Dear Sir/Madam,

Greetings!

Thank you for offering to register this service related grievance issue that I have against HP. Let me place the facts of my case before you for your kind examination.

Subject of the Service Grievance issue: No Redemtion of free gift offer on purchase of HP Pavilion Laptop even after 6 months have elapsed

I had purchased a HP product more than six months back, the details of which are listed below:

Product Details:

Product Type: HP Pavilion dv5-1104tu Entertainment Notebook PC

Model: dv5-1104tu

Serial No.: CNF85213PV

Product No.: FZ730PA#ACJ

Product Purchase Date: 13/02/2009

Please find attached a scanned copy of the sticker containing the Bar Coded product serial number which was pasted on the cardboard packaging of my HP Pavilion product (Filename: Product Details.jpg).

Since I am based in Goa, I purchased the above product from a HP authorised dealer in Goa; the dealer's details follow:

HP Authorized Dealer Details:

Dealer Name: Kedar Mapsekar

Shop Name: Login Systems

Shop Address: Shop No. 5, Ground Floor, Apna Bazaar, Laxmi Narayan Bldg., Margao - Goa 403601

Dealer E-mail Address: [email protected]

Dealer Contact Number: 0832-2712214 (O), 9960599565 (M).

Product Purchase Details:

Invoice No.: 2318

Invoice Date: 13/02/2009

Please find attached a scanned copy of the Invoice (Filename: Invoice.jpg).

My name and address follow:

Customer Details:

Customer Name: Gerald Baptista

Customer Address: 737, Fradilem, Navelim, Salcete - Goa 403 707

Customer Contact No: 9371573299

At that time, there was a free gift offer available on the purchase of HP laptops. A customer could choose between a Philips 5.1 Home theatre or a Kodak 9.2 Mega Pixel Camera. The fact of the matter was that I was initially inclined to purchase a laptop from a competing brand, but HP's free gift offer was very tempting and unfortunately tilted my decision in favour of it. And so I made the purchase and decided to opt for the following gift offer:

Gift Offer Availed: Philips 5.1 Home Theatre (Model No. DSP2200) worth Rs. 10500 (Includes DVD Player with 5.1 output and remote + 5.1 Speaker System)

In order to avail the offer, a customer had to register the purchased product on their Redemptions Web page and dispatch a cheque/DD for Rs. 1499/- towards handling charges along with other necessary documents. As I was unable to do the same due to my busy work schedule, my dealer offered to register the product for me and also dispatch the cheque and other documents. On registering the product before the expiry date, he obtained the following Redemption Code:

Redemption Code: QQVDONDACZ

My dealer also drew a cheque on his own account, and dispatched it to HP Redemptions Cell; the details of the cheque are as follows:

Cheque Date: 13/02/2009

Cheque No.: 132679

Drawn on: Kotak Mahindra Bank, Margao - Goa

Payee Name: Solutions Integrated Marketing Services Pvt Ltd

Cheque Amount: 1, 499/-

Please find attached a scanned copy of the Cheque that was dispatched to HP (Filename: Cheque.jpg).

My dealer later informed me that the cheque was cleared by his Bank and the amount deducted from his account.

Also, since I was residing in a remote area which could cause problems for the courier to deliver the gift, my HP dealer offered to provide his shop address as the delivery address for the gift.

Well, it has been more than 6 months since all this transpired, but there has been no sign of the gift.

To make matters worse, when I e-mailed [email protected] on the 20th of July 2009 asking about my gift, they replied back with the following text:

"We would like to update that we have received multiple claims with the similar contact details; hence the claims were put under audit as per the criteria set by HP. During the audit process, the claim has been identified as a non end customer claim. Since the offer got ended in March 2009, we are not in a position to hold the DD at our end for longer. Hence the DD will be returned back."

When I refuted their claim, they replied with the following text:

"With reference to your mail, we would like to inform you that we would be requiring an Approval from the concerned HP Personnel for the processing of the below mentioned claim. Hence, we request you to kindly contact the Dealer or the Local HP Representative for the same."

So I contacted my dealer who e-mailed Mr. Sachin Saini, ASM - HP, with the facts of the case. Mr. Sachin emails my dealer with the following reply on the 31st July 2009:

"I will take up the issue to get the same cleared on priority. Already discussed with Abhijit he is carrying stock issue nationally."

And so I thought that my problem was resolved. However, more than a month has gone by since this discourse and still there is no sign of the gift.

Thereafter, I sent 2 more e-mails to [email protected], but they never bothered to reply. I then wrote to Mr. Sachin Saini a couple more times; neither did he bother to respond.

Out of frustration, I sent a complaint to a Contact HP link on their Redemptions Web page, which was favourably responded to by a Ms. Vandana Bhardwaj, HP India Sales Pvt. Ltd, who in turn got in touch with Ms. Neha Sehgal, Program Executive, M/s. Solutions.

Ms. Neha Sehgal responds with the following text:

"We would like to update that we have received multiple claims with the similar contact details; hence the claims were put under audit as per the criteria set by HP. During the audit process, the claim has been identified as non end customer claim. Hence, the claim has been rejected."

Finally, I contacted my dealer again who requested me to get in touch with [email protected]. I wrote to them yesterday; now let's see whether they respond.

The fact of the matter is that it was my dealer who laid a stake to the claim on my behalf as I have a very strict work schedule and was not able to do the same. HP, without verifying the case or even bothering to contact me, have rejected the case stating that there were multiple claims with the same contact details. Does HP have any ground to do so? Aren't they simply looking for an excuse to avoid redeeming the gift in order to make a saving?

I believe HP is playing cheat on their customers by offering such attractive promotional offers in order to sell their products. As a last resort, I am now filing this complaint with your ConsumerComplaints.in so that some strict action can be taken against HP for cheating on its customers.

Hoping that this issue will be resolved soon through your mediation. Kindly publish the facts of this case so that others are made aware of HP's fraudulent promotional offers and are not taken for a ride like the way I was.

Also, please let me know what action I can take against HP for failing to keep their promise. Since I have been cheated, can I claim a full refund of the amount paid towards the laptop besides some compensation?

Kindly let me know whether you need any other details for verifying my case.

Thank you.

Regards,

Gerald Baptista.