HP buyer beware
I wish I would have read the all of the posts regarding the HP problems.
I have never had a bad thing to say about hsn and we make many purchases and have been treated well in most instances.
We purchased one of the 17inch hp pavillion touch screen laptops around oct 20th for our daughter who is terminally ill and bed bound. To ensure safety we also got the vipre anti virus which they have always made sound wonderful.
We loaded it on the pc and it was easy enough. a few days after owning the machine basically went haywire; We tried contacting vipre and they were hard to get ahold of, I asked if I was speaking with the right people because it forwarded me to threat tracker or something. the support person took a long time to respond then asked for my product id to make sure I actually had purchased the service. He verified that, I asked him a question about vipre and what type of email accounts it covers. Each response took about five minutes. He copied and pasted an answer that didn’t even answer my question. I started trying to type a question and he said that I see we are still in chat, is there anything else I can do?
I didnt have time to wait for answers that were irrelevant. I was made to feel like I was bothering them, and calling was no different.
I also purchased the fix it stick so decided to run that to see if anything would help. I plugged it in and messages came up saying the device was not supported and to email-we couldnt get to email on any device in the home at this point. It kept rebooting and then the screen went black, some typing came up which went so fast I couldnt read. The device make a pop and after trying to run it again it was just dead, nothing came up..
All of the cell phones, tablets, and computers-macs included started running slower. We started losing control, couldnt get into accounts, and files, photos, documents, our life began to disappear. We shut everything thing off to try and save what we could. But everything running our our secure network was affected in some way. I spoke with hsn and they said we shouldnt be running two anti virus programs at once which came out of the blue. Every device had anti virus and high level programs , and the hp had vipre. hsn said to contact our internet service provider. We monitor our home network very closely as we have a home business. We had tech support come check to see that if it was compromised and it was secure. The HP said that admistrative privledges had been disabled and to please see system administrator. After 3 hours of him remotely trying to gain back adminstrative privledges, he said he was very sorry and that he needed to research this as this was beyond what he could do. He said that the HP was corrupted, it was not anything anti virus or malware related. Asked me to get a flash drive. He is calling tomorrow to delete everything and we will start from the beginning. I had already done this with no luck, but I will try it again with his assistance.
We are taking our devices in and trying to recover what we can. The costs to try and regain what we can even with protection plans is still expensive and they are not able to guarantee anything. We tried support over the phone and there was nothing they could do over the phone. This has cost us time, money which does not matter. It was something to try and give my daughter something to do. Her medical records and personal information have disappeared.
Nobody can tell us why except HP confirmed that the laptop itself was corrupt. I dont know what that means exactly. It was hard to understand his accent. He said it was not a virus or malware.
Hsn offered to exchange the computer and waive shipping costs and that they would let upper management know.
I have never complained about an experience here. This has been an exhausting experience and there is no resolution. Now that I see all of the experiences out there I am shocked.
Probably a fluke but people need to be aware of what could happen.
I am not looking for a response as I know there is nothing that can be done besides sending it back.
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I am so sorry this happened, sounds like it is literally a catastrophic experience that everyone of us is subject too. And thank you for the warning.. No matter how many of us have great eperiences buying on line computers from HSN (6 TSV since 1998) and QVC (3 TSV since 2010 because of lifetime support) it doesnt mean everyone will have the same.
It is awful, but your posting warns there are both malicious folks and poorly manufactured technology out there, and there are things we must do to protect ourselves, if only we knew about them. Because of you and the good folks who responded with ways to protect yourself in the future, a non techie like me can a least take some baby steps like back ups and skipping vipre, so we dont have the same dreadful experience you did.
I hope this was resolved well for you and your daughter.
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I ordered an HP laptop from HSN and I already owned Viper from a previous purchase. I had a virus problem and thought it was from something I had downloaded or added to the computer. I took it to Best Buy to let the Geek Squad look at it and it turned out the computer (which was built in China) already had several viruses when I got it . Geek Squad fixed everything. I was so glad I had spent the money on their services.
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Member- 11.05.15 2:43 AM
OHOHOH, I can’t even go so far as to say a shopping channel. I have in the past purchased computers from shopping channels. Won’t say which one. I had no problem with the computer until it got old and I couldn’t add more RAM.
I just didn’t have these experiences. That was then and this is now, though so I don’t know.
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- 11.05.15 2:25 AM
How awful. I think some online stores that sell computers get them configured differently, than if those sold in stores. I believe this because of serial numbers and models that can not be found by the retailer, but it is only relevant to HSN or something.
Buying a computer online per say, is not the problem. I actually purchased a desktop from HP (online) and built it to my own specifications and it was shipped to me. My son did the same thing. That was over three years ago. Amazon, and so many other online stores like Staples and others sell computers online all the time. If buying them online were the issue (considering reviews of the products) no one would buy them and we all know that’s not true.
