Staples - Maple Ridge Computer Electronics - Extended Warranty Maple Ridge British Columbia
In 2007 I purchased an off the shelf everyday retail type HP laptop for my "personal use" that had been on display and a HP color laser copier from Staples in Maple Ridge, BC.
I had problems with both.
First the computer.
Because I purchased an off the shelf laptop that had been on display I also purchased the Staples 3 yr extended warranty and basically ended up paying the same price as a new unit without the Staples 3yr Extended Warranty.
Trouble started immediately...the computer crashed, locked up, done, game over.
Took it back to the resident Staples "computer expert" who reloaded the operating system...I immediately asked if the "hard drive" was okay.
He said all the trouble was windows software related.
What complicated this matter is HP archaic system of loading the operating system and all other programs from a partitioned D drive. Question is "What if the hard drive dies???" Every time this has to be reloaded and reformatted onto the C drive will take 3 hrs loading and another 3 hrs removing all the advertising and incredible number of bizarre pop-ups and whiz bangs HP includes with and for other companies - who knows how much info is being sent off from these laptops to companies involved in this bizarre set of software.
anyways, this "crash" happens another 3 times. In the meantime I have data and email that's being lost every time this crashes.
Because of this I also was forced to purchase an external hard drive and now only store data/email externally ....
Another issue that arose through all of this was that windows had just gone from xp to vista and had discontinued any sales of xp.
I was thinking about purchasing my own version of xp and deleting all that HP stuff on the "d" drive....because the Staple expert kept me thinking it was a MS software problem.
Each time the Staples computer expert reloads the system and says its a "windows xp" problem and I pay anywhere from $60 - $120 dollars for his time.
Keep in mind the Staples warranty doesn't cover anything related to software. I missed that... I thought Id be getting bumper to bumper coverage but instead got rear bumper to middle of the car coverage.
Well finally after the 4th crash I call HP service directly. I'm getting really frustrated, keep in mind the time to reload and the data I'm losing every time and also the Staples technical fees.
The HP service tech immediately has me run a simple hard drive test...well wouldn't you guess it, there were corrupted sectors on the internal C drive and also on the D drive partition...so I'm screwed before I even open the box. HP couriered a new hard drive to me, I pop it in and voila the laptop works...however I still have to spend 4-6 hrs loading the operating system from D drive to C drive and so on and so forth .....but oh well it works.
I return to staples and explain to them what has been going on and that the HP laptop has been fixed. The resident computer expert at Staples never checked the hard drive and kept charging for "software" repairs. The store manager basically told me to take a flying you know what ... I was in shock. The store manager and his techy are still convinced the problem is software.
The staple warranty should have taken care of the hardware problem...well I ended up paying an extra $300 bucks for staples computer expert to repair "software" The extended warranty cost $300 - at the end of the day $700 bucks was tacked onto the cost of the great deal-off the shelf HP computer. The lost data and my time could easily be worth another $1000.
Conclusion:
Staples Maple Ridge is not qualified to sell electronics and should stick to "Staples" and paper stuff. HP should provide their software on disks separate from their hardware - just like DELL.
FYI - I gave the laptop away. Since then it worked for about 1.5 yrs and then died... I'm sure the Staples managers and their sales staff are laughing everyday retail customers walk out the door proudly carrying their latest piece of electronic
FYI - You never know who you are screwing when you do this. I'll stay with Dell from now on thank you very much. When it arrived, I loaded the operating system from the windows "xp" disks provided (not vista) and was downloading my email in less than 15 minutes. Never have tried out the Dell extended 3yr service and warranty I purchased.
As it turns out, this experience with Staples / HP laptop was my personal experiment with something other than a Dell which we had already been using for several years and was instrumental in my company purchasing 50 more laptops in the next year...they didn't come from Staples and they weren't HP's. Staples lost sales equaled $80k in hardware, 25K in software and another 25k in peripherals = total loss $130k - WOW !
I wonder how much they lose in sales nation wide???
Note:
The HP printer had only one problem which only needed more cash to solve for....Staples sold the printer at an unbelievably low price including "printer cartridges" and all. Well the printer cartridges were half full of ink. There are a total of 4 cartridges to this printer. You guessed it those cartridges had to be replaced within 3 - 5 weeks. The cost per cartridge - I went economy by refilling - $50.00 each X 4 cartridges = $200 bucks....so the conclusion is this. Add the cost of all the ink cartridges to any printer from HP via Staples and this is your true cost....provided it doesn't break down.
