HP are *ssholes re: supporting their hardware

Geekomatic on 26/07/2016 - 21:24

First, they blocked the verified owners of NAS boxes purchased from HP of firmware updates!

Now, I'm trying to get drivers for a netbook a few years old & nothing?

Just a head's up.

It's not necessary— it's HP gouging to the bone marrow their "valued customers".

We all know it doesn't cost them much to host. But they want you to toss a perfectly good machine to the landfill. Laptops to the stratosphere, says HP!

I want every one of them to cost HP $1000 in fees to properly dispose of them. Wankers.

I am shitted.

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Comments

  • tonyjzx on 26/07/2016 - 21:44
    +1

    Hp proliants i believe moved to a 'service contract' model.

    You dont have a contract, you cant download even bios.

    • xoom on 26/07/2016 - 22:12
      +1

      Lolwut???? WTF?!?!

    • Diji1 on 26/07/2016 - 22:26

      Good grief … money scabbing.

    • Clear on 26/07/2016 - 22:31

      To download the BIOS you need to have a valid warranty with HP/HPe. All other drivers/firmware can be downloaded without.

      • Geekomatic on 26/07/2016 - 22:36
        +3

        This, is a huge change.

        Why should a paid owner of their hardware be subjected to BIOS updates which fix their issues, generally speaking?

        Are you HP HR?

        • Clear on 26/07/2016 - 22:58

          It's been in place since 2014 with some of their enterprise servers (e.g. proliant).

          HP's driver page can be a mess sometimes. I had a desktop that showed no drivers, but a very similar model with a minor difference in product numbers had the drivers.

        • tonyjzx on 27/07/2016 - 01:18
          +1

          let me clarify a bit more

          for proper business servers, you usually get a 3yr onsite warranty and you get website access,

          after 3yrs you need to get onto a support plan to get the bios but by the 3rd year plus servers generally are already well sorted out anyway

          for our home type microservers i still dont think its a big issue and sites like homeserver forums or you got served should do you fine

          i have a pair of those $200 ML10s… its what i expect for $200 so i'm not all that angry about it unlike the op

  • Geekomatic on 26/07/2016 - 23:11

    Sorry.

    To me, if I fork out the $$$$ (support HP), they ought to support me, their customer.

    For them to pull away— well, I won't buy from them, nor recommend them, again.

    • xoom on 26/07/2016 - 23:32

      Thats the spirit. Vote with your wallet and buy elsewhere. Not like hp are the only enterprise server providers out there.

  • robertbruce on 26/07/2016 - 23:45
    +1

    yeah to all, but the firmware is also thier propriety software, thus they can do what they want with it…and if they want to force a service contract for thier firmware and software, that's nothing new.

    It's especially nothing new for a good server product. Since the 90's. prolly since always, always having to fork out for it one way or the other… SME's feel it more…

    • derek324 on 27/07/2016 - 05:03
      +1

      +1. Old news. Caveat emptor.

  • ode1online on 27/07/2016 - 08:41
    +1

    I bought a TOP end MFD from them years ago Paying extra for NEXT DAY SUPPORT!.
    We had a problem with the device Freezing after it scanned a document.
    I could NOT get a TECH ON SITE. They refused to send anyone until I did some trouble shooting over the phone, I obliged for about 1 hr, then when they sent me the procedure to do a firmware upgrade I lost it and I reminded them of my NEXT day service Guarantee.
    The next contact from them was arranging a collection and a refund. Never did they try to come out and fix it. They were never interested in performing a repair on site even though I paid for the privilege and this was in the CBD of Sydney.
    Terrible service.

  • magic8ballgag on 27/07/2016 - 08:56

    What model laptop is it?

  • Associated3LollipopZ @ HP Australia on 27/07/2016 - 09:17
    +1

    Remember that HP Inc (computers and printers) and HPE (networking, servers, storage, software, etc.) Are completely different companies. I work for the latter.

    Reach out to your local HPE rep who will be happy to assist. Im one of them (SE/SA) for the wireless, switching, router space. At least we offer lifetime software updates for all of our products without a service contract, regardless what the market does. Most products have lifetime warranties until 2119 or 100 years from now without a valid contract.

    Also, hint when dealing with HP laptops is keep saying yes to the script they are reading and the tests will be done. Its amazing how many laptops they replace that they get back with no fault found. Thousands of them and they can often not be resold once used.

    Anyway, feel free to blast HP :)

    • Clear on 27/07/2016 - 09:48

      Also, hint when dealing with HP laptops is keep saying yes to the script they are reading and the tests will be done.

      I find submitting the case online with high priority and listing the usual "installed latest drivers" etc. does the job. That way I don't have to call ;)

    • alxr0101 on 27/07/2016 - 12:18

      Buying a refurb HP laptop 2570P (still with warranty)..best deal ever :-)

  • rogue5 on 28/07/2016 - 11:43

    Much like cisco, hp changed their approach a few years ago, if you want bios/firmware etc., updates you need to be paid up, unfortunately it's just that simple - I don't agree with or like that approach but it is what it is

    Fwiw you can usually find out what the latest ProLiant support pack ISO filename is and track it down via the usual channels, at least that way you will get your microserver firmware

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