So, I returned home Monday night to find a failed 24-port 1gb switch - nothing exotic, HP1810-24g. Did basic troubleshooting, pwr cycle, check pwr cord, cables, mgt interface - no go.
No problem, this switch was chosen because it has lifetime warranty with expedited advance replacement service. Verified serial#, warranty @hp.com, logged into account & created trouble ticket.
Received email response within 1hr - very impressive - verified shipping address, RMA process initiated.
Tuesday
1st sign of things amiss: received follow-up email requesting company email id, without which switch replacement could not proceed. Responded with .edu mail address to move things along, even though I had already told rep. this was home-lab, personal-use equipment.
Received confirmation order#, pre-printed return labels, expected receipt date Wed, all good, back to normal.
Wednesday
2nd glitch: received email prompting digital signature of verification form? "If we do not receive your signed form in 3 days I will need to cancel your order." But if my order has an eta of Wed, how could my order be cancelled in 3 days? Oh, I get it, my order is NOT shipping after all.
Proceeded with digital signage similar to IRS audit, and then IMMEDIATELY received the following email:
Good Day,
Due to recent activity on your account we need you to provide a Proof of Purchase (POP) for the units for which you are requesting warranty parts.
Please submit a copy of your full proof of purchase (including the order/invoice number, place of purchase, subtotal). Also two pictures will be required; one of the serial number tag that is affixed to your Hewlett-Packard device you are requesting warranty service for. It is a sticker that has the serial number on it. The other picture will need to be of the unit showing the product name. Please send this information to:CSR_Queue@HP.com for warranty verification
Please note the HP Hardware Limited Warranty General Terms states, “You may be required to provide proof of purchase or lease as a condition of receiving warranty service.
OK, I see where we are going now. I respond via email with photos of unit and serial#, etc, but, shame on me, I don't have original invoice. I explain situation, that I have relocated twice since purchase, not 100% sure which vendor used, but did have unit registered, hoping that would suffice.
Crickets.
I call support, fully expecting rejection, but the support tech shocks me by offering to escalate my case, hopefully waiving the invoice requirement.
Thursday
Received call from cust. support; good news, RMA approved! However, I have to give a delivery window where DHL can pick up the failed switch, and then tender the replacement unit. Weird, but I'll play along to get this over with.
Receive call from customer fulfillment; bad news again, switch is out of stock. I inquire about eta, told that they would need to contact "logistics team" and call me back. sigh
Same person calls again 2hrs later to repeat OOS status, and that they have no eta available. I express skepticism that HP RAN OUT OF SWITCHES, and asked that they substitute ANY working 24-port, rack-mounted, 1gb switch. Mumble, mumble, ..."escalation team"...gibberish, will have to get back to me. I propose that they share news of google.com with "escalation team", and find the dozens of available listings for that exact model available for sale. That probably did not help, but everyone has limits.
End of day Thursday: crickets again
I fully acknowledge that I should have saved the invoice, but my true mistake was getting in the clown-car with HP support, and letting them drive me off a cliff. I would rather have been competently rejected at the start than be subjected to this sad, bumbling, charade. Even if they do replace the switch, probably by mis-shipping someone else's switch to me, it will only remind me of how far Hewlett-Packard has fallen.
Friday update:
Called procurve network support, same script - "upgrade escalation, logistics team, no eta right now, will update..."
I verified that the contract level does call for next-day advance ship support, and they agreed, but said there was nothing they could do, the part was out of stock.
I asked for shipment of equivalent part, new or refurb, as it was now 4 business days since ticket opened. They said I would need to speak to manager, then did 3 rounds of "I'm the manager (not just the person in the next cubicle pretending)" I guess they ran out of people at the call center, because they switched to the eternal hold technique.
My take on HP is that if you have a large corporate account, with a sales rep. to personally browbeat results from service dept, you might be ok. If you are an individual purchaser, better off going with no-name clone and treat as consumable, like a toner cartridge.
Time to cut my losses, holiday next week. Will update when/if HP re-engages.
Update:
HP did deliver, after some nagging on my part, so I will write my experience off as an outlier. I was relieved to hear from some of the other responses that my situation was atypical, as my past experience with HP support was excellent.
HP contacted me Friday afternoon (5 business days into ticket) and notified me that they had located replacement part, and would deliver to me that day. Delivery happened as promised, with return label included. As I was boxing up defective switch for return, 2nd courier arrived to pick up switch.
