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  • Report:  #1466940

Complaint Review: HP Smartfriend -

Reported By:
Chaya - United States
Submitted:
Updated:

HP Smartfriend
United States
Phone:
866-724-8600
Web:
https://www8.hp.com/us/en/services/consumer/services-overview.html
Categories:
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good? What's this?

Okay, so first off, I will say that, yes, I am partially at fault here because I was pretty sure my laptop had a HARDware problem but I got conned into purchasing this service so they could assist me with a SOFTware problem.  The guy convinced me that the problem was corrupted data and not a problem with the HARDdrive.  I don't know a lot about computers so it's easy to rip me off.  But, I am still upset that Hewlett Packard, which for years had an awesome reputation for high-quality products (at the very least, for their laptops).

I receivied the laptop as a gift a few months ago and, within a month, the harddrive was filled up.  I never even thought to check the memory storage because I've never had a problem with it before but this laptop has only 29 GB and the programs use up at least 25 GB.  It came with OneDrive (cloud storage) so I moved the few documents and pictures there.  But, as I learned, OneDrive is a backup copy in case you have to factory reset the computer or anything else that might erase data on the harddrive.  Same with Dropbox.  So, I moved the few files that completely "filled" the harddrive to Google Drive.  

Additionally, Windows released an update to Windows 10 shortly after I received the laptop.  But, it wouldn't download because it needed 13.9 GB on the harddrive.  Not sure how this is even possible with a 29 GB harddrive.  I purchased a 1 TB external storage device but there was nothing on the harddrive to move to it and when I tried to use it for the update I kept getting an error and it wouldn't load.

I've had to continually clean up temporary files for the last few months until finally three days ago, there was 0 MB available, it couldn't clean up any files and the laptop locked up.  I could not click on anything.  

So, this brings me to the point when I called tech support two days ago.  I told the guy that my harddrive was full and I needed help either getting the 1 TB external storage device working so I could download the Windows update or factory resetting (I think that's what it's called) the computer.

He responde by telling me this is usually due to corrupted data and suspicious data from a program that is downloaded from the internet.  He spoke so fast and I think I just assumed that I was wrong and the laptop had something else wrong.  He explained to me that I needed to purchase the service plan to fix it.  I asked why I had to pay for service when the computer is under warranty.  He informed me that the warranty is for HARDware and this problem was SOFTwareI They probably know that, if they talk fast, they will confuse people like he did me and talked me into paying about $52 (for the first month), then $14.99/mo for one year, with a $70 early termination fee.

I also found out yesterday Staples will repair HP computers that are still under warranty.  It would be nice if HP would show the partmers that will provide warranty service on their tech support web page.  

So, basically, I am just pissed that I was ripped off so easily by a company that I held in very high regard and I just want to let people know to be careful.

If you're still with me, thank you for reading this far!  I almost never have a simple question, answer or explanation ;) 

Thank you!



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