This company is another on my "loser" list and it's going to go away at this point. I have had enough. I have put up with years of incompetence, poor service, bad internet connections and am finally ready to just pay the price - I will have to buy a cable ready modem - and get it over with. I WILL be trying the grass on the other side of the fence.
If it isn't any greener, then so beit, but I have had Qwest internet for too long and for too long - it goes out altogether or it goes down to half the connection speed that I am paying for.
Yes, I was on the phone with them today, again, for the 50th time attempting to get the connection speed back up to par - that's the point. This supervisor I was speaking with stated - after I spent a bit of time telling him how I think about his company - that "it doesn't take that long to get to someone".
As if I should HAVE to get to anyone. Their internet doesn't work as agreed and paid for as often as it does. I have spent some time looking into Cox internet today, not that I believe it's going to be any better, but I at least have to try it once. It's certainly a faster connection speed for only a few dollars per month more - if it works. That's the problem I have with Qwest/ Century Link - it doesn't WORK as often as it does work.
I have had technicians out here 2 dozen times now in the last 4 years. I am sick of having to call them to deal with connectivity issues. SICK of it.
So, I am going to buy a Cox compatible modem that also serves as a wifi router and see what happens. It is going to cost me $129 for modem/router combo I want, but, again. Too much history with Qwest. Them changing their name to Century Link has changed NOTHING about the service. It totally sucks.
Yes, my connection has been going down for several days now - I finally contacted them today, enough is enough. Did they fix it? Yes, this time, one of the few that has ever occured, over the phone, but it took over an hour of it. I have been through more than enough hours of it and if I went into all of it, well, this entry would go on and on and on - 20 paragraphs at least worth.
Whatever. There are occasions when a relationship with a company needs to be cut and this is definitely one of them.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Saturday 2/11/2012
Well, now that I have as much of the HP situation done as I can for today - I waited for a week to hear from them - now I can move on to other things.
Lynnette is coughing, hacking, coughing away. Has been for days. I had asked about the use of cough syrup, I didn't get an answer.
Hmmm.
Well, whatever, I don't want her walking around the common areas of the house hacking away like that, I don't want to get sick and I don't want anyone else to get sick, either, is all I can say about it.
I was going to have that kid come over and do some yard work today, but, his phone isn't working and he hasn't responded to my email, so that is also going to get blown off.
Which leaves me to find a new mattress for the travel trailer and also get up on the roof and begin work on the other roof vent that needs replaced. I have the vent, just gotta get up there and get to work! It's only 10:00am and I am waiting until it warms up bit more before doing that.
I am hoping to get a nice, used mattress for around $100. Delivered. lol. I can get a new one for $150 but we're not talking Sealy for that kind of money. Not in a big hurry to do that, but - on the other hand - wanna get it done while the money is available to do so. There is no mattress in that trailer currently.
Caleb is still having sleep issues - can't help him with that unless he wants to go to a doc and get sleeping medication. At his age? I slept through the night. In fact, I didn't start having sleeping issues until I got divorced at the age of 41. I have always been a light sleeper, but I found ways around that problem by using ear plugs and a fan to cover up noise at night.
Church service last night was a bit different. The guest speaker had everyone come up front and we all prayed. There was no sermon. I'm not complaining or saying it was bad, just saying it was definitely different.
That's it. I have a pond filter I need to disassemble and clean out. Not the funnest thing on earth but it's really the only thing I ever really have to do to maintain it. Other stuff I can or cannot do - if I wanna, lol. I actually can let the filters go for extended lengths of time, but then it gets so filled up with fish waste that it's very difficult to clean out with all the goo. Yuck.
Lynnette is coughing, hacking, coughing away. Has been for days. I had asked about the use of cough syrup, I didn't get an answer.
Hmmm.
Well, whatever, I don't want her walking around the common areas of the house hacking away like that, I don't want to get sick and I don't want anyone else to get sick, either, is all I can say about it.
I was going to have that kid come over and do some yard work today, but, his phone isn't working and he hasn't responded to my email, so that is also going to get blown off.
Which leaves me to find a new mattress for the travel trailer and also get up on the roof and begin work on the other roof vent that needs replaced. I have the vent, just gotta get up there and get to work! It's only 10:00am and I am waiting until it warms up bit more before doing that.
I am hoping to get a nice, used mattress for around $100. Delivered. lol. I can get a new one for $150 but we're not talking Sealy for that kind of money. Not in a big hurry to do that, but - on the other hand - wanna get it done while the money is available to do so. There is no mattress in that trailer currently.
