Posted on 09/19/2004 1:12:50 PM PDT by william clark
Is it any wonder HP has seen their fortunes fall? If my recent experience is any indicator, I'm not surprised.
A couple of months ago I bought an HP OfficeJet 5510 for my wife to use. In trying to hook it up, I discovered that a fundamental item for connecting it was missing from the box; the USB cable. I called the HP "Customer Support" (quotes are intentional and appropriate) line, and was told that the device isn't shipped with a USB cable. Sure enough, when I looked at the tiny-type inventory of contents on the box, no USB cable was listed.
Maybe it's just me, but the thought that an item necessary for the most basic hookup and use of such a device wouldn't be included, simply never occured to me. I'd bought an HP digital camera a few months before, and it came with the USB cable needed to download the pics.
On top of that, when you read the setup instructions, it repeatedly refers to hooking up the USB cable, not a USB cable; no parenthetical stating "not included" or "purchased separately." Personally, I think that's awfully close to a bait-and-switch type scenario, or some sort of fraud, anyway, implying that they've provided something which you actually have to pay extra for.
So after explaining in no uncertain terms how much of an "up yours" this was to their customers, the guy on the HP line told me that he'd send a USB cable out to me. I thought that was only right, and saw it as a matter of principal more than in issue of cost to me. So fine, he said he'd send me one.
So a few weeks later, with no cable having arrived, I call back. Of course, there's no record of my previous call nor of any shipment, intended or otherwise, of a USB cable. So I go through it again with this guy. This time I make sure to note his name, as well as a case number and customer service number he gives me. Well, a week-and-a-half later, still no cable. I figured I'd follow up tomorrow (Monday), since the numbers he gave me are on my desk at work.
I decided to pull the USB cable from my own printer and use it to hook up the new OfficeJet so that my wife could start using it, only to then discover that one of the ink cartridges packaged with it was wrong. So I call again. Again, they don't find any record of my previous call about the USB cable, and when I give them the Reader's Digest version of that issue, I'm given the standard "We don't ship a USB cable with that" nonsense, which just starts it all over again.
I ask for a supervisor. I get a guy who reinforces the USB cable nonsense, but says he'll help me with the printer cartridge issue. Along the way, he suggests that the previous two people who had promised to send me the USB cable had been lying, and that they just can't send out cables. But back to the cartridge issue. He tells me he'll overnight a cartridge to me, and I tell him I'll call back tomorrow with the numbers I was given and pursue the USB cable issue. Terrific. Then he puts me on hold, muttering something about a "problem," and comes back a few minutes later to tell me that they'll send me the new cartridge as long as I send the old one back to them. I pretty much lose it at this point. "Are you kidding me? The way I've been treated to this point by HP and you have the unbelievable nerve to tell me I have to go out of my way to help you correct your mistake? Forget it." Sure, I could have promised that I'd send it back, and then just not have done so, but I didn't even want to play their games to that extent. Perhaps if they had sent me the USB cable, as promised, they might have earned just enough good will for me to send the cartridge back.
I told him that I will NEVER purchase another HP product, and that I will inform everyone I know that they have the absolute worst customer service I have ever experienced.
Consider this a promise kept.
Sorry. I meant to include a "vanity" notation somewhere, but it's been awhile since I posted something, and I got caught up in the moment.
Never got a parallel cable with my parallel printers.
Never got a parallel cable with my parallel printers.
I just checked on the Staples site, and they clearly state that no cable is included. Did you really wait weeks for them to send you a cable before using the product?
I always seem to upgrade or receive used printers with cables, so I've two or three extra laying around I can send you if you give me your address in Freep Mail.
Its usually not included for a reason. Printers these days have multiple interfaces, and HP doesn't want to provide connectivity for each method. HP is no different from anyone in this regard.
That said, if they promised to send you one, it is unacceptable that they would just say that to get you off the phone, and they deserve every ounce of contempt I am sure you have for them.
They can't afford to, since Carly Fiorina has to be paid her $70 million in options or whatever, while she is flying around in her cmoopany-supplied private jet.
But am I not correct in thinking that you would have the capability of using the printer in a non-parallel manner? In this case, I can't do a single thing, including completing the setup procedure, without the cable.
