Complaint Review: Compaq Computer Corp. - Houston Texas

While in college, I set out to buy a laptop computer so that I could keep in touch with family and friends via the internet, do school reports and eventually use it to find a job. I eventually settled on a Compaq Pressario Notebook (1200-xl106) which in February of 2000 I purchased at Sears, using my Sears charge. I paid the grand total of $1,800.00 for this piece of equipment.

I brought the computer home and began to set it up. I was following the directions of how to set it up when I received my first "blue screen of death". I thought that perhaps I had done something wrong and thought nothing of it. I continued to use my computer and got the occasional "blue screen of death". While using this laptop computer, my mother commented on how HOT it got, so hot in fact that one could not comfortably keep it on their lap without having a pillow or something in between. My mother was so concerned about this that she made me put it on a HOTPLATE in fear that it might start a fire.

At that time, my boyfriend (a computer person by trade) thought it odd and looked online for a possible recall of the power component. Although no actual recall was ever found, there was a bulletin posted from Compaq which noted that there was a problem with certain power supplies overheating and in 5 cases, housefires inevitably incurred. Yet there was still no recall, so when I called Compaq to complain about it, they said that since there was no official recall there was nothing they could do.

So time passed I kept the unit on a hotplate and I would get the occasional "blue screen of death" and then one day in July of 2000,less than 6 months after I had purchased it, it just would not turn on. It was at that time that I called Compaq and explained to them what had been happening with the laptop and they told me to send it in and they would fix it. So I sent the laptop in and they returned it to me with a letter stating that they had fixed it with "spare parts". At that time their "spare parts" and workmanship were guaranteed for 90 days.

So I used the laptop very infrequently over the next 4 months, perhaps 5 or 6 times and then one day in late November of 2000 my laptop would not turn on again. I tried calling Compaq again to tell them that my laptop was not working, but they said that the workmanship and "spare parts" were only guaranteed for 90 days and it was past that time frame. So when I said that the laptop was not even a year old and was covered under the one year warranty, they told me that since I had sent it in and got it fixed, the 90 day warranty superseded the original 1 year warranty and there was nothing that could be done.

Needless to say I was not happy with this answer and proceeded to call innumerable times to try to get some help from Compaq, but to no avail. Every time I would call I would get the same answer: "We are sorry, but there is nothing that we can do, it is no longer covered under warranty."

While all of this was going on, my boyfried looked at the laptop and determined (after changing the CPU for $300) that it was the system board (main board, motherboard) which came with a heafty price tag of $850. There was no way that I was going to pay $850 for a new system board for a computer that I was still paying the credit card bill for, a computer that was less than one year old!

I went on an internet search to attempt to find the system board at a lower price, but while searching, I uncovered that many, many 1200-xl106 owners were also looking for the same part. I had read time and again about how people had purchased this unit and within a short amount of time the system board blew. So now many people were out looking for a decent deal on this part, which rendered it very hard to find.

So I have continued calling Compaq, at which time I was told that there was no record of me ever calling prior to that date, even though I had called relentlessly for months... and I was later told that they had recently switched their computer system and in the process, many of their files had been wiped out. So I began to realize that with them claim not to have any records of me calling, and eventually not having any records that I even sent my laptop in for service that time, I was unable to compile enough information to start any type of a lawsuit for faulty merchandise, deceit, etc.

The most astonishing part of all of this is that during the numerous times that I have sat on hold, I heard the recording repeatedly telling me that "100% customer satisfaction is our number one priority". Yet when a service representative came to the line, there was absolutely NOTHING they could do for me. And since they lost the records of my phone calls and they have no record of my laptop ever being sent in and fixed by them, there is literally nothing that can be done about it.

So in short, I have paid $1,800 for a computer which I was hoping would last for many years and at the time, I believed was a good investment, only to be able to use the computer for a few months. And one of the reasons that I decided on a Compaq was becasue I have a Compaq Contura (one of the original laptops from the late 1980's, early 1990's), which I bought from friend for $100, and amazingly it still works. Therefore, I fully believed that Compaq was a reputable company that made reputable, long lasting products.

So needless to say, I found out that Compaq is in fact a deceitful, bottom of the barrel company. One which does not in fact care about their customers, nor does it stand behind its products and/or service. I found their customer service representatives to be incredibly condescending.

Something must be done about this. In my research I have found that I am not the only person that this has happened to. Companies should not be allowed to get away with selling seemingly DISPOSABLE products at these prices and then take no responsibilty for their products when they fail. Especially not when they fail in this way well within their appropriated usage time. When making such an investment, one would hope to have worry free use of the product for an extended amount of time. I am sure that the average american cannot afford to continually purchase laptops every year. I made an investment in a product which was supposed to last me a good number of years, with perhaps minor upgrades. I did not have any intention of investing $1,800 into something that would no longer work after only 6 months of normal usage.

Action must be taken against companies who do such heinous things. What ever happened to the good old days when companies were proud of their products and stood behind them? When a company name STOOD for something? When companies strived to be the best based on well made products and customer service, not solely on the amount of money they raked in at the end of the fiscal year? If companies are not repremanded for such inappropriate practices, then we are condoning this careless mindset to continue.

Trish

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
U.S.A.

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