March 31, 2007
View Comments | Post CommentI'm A Plaintiff
I'm currently suing HP. I sent my laptop in for a simple repair. A month and a half ago. And I still haven't gotten it back.
First they told me it was out of warranty. It was not. They estimated that I'd get it back by March 1st. I did not. A couple weeks after sending it in, and well past the 1st, I'd heard nothing from them, and asked, and they told me it had already been shipped back. It had not been. Then they told me that the motherboards were on backorder, and that I would get it on the 21st. I did not. Then they told me that it would be shipped the next day. It was not. Then they told me I'd already received it. I had not. And throughout this process, my case was continually getting "escalated" to their case managers, who were each supposed to call me within 3-6 hours. I never got a single call. Finally, I asked HP to just send me my laptop back. They said they could not.
So I sued them in D.C. Small Claims Court. The filing fee was $10, and service of process cost an extra $4. Now they're compelled to send a licensed attorney to a mediation hearing on April 13, followed immediately by trial if mediation does not resolve our dispute. I sued them for fraud and misrepresentation, negligence, breach of contract, breach of warranty, and--my favorite--conversion.
I did finally get a call from a case manager--while in line at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, paperwork all filled out, filing fee in hand. At that time, I was told that the repair would be finished by the 28th, and I'd get it back then. After I told them where I was, and what I was doing, the case manager told me that if it wasn't repaired by the 28th, he'd get me a new laptop. I thanked him, but told him I was still filing the suit unless he was willing to send me a new laptop immediately. He was not. I filed. The 28th came and went. He never called back.
Earlier today, I got on their online chat support, and told them I needed my case manager to call me. They said I'd get a call shortly. I did not.
The last month has been the least productive of my entire life. I get nothing done, not even things that I did for fun. I usually blogged during class, as well as doing most of the reading of random internet sites that constitutes the prerequisite to my getting any real work done. So now I never blog, and never do any work. It's a pitiful state of affairs. I await trial.
Posted at March 31, 2007 10:50 PM | Comments (13)
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Posted by: Ingen Angiven at April 1, 2007 1:23 AM
Nice. Stick it to the man!
Posted by: Joel at April 1, 2007 3:07 PM
Wow, I'd be using a lot more curse words if I were the one telling that story. Good luck!
Posted by: Shana at April 2, 2007 10:21 AM
I find it far more biting without curse words. The continual repetion of the "it was not" motif and its variations is an effective literary device. I was wondering why we hadn't heard from you in a while, Barzelay. Good luck at trial, and rest assured that I for one, who am currently shopping for a laptop, will be bypassing HP.
Posted by: Mike at April 2, 2007 10:50 AM
wow! can't wait to hear what happens!
Posted by: jojomcjojo at April 2, 2007 7:55 PM
Well, Mike, if I do get my money from them, I'll be shopping for a new laptop. The funny thing is, it's not at all unlikely that I'll buy another HP.
I've actually had very good experiences with their service in the past, and I don't think their laptops are physically any better or worse than any other brands.
Posted by: David Barzelay at April 2, 2007 9:10 PM
I understand what you are going through. The same thing happened to me with HP, during finals and I take my finals on my laptop, or at least I am supposed to. They took well over 2 months to get it back to me and during the entire process they could not tell me where it was or what was happening to it. I spoke to many case managers and they all said that I had to speak to a specific one who was always "busy on the other line." They would text her and she always said that she would call me back the same day or the next day. After three weeks I stopped calling and started researching how best to sue them. Finally I got it back, but I too am considering sueing them, let me know how it goes.
Posted by: Seth Whitaker at April 3, 2007 9:17 AM
Conversion? All this talk about 'chattel'.. Call me an unschooled layman, but this sounds a little like hockey's offsides. No one but the most hardcore fans understand it.
Relatedly, what's the time penalty for conversion?
Posted by: daniel at April 5, 2007 10:34 PM
I don't know what you mean by "time penalty."
Conversion means "theft," more or less. But "theft" is a criminal charge, and "conversion" is a civil cause of action. So for theft one would get, say, 6 months in jail. For conversion, one would be required to pay the price of the good ("chattel") converted.
Posted by: Barzelay at April 5, 2007 10:48 PM
So this is what has happened to bazelay... You should talk to Vic, he's gone through almost the exact same situation...
-Z-
Posted by: Zeeshan at April 6, 2007 3:12 PM
I meant how long do you have to stay in the penalty box for conversion?
But jokes aren't funny if you have to explain them :)
Posted by: daniel at April 6, 2007 3:55 PM
Yeah, but then when you explain them, it's funny, just not in the way you intended. My bad. I should've understood the joke.
Posted by: David Barzelay at April 6, 2007 3:57 PM
One advice : buy a Mac !! at least they are reliable !! :-)
Posted by: Persp at April 13, 2007 2:24 PM
