The Consumer Complaints Blog

My son and I purchased a Hewlett Packard desktop computer at Costco in Winnipeg, Manitoba in November of 2009 after looking at all of the various models and options at Costco and a few other retailers. We chose this particular model – a Pavillon Desktop – because the box and the packaging material said it would receive wireless transmissions. This was important as our hardwired internet connection is in another part of the house. After 3 days of being unable to determine why we couldn’t get an internet signal finally Costo customer support advised that this model infact didn’t have wireless capacity. The HP “support” person we phoned initally didn’t figure this out, and said probably I needed a stronger signal and thus a better router, which I went out and bought for $100. The second HP “support” person I called on the 3rd day was arrogant, said I “should have looked at the box” and also that there was no wireless card or adapter available for this computer and that I would have to go and buy a receiver. My son went out and bought the wireless receiver for about $120.

I wrote to HP “customer service” in Canada in January documenting this situation and sending copies of all of the bills and got absolutely no answer. Then in February I emailed the CEO of HP and got a call and an email from a customer “support” specialist who had (of course) not taken the time to look into my original complaint and made me re-submit everything. This person also suggested that I should have 1) taken the computer back to Costco (disassembled a desktop, repacked it in the packaging we had since thrown away etc) and 2) should have asked HP for a wireless card when I called instead of buying one (!). Which of course, was exactly the opposite of what arrogant customer “support” person #2 told me in November.

The “specialist” did say they would look into it once I resubmitted all the receipts etc and gave them serial numbers. I did so, got no response until I followed up with another email a week later at which time I was told they would do nothing for me unless I proved I was right by sending them photos of the box (which I’d stupidly thrown out after buying and unpacking their product).

I will never again deal with HP – although I suspect they, like most large retailers do not care.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

Jim’s Auto Repair
Hamilton Rd,
London, On
CA

I have an old sportscar. It is German. It had a blown head gasket, clouds of white smoke out the tailpipe. The son said no problem. $700. I have all parts already.

Then when I talked to the owner, the dad: he told me he can’t do it for $700 and quoted $1000.00.

I had the head gasket replaced, water pump, timing belt and tentioner and the starter all replaced with new product.

The bill was $1030.00.

I went to pick up my car and they told me I need new plugs, as the engine was running on 5 out of 6 cylinders!

The washer pump did not work now (I had to re solder the wires they tore out) They did not understand why I had wires running into my hood…(heated washer jets)and they lost the retaining nut for my washer tank and -get this… they crammed foam into the engine bay.

Coolant was pouring out of one hose clamp…but I was told it was not leaking as they tested it.

I picked up new plugs and had them install… no change. Then they claimed after “testing” that there was only 60 psi on cylinder #4 and that it was dead.

Nothing they could do. I was told to buy an additive to free “stuck” rings.

I took my car to another garage and they found the compression to be 165 psi across all 6 cylinders, and that the injector was plugged. I replaced it and all was good for about 3 days…

The same thing happened.

Replaced the injector again and 4 days later… back to square one.

I inquired at many shops why my engine was doing this, and a main tech from my dealership told me there is only two likely reasons, first the head could be warped or cracked… or the gasket was improperly replaced. I am getting the engine inspected to find out the cause.

Jim’s Auto aslo did not bother to plane down the heads… Jim claimed he tested with a straight edge and it was only out .004″ well within spec. So he decided not to send it out to be re surfaced.

The mounting for the brand new water pump was also stripped and had to be re tapped at my expence.

All in all I spent about $2000 in labour and parts to have the head gasket blow again only 3 months later!

Jim said it is not his problem.

He feels that he did his job right.

Don’t ever take anything to Jim’s Auto.

Not only could they not even diagnose a simple injector fouling but their workmanship is very poor!

