How useless is HP/Compaq

Very!!!

Heres the story: A customer with a Compaq laptop came to me to see if it could be fixed he said the screen had lines in it sometimes and that he would shut it down and reboot it would go away, Then he said sometimes he would shut it off and it would never boot again sometimes.Ok that lead me to believe there was an overheating problem. So I proceded with a typical DIAG. process

1: Did a complete power drain and got it to boot to windows

2: Did a stress test on the processor and Motherboard sure enough darn thing was over heating

So looked on HP's web site and knoticed that this model was listed under there Limited Warranty Service Enhancement, So I contacted there online support and this is the coversation that followed:

David Washburn : Dead Motherboard Warrenty experation 2008-08-04 Serial Number CNF7254VJH Product Number GF596UA It's listed on your site as HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement. The owner is wondering if it is covered under this?
[An agent will be with you shortly.]
[You are now chatting with Shania .]
Shania : “Welcome to HP Total Care for notebook computer, my name is Shania. Please give me a minute while I quickly review the issue description”.
Shania : Hello David,
David Washburn : Hello
Shania : How are you doing today ?
David Washburn : Fine
Shania : As I understand correctly you want to know that your notebook is under LWSEP or not for the no boot issue, am I correct?
David Washburn : Correct it is a dead motherboard
Shania : Okay, thank you for the information.
Shania : Please give me 3-4 minute of your prcious time so that I can check with my resources.
David Washburn : OK
Shania : Thank you.
Shania : Thank you for being online.
David Washburn : no problem
Shania : I appreciate your time and patience.
Shania : May I know is your notebook is not booting to the desktop screen ?
David Washburn : It's totaly dead no bios no screen I have run all tests (I do computer repair) so
Shania : Okay, to fix the issue with the notebook may I know what all the troubleshooting steps you have performed ?
David Washburn : Extereor monitor ,checked usb ports memory HDDtest all except tak it aprt and test with volt meter
Shania : Okay, thank you for the information.
Shania : I appreciate your efforts that you have taken to fix the issue that you are facing with the notebook.
Shania : May I know is the notebook is going to the BIOS screen?
David Washburn : There is only so many things you can do when it is dead most likely from over heating
David Washburn : No Bios at all no beeps
Shania : Okay, thank you for the information.
Shania : I am glad here to chat with the tech savy person.
Shania : With this we need to perform one more step with your permission I will provide you the step please follow them.
David Washburn : On a side note I have taken out battery memory bios battery held on button for over a minute put everything back in and still nothing
Shania : And I am reallyv ery happy to say that after that if it is not resolved then we will take the notebook in for service as it is in LWSEP until the end of: September of 2009 .
Shania : Okay, thank you for the information.
Shania : We just need to perform the power drain.
Shania : And after that we will go ahead and take the notebook in for service.
David Washburn : OK
Shania : Thank you very much.
Shania : Please follow the below step.
David Washburn : ok
Shania : 1. Shut down the notebook .

Shania : 2. Remove the battery and the AC adapter from the notebook.

Shania : 3. Press and hold the power button for 30-40 second and then release it.

Shania : 4. Connect the AC adapter and then try to start the notebook.

Shania : And after that please let me know if you are done with this.
David Washburn : Ok done still nothing
Shania : Alright!
Shania : Thank you for the information.
Shania : As you have tried all the steps and it is still not booting, inorder to fix the issue we will go ahead and take the notebook in for service.
Shania : This repair will be free of cost.
David Washburn : Great
Shania : To create the case for you please give me the shipping address and the contact number and the best time to contact and time zone of your region.
Shania : So that I can go ahead and create the case for you.
David Washburn : 372 Upper Stanley Rd. stanley, N.C. 28164 704-263-4447 contact anytime Eastern time zone
Shania : Thank you for the information.
Shania : Please give me another 3-4 minutes of your precious time so that I can go ahead and create the case for you.
David Washburn : Ok thats fine
Shania : Thank you.
Shania : Thank you for being online.
David Washburn : no problem
Shania : Please give me some more time as I am about to finish the documentation.
David Washburn : Ok
Shania : Thank you.
Shania : Thank you for being online.
Shania : I appreciate your time and patience.
Shania : The service ticket number for the case is 8026347112.
Shania : I want to give you some information about the process.
David Washburn : ok
Shania : You will get the call from the hardware team within 24-48 hr.
Shania : They will provide you the CSO number for the repair.
Shania : After that within 1-2 business days you will get the box through fed-ex from the HP.
Shania : You need to put the notebook in the BOX and send it to us.
Shania : We will go ahead and repair the notebook and send it back to you.
Shania : This whole process will take 5-8 business days to complete.
Shania : Is there anything else that I can assist you with?
David Washburn : no just give me a minute to right down this info
Shania : No, need to right it.
Shania : You can save the chat script onto your notebook.
David Washburn : Is there no way to save this conversation?
Shania : After ending the session you will get the option to save the transcript.
Shania : If you want I can give you some links related to your notebook to increase the performance and the life of the battery.
David Washburn : ok
Shania : Please open the below link.
Shania : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c00815926

Shania : Are you able to see " HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Increasing System Performance Without Adding Memory in Windows Vista"?
David Washburn : Ok thats in my favorits now yes
Shania : One more link is here.
Shania : This is to improve the life of the battery.
Shania : Performance of the battery.
Shania : Pleas open the below link.
Shania : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01297640&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en
Shania : Are you able to see " HP Notebook PCs - How to Improve the Performance of the Battery"?
David Washburn : yes
Shania : Great,
Shania : The session ID for the refrence is 2140828.
Shania : Is there anything else that I can assit you with ?
David Washburn : that should do it thank you
Shania : It was a pleasure assisting you.
Shania : Thank you for contacting HP Total Care Real-Time chat support. For any further assistance, please contact us again at:
http://www.hp.com/support/chat
Chat support is available 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.
Stay connected and protected with HP's new online storage and sharing service, HP online. To try it FREE for one year, please visit:
http://redirect.hp.com/svs/rdr?TYPE=4&s=upline&tp=upline_email&pf=cndt&locale=en_us&bd=pavilion&c=none
For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site at:
http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare

Shania : Have a nice day.
Shania : Bye with your permission.
David Washburn : you do the same
Shania : Am I able to help you with the issue that you are facing?
David Washburn : yes you have done a great job :)
Shania : Thank you very much.
Shania : If you want you can end the session and save the chat script for your refrence.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Well after about a week of waiting for the box it finally came so I sent the unit back to them.(thinking that the online tech was correct) Low and behold Nope the dumbass was wrong They would not fix the motherboard even though they said they would they wanted $385.00 dollars to fix it. Don't know about you but no laptop Today is worth paying that amount for something they knew right off the bat it had flaws in the motherboard. And this is not the only model that has this problem dv2000, dv6000,dv9000 Models all have this problem and they refuse to fix it and keep on selling the same crap!!!

DO NOT BUY HP/COMPAQ They are junk !!!!! And there Limited Warranty Service Enhancement is a ripoff!!!!!! Not only that but you have to talk to some sand dweller in India that you cannot understand what the F&^% there even saying????