I suspect in your case it was that Vipre thingy you bought. I have anti virus/malware spam protection (real time) from my ISP. I pay a little every month for it in my bill but it’s worth it. When I go to a site that is potentially malicious the software won’t let me. Love that.
I think you got a bumb viper thingy and I really do believe had you not bothered with that ~ your HP would have been fine. There’s not a lot HP can do to help because of the software that doesn’t belong to them (Viper).
I hope it is all resolved for you so that your daughter can have use of it. Since this is a laptop, you can still back up the data to an external hard drive or to DVD’s. When and if you get a new one create back up DVD’s for your entire system first. Put them in a safe place. I would also back up any other personal documentation (medical records and other important info to a DVD and/or an external hard drive.
Best of luck to you. I hope you come back and let us know that your daughter has a laptop to use!
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What a terrible experience. That would have traumatized me. Out of anger and frustration, I would have called the Sheriff’s office. – Yes.
I don’t know what caused all of that but I am glad I didn’t yield to temptation and purchase that computer. I have bought a few cheap tablets online, but I buy All of my computers at Walmart, and I buy DELL. The comouters have been excellent and the prices have been right. I really want a 17 inch Windows 10 model, but I’m waiting on Walmart. Right now, they are still trying to sell their older models.
I use Vipre and I’m pleased with it. However initially, I did have some problem with Vipre mis-identifying my Wifi. It kept blocking my Wifi and perceiving it as a threat. I had to gradually get it to recognize the Wifi. First I disbaled Vipre’s firewall for a few weeks and used Microsoft’s firewall. I also disabled my Wifi and plugged the computers into the router. After a few weeks, I abled Vipre’s firewall and it recognized and accepted my Wifi.
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Sorry to hear about your computer woes. It can be frustrating if you’re unable to resolve issues, and don’t have a friend, neighbor, or relative who can help.
There’s so many places to buy computers these days, why buy online? My last two came from Walmart and they’re great. One of them is a 17-inch HP laptop. Of course not everyone has convenient shopping nearby, but I think it’s worth it to drive as far as 40 miles if one had to.
I don’t see the point in buying Vipre, or any other antivirus for that matter. Same for FixMeStick. All Windows 8-10 computers already include Windows Defender built into the operating system. It protects against viruses, spyware, and other malware. Windows also includes Disk Cleanup to delete junk files.
If for some reason you feel the tools included with Windows aren’t for you, get other free ones instead.
No matter what, buy an external hard drive to keep your important files backed up so you won’t loose them if something goes wrong.
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Ouch. what a bad experience!
It’s pretty unnerving that it somehow messed up with the rest of your devices. I wondered if Vipre was somehow causing any problems – even though it’s only on one device – suppose, it tried scanning all the rest of the devices on the network and that somehow interfered with them? Could that actually cause issues? My first thought, ike the HSN reps’ was clashing of anti-virus softwares. At any rate, there are pages and pages in Google on Viore causing problems.
This just goes to further prove the idea that one should never buy a computer off a HSN or QVC or the like. Buy jewelry on HSN, don’t buy computers.
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Jamie… You go right ahead and rant!
I’m SOOOOO sorry this has happened to you, *sigh*. I, too, know what it is to buy a computer online and have everything go haywire. I learned that lesson long ago. Now, no matter how good the ‘online deal’ looks, I refuse to buy computer-anything online. We buy our computers, and accessories, at Office Max which is about 15-miles from where we live, (we’re on rural property).
Yes, we pay more money there but, to us, it is so well-worth it. Whenever there’s a problem, I just call them up to tell them I’m bringing it in. And I’ve always gotten the computer back within 48-hours… all problems solved.
To me, all this online computer ‘fix-it-yourself’ is like me calling my auto-mechanic and having him tell me how to fix my car over the phone! Arrrrgh!
When this computer-problem happened to me a few years ago, it shook me up so badly that I was in tears trying to follow the directions from the Call Center in India. I do have to say that the Rep there was so nice to me… so kind and sympathetic… and I really appreciated that and all his help. Alas, when all was said-and-done, he wasn’t able to fix my problem ‘Remotely’ either, *sigh*. THAT is when I made the mental decision to never buy a computer online again. I ended up having to send it back. The Q, which is where I bought it, wanted to exchange it, but I said ‘No, I want a refund’.
Because neither my husband, nor I, are ‘tech-savvy’, (we don’t even have a cell phone, *lol*), it’s much better for us, and our lifestyle, to be able to talk to someone face-to-face when it comes to purchases like this and their maintenance. I never worry anymore about, ‘What am I gonna do if this thing doesn’t work or breaks-down at some point?’ It’s really affords us a ‘peace of mind’ that is well-worth paying extra for.
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This retired English teacher loves your suggestion!
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10.16.14 12:35 AM
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