P.B. has purchased HP systems for himself and for customers, but his goodwill toward the company was tested by a series of unsatisfactory support experiences. "I'm typing this email on my HP desktop," he says. "But in 2006, I started having issues with HP support. The customer service I've received from them has been getting worse with each call. Two years ago, I spent five hours (yes, five hours) being transferred from one department to another, in one country or another -- all in Asia. One of the guys in India was so rude that told me to [bleep] off. I'm glad I didn't have them on a speaker; I was calling from the customer's site and didn't want to expose my customer and this language."
Finally, after a journey around the world and an education in spice words, P.B. spoke to someone who was able to log into his computer remotely and fix the problem. "It took less than 30 minutes to fix. But he was the first person to try a fix."
Ironically, after that support call journey, he got a survey asking about his support experience.
"I shared my experience and left my phone number, thinking that since it was such a horrible experience someone would call me," he says. Nobody did.
"I really hope that HP makes the right move with their tech support," he says. "The company used to make good computers and provide great tech support."
Got gripes or questions? Send them to christina_tynan-wood@infoworld.com.
This story, "Readers weigh in on telemarketing, printer ink, and poor HP service," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of Christina Tynan-Wood's Gripe Line blog at InfoWorld.com.