One last, hopefully final note... the free battery for the HP Mini-110, as promised by Diane, just arrived... it snapped into place with little fuss and is now greedily sucking power as it charges up...
Thanks to the kind folks at HP who made this supply chain nightmare a little easier to bear... looking back now, it's more a comedy of errors than any one factor of negligence - but, it's over now, and hopefully, my small efforts helped a little in getting some changes made... and as of today, one can now purchase - in Canada, and directly from the HPShopping.ca website - said battery. The mysterious "Add to Cart" button has stepped into the light... let the buying begin.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Buying a Netbook Part VI - Détente
In this all-but-final chapter of the story, Our Hero at last achieves a measure of vindication and resolution...
Well, I had finally hit enough brick walls that my head was starting to hurt, so I decided to skip over the usual channels and go straight to the top man at HP, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President, Mark Hurd. I just picked up the phone and went "Yo, Mark, buddy... c'mon, dog... Why are your people making this process so damn hard?"
Right. Yeah. That happened. uh-huh.
Actually, what did happen, was that I went to HP's web site, found the executive contact link (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/execteam/email/hurd/) and typed a nicely worded message, along with links to my blog entries (same as the notes here). Here is the text of that message:
A couple days later, I received a voice mail indicating that a fellow named P. had a case file on me and wanted to speak to me about it. He left the case file number and the phone number, but somehow, had forgotten to actually mention he was from HP. For a moment there, I thought I had pissed off the FBI or something. But, after a quick reverse phone look-up of the number, I found it lead to a Compaq call center, and since Compaq is owned by HP... No harm, no foul. This was good news.
Anyway, I called the number the next day. P. was not around, so I spoke to Diane (I'll use her real name in this case, as she was extra-ordinarily helpful - not to say others were not, but she went above and beyond the call of duty and deserves to be recognized for such). She and I went over the situation, discussed the matters of the case, and then took a little shopping trip to the HP Canada website.
After a couple of false starts, we both found ourselves on the same page, looking at the battery entry. Now, I should mention that the original link I had used to locate the battery was slightly different than the page I was looking at now. When I first went web hunting, I went to HP.com and let that site re-route me to a Canadian shopping page. In this case, with Diane, we went directly to HPShopping.ca and followed the menu items (Notebooks > Accessories) until we found the right page for the HP 6-cell battery for the Mini 110.
The pages were different, so for a moment, I thought I would look like some complete idiot, unable to use a simple web site. However, while the landing page did have a bright red "buy" button (below a Canadian price of $119.99! However, I do have to mention there was a coupon code for a 15% discount...), the next page lead to a more detailed description along with... no "add to cart" but only an "add to wish list" button. No "buy now!", no "click to purchase!"... no place where I could actually buy it on-line.
I was not going crazy. I had an HP rep on the phone who was at the same page and could not believe her eyes. We went back and forth over this a couple of times just to be sure, but in the end, the page was as it was... a mere shadow of an actual product sales page, for without that precious "add to cart", all I could do was call a phone number and go through the old school analog method (for the record, I did not try this... but I am not entirely sure it would have helped anyway).
Diane was convinced, but just for the sake of argument, we agreed that I should give the older style page one more look. I had done so a few days previously and, while still unable to buy on-line, I had gone through to the "find local resellers" section only to discover that no partners were available for my area, a far cry from the days when Best Buy, Staples, and Future Shop were listed.
The partner finder page had in fact been updated slightly since my previous visit. After typing in my location info again (the older cookie had expired, no doubt), I was informed that there were five HP dealers in my area: Dymaxion, Xwave, and IMP, along with two Staples stores. Diane thought I should check these places out (even though I already knew where this was going) while she went through the back end of HP to find some more answers. I agreed and she said for me to call her back directly with my results.
