Terrible service by HP!  

If I were in your shoes, I would not have downgraded. I would have demanded for an upgrade instead!!
Wasting my time and effort for some promise by the company to deliver, I would expect them to deliver! If not as good as the original, then at the very least, some thing equivalent or better. Nothing less than that.

When we buy something, the universal agreement between the company and me is trust.
They trust that I will make payments on time. And we trust that they will deliver the service or goods as agreed upon when we sign on the dotted line.

How can they offer a lower grade product in replacement for the one that was promised to you? It is a clear case of cheating. No?
If that is the case, it is a clear situation where that trust between a customer and the company is breached! I would have made a lot of noise and ensure that I get some sort of compensation for the effort and time wasted to retrieve what is rightfully mine in the first place! No?

Well, with the overwhelming response to the offer, they should have well prepared for this kind of crowd to turn up for the redemption.
The frustrating part of this all is this... The time the offer ended till the day the redemption begins, there is a good month wait in between.

So, having to wait for a month for the laptop, when the day of redemption opens, it is only natural that people want their gadgets to play with.
How can HP tell us that they only prepared 1000 sets for redemption?
And it is not a daily limit. It is a limited stock for the WHOLE redemption period!

I mean, if HP had made an announcement they they could not get the sets out in time. And that more sets are only available later in August, I can understand.
In fact, I would be more tolerant cos my father would not have wasted a good half a day's leave for a futile attempt to get the laptop.

Agree?

Yes I agree. Did Starhub eventually resolve the issue?

Well, my dad made a complaint to the customer service. And he demanded that a solution be arrive that would keep him satisfied.

So they offered to register the delivery date for him instead of him having to go down to Funan again to register the delivery date.
That sort of kept him satisfied. As long as he gets the laptop. And there is no further need to go down to the center to do the paperwork. He is fine with the arrangement.

So now we wait for the call from HP for the arrangement.
Sigh... another long wait.

If it would had been me at that queue, I would have screamed at the counter staff to no end!

I understand that they will require time to get the sets delivered and all.
In fact, from the time I signed up in June, till now, it is a good one month wait.
We did not have any problems waiting.

In fact, if it was made known to me that they only have 1000 sets to be redeemed this time around, I would have told my dad not to bother. Cos we would definitely not be able to make it. Unless he goes to queue up at 7am, 2 hours ahead of the opening time, then there may be a chance. And he shares the same view as me.

The frustrating part is this. HP knows that they only have a certain sets for redemption. Why not make it known to us in the first place?
If I had known it was only 1000 sets, and my dad still wants to go and try his luck, it is fine if we did not get it.

The problem is when my dad specially took leave to go down for this redemption. Only to find out about the limited stocks on location. That is the frustrating part. Having wasted half a day of leave, traveling time and still not be able to get the laptop is not something he is willing to do. The choice was not given to use.

I find the way HP handled this redemption very terrible.
If they are not able to meet the kind of demand that they jolly well could have expected, then don't tell the public that the sets are available for redemption.

Agree?

I still think it is HP that is at fault. If they do not have enough sets for people to redeem, they should jolly well inform Starhub about it. So that Starhub can send out a notification to us with regards to this.
No point promising to deliver only to fall short on the actual day itself.

Agree?

yes i agree that HP should inform starhub. as a matter of fact, i believe they already did. if not starhub will start suing HP already. it's a business contract and failure to deliver will win starhub quite a bit of money. given my dealings with starhub, they are just too lazy to inform everyone. i have tried contacting starhub regarding many queries. everytime, different people will tell me different things. three calls will yield three different answers. that is the main reason why i'm not using starhub internet despite the attractive promotions. cheers ;p

ha ha ha ha ha... being a hubber club member has its perks.
Due to that, I am sort of cornered already.
Now have to put up with this.

Other than these little incidents that mar the service record, I must say Starhub is quite good to use.
It is a pity that they allow such incidents to happen.
I guess once the contract is signed and the money is paid, it is a different ball game already.

Sad isn't it?

well i'd say starhub's products are not too bad. it's the service that riles me to no end. this has actually happened before. the same thing for the lcd redemption. also not enough sets for redemption. sigh, it's really too small a market to have many competitors. guess we consumers can only suffer. ;p

Well, even when the incident made the news, there is still no apologetic steps taken on Starhub or HP's part to rectify the situation.
http://www.asiaone.com/pr...

We all know that the redemptions are staggered.
And most of us who are affected are the ones from the first batch of redemption.
What I am afraid of is this. We are told to wait for the next redemption period.
Then later the date comes, they tell us only got another 1100 sets left.

Then what?
Sigh... only time will tell.

sigh, at least starhub did apologise for the screw up. it's pretty upsetting to be anticipating the gift only to be disappointed on the day one has been waiting so long for.

i remember my free laptop from singnet was collected from the apple shop direct. at least that way it'll be a guarantee that there'll be enough sets. the singnet letter also advised customers to call and reserve the set first before heading down. that is a sure way to reduce frustration. maybe starhub should open a hotline to handle this particular redemption. i can't imagine what will happen if the redemptions were not staggered.

I can tell you they will not load their service staff with things like that.
The customer service girl promised me that HP will call me within the period of 7-14 Aug to make the arrangement.
I will patiently wait for it. If I do not get my gift by the end of that period, I will call to cancel my contract!

Who wouldn't be angry?
We all waited more than 3 weeks for the redemption day to arrive. Anticipating the arrival of a new laptop all these while.
And the redemption day opens on a week day.
Being excited to get a new laptop, a lot of people took the day off to get the device. Only to be disappointed at the counter where HP is telling people that there are limited sets.

I am sure if people knew of the limited stock, a lot of them would not have taken the day off to go down and collect. My dad included.
Wasted a good half a day of PRECIOUS leave.

If I were in your shoes, I would have banged table and say one of you guys better be the ones responsible. Cos you got a faulty product. And it has to be fixed!

I too think both are at fault. But I will still hold HP as the main one responsible fella for the whole fiasco.
They are the ones who receives the orders from Starhub. They should jolly well have prepared all the sets ready for redemption. How can they just prepare only 1100 sets?

Sigh... read about it in the press.
http://www.asiaone.com/pr...

They did. It was in the Home section. One small little corner of the paper.
I was expecting a big hoo har the next day. But nothing!

The New Paper had a full page dedicated to this report. All Starhub could say was sorry and that we must go down to Funan again to register with the HP counter to arrange for a delivery.

Sigh... Still waiting for my call from HP. Cos I made noise to Starhub and they promised to inform HP for that arrangement.
I guess if I have the time, it is better to go down to funan to make the arrangement. Hmm... or should I wait for the call?
Sigh~~~~