Office Depot Tech Service Experience 12/09 – ??

12/18/09 Computer blacked out. Paid Office Depot (Monrovia) $299.99. Sent to central repair. Told that it could be a hard drive problem.
1/12/10 Notified arrived. Internet not working.
1/18/10 Sent computer back to central repair.
4/13/2010 Sent again. Same problem.
5/27/2010 Sent again. Same problem.
6/21/10 Laptop picked up at Office Depot (Moreno Valley). Was told that they had switched a new motherboard.
9/13/10 Problem reoccur. Brought to Office Depot (Monrovia). Denied service. Told that the 30 day warranty had passed. But… supposedly… if the problem like this was fixed, how would it reoccur in such a short time?

Within 9 months, the laptop had been sent to central repair for 4 times.. .

When my HP laptop first broke down, I had no idea where I should go to fix it. Someone had suggested me to send it back to HP to be fixed. Since my 1-year warranty had already passed, I wasn't sure how expensive the fix would have been. Regrettably, I was drawn into an Office Depot by the free PC check-up service. The associate seemed helpful enough... and then he advised me to purchase the $299.99 service. He seemed so confident that with the 299.99 service, all hardware problems would be solved.

When the computer first came back, the funny thing I noticed was that my computer would not connect to the internet at home with the cable. Internet wasn't even a problem to begin with. I brought the computer back; it was sent again.

After it came back again, within a few weeks, the black out problem reoccurred again. I had to send it back again. Repeat, and repeat. This process took way longer than it was worth. I'm not one to make a big fuss about things. Maybe I should have been. Maybe that would have gotten them to take care of my problem more proactively. As a college student, a laptop is almost essential to school work. I was very inconvenienced and had to go out of my way to find other computer access.

After picking it back up in June, I was told that instead of trying to fix the motherboard again, which is what they had been doing the previous times, they actually switched the motherboard. So everything should be fine now right? However, in the middle of September, my computer blacked out again. I brought it back to the store and was told that because the 30 warranty had passed. There is nothing they can do. I asked a family friend who knows computers very well to take a look. She ran tests on it and suspects that the hardware problem is still not solved. She is kind enough to offer to go to Office Depot with me (again) on Friday and talk to them. Since she is more well-versed in computer, she might be able to convince them that the problem had not been solved.

On the receipt/details of services, there is no explicit time frame as to the extent of which their service is provided. I guess, legally, they really may not have to do anything. But... isn't this the principle of doing business? You pay for the service you receive. I paid $299.99 for 9 months’ worth of multiple trips to office depot and lack of a computer to use, not counting the time I had spent contacting their central repair (since the two are not very connected) and the time I had to spend waiting every time I go into a store. This is not the kind of service you would expect from a store like Office Depot. It makes me wonder how office depot could survive this long with this kind of service. There must be more innocents out there who have mistakenly poured their money into this store.

I am planning to go to Office Depot again and speak to a manager directly about the whole situation. If I really cannot get my computer fixed, or even my money returned, I am hoping that more people can learn from my lesson. Office depot really may not be the best resort for fixing your computers.