Smip
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
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3 Updates & Rebuttals
Iknoweztech
Lexington,South Carolina,
U.S.A.
Clearing Up the Fog on Warranty Procedure and "Starter" inks.
#4UPDATE Employee
Wed, December 03, 2008
Okay, here's the skinny on the Staples Extended warranty (and any of Staples' competitors works the same way). Software is NOT covered. This is flat-out an industry standard. Any PC user can, at any time, either from abuse, virus infection, or other inadvertant misuse, corrupt an Operating System. Therefore, to fix software issues are always at the customers' expense. Now, there are a couple of other issues with your complaints. Your warranty repairs, even under Staples' Service plans, are to be conducted by HP within the first year. That means that HP will take care of all hardware repairs free of charge within the first year, and that Staples will take care of you if HP denies your hardware repair. (Staples You have stated that HP couriered to you a replacement hard drive, and that it worked out great for you. That's great for you, but it doesn't prove that your hard drive was actually faulty. Quite often (speaking from years of experience dealing with HP here), they will simply install a new--or instantly reimage an old-- hard drive as a means to expedite repair based off of the symptoms described to them over the phone. Did the hard drive actually fail a diagnostic test? If so, what test did it fail and what was wrong with it? All that we know for sure is that HP replaced your hard drive through on over-the-phone diagnosis based off of your own description of the issues you were having. Again, great for you--but doesn't mean the in-store tech is incompetent or that he wasn't offering the best advice.
On a final note, HP and other manufacturers DO still offer the software to create your own backup Operating System discs. You may do this on your own using the HP Recovery Manager or you may have a Staples in-store tech do it for you for about $39 USD. Your choice. To my knowledge, only Dell and Toshiba offer manufacturer-created discs anymore. Acer, HP, Compaq, Sony, Gateway, and others come with the software to make your own Operating System discs.
For you to be at all angry about getting "Starter" or "Introductory" Printer cartridges is ridiculous. HP clearly states on the box whether the model you are purchasing includes a Standard set or an introductory set of cartridges. And nearly every sales person I've ever met actually uses that fact as a sales tactic to get you to buy an extra set of ink at the time of purchase. Most of the other manufacturers offer "introductory" cartridges as well;it is not merely an HP thing. It has NOTHING to do with Staples. Retailers such as Staples make almost no money on printers, particularly if you purchased one on sale. Of course, the gamble is that perhaps you will return for Tech services, ink and toner, or paper purchases. That is the same for all printers at all retailers. The margin of profit is much higher on accessories such as ink. It is no secret. If you want to save a lot of money on ink, check out some of the latest machines on the market such as the HP OfficeJet Pro series (available at Staples). The 88XL ink cartridge gets you as much as 2500 black copies for less than 40 USD. (1700 color copies for less than 30USD for each of the 3 color cartridges). All of the manufacturers will be coming out with higher yield printers in the near future as a response to the popularity of the HP Officejet Pro Series--and as a direct response to overwhelming customer demand for a Laser-quality product using cheaper ink-jet technology.
Iknoweztech
Lexington,South Carolina,
U.S.A.
Clearing Up the Fog on Warranty Procedure and "Starter" inks.
#4UPDATE Employee
Wed, December 03, 2008
Okay, here's the skinny on the Staples Extended warranty (and any of Staples' competitors works the same way). Software is NOT covered. This is flat-out an industry standard. Any PC user can, at any time, either from abuse, virus infection, or other inadvertant misuse, corrupt an Operating System. Therefore, to fix software issues are always at the customers' expense. Now, there are a couple of other issues with your complaints. Your warranty repairs, even under Staples' Service plans, are to be conducted by HP within the first year. That means that HP will take care of all hardware repairs free of charge within the first year, and that Staples will take care of you if HP denies your hardware repair. (Staples You have stated that HP couriered to you a replacement hard drive, and that it worked out great for you. That's great for you, but it doesn't prove that your hard drive was actually faulty. Quite often (speaking from years of experience dealing with HP here), they will simply install a new--or instantly reimage an old-- hard drive as a means to expedite repair based off of the symptoms described to them over the phone. Did the hard drive actually fail a diagnostic test? If so, what test did it fail and what was wrong with it? All that we know for sure is that HP replaced your hard drive through on over-the-phone diagnosis based off of your own description of the issues you were having. Again, great for you--but doesn't mean the in-store tech is incompetent or that he wasn't offering the best advice.