So I made some phone calls. Dymaxion was the first up. I called and was connected with a fellow named B. (very helpful chap), who found the condensed version of my little tale of woe to be quite amusing. While Dymaxion was actually a corporate-oriented business, not really geared towards sales for the individual consumer, B. would investigate this battery supply issue and get back to me. And sure enough, he was as good as his word, although a nice lady, S., was the one to make the phone call. She informed me that while they didn't have the battery in stock, they could get it, but it would cost $150... oh, and since their supplier in Toronto didn't have one either, it would be at least two weeks before they could get one in. At least two weeks.
SIGH
I thanked S. for their great service and hung up. I didn't think things would improve, but dutifully, I called Xwave and IMP. Xwave is another corporate oriented business (owned by Bell Aliant) and after a minute or two on the phone with the receptionist, that avenue was a dead end. Likewise, IMP was in the same boat, and again, after a brief phone call with their receptionist (and finding no path to take), I moved on to the two Staples stores.
I like Staples as a store... there's something about office supplies that I find inexplicably... cool? I dunno. It's very weird. Anyway, I called the Staples in Bayers Lake... and was greeted by the answering menu, which promptly told me that if I was looking for info on products, then their web site was the best place to go. I decided to pursue the human route first, but while on "ignore" (I mean "hold") I checked out their web site (as if I hadn't been here before...). Sure enough, they did have HP accessories and such, but no battery for my Mini 110. And yet, I know I could buy one there, as I had already seen it with my own eyes. On the off chance that the web site was out of date, I waited patiently for a human to answer. And waited. And waited. And was bounced around a few times. And I was disconnected. And I called back. And I waited. And I was bounced around some more. And I eventually hung up. And I called the down town store. And I went through the same thing. And I hung up and crossed Staples off the list, the last of the five local area partners the HP web site had recommended for me.
I called Diane back with the news and found that she was busy, so I talked with another helpful HP rep, a fellow called David. He was very friendly and helpful, and while he couldn't do anything for me directly, he did assure me he would pass on the news of my failure to find a local battery source.
HP may have some horrific sales channel and web site issues, but so far, I must say that they have some of the most excellent tech support and sales reps I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Top notch, in fact... top notch.
The next morning, Diane called back. She had gotten the news about my local partner mishaps and was unnecessarily apologetic about the lack of success. She then informed me that she had brought the situation to people higher up the corporate ladder, but had not been able to find a concrete answer on the matter as to why the process of buying one little battery was so difficult. But, she did have some good news. For all the trouble I had gone through, she had put my name into the "customer appreciation" program and proceeded to inform me that in two to six weeks, I would be receiving one of the long sought-after 6-cell extended life batteries for the Mini 110 computer. For Free.
Wow. A free battery. That would be so very, very cool! It may not seem like much, but things like a corporation showing a little bit of decency in a cold, harsh, disinterested, consumer-driven world means a lot to me. Details matter. And small gestures count as much as big ones.
As far as I'm concerned, HP has some class.
I say "thank you" to Diane for going above and beyond the call of duty, and for really digging into the matter to find out where the problems were. And I say thank you to all the nice folks at HP for being very kind and helpful throughout this ordeal... there may have been glitches in the larger system, but the people work just fine.
So, here ends the tale. I'm not going any further with the battery quest, although I may check in now and then to see if the Canadian web site has been updated with new information regarding purchasing that particular type of battery. And in 2-6 weeks, I'll add one final epilogue / eulogy to the story when my free battery arrives and works out perfectly.
That's right. When it arrives and works out perfectly, the story will be retired once and for all.
When. Not if. For once, I'm going to have a little faith in the fabric of the Universe and see what happens. After all, what's the worse that can happen? Battery Wars, Part II : The Sequel?
Well, I had finally hit enough brick walls that my head was starting to hurt, so I decided to skip over the usual channels and go straight to the top man at HP, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President, Mark Hurd. I just picked up the phone and went "Yo, Mark, buddy... c'mon, dog... Why are your people making this process so damn hard?"
Right. Yeah. That happened. uh-huh.
