Laptop sent for repair loaded with bootleg XP

[User12343]

A BRITON who has lived here for 11 years got a rude shock when he turned on his Hewlett-Packard (HP) laptop, only to be flashed a message saying that its copy of Windows XP was a bootleg one.

 

Mr Anthony Jeff, 56, had just picked up the machine from an HP-authorised service centre in Guangzhou, China, where he was on a business trip.

 

His bought-in-Singapore laptop kept crashing during the trip, so the globe-trotting businessman sent it to an HP-authorised service centre there, since the machine had a limited international warranty.

 

The service centre told him that it did not have any more stock of the English version of Windows XP software, and that the default version used in China was the one in Chinese, but Mr Jeff insisted on having an English version installed.

 

An HP spokesman said: 'The engineer was under pressure and downloaded an English version from the Web without obtaining a licence from Microsoft.'

 

Mr Jeff, who was not told this, discovered it only when he turned on the machine.

 

'Fortunately for me, I did not turn on the laptop in front of my clients that day. It would have been utterly embarrassing for me,' he said.

 

He runs day2daytrading, a maker of decorative furniture and licensed toys like Buck Rogers, and is married to a Singaporean.

 

Mr Jeff returned to confront the service centre staff the next day, only to be taken aback by their nonchalance. He was told it was 'normal' in China because 'everyone uses copies'.

 

HP has since clarified that it gives strict guidelines to its authorised service centres against installing illegal copies of operating systems.

 

Its spokesman added that the company took the matter seriously, and that it would discipline the engineer and 'reiterate the importance of our service policy to all our partners'.

 

China has been in the spotlight for its rampant software piracy over the years, but industry observers say the incident was not about piracy but a failure in HP's support service.

 

Mr Tarun Sawney, anti-piracy director for the software piracy watchdog Business Software Alliance Asia, said: 'Using an unlicensed product key to download software is definitely illegal, but this is the first time I've heard of a service centre doing something like this.'

 

Technology lawyer Bryan Tan said: 'The attitude of the service centre reflects the general lackadaisical attitude in China towards using genuine software.'

 

Meanwhile, HP Singapore has settled the matter with Mr Jeff: It has paid for his return air ticket to China on business class, repaired his old laptop, given him a new one and also an HP iPaq smartphone.

 

Mr Jeff is happy with the way the company has resolved his problem. He remains an HP fan - and not because of its compensatory moves. When he had to buy a new laptop in China after the one with the illegal Windows XP could not work, he chose an HP.

[Qpik]

if a similar situation happened to other races, i wonder whether the compensation would just be as comprehensive as the victim

[Wrc206]

Thats what I wonder too. Did not know their service is that

[User12343]

most international service centres give priority preference to products purchased in their country and not so much for overseas purchases. that applies to the locale of the software.

 

i once bot a fujitsu lappie from HK (fujitsu lappies are much cheaper there than SG) with international warranty, and the HDD crashed after brought back to SG. brought to their svc ctr at henderson, was told that the replacement HDD was to be shipped from HK to SG in 3 weeks time!!!

 

i queried them why this arrangement and what does priority/next-business-day service mean? they explained that for laptops purchased overseas, they must order the parts from there and snail-mailed here for repairs to carry out. wtf.

[Zniper]

they juz wan to cover their a** after wat happened in china... HP is a nono to me... they are juz showing the whole world base on one case that they are good... probably, they rewarded the engineer too for making a bad case for them to put on a good front...

[Niteblu]

Doubt it... haha.

 

Our service sector is still very much wedded to the

"Olde Colonial Mentality"...

 

If fact, if you tried the same stunt.

For using bootleg XP & blaming their staff.

 

They might ship yo' non-caucasian butt off to the slammer.

For a true "business class" stay.

 

 

Edited March 26, 2008 by Niteblu

[Friendstar]

Does Mark Hurd know about this?

imagine when he met up with Bill gates.

 

Embarrassing!

[Apollo]

yup.. me also unhappy customer. Hopeless Product.. lagi hopeless customer service fr Mumbai.

[Zakuii]

On the contrary, I own many hp products, printers, pda, laptop, monitors. all are working as they should. my laptop broke down once, sent to hp service center and came back working again. I've no complaints.

[Lustful_69]

This sort of treatment only reaches out to Ang Moh lah...think you gonna get Business Class return tickets ah?

Wait long....long.....

[W2wwong]

they juz wan to cover their a** after wat happened in china... HP is a nono to me... they are juz showing the whole world base on one case that they are good... probably, they rewarded the engineer too for making a bad case for them to put on a good front...

 

I had an HP laptop once also. After the laptop had shut down, the LED indicators were still on. Had to either remove the battery or ac adapter.

 

sent in for troubleshooting, HP said need to change motherboard. ok lor.

 

after the repairs, when I powered on, my HP laptop became a COMPAQ laptop. faint. somemore, cover had a slight depression.

 

asked for a refund and got it.