On a final note, HP and other manufacturers DO still offer the software to create your own backup Operating System discs. You may do this on your own using the HP Recovery Manager or you may have a Staples in-store tech do it for you for about $39 USD. Your choice. To my knowledge, only Dell and Toshiba offer manufacturer-created discs anymore. Acer, HP, Compaq, Sony, Gateway, and others come with the software to make your own Operating System discs.
For you to be at all angry about getting "Starter" or "Introductory" Printer cartridges is ridiculous. HP clearly states on the box whether the model you are purchasing includes a Standard set or an introductory set of cartridges. And nearly every sales person I've ever met actually uses that fact as a sales tactic to get you to buy an extra set of ink at the time of purchase. Most of the other manufacturers offer "introductory" cartridges as well;it is not merely an HP thing. It has NOTHING to do with Staples. Retailers such as Staples make almost no money on printers, particularly if you purchased one on sale. Of course, the gamble is that perhaps you will return for Tech services, ink and toner, or paper purchases. That is the same for all printers at all retailers. The margin of profit is much higher on accessories such as ink. It is no secret. If you want to save a lot of money on ink, check out some of the latest machines on the market such as the HP OfficeJet Pro series (available at Staples). The 88XL ink cartridge gets you as much as 2500 black copies for less than 40 USD. (1700 color copies for less than 30USD for each of the 3 color cartridges). All of the manufacturers will be coming out with higher yield printers in the near future as a response to the popularity of the HP Officejet Pro Series--and as a direct response to overwhelming customer demand for a Laser-quality product using cheaper ink-jet technology.
Iknoweztech
Lexington,South Carolina,
U.S.A.
Clearing Up the Fog on Warranty Procedure and "Starter" inks.
#4UPDATE Employee
Wed, December 03, 2008
Okay, here's the skinny on the Staples Extended warranty (and any of Staples' competitors works the same way). Software is NOT covered. This is flat-out an industry standard. Any PC user can, at any time, either from abuse, virus infection, or other inadvertant misuse, corrupt an Operating System. Therefore, to fix software issues are always at the customers' expense. Now, there are a couple of other issues with your complaints. Your warranty repairs, even under Staples' Service plans, are to be conducted by HP within the first year. That means that HP will take care of all hardware repairs free of charge within the first year, and that Staples will take care of you if HP denies your hardware repair. (Staples You have stated that HP couriered to you a replacement hard drive, and that it worked out great for you. That's great for you, but it doesn't prove that your hard drive was actually faulty. Quite often (speaking from years of experience dealing with HP here), they will simply install a new--or instantly reimage an old-- hard drive as a means to expedite repair based off of the symptoms described to them over the phone. Did the hard drive actually fail a diagnostic test? If so, what test did it fail and what was wrong with it? All that we know for sure is that HP replaced your hard drive through on over-the-phone diagnosis based off of your own description of the issues you were having. Again, great for you--but doesn't mean the in-store tech is incompetent or that he wasn't offering the best advice.
On a final note, HP and other manufacturers DO still offer the software to create your own backup Operating System discs. You may do this on your own using the HP Recovery Manager or you may have a Staples in-store tech do it for you for about $39 USD. Your choice. To my knowledge, only Dell and Toshiba offer manufacturer-created discs anymore. Acer, HP, Compaq, Sony, Gateway, and others come with the software to make your own Operating System discs.
For you to be at all angry about getting "Starter" or "Introductory" Printer cartridges is ridiculous. HP clearly states on the box whether the model you are purchasing includes a Standard set or an introductory set of cartridges. And nearly every sales person I've ever met actually uses that fact as a sales tactic to get you to buy an extra set of ink at the time of purchase. Most of the other manufacturers offer "introductory" cartridges as well;it is not merely an HP thing. It has NOTHING to do with Staples. Retailers such as Staples make almost no money on printers, particularly if you purchased one on sale. Of course, the gamble is that perhaps you will return for Tech services, ink and toner, or paper purchases. That is the same for all printers at all retailers. The margin of profit is much higher on accessories such as ink. It is no secret. If you want to save a lot of money on ink, check out some of the latest machines on the market such as the HP OfficeJet Pro series (available at Staples). The 88XL ink cartridge gets you as much as 2500 black copies for less than 40 USD. (1700 color copies for less than 30USD for each of the 3 color cartridges). All of the manufacturers will be coming out with higher yield printers in the near future as a response to the popularity of the HP Officejet Pro Series--and as a direct response to overwhelming customer demand for a Laser-quality product using cheaper ink-jet technology.