Thanks to all who offered support, suggestions, and general commiseration. I feel better prepared for future support encounters, hopefully waaay in the future.
No problem, this switch was chosen because it has lifetime warranty with expedited advance replacement service. Verified serial#, warranty @hp.com, logged into account & created trouble ticket.
Received email response within 1hr - very impressive - verified shipping address, RMA process initiated.
Tuesday
1st sign of things amiss: received follow-up email requesting company email id, without which switch replacement could not proceed. Responded with .edu mail address to move things along, even though I had already told rep. this was home-lab, personal-use equipment.
Received confirmation order#, pre-printed return labels, expected receipt date Wed, all good, back to normal.
Wednesday
2nd glitch: received email prompting digital signature of verification form? "If we do not receive your signed form in 3 days I will need to cancel your order." But if my order has an eta of Wed, how could my order be cancelled in 3 days? Oh, I get it, my order is NOT shipping after all.
Proceeded with digital signage similar to IRS audit, and then IMMEDIATELY received the following email:
Good Day,
Due to recent activity on your account we need you to provide a Proof of Purchase (POP) for the units for which you are requesting warranty parts.
Please submit a copy of your full proof of purchase (including the order/invoice number, place of purchase, subtotal). Also two pictures will be required; one of the serial number tag that is affixed to your Hewlett-Packard device you are requesting warranty service for. It is a sticker that has the serial number on it. The other picture will need to be of the unit showing the product name. Please send this information to:CSR_Queue@HP.com for warranty verification
Please note the HP Hardware Limited Warranty General Terms states, “You may be required to provide proof of purchase or lease as a condition of receiving warranty service.
OK, I see where we are going now. I respond via email with photos of unit and serial#, etc, but, shame on me, I don't have original invoice. I explain situation, that I have relocated twice since purchase, not 100% sure which vendor used, but did have unit registered, hoping that would suffice.
Crickets.
I call support, fully expecting rejection, but the support tech shocks me by offering to escalate my case, hopefully waiving the invoice requirement.
Thursday
Received call from cust. support; good news, RMA approved! However, I have to give a delivery window where DHL can pick up the failed switch, and then tender the replacement unit. Weird, but I'll play along to get this over with.
Receive call from customer fulfillment; bad news again, switch is out of stock. I inquire about eta, told that they would need to contact "logistics team" and call me back. sigh
Same person calls again 2hrs later to repeat OOS status, and that they have no eta available. I express skepticism that HP RAN OUT OF SWITCHES, and asked that they substitute ANY working 24-port, rack-mounted, 1gb switch. Mumble, mumble, ..."escalation team"...gibberish, will have to get back to me. I propose that they share news of google.com with "escalation team", and find the dozens of available listings for that exact model available for sale. That probably did not help, but everyone has limits.
End of day Thursday: crickets again
I fully acknowledge that I should have saved the invoice, but my true mistake was getting in the clown-car with HP support, and letting them drive me off a cliff. I would rather have been competently rejected at the start than be subjected to this sad, bumbling, charade. Even if they do replace the switch, probably by mis-shipping someone else's switch to me, it will only remind me of how far Hewlett-Packard has fallen.
Friday update:
Called procurve network support, same script - "upgrade escalation, logistics team, no eta right now, will update..."
I verified that the contract level does call for next-day advance ship support, and they agreed, but said there was nothing they could do, the part was out of stock.
I asked for shipment of equivalent part, new or refurb, as it was now 4 business days since ticket opened. They said I would need to speak to manager, then did 3 rounds of "I'm the manager (not just the person in the next cubicle pretending)" I guess they ran out of people at the call center, because they switched to the eternal hold technique.
My take on HP is that if you have a large corporate account, with a sales rep. to personally browbeat results from service dept, you might be ok. If you are an individual purchaser, better off going with no-name clone and treat as consumable, like a toner cartridge.
Time to cut my losses, holiday next week. Will update when/if HP re-engages.
Update:
HP did deliver, after some nagging on my part, so I will write my experience off as an outlier. I was relieved to hear from some of the other responses that my situation was atypical, as my past experience with HP support was excellent.
HP contacted me Friday afternoon (5 business days into ticket) and notified me that they had located replacement part, and would deliver to me that day. Delivery happened as promised, with return label included. As I was boxing up defective switch for return, 2nd courier arrived to pick up switch.
Thanks to all who offered support, suggestions, and general commiseration. I feel better prepared for future support encounters, hopefully waaay in the future.
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