Purchased an Hp laptop in the summer of 2004. Bought the extended warranty as the almost $2000 investment and reputation for service needs on laptops seemed to warrant. Story is virtually the same as most I have read here. We had problems in Nov (actually started earlier but became unbearable to the point the computer was unusable. When you try to use a program, such as word, excell or photoshop, the machine will literally shut down after 1-5 minutes. We backed up the entire hard drive and put it onto another computer to see if it was a software problem. No problems on the other computer. Also the DVD reader/writer was inop.
Called the Circuit City Advantage warranty people and after explaining the problems to them and going thru all their normal gyrations (including an initial statement that the computer couldnt be doing what it was doing) they agreed to have us send it in. Got ot back a week later (not bad I thought). The DVD ubit worked (they found a bad connection) but the shut down problem was still there and we were still unable to run any programs. Called and they went through the same gyrations as before. Said they had it running for hours without a shutdown. I asked if they tried to run any programs and they said no, they cant do that. I told them that it will boot up and sit there all day. It only shuts down if you are using a program and will do so in less than 5 minutes. They had me send it back.
This time it took almost a month to get it back. I talked to them several times and they had just done what they did before.intall the opertating sytem and boot it up and let the machine sit! I told them you have to try to run a program to get it to shut down. I got it back a week later with the same problem and a note that they found no problem. That is like taking your car to the mechanic, telling him that it stalls out when accelerating at high speed and him checking it by starting it and letting it sit at idle! At first I thought that these people were simply incompetent but noew believe that the entire warranty program is a scam, with only minor cheap, easy to fix repairs done. Anything beyond that I believe that it is their policy (not acknowledged of course) to deny the existence and responsibility for a problem rather than honor their contractual obligations. The theory is probably that most people will finally give up and go away and that even if they dont, they cant do anything about it.
Their refusal to recognize and accept responsibility may work in the short run but the growing public awareness and backlash will eventually put them out of business. You can only screw your customers so long before you dont have any. I will actively and aggressively make my experiences known in the hopes that I can hasten that outcome. I, my family, friends and business have spent many thousands of dollars over the years. I, my family, my business and at least some of my friends will not be spending there in the future. There are too many other vendors available andc many with prices at least as low.
PS - if anyone has had any success in forcing Circuit City to honor their extended warranty after being blown off - please let me (and thousands of others) know how you did it.
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