Well, I just got off the phone with a customer service rep from Compaq and he's going to have someone call me on Monday or Tuesday when the techs come back to work. I told him point-blank that I feel like I'm getting tugged around in an attempt to weasel money out of me, and that I'm willing to conceded there may be spill damage I can't see but that I highly doubt spill damage can suddenly spread and shut down everything and be totally to blame when none of the malfunctioning hardware is connected to the motherboard. So, you know, let's see how that goes. *sighs*
I'm taking it with me to Best Buy tomorrow to talk to a Geek Squad member in person, though. I really want to discuss this with someone face-to-face who's not involved with the whole situation and knows what they're talking about.
That the flat tapes coming from the keyboard and the touchpad that are taped down to the inside of the laptop and aren't connected to the motherboard should be. Which, considering Compaq keeps trying to pass the buck my way, pisses me right the hell off.
I am going to double-check with someone at Geek Squad face-to-face tomorrow, though. I really just want to discuss it with someone right in front of me so I know it's not losing anything in the translation over the phone or internet.
I didn't fix them -- I'm hesitant to screw with anything if a professional can fix it right for cheap -- but I did call Compaq and a tech's going to get in touch with me on Monday or Tuesday. It doesn't give me much hope. My experience with techs at work is not the sunniest.
I did want it on record, though, that it came back like this, that they were trying to blame me, that I'm pissed off about it and that I'm really getting the impression that they dicked me over in an attempt to weasel money out of me. I mean, they tried to get me to buy a new $700 motherboard twice, for crying out loud.
No, no, this was back when they still had the laptop and after they sent it back. When I sent it into them, the USB ports weren't working, which they said was spill damage, and that the entire motherboard would need to be replaced and it would cost $700. I said as long as the USB ports were the only thing affected they should send it back to me as is.
So they did, and when I got it back the speakers, keyboard, and touchpad weren't working. When I called them to complain and ask what they'd done to it, the rep gave me some bullshit story about how the spill damage must have spread and it was my fault and a new motherboard would cost only $700, unless I wanted to toss them something like $250 for an extension on my warranty.
Honest to God. I've worked in customer service and I've worked with electronics. I'm the one who hovers around asking, "Show me what you're doing," every time the techs fix my machine at work. I may not have training, but I've got enough technical common sense to know when repairmen are giving me shit. (And yet it doesn't translate to cars. I suppose it would if I ever looked under the hood of one, but ... *shrugs*)
The thing is, I'm not even asking them to fix the whole damn laptop. I just want it with the exact same problems it had when I sent it in. If the USB ports don't work and the CD drive pops open sometimes, I can deal. I'm kind of going to have a problem otherwise.
Well, at least you're smart enough to be able to figure most of this out on your own. I would be SO lost. I can operate a computer like woah, but ask me to take one apart and I am SO lost.
Heh. I'm enough like my dad where I might not able to fix the damn thing but if I take the back off I can usually common-sense my way through the problem. (Even if my descriptions involve the word "doohickey" used over and over again.)
The second time I opened the back, I figured, "Okay, start simple -- is everything connected like it should be?" Because really, you know the button right above the touchpad you can press to turn it off? And how there's a light next to it that tells you whether it's on or off? No matter how much I pressed it there was no light. Simple guess -- it wasn't getting any power. And if it and the keyboard were behaving the same way, were located right next to each other and it wasn't getting any power, the keyboard probably wasn't either.
I did build fibreoptic circuit boards for a few months way back in 2001, which was pretty much my favorite job ever -- very technical and hard, but a fun kind of hard. So every time another electronic toy of mine dies I whip out the screwdrivers and poke around inside. :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
malionette
no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 02:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 02:45 am (UTC)I'm taking it with me to Best Buy tomorrow to talk to a Geek Squad member in person, though. I really want to discuss this with someone face-to-face who's not involved with the whole situation and knows what they're talking about.
Good Luck.
Date: 2007-08-19 04:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 02:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 02:47 am (UTC)I am going to double-check with someone at Geek Squad face-to-face tomorrow, though. I really just want to discuss it with someone right in front of me so I know it's not losing anything in the translation over the phone or internet.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 03:14 pm (UTC)shocked i say.
good luck pwnzing some newbs then, because sounds like compaq just picked up a hole lot of smack coming thier way.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 02:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 02:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 02:51 am (UTC)I did want it on record, though, that it came back like this, that they were trying to blame me, that I'm pissed off about it and that I'm really getting the impression that they dicked me over in an attempt to weasel money out of me. I mean, they tried to get me to buy a new $700 motherboard twice, for crying out loud.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 02:57 am (UTC)Without even see it??
no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 03:05 am (UTC)So they did, and when I got it back the speakers, keyboard, and touchpad weren't working. When I called them to complain and ask what they'd done to it, the rep gave me some bullshit story about how the spill damage must have spread and it was my fault and a new motherboard would cost only $700, unless I wanted to toss them something like $250 for an extension on my warranty.
Two words: Highway robbery. GRRRR.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 03:17 am (UTC)I hate it when they try to bullshit you because they think you are stupid.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 03:23 am (UTC)The thing is, I'm not even asking them to fix the whole damn laptop. I just want it with the exact same problems it had when I sent it in. If the USB ports don't work and the CD drive pops open sometimes, I can deal. I'm kind of going to have a problem otherwise.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 03:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-19 03:13 am (UTC)The second time I opened the back, I figured, "Okay, start simple -- is everything connected like it should be?" Because really, you know the button right above the touchpad you can press to turn it off? And how there's a light next to it that tells you whether it's on or off? No matter how much I pressed it there was no light. Simple guess -- it wasn't getting any power. And if it and the keyboard were behaving the same way, were located right next to each other and it wasn't getting any power, the keyboard probably wasn't either.
I did build fibreoptic circuit boards for a few months way back in 2001, which was pretty much my favorite job ever -- very technical and hard, but a fun kind of hard. So every time another electronic toy of mine dies I whip out the screwdrivers and poke around inside. :)