I heard from a neibour that they also scammed them.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

My husband and I purchased a model home in February 2009. We moved in to our home in April 2009. At that time the home was 1.5 years old and had been receiving heat. After we unpacked and settled into our home in a week, I began the task of calling all the utility companies and giving my name and address. Including Enbridge Gas. I spoke to a customer representative that took all the information and said that I would receive a bill in 6-8 weeks. Near the end of June 2009, I had noticed that I had not received a bill from Enbridge Gas. I was at work this time and called the company to inquire as to way I haven’t received anything. I was jumped around to 2-3 customer service agents till I was sent to an agent by the name of Sonia. She took the time to look at my account and said that she noticed the previous agent had not finished the account properly and that she assured me she would take care of it and that I would receive a bill in 4-6 weeks.

End of august 2009 beginning of September 2009 rolls around and I still have not received a bill!! I call Enbridge Gas back and surprisingly had received the same customer service agent Sonia. I explained my situation again for the 4th time and she said that I had spoken to her previously. I expressed my sincere frustrations and that lack of service that has been provided so far. Sonia apologized and said that she will look into it right away. So I waited on hold and she returned after 20minutes or so to tell me that she is having a hard time figure out why my account is not set up. Sonia also said that my meter inspection had just taken place back in June 2009 so maybe that could be the reason for the back log. I told her that I need this rectified right now as i’m trying to be a good consumer and pay my bills. I was put on hold again for another 30 minutes and I hung up the phone in frustration and said that I wouldn’t be calling back.

The summer rolls by and the fall and no bill arrives in my mail box. Out of complete and udder frustration and disgusted at the lack of urgency this company has, I called them back on January 29th 2010. I spoke to a customer service agent and asked to speak to the supervisor. They told me I had to leave my information and that the supervisor would return my phone call. Lisa the supervisor for that day called me back and left a message stating that they were working on fixing the problem and I would receive a bill somewhere around April 2010!!! I called her back and again expressed my frustrations and that receiving a bill 12 months after I moved into my new residence was unacceptable. She advised me that Enbridge Gas had went through a system upgrade in December 2009 and that most of the accounts had to be put in manually. I told her again that I had not received a bill from Enbridge Gas since I have lived at my new residence in April 2009, So what was the issue then? Why was it that every time I spoke to a customer service agent they were blaming another agent for not completing the right procedures? She had no answer for me and kept talking about some system upgrade. I than asked her what can she do for me since by the time I would receive my bill it would be roughly $3000.00? She replied that she could credit me $50, not charge me interests or late payment and allow me to make payment arrangements. I told her that wasn’t good enough and that such a huge company such as themselves should be trying to regain my faith back into their company. Lisa told me that’s all she can do. I kept trying to make her understand that this was completely unacceptable to me as a customer. During the conversation she began to raise her voice and I asked who was above her that I could speak to as she was becoming rude and none helpful. Lisa than said she could forward my complaint to the customer advocacy department and they would return my phone call in 48 hours.

On February 3rd 2010 I received a phone call from Kristal who was very nice and understanding. She gave me another explanation that included the system upgrade they had back in December 2009. I told her again that I have been at this home now since April 2009. Kristal starting saying that since I had switched to natural gas with Enbridge, I stopped her and told her that this home was built in August 2007 and that since this was the model home for the new neighbourhood it has been receiving gas since then. Kristal responded with “Oh” as to indicate this company had no idea about the gas they were supplying. I also asked her what can be done for me to help offset the cost of my bill that I have not received since I moved in and the countless hours spent on the phone trying to get someone to care enough to have a sense of urgency to fix this problem. All she could offer me was another $50 credit to make it a $100 credit in total. I replied sorry but that’s not good enough and who could I talk to that was higher than her. She said the ombudsman office. I told her that I already placed the call and was waiting to hear back from them.