Actually, what did happen, was that I went to HP's web site, found the executive contact link (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/execteam/email/hurd/) and typed a nicely worded message, along with links to my blog entries (same as the notes here). Here is the text of that message:
Hello Mr Hurd
I recently purchased an HP Netbook, and after having some issues trying to purchase a 6-cell extended life battery for it, I spoke to an in-store HP rep, who after being unable to assist me fully, suggested I contact you.
So, here I am.
I'm not going to reiterate the entire story of my experience (I've already posted the whole story to my Facebook page and my blog, to which I will provide links), but the short version is: I've tried various means to purchase - for a reasonable price and from within Canada - one 6-cell extended life battery NY220AA for my HP Mini-110 computer. And I have had many, many issues in that regard, and in the end, I find that I am unable to do so. For now.
I have chronicled the experience so far on my blog, and will likely continue to do so until there is a final resolution of some kind; I may even pass along my experience to the media at large to see if others have found similar situations.
I just thought you might like to read of my shopping experience with HP, which has been quite negative (however, the HP Mini-110 is fine, and my experience with that product so far has been quite positive). The links are as follows:
Part 1 - http://mistercosmic.blogspot.com/2009/09/buying-netbook-part-i-purchase-and-snag.html
Part 2 - http://mistercosmic.blogspot.com/2009/09/buying-netbook-part-ii-quest-for.html
Part 3 - http://mistercosmic.blogspot.com/2009/09/buying-netbook-part-iii-search-for.html
Part 4 - http://mistercosmic.blogspot.com/2009/09/buying-netbook-part-iv-small-victories.html
Part 5 - http://mistercosmic.blogspot.com/2009/10/buying-netbook-part-v-battery-wars.html
Please pardon the use of coarse language; my blogs tend to be written during moments of frustration and my language choices reflect my mood, more than my capability with words.
Regards
S....
HP Consumer
A couple days later, I received a voice mail indicating that a fellow named P. had a case file on me and wanted to speak to me about it. He left the case file number and the phone number, but somehow, had forgotten to actually mention he was from HP. For a moment there, I thought I had pissed off the FBI or something. But, after a quick reverse phone look-up of the number, I found it lead to a Compaq call center, and since Compaq is owned by HP... No harm, no foul. This was good news.
Anyway, I called the number the next day. P. was not around, so I spoke to Diane (I'll use her real name in this case, as she was extra-ordinarily helpful - not to say others were not, but she went above and beyond the call of duty and deserves to be recognized for such). She and I went over the situation, discussed the matters of the case, and then took a little shopping trip to the HP Canada website.
After a couple of false starts, we both found ourselves on the same page, looking at the battery entry. Now, I should mention that the original link I had used to locate the battery was slightly different than the page I was looking at now. When I first went web hunting, I went to HP.com and let that site re-route me to a Canadian shopping page. In this case, with Diane, we went directly to HPShopping.ca and followed the menu items (Notebooks > Accessories) until we found the right page for the HP 6-cell battery for the Mini 110.
The pages were different, so for a moment, I thought I would look like some complete idiot, unable to use a simple web site. However, while the landing page did have a bright red "buy" button (below a Canadian price of $119.99! However, I do have to mention there was a coupon code for a 15% discount...), the next page lead to a more detailed description along with... no "add to cart" but only an "add to wish list" button. No "buy now!", no "click to purchase!"... no place where I could actually buy it on-line.
I was not going crazy. I had an HP rep on the phone who was at the same page and could not believe her eyes. We went back and forth over this a couple of times just to be sure, but in the end, the page was as it was... a mere shadow of an actual product sales page, for without that precious "add to cart", all I could do was call a phone number and go through the old school analog method (for the record, I did not try this... but I am not entirely sure it would have helped anyway).
Diane was convinced, but just for the sake of argument, we agreed that I should give the older style page one more look. I had done so a few days previously and, while still unable to buy on-line, I had gone through to the "find local resellers" section only to discover that no partners were available for my area, a far cry from the days when Best Buy, Staples, and Future Shop were listed.