Caleb is still having sleep issues - can't help him with that unless he wants to go to a doc and get sleeping medication. At his age? I slept through the night. In fact, I didn't start having sleeping issues until I got divorced at the age of 41. I have always been a light sleeper, but I found ways around that problem by using ear plugs and a fan to cover up noise at night.
Church service last night was a bit different. The guest speaker had everyone come up front and we all prayed. There was no sermon. I'm not complaining or saying it was bad, just saying it was definitely different.
That's it. I have a pond filter I need to disassemble and clean out. Not the funnest thing on earth but it's really the only thing I ever really have to do to maintain it. Other stuff I can or cannot do - if I wanna, lol. I actually can let the filters go for extended lengths of time, but then it gets so filled up with fish waste that it's very difficult to clean out with all the goo. Yuck.
My Broken Laptop - Hewlett Packard Substandard Service
I hadn't received any kind of contact from HP - at all - since I sent it in excepting an automated email saying that they had received it.
Getting annoyed with it, I went back into that email and found a link to their site to check the status of the repair.
Going to that site and inputting the required information, a screen comes up telling me that the LCD screen is cracked and that it was going to cost $359 to repair it.
$359.00??!!!
I then attempted to call the case manager in their executive department - closed on weekends. Then tried calling their main 800 number. Besides the endless prompts - which I have now figured out how to get around - you get routed to either India or the Philippine Islands. Indian accents, as I have repeatedly stated on this blog, are so thick and heavy it is often times difficult to understand anything they are saying.
I basically got hung up on a couple of times from that side of the world as I asked to speak to someone who actually speak intelligible English. I guess that doesn't go over too well with them.
I then started connected to the Philippine Islands. Their accent is readily recognizable. It has a high-pitched, irritating twang to it. Perhaps the irritation is with the company itself, I don't know, but they don't really speak English too well, either. After 4 more attempts with them, I finally got a lady that - about half English speaking I would estimate.
She gets back on the phone after taking my information which I had to repeatedly give to her and tells me the same thing: cracked LCD screen, you have 2 options. Pay me $359 now, over the phone or we can just send it back to you. Well I can tell you right now that I ain't paying $359 to have a computer laptop screen fixed, I will find some way to get it done cheaper (which I already have, thank you).
I ask to speak to her supervisor, which is when she starts getting cranky with me. Note that I wasn't asking to speak to her supervisor about HER, but about the situation. Here's my guess, and it's probably right on: anytime you end up speaking with a supervisor in that particular company, it's a ding on the rep that couldn't solve your problem. Many companies are like this. Instead of getting a supervisor, you are either put back into the general incoming call system with their computer automatic voice system or you are hung up on altogether.
The last few weeks of my experiences with Hewlett Packard have confirmed to me one thing: I will never buy another Hewlett-Packard product again. There are MANY other manufacturers of laptops out there, HP certainly doesn't have the corner on that market. As for now, however, I am stuck with this laptop and nothing I can do.
Moving on, I then tried to call the higher level manager in Denver, Colorado (he repeated that to me several times, apparently he likes Denver Colorado). I got his voice messaging. I left a message about the high cost of the replacement and what is the point of spending that much money to fix it.
My next search was on Newegg.com. See what a replacement screen actually costs, or at least something close to the amount. Around $90. If I can buy a replacement screen for $90 on Newegg, how much do you think it actually costs the manufacturer who MAKES the screen? Yeah. What a ripoff.
I then moved my search to Craigslist. There are always people on there that advertise for fixing computers. I don't use those services anymore- that's the people fixing desktops of which I no longer need help with fixing. Hardware or software, I can deal with all of it. Laptops? Totally foreign field to me, though, of course, they work no different than a desktop, they are definitely a different deal as far as how they get all of that crammed into that little case.
Anyway, I found a couple of people advertising on their, one of which has his own shop. I already called him: Yes, that's the new screen, I will charge you $125.00 total to replace it. There is a FAR cry of difference between $359 and $125, thank you very much.
I have now filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau concerning this situation, since they promised to fix this computer and yes, I paid to get that promise fulfilled.
We'll see where this goes in the coming days.
As for now, I can't do anything until Monday to contact the case worker and find out why they think replacing an LCD screen is worth almost the entire cost of the computer. I filed the complaint because they apparently respond to such complaints, as evidenced by what I saw on their BBB profile. However, in the end, I am guessing I will have to have them simply send it back and I will take it to a local person to fix it for a 1/3rd of the cost that they are attempting to charge me for it. This may be one of the few cases where BenB does not win against the company. If so, oh well. I have a pretty good track record of getting things fixed or problems solved - though I am not done with this situation yet.
