused. Some people say a certain memory works, some say it doesn't. Now I am willing to shell out the bucks, but I just don't want a nightmare after I buy the stuff. I don't think I'll handle the computer rage very well.
Oh and another thing, I don't have all the brands availble to me here like I said earlier. However, the company that I am gonna buy it from has a webpage to state thier products.
Herez a link to their ram section
http://www.jumbo-computer.com/ram_c.asp
Well, I am really hoping that the tech greats here could give me a hand and guide me through this buying process. And perhaps even enlighten me on any faults or incompatibilities I may have in my specs. Thanks alot!
Your words are wisdom.
Inkubushmm, yeh, I plan to buy Audigy 2 probably a couple of months down when I have some more cash. Plus I asked around and we don't get the ILSR model here. SUX Eh?
But is there something horrible wrong with the k7n2 delta-L's onboard audio??
As for the PSU, I plan to use the one that will come with my new case, till I get money to buy an Enermax or something along those lines..
My case is going to be an ICute model and it comes with a GTR model 350 watts PSU. Those brands probably mean nothing to you as they are Hong Kong based.
Herez a pic of my case (just for amusement)
http://www.gtr.com.hk/new-subpage/product/case_main/icute/sub_page/0301/0301.htm
Thanx for your reply.
Maybe you are looking for
-
Error in deploying .jar file from JDeveloper 10.1.3.5
Hello, I want to deploy .jar file in a machine, instead of having to install JDeveloper to run the application (it contains: Web Services and Data Base). I have followed the following steps in JDeveloper to create the .jar file: 1) Right click over t
-
How to set Preferences such that new tabs open to same page as active when Command-T was hit?
On opening a new tab, the tab by default opens to thumbnails based on recent history. A la Safari, I want the new tab to open *to same page as was active when Command-T was hit*. What are the specific steps to take, to set as the default (preference)
-
How to change the page order in Microsoft word 2008
Hi, can you tell me how to change the page order in Microsoft word 2008, thanks
-
hdmi port on probook 4530s doesn't work when i connect it to TV Hdmi port nothing appears. i tried duplicate, Extend mode but nothing.. can anyone help?
-
Does OS X Mountain Lion support Adobe Creative Suite CS4 programs?