The ghosts of Mark & Carly - HP in the toilet again

June 25, 2018

Dion J. Weisler, President, CEO & Director

HP, Inc.

1501 Page Mill Road
Palo Alto, California 94304

Dear Dion,

I realize there is an electronic way to contact you from an HP page, but I will not agree to the terms and conditions and I believe there is a certain symmetry to contact you about a printer problem the old-fashioned way — in writing.

It seems to me has an HP customer since 2001, your printer business has been inconsistent. My first HP printer, a DeskJet 832C, performed admirably for many years until my stupidity of buying an Office Depot cartridge ruined it. That was only three years ago, so that gives you the kind of quality your printers had until Carly Fiorina and Mark Hurd took over the company. Then became the era of inferior products, lousy tech support and an entire company devoted to the “customer go to hell” attitude.

After those two miscreants disappeared, HP clawed its way up hill and offered a near return to its former glory. I worked with several HP support people in the past and they came through for me and redeemed your company in my eyes. This was particularly important for business reasons; as a personal user, perhaps less so although I don’t really believe that.

So, in that context I returned to the HP fold and subsequently purchased an Envy 7640. However, “better” became the enemy of excellent and forced firmware updates have now turned what was a pleasant user experience into a time suck nightmare. The firmware update, which was not optional and therefore what I believe to be an involuntary product modification and a violation of the product I purchased, now fails to keep the printer available to my computer via the wireless connection. The firmware update also forces the printer to sleep after 15 minutes instead of staying awake indefinitely which has affected the wireless access for my main computer.

And so, I can only conclude that HP has spiraled back down into the maw of mediocrity and essentially driven me back to a printer firm that never gave me problems — Epson. The tech support now is back offshore with people who can neither right nor speak American English well enough to provide support. They are haughty and insensitive.

I acknowledge that some of your folks and tried to make this good and offered me $125 credit, but the Envy 7640 still malfunctions and as a result I have to ask why I should take advantage of a credit with the company that has deteriorated once again. Have enclosed as much documentation as I have. And, not surprisingly, it took two hours to reinstall the printer on Ethernet to print this letter and the documentation.

It is my belief that you really won’t see this letter because the American executive class has been imbued with a quantitative outlook. It is my hope that the corporate culture from Australia might open the door for you to address this more personally.

I doubt you will answer me and I challenge you to do so.