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Up until about 6 months ago, I could call HP support and not be asked to perform ridiculous steps to “prove” what I am saying. I have never made a false claim about a warranty issue, I have always sent my parts back on time, etc etc.

My most common call is about hard drive failures.

6 months ago, HP support started asking me for these ACU reports. Seems like a waste of time to me. I play along the first couple times, but now its getting ridiculous. Sorry, I have this G7 server that I am trying to get spooled up for something. I’m not going to install windows on another drive, nor am I going to burn the SmartStart disk and load it JUST TO GET THE REPORT!

Ain’t nobody got time for that!! (sorry, had to…LOL)

I do my due diligence. I tell the HP support people the steps I have taken. With hard drives, I attempt to use a different slot and/or a different machine as a test. When it ambers out on me without spinning up in multiple systems, yeah. it’s dead.

The guy ended up putting the case through, but acted like he was all inconvenienced by it.

Anybody else notice this trend to get reports from HP? It’s kind of odd…

@HP @Dell_Technologies

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What support level do you have? That sounds more like you’re dealing with Tier 1 Helpdesk than “Pro” Support.

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Dell started doing it to me as well. But with Pro Support, I tell them just like you do. I’ve tried it in several systems, still has the same issue, please replace. Then I give the shipping address and they take that as the hint :slight_smile:

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IDK. I just call the 800-334-5144 and say PROLIANT RUNNING WINDOZE… lol

We do extend the warranties to 5 years when we buy units, I want to say pro support.

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Funny you mention Dell. I called them yesterday about a failed SAN array disk and they had the new one en-route in less then 5 minutes. Arrived at my office in 3 hrs.

Maybe it’s just hit or miss…

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Really does sound like you’re talking to the wrong level of support here.

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Double-Check that, it’s possible that you had 3 years of “pro” support and added on 2 years of “regular” support. I don’t know HP’s terms for this now (Dell Shop). But it sounds like that’s what happened.

As with Jeremy, Dell tried to get cute with me once. Just call them and tell them in plain “IT English” what the problem is and what you want them to do about it. I’d say this works about 75% of the time, as long as you’re nice.

“Hey there Brad, my name is _______ i have a G7 DL380 Serial number ______. Look one of my drives is shot, it’s a 500gb NL-SAS. I tried swapping it over to another to another slot, but no dice, it doesn’t even spin up. Think I could get a warranty replacement?”

Most of the time they figure “ok, this guy isn’t an idiot, let me just send him out a drive” and Ta-Da. Off the phone with them in a few minutes.

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I was told one time that we were considered “Non-DPT” with HP support. This was supposed to mean that when we called for support we didnt have to go thru the diagnostic baloney with the support rep. However, no one at HP ever seems to know what Non-DPT means…Guess I dont either. Anyone ever hear the term?

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Can you find a local HP Warranty certified shop? I use one and never call an 800 number. I just call and give him the serial number and tell him which part I need. FedEx drops it at my door the next morning.

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I noticed that about 2 years ago. They changed up the warranty on servers with SATA drives, too, you had to buy additional coverage for the SATA drives.

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Just had a 450gb 3.5" drive die on our DL380 and I created my support request online through the support center. http://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/

And with that I told them the issue and BOOM had the drive the next day.

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As mentioned above you should talk to a local HP service center and you can find one online thru the HP website under Support and drivers. If you purchased your server thru a local HP Partner then you should talk to them. If you had upgrade your warranty then you would not have this problem as you would be talking to a different support group.

Just as a note SATA drives in all servers from DELL, HP, IBM and Lenovo only come with a 1 year warranty as a base.

You can get a hold of Priscilla from HP and ask her for help.

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I had a hard drive that went bad in one of our Dell laptops. I used Western Digital’s hard drive utiltiy and it said it had bad sectors. The rep wanted to know what sectors were bad… 7 & 15 was my reply.

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Chris (@Dukat), as I read your post, I was also similarly surprised as I have encountered a number of Members in this Community who report getting replacement parts from HP Support without going through the rigorous process you describe. I do regret your experience and want to investigate further if you ping me with the HP case number or serial number. And thanks to Robert for pointing out my willingness to help and to the members for their very helpful feedback.

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Oh God… HP Support.