The partner finder page had in fact been updated slightly since my previous visit. After typing in my location info again (the older cookie had expired, no doubt), I was informed that there were five HP dealers in my area: Dymaxion, Xwave, and IMP, along with two Staples stores. Diane thought I should check these places out (even though I already knew where this was going) while she went through the back end of HP to find some more answers. I agreed and she said for me to call her back directly with my results.
So I made some phone calls. Dymaxion was the first up. I called and was connected with a fellow named B. (very helpful chap), who found the condensed version of my little tale of woe to be quite amusing. While Dymaxion was actually a corporate-oriented business, not really geared towards sales for the individual consumer, B. would investigate this battery supply issue and get back to me. And sure enough, he was as good as his word, although a nice lady, S., was the one to make the phone call. She informed me that while they didn't have the battery in stock, they could get it, but it would cost $150... oh, and since their supplier in Toronto didn't have one either, it would be at least two weeks before they could get one in. At least two weeks.
SIGH
I thanked S. for their great service and hung up. I didn't think things would improve, but dutifully, I called Xwave and IMP. Xwave is another corporate oriented business (owned by Bell Aliant) and after a minute or two on the phone with the receptionist, that avenue was a dead end. Likewise, IMP was in the same boat, and again, after a brief phone call with their receptionist (and finding no path to take), I moved on to the two Staples stores.
I like Staples as a store... there's something about office supplies that I find inexplicably... cool? I dunno. It's very weird. Anyway, I called the Staples in Bayers Lake... and was greeted by the answering menu, which promptly told me that if I was looking for info on products, then their web site was the best place to go. I decided to pursue the human route first, but while on "ignore" (I mean "hold") I checked out their web site (as if I hadn't been here before...). Sure enough, they did have HP accessories and such, but no battery for my Mini 110. And yet, I know I could buy one there, as I had already seen it with my own eyes. On the off chance that the web site was out of date, I waited patiently for a human to answer. And waited. And waited. And was bounced around a few times. And I was disconnected. And I called back. And I waited. And I was bounced around some more. And I eventually hung up. And I called the down town store. And I went through the same thing. And I hung up and crossed Staples off the list, the last of the five local area partners the HP web site had recommended for me.
I called Diane back with the news and found that she was busy, so I talked with another helpful HP rep, a fellow called David. He was very friendly and helpful, and while he couldn't do anything for me directly, he did assure me he would pass on the news of my failure to find a local battery source.
HP may have some horrific sales channel and web site issues, but so far, I must say that they have some of the most excellent tech support and sales reps I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Top notch, in fact... top notch.
The next morning, Diane called back. She had gotten the news about my local partner mishaps and was unnecessarily apologetic about the lack of success. She then informed me that she had brought the situation to people higher up the corporate ladder, but had not been able to find a concrete answer on the matter as to why the process of buying one little battery was so difficult. But, she did have some good news. For all the trouble I had gone through, she had put my name into the "customer appreciation" program and proceeded to inform me that in two to six weeks, I would be receiving one of the long sought-after 6-cell extended life batteries for the Mini 110 computer. For Free.
Wow. A free battery. That would be so very, very cool! It may not seem like much, but things like a corporation showing a little bit of decency in a cold, harsh, disinterested, consumer-driven world means a lot to me. Details matter. And small gestures count as much as big ones.
As far as I'm concerned, HP has some class.
I say "thank you" to Diane for going above and beyond the call of duty, and for really digging into the matter to find out where the problems were. And I say thank you to all the nice folks at HP for being very kind and helpful throughout this ordeal... there may have been glitches in the larger system, but the people work just fine.
So, here ends the tale. I'm not going any further with the battery quest, although I may check in now and then to see if the Canadian web site has been updated with new information regarding purchasing that particular type of battery. And in 2-6 weeks, I'll add one final epilogue / eulogy to the story when my free battery arrives and works out perfectly.
That's right. When it arrives and works out perfectly, the story will be retired once and for all.
When. Not if. For once, I'm going to have a little faith in the fabric of the Universe and see what happens. After all, what's the worse that can happen? Battery Wars, Part II : The Sequel?