February 11th Jesse from the ombudsman office calls and leaves me a message that I will be receiving a bill in 2 weeks and that she will keep in contact with me over this issue. I was away so I could not return her phone call till February 22 2010. As of today February 24th 2010 I have finally received my bill and it’s still not right!!!!!! I have a bill that dates from October 2009 to February 5 2010 with only one actual meter reading for the month of January and a balance owing of $2077.33. Saying that between the dates of December 9 2009 and February 5 2010 I used $1331.96 worth of gas! When I have a energy efficient home that’s 2.5 years old and a furnace that the builder installed runs at 98% efficient. Out of the entire bill Enbridge Gas is trying to charge me usage based on estimated readings and 1 month of an actually reading. How can a company make you feel so unimportant and give you a bill solely based on ESTIMATED readings, when they had 10months to take meter readings. I have put a second call into the ombudsman office for Jesse tonight to return my call. How does a honest, long term customer get any sort of help or fairness from such a large company that obviously does not care about the family’s they serve????

Still an ongoing issue as of February 24th 2010

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

3-Day Blinds does not honor their lifetime warranty. Here is an illogical quote from 3-Day Blinds re my request for warranty service.

“You have a limited lifetime warranty on your blinds. The warranty is for the lifetime of (t)he blinds and not the lifetime of the consumer. Chipping, discoloration, warping and peeling of the paint is considered normal wear and tear.”

The warranty on my invoice specifically states that “There is no time limit to this warranty.”

There is no mention of lifetime of the blinds, which presumably ends when a defect occurrs.

Also, I was verbally told that chipping and peeling and cracking of paint was covered.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

On December 17th, a large tree fell and pulled the mast for the electrical wires off of the side of our house. 240 volts of electricity was supplied to all of our electrical devices. Our new Electrolux wall oven was one of the appliances that was damaged.

I found repair information on the Electrolux website that directed us to contact Sears for repairs if that is where we purchased our oven. We called the Sears Call Centre, gave them the model and serial number of the oven and explained the trouble. They said a repairman would contact us.

Several days went by and it was getting closer to Christmas so I called the Sears number again. They were surprised that a repairman hadn’t contacted us and told us they would make sure someone called.

We got a call that day and Repairman 1 informed that no-one could come out before Christmas. He said someone would call to set up an appointment for after Christmas. So we were without an oven for the entire holiday season.

When we didn’t hear from anyone by Thursday afternoon, January 7th, we called again. Someone called back and set up an appointment for the following week. Repairman 1 came out, looked the oven over and said that the oven needed two parts, a controller and touch panel and they would have to be ordered in before he could fix it.

The parts took until the middle of February to arrive.

Repairman 2 called to say he was coming to install the part on February 12th. My husband noticed that he said part, singular. He warned Repairman 2 that there were supposed to be two parts. Repairman 2 argued and said there was only one part needed and that he knew what was the problem was and how to fix it.

Repairman 2 arrived and installed the controller. My husband had to point out to him that the oven touch panel was still not lighting up. Also, an error message was showing on the display. Repairman 2 then realized he needed a second part. He called in to Sears and the control panel had been too large to put into his parts bin. It was sitting on the floor, near his bin. He wouldn’t go back to Sears to fetch the part. He said he would come back next week.

Repairman 1 showed up the next Friday, February 19th. He had a small, opened part box with him. My husband told him it didn’t look like he had the right part with him. Repairman 1 said that Repairman 2 had given the box to him, saying it was what was needed to be installed. It turned out that it was the damaged controller that Repairman 2 had removed the week before. Repairman 1 called into Sears and found out the touch panel had been returned to the parts supplier. We were told there would be a delay while the part was ordered in again.

My husband also told Repairman 1 that the oven didn’t seem to be calibrated properly anymore. Repairman 1 said that was another issue and he would deal with it later. We had a dinner party the next day where we weren’t sure what temperature we were cooking things at and we had to stare intently at the touch panel to try to see the unlit buttons.

So, we still have a broken oven that gives random error messages and random oven temperatures, after two months. I’ve never waited more than a week to have any major appliance fully repaired, until now.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.