<sarcasm mode on>
I have a Care Pack for software support on an MSM460. Can someone confirm that the correct ways to obtain service are:
- firmware updates - use any warez site of your choosing
- software tickets - write them up and send them to the Recycle Bin (/dev/null for *NIX users)?
<sarcasm mode off>
Of course, I'm not being serious in the first part of this message. I know how it's supposed to work - but that presumes you can register the Care Pack.
I bought the AP with an electronic Care Pack. I went through the registration process and received a Care Pack ID that I tried to register against my HP Passport on Support Center. Despite prolonged contact with HP, I can't get past the error "Error: This entitlement does not exist. Please review the entitlement identifier and make any necessary edits, or check the box to remove this item." This happens whether I try to register using the Care Pack ID, or the product serial number.
HP Customer Relations tell me they can see the Care Pack in some internal database, but so far as the customer facing systems are concerned, it appears not to exist. I've contacted the Care Pack team and been put through to presales and post sales, neither of whom can help. Post sales put me in touch with some office in Bulgaria, who asked me for my VAT ID but did nothing. Someone from HP e-mailed me to tell me to get my administrator to repush the entitlement (I am the administrator here and have no mechanism to do that - we're a small consulting business, not an enterprise customer). I've opened case 4645292900 and have attached all the documentation there (via the e-mail attachment route requested - it appears Support Center is too backwards to offer an upload form), but cannot make the agent dealing with the case understand the issue.
I have no SAID relating to the Care Pack, so cannot access software downloads. Support Center believes I only have the base hardware warranty, so I can't open a software case online.
Clearly something is fouled up in the database, but I can't get anyone within HP to take ownership of the problem and get it fixed.
If any HP staff are reading, please take a look at the case - I presume you'd rather keep this fiasco off Twitter. It's an insult to be worse off buying a Care Pack than not. I've paid a lot of money to have around six hours of my time wasted on trying and failing to get the Care Pack registered. It's even more insulting that I have to pay more than normal UK geographic phone rates to call HP (as you only offer a +44 845 ... number, not a geographic number or +44 3...).
Can anyone else reading come up with a more constructive suggestion than cutting my losses and getting a refund? The crazy thing is that I like the product, but without the expensive support contract fully in place it's worthless to me. All these attempts to get the Care Pack registered correctly are costing me valuable time which HP are most unlikely to pay me for.
I'm beginning to despair of ever being able to access the Care Pack services I've purchased. Unless I can find a way forward soon, my only options will be legal - breach of contract claim against the VAR and/or a claim in negligence against HP. That would be a disaster all round - nobody wins once we start heading down that route. However, I am running out of options - there's a point where I must conclude that the dwindling hope of resolving this has gone, talk to the VAR about a full refund and, if that is not forthcoming, send out letters before court action.
#registration#SAID#fail#carepack#download