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Buying a Netbook Part V - The Battery Wars Continue
Another update in the ongoing battle to buy a 6-cell battery for my little HP Netbook (which I still think is great and works very well).
I called my contact in the US to make arrangements so I can buy a battery from HP.com and send it to her, so she can repack it and send it back to me. Alas, foiled again! While I can enter a US shipping address, the billing address, which will probably need to be the same as the credit card, must be in the US. Now, I could try setting the billing and shipping addresses to be the same, but that would probably ring alarm bells somewhere at the credit card company (this would only happen with a legitimate use; if it were a stolen credit card situation and someone tried the same thing, the Powers That Be would have no idea of what is going on for several months...) and I don't want that.
Now you may be wondering why I'm making all the fuss about ordering this maddening little fucking battery from HP instead of somewhere else. The simple reason is that it's cheaper - waaaay fucking cheaper - to order it directly from HP instead of other places. The battery sells from HP for $99. Right now, there is a special that brings it down to $74.99. On top of that, HP has plenty of coupon codes that can be applied (one, good until the end of October, knocks another 25% off, bringing the price down to $59.99 - with FREE shipping!) Some places, especially here in Canada, want double or more plus huge shipping charges for the same thing. I'm being hosed, I tell you, hosed.
To add even further insult to injury, I checked the Canadian website again. They still list the battery, they still mention that it is not for sale online, they still mention that it must be bought from HP resellers, but now, when I go to check for ones nearest me, no listings appear. Nothing. Nada.
There is a cosmic force in the universe that is making damn certain that I will never have an extended life, 6-cell battery for my little Netbook. I ask you, what kind of fucking company in this day and age, in this recession, makes it so unbelievably hard to buy their products? Huh? What kind? I wanna know... really... I want someone to explain the logic here. I want someone in management to stand up and speak the truth - there is a major problem with their supply chain. But I do not want to hear any fucking apology. Not one goddamn word... I want to hear him or her simply state that said problem will be fixed fully by a specific date, and that the prices will be reasonable, that this sort of thing won't happen again. That's it... that's all I want to hear.
Am I asking for too much? You tell me.
I called my contact in the US to make arrangements so I can buy a battery from HP.com and send it to her, so she can repack it and send it back to me. Alas, foiled again! While I can enter a US shipping address, the billing address, which will probably need to be the same as the credit card, must be in the US. Now, I could try setting the billing and shipping addresses to be the same, but that would probably ring alarm bells somewhere at the credit card company (this would only happen with a legitimate use; if it were a stolen credit card situation and someone tried the same thing, the Powers That Be would have no idea of what is going on for several months...) and I don't want that.
Now you may be wondering why I'm making all the fuss about ordering this maddening little fucking battery from HP instead of somewhere else. The simple reason is that it's cheaper - waaaay fucking cheaper - to order it directly from HP instead of other places. The battery sells from HP for $99. Right now, there is a special that brings it down to $74.99. On top of that, HP has plenty of coupon codes that can be applied (one, good until the end of October, knocks another 25% off, bringing the price down to $59.99 - with FREE shipping!) Some places, especially here in Canada, want double or more plus huge shipping charges for the same thing. I'm being hosed, I tell you, hosed.
To add even further insult to injury, I checked the Canadian website again. They still list the battery, they still mention that it is not for sale online, they still mention that it must be bought from HP resellers, but now, when I go to check for ones nearest me, no listings appear. Nothing. Nada.
There is a cosmic force in the universe that is making damn certain that I will never have an extended life, 6-cell battery for my little Netbook. I ask you, what kind of fucking company in this day and age, in this recession, makes it so unbelievably hard to buy their products? Huh? What kind? I wanna know... really... I want someone to explain the logic here. I want someone in management to stand up and speak the truth - there is a major problem with their supply chain. But I do not want to hear any fucking apology. Not one goddamn word... I want to hear him or her simply state that said problem will be fixed fully by a specific date, and that the prices will be reasonable, that this sort of thing won't happen again. That's it... that's all I want to hear.
Am I asking for too much? You tell me.
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