Back during the transition from parallel to USB on these
types of devices, it was common for the cartons to
prominently display "Interface cable not included".
Did the HP carton lack that warning? If so, I'll wager
that you aren't the only unhappy 5510 customer.
Even though we've moved into the USB-only era, the warning
is still needed, because:
a. high-end devices often can afford to include a cable,
b. low-end devices often can't, and
c. in any case, the consumer needs to know the cable length.
Cameras at all price points, for example, usually include
the USB cable, because one end of the cable is at least
the mini-style USB connector, if not outright proprietary.
The printer-scanner-fax-copier device market, at the 5510's
price point, is highly competitive, and I'm not surprised
that the bill of materials cut out a buck or so by
omitting the cable.
The remainder of your "total customer experience" seems to
require no comment. I wonder if the phone even rang in
the Western Hemisphere.
Perhaps the people at Staples are conscientious enough to warn their customers, but the only indication I got was when I looked at the very small-type inventory on the side of the box, something I didn't think I needed to read over.
And again, their setup instructions are deceptive in not indicating that the cable is not included.
Oh, and as for your second question, I didn't wait weeks to attempt to hook the thing up, but it wasn't a big deal to wait for a cable to arrive, since we have another functional printer on my Mac setup, which is what I tried to use today when I discovered the cartridge issue.
Yeah, that's pretty cheap. From my recent experiences, it appears that the USB cables aren't coming with mainboards or cases, either.
It appears that price is what competition is all about, now. I read a piece here yesterday about how millions of Chinese are croaking on the toxins from factories that our corporate officers are administering and buying from over there.
So it was decided YEARS ago to let the customer buy his own. Try Epson, HP, Brother, Compac or anyone else. You will find NO cable.
Now how the HP customer service gave you the run around, is not right, and you're right to be peeved. But in truth, you had no leg to stand on when you called and demanded a free cable that the box CLEARLY STATES is NOT included. IMHO, your correct course of action upon learning that you were short one cable should have been, to slap your forehead, mutter "Doh", and gone out to get one of the proper size. The ink cartridge problem should be addressed, and I'll wager it will be.
Be well....
I would agree with you except for one thing. As I've repeatedly stated, the box did NOT clearly state that the cable was not included, and the setup instructions strongly implied that it was.
I bought a new car once and it came with a quarter tank of gas. I laughed when another buyer was going completely NUTS on his salesman for his less then full tank. Why do some people want more than they pay for?
Once again, Be Well.....
After spending more than 40 hours troubleshooting recently the damage caused to our PC by an HP-Software Update recommended by HP for our HP All-in-One printer, and trying to find someone at HP Customer Service competent enough to resolve the matter, I found HP telling me the only solution was to reformat my PC.
Time and again I met up with the most incompetent, uncaring personnel imaginable. The hours piled up largely because the software could not be simply uninstalled, but one would have to follow this elaborate procedure that never really removed all traces of what was installed, and no one at HP understood how to correct the mess. Some would simply not reply at all during Tech Support chat sessions and then cancel the session without warning, and some stayed silent on the phone, then redirected my call to some apparently nonexistent person who never arrived.
After writing to Corporate, eventually HP offered to send to me a couple of ink cartridges to make up for my wasted time. They also said they would pay to have my PC reformatted, up to $150. When I explained I've nearly 30 years' computer experience and would not take my PC to a business where it would be further out-of-commission for some unspecified period of time, HP told me that's the best they would do, and that they didn't even have to do that; they blamed me at one point for not heeding their hidden warning that installing their recommended software is to be installed at a consumer's own risk, then backed off on this position.
The "improved", recommended software update removed features and function from a fairly costly peripheral; I was asked by one HP Tech that it didn't matter, if the printer could still print -- ignoring all of its other functions -- "Isn't that good enough?"
Incredibly, one HP Tech actually told me the software I downloaded from HP's website at HP's recommendation may contain a virus, their guess as to why I experienced the results I did.
I'll be purchasing and recommending their competitions' products.
A post-script to my initial response to you, by the way, HP never sent to me the two ink cartridges it offered, either.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.