Okay, here’s my story: My office purchased a little laser wireless printer for someone’s office. It arrives in a box, all new and sparkly with tape on it. I go through the motions like I have a million times before and unpack it, plug it in and get ready to see if it’ll behave on the network. It did, by the way.

However, when it came time to print… jam jam jam. Finally opened it up and… holy #$%&, look that! Now that’s a defect! I have pictures, I’ll post them if I find one but basically the metal plate that makes up the printer’s ‘mouth’ I guess, where the slot for the paper to feed would normally be, was covered by solid metal. In the factory production, the press that punches out these parts was broken. (used to work in a couple fab shops, actually ran a press) You could see where the teeth on the press had broken, and it hadn’t punched through that part of the sheet, meaning there was nowhere for the paper to go… Just a solid sheet of metal inside the printer, it was hilarious!

Now the really fun part. Trying to explain this to HP support on the chat line. Oh. My. God. IT took two hours, which I won’t cover entirely, I’ll just give you the first part to paint a picture as to how this ‘conversation’ went.

Me: “Yes, (everything I said above). So, it’s broken.”

HP Support: “Does it print?”

Me: “No… there is a solid piece of metal covering the paper feed. Paper cannot physically be fed into the printer. So, no, again, it doesn’t print.”

HP Support: “Okay. Please print a configuration report.”

Me: “…”

Two long hours later, (the chat bot person wouldn’t shut up about upgrading the firmware. I finally did it just to move to the next step “No, the firmware upgrade did not dislodge the piece of metal. Too bad, I thought for sure that would work.”) I got them to take the thing back. Oh, and to replace the brand new defective printer I paid for, they sent me something much less shiny and well-packed labeled “Refurbished”. Because I’m such a picky jerk, I guess. Those chat things aren’t real people… are they? No one could possibly be that thick, right? Right??

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I’ve had horrible problems with HP support but what I’m gathering from everyone’s posts is that low end or home based support sucks with them, but if you purchase a support package or some high end piece of equipment it’s better. I still prefer Dell because at least their low end tech support will get it through their heads (like in your example) that the printer doesn’t print because of a physical problem and there is no need to even talk about a firmware update.

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I spent two weeks of troubleshooting with a HP tech jumping through hoops for diagnosing a problem which I said was a failed motherboard from the very beginning. After that circus I stopped buying HP Laptops. I only use Lenovo laptops now and support is much better.

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HP have been asking for the HCU reports for a few years now, at least in my experience. Maybe they’ve not been doing it in the US until recently - (although I’m sure the call centre isn’t in either the UK or the US)

Depending on my mood, I sometime play along, but as a small tip - if you’re in a hurry - tell them the server is running ESXi, they can’t ask for a ACU report then, and send the disks no questions asked (at least in my experience) :slight_smile:

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Don’t let a frustrating service experience keep you from buying solid hardware. My HP dv7 laptop has been hands-down the best most durable laptop I’ve ever owned and I’ve got two DL 385s still running strong after almost ten years. I recently added a little Dell PowerEdge R210II as a local b/u domain controller and I can’t remember the last time I had to mess with it.

My experiences with HP service over the years have all been positive. Dell has been a mixed bag with the most recent experience being figuring out what driver to use on that R210 on my own after the tech on the phone failed 3 times to get me the right one. He finally gave me access to the driver repository (nice guy and helpful attitude but he had no clue). I found the mis-labled driver and figured out how to configure it myself. By sticking with Dell support and not walking away in frustration I was eventually able to solve the problem.

There are options with service, however. The manufacturer isn’t the only way to go. We’re building out our vendor page here so follow us and keep an eye out for our service and support contract product we call ClearSupport.

We specifically work with professional IT folks so customer self-diagnosis is ALWAYS an acceptable place to start; or, we’ll jump in and help diagnose the problem if you want. Our customers can self-escalate issues without being hassled - we believe you. One call takes care of service across multiple manufacturers and brands. Custom contract co-termination; single contract number regardless of the number of devices covered, contract options or length of coverage are all standard features. And, there’s more - ask me and I’ll tell you about it.

The bottom line is that we assume goodwill and treat you like a professional. We support your equipment because we WANT to, not because we have to. If ClearSupport sounds like a good fit for you get in touch; we’re eager to earn your business.

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Lenovo is doing this too. I’ve never filed a false claim… now we have to send reports. Seems Dell is doing it with another school i assist at. Industry trend i’d say…

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