GRRRRRRR

I agree. I was so angry with them I sued them in small claims court and settled for the purchase price of the computer (though I had lost earnings in the time I was down because of their tech support).

My own tech guru hates Compaq - at least in the past the parts were all proprietary (had to be Compaq) and they were very hard to work on, being so "compact."

Alison

I have to say, in my experience, if you get an HP that works out of the box, you're usually in great shape, and I've had good experiences with their customer experience. If it works from day one, they tend to last and last. Unfortunately, I've also had several DOA computers from them, and they're actually harder to return/replace since tech support doesn't seem to want to admit that it's DOA. I've gone and switched over to Mac's at home now though, and no problems since. No more virii for me! Stay away from Dell though. Nothing but horrible experiences with their 'customer service'. And I use that term VERY loosely. The computers are cheaper for a reason. At one point they refused to come service my sister's almost DOA computer at all, even though she'd paid for the extra warranty with the "guaranteed next-day in home service" plan. Don't get me started on them...

Heather

Ah, so it's YOU I have to thank! As soon as they got the e-mail saying forget it, too late, can't reprogram a computer that won't turn on, I'm just going to return it and buy a Fujitsu, they immediately offered to pay for the data transfer. We'll see whether I can get the store to give it to me free, before I go through all Compaq's paperwork and then still have to do all the store's paperwork, too.

Besides, the computer that they want to send me a return postage label for is not mine -- it's the loaner, so sending it back to Compaq for a refund or repairs would cause more hassles.

It was Seanette's Pet Geek who approved the purchase. Wonder if he'd ever worked on one, or just figured that an HP product had to be good (I've never had a problem with their printers).

Nah. A laptop is supposed to last 18 months. This one is at 5.5 years and still chugging along. I'm going back to Fujitsu. Second choice is Toshiba.

That's what I assumed too, (that service would very with location) but she was living in a big city (over 1 million residents). Given that in total she had spent almost $5000 on this system (since she was in school for advertising design, and insurance was paying for the replacement), they should have been able to get someone to her. It wasn't that there wasn't anyone available (or so they said...) but that they didn't feel it was necessary. Excuse Me? The computer only boots up 1/3 times, but service isn't necessary? Replacement/fixing isn't necessary? Just turn it off and back on again when it does this? (It would get part way through booting up and stop). Because it was still brand new and being bought through the insurance settlement/company, she managed to get it returned in the end. I've had other problems with their service techs before as well. But what can you do? I'm sure every computer manufacturer has some horror stories out there. Heather

There's probably a hardware problem. My scanner drivers make my boot hiccup, and some days I have to reboot six or seven times before it "catches". It will go weeks just fine, and then hiccup. Been putting up with this for years, now. Newer drivers didn't help . . . and I'm not going to buy a new scanner until this one bites the dust. :-)

But I agree, they should try to discover what is causing the problem.

Dianne

Brought this up on my writing group and heard numerous stories of Compaq having power supply problems, including one that caught fire due to inadequate wattage for the requirements.

So, it's clearly a long-known problem that they haven't bothered to fix. More ammunition when we go in to demand a refund and/or different brand. Someone who truly abuses his computers confirmed my experience that he's never had a problem with Fujitsu.

I`vbe heard very bad reports on Dell, too - I was thinking of buying one as my next computer, but everyone I know jumped on me and said "DON`T DO IT!" In fact I now think I`ll get my local computer shop to build my next one.

My present one (Packard Bell ) keeps crashing and restarting - and freezing. It can`t be a vuirus - I keep McAfee up to date, and use Spybot and Adaware. Any ideas? Once I persuade it to really get started, I have no problems, but it`s a debil when I first start up, and even then crashes occasionally hroughout the day.

Pat P

We've always heard it called "Packard Hell" -- out first computer was a Packard Bell, and it was a lemon from the first day we took it out of the box.

We now have a Dell, our second, and have always been VERY pleased with it, and with the tech support.

-- Jere

I agree with the Dell comment below - I work for a very large global computer company and support hardware in a regional data center - we're talking hundreds and hundreds of computer systems. Sun Microsystems - great customer service, HP/Compaq - very good customer service, Dell - ohmygawd - no-one in my department ever wants to call them for parts or dispatch services because even with - serial numbers, error logs, part numbers, confirmed maintenance contracts, etc. it takes at least an hour on the phone, while being transferred 3 or 4 times, to get anyone to open a service call for you - ARGH!!!

MelissaD (who is really glad her vacation started at 5:01pm tonight!!)

Karen C - California had some very interesting things to say about Re: GRRRRRRR:

He says nearly all his prior experience with Compaq-brand computers was with my tower (also some with "rack mount" ones he used on some project with a former employer), and no experience with their laptops prior to yours. :-)

Karen C - California had some very interesting things to say about Re: GRRRRRRR:

Try

Yeah, I'll give them that -- it didn't take too long for them to offer to pay for the data transfer fees, etc., but I should not have to be dealing with them twice in two weeks for the same problem with two different computers.

Best customer service in the world doesn't make up for losing clients because the computer is dead. And when you use that excuse twice in two weeks, they figure you've got to be lying, and not creative enough to come up with something new. I was told "you should get a new computer"

-- I did. It's the NEW ones causing the problems. The trusty 5y/o Fujitsu is just humming along, while the 4 month old and the loaner have both fried themselves.

Karen C - California had some very interesting things to say about Re: GRRRRRRR:

I just hope your new one doesn't have the cursor drift problem that makes it impossible for anyone but you to use it. :-)

"Seanette Blaylock" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

I've noticed mine doing that lately! Anyone have any idea what might cause that to happen?

Mavia