That's because I found an address for their corporate headquarters and am going to see if there is a local number that will take me to something other than their so-called executive team. Of course, I did end up talking to a higher level manager after insisting on speaking with someone other then this executive team, so I guess if I just call that number back and am relentless, well, you know the story.
Getting annoyed with it, I went back into that email and found a link to their site to check the status of the repair.
Going to that site and inputting the required information, a screen comes up telling me that the LCD screen is cracked and that it was going to cost $359 to repair it.
$359.00??!!!
I then attempted to call the case manager in their executive department - closed on weekends. Then tried calling their main 800 number. Besides the endless prompts - which I have now figured out how to get around - you get routed to either India or the Philippine Islands. Indian accents, as I have repeatedly stated on this blog, are so thick and heavy it is often times difficult to understand anything they are saying.
I basically got hung up on a couple of times from that side of the world as I asked to speak to someone who actually speak intelligible English. I guess that doesn't go over too well with them.
I then started connected to the Philippine Islands. Their accent is readily recognizable. It has a high-pitched, irritating twang to it. Perhaps the irritation is with the company itself, I don't know, but they don't really speak English too well, either. After 4 more attempts with them, I finally got a lady that - about half English speaking I would estimate.
She gets back on the phone after taking my information which I had to repeatedly give to her and tells me the same thing: cracked LCD screen, you have 2 options. Pay me $359 now, over the phone or we can just send it back to you. Well I can tell you right now that I ain't paying $359 to have a computer laptop screen fixed, I will find some way to get it done cheaper (which I already have, thank you).
I ask to speak to her supervisor, which is when she starts getting cranky with me. Note that I wasn't asking to speak to her supervisor about HER, but about the situation. Here's my guess, and it's probably right on: anytime you end up speaking with a supervisor in that particular company, it's a ding on the rep that couldn't solve your problem. Many companies are like this. Instead of getting a supervisor, you are either put back into the general incoming call system with their computer automatic voice system or you are hung up on altogether.
The last few weeks of my experiences with Hewlett Packard have confirmed to me one thing: I will never buy another Hewlett-Packard product again. There are MANY other manufacturers of laptops out there, HP certainly doesn't have the corner on that market. As for now, however, I am stuck with this laptop and nothing I can do.
Moving on, I then tried to call the higher level manager in Denver, Colorado (he repeated that to me several times, apparently he likes Denver Colorado). I got his voice messaging. I left a message about the high cost of the replacement and what is the point of spending that much money to fix it.
My next search was on Newegg.com. See what a replacement screen actually costs, or at least something close to the amount. Around $90. If I can buy a replacement screen for $90 on Newegg, how much do you think it actually costs the manufacturer who MAKES the screen? Yeah. What a ripoff.
I then moved my search to Craigslist. There are always people on there that advertise for fixing computers. I don't use those services anymore- that's the people fixing desktops of which I no longer need help with fixing. Hardware or software, I can deal with all of it. Laptops? Totally foreign field to me, though, of course, they work no different than a desktop, they are definitely a different deal as far as how they get all of that crammed into that little case.
Anyway, I found a couple of people advertising on their, one of which has his own shop. I already called him: Yes, that's the new screen, I will charge you $125.00 total to replace it. There is a FAR cry of difference between $359 and $125, thank you very much.
I have now filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau concerning this situation, since they promised to fix this computer and yes, I paid to get that promise fulfilled.
We'll see where this goes in the coming days.
As for now, I can't do anything until Monday to contact the case worker and find out why they think replacing an LCD screen is worth almost the entire cost of the computer. I filed the complaint because they apparently respond to such complaints, as evidenced by what I saw on their BBB profile. However, in the end, I am guessing I will have to have them simply send it back and I will take it to a local person to fix it for a 1/3rd of the cost that they are attempting to charge me for it. This may be one of the few cases where BenB does not win against the company. If so, oh well. I have a pretty good track record of getting things fixed or problems solved - though I am not done with this situation yet.
That's because I found an address for their corporate headquarters and am going to see if there is a local number that will take me to something other than their so-called executive team. Of course, I did end up talking to a higher level manager after insisting on speaking with someone other then this executive team, so I guess if I just call that number back and am relentless, well, you know the story.
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