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Notebook Hinge Repair Success Stories
By admin | April 2, 2008
HUGE DECEMBER 2008 UPDATE!!!! Read about how we succeeded against HP to repair some hinge cracks! Thank you readers and supporters!
We’ve now had almost 150,000 visitors to this site from December 2007 through December 2008! I’ve personally emailed over 2,500 people to help them deal with HP. This thread is for those of you have had success in getting HP to repair your notebook hinge crack problem, for free or at a reduced price.
Please post the details of your repair, such as your model number, the country you had it repaired from, if your laptop was in or out of warranty, how long the total repair took, and any deficiencies you experienced (reformatted hard drive, etc).
Also, if you received a satisfactory repair due to this website, please consider sending me a few dollars to replace my own defective HP that they won’t repair. This site occupies nearly 10 hours a week of my time in erasing spam and personally replying to questions for hundreds of users. You can paypal me at proofs@vipministry.com.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Another success story - and guidance for others.
I have an HP dv9000 series notebook, bought Dec 17 2006, that had it’s left hinge break Mar 29 2008. This website gave me the knowledge and conviction to convince HP to fix my laptop on their dime, even though it is about 3-1/2 months beyond the 1-year warranty! (No extended warranty.) It was pretty easy. I used online chat first. The rep initially said it would cost me $298, but I said I would like to escalate and that was that. It did not take much to gain an apparent success via HP chat. However, here are some things I learned:
HP Chat: start at http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/contact/chat_1.html and drill down through several clicks to your exact model.
If you use HP chat, copy and paste the contents of the chat screen to a separate application often if you want to keep a copy. (Throw it in there and clean it up later.) Once it scrolls off the screen (or maybe soon after), it is lost. My rep, “Gypsy”, was kind enough to send me a complete transcript when all done. Maybe you might not be so lucky.
When I asked for a case number, Gypsy responded:
Here is the case number.
SessionID: 10011011206618101539
I later learned this is NOT a case number. Case numbers do not look like this. My case number, acquired later, is in the format ABC123-45. When I offered to give the case manager a 20-digit number referred to as a session ID, he said, “No, I won’t be able to do much with that”.
Gypsy took my phone number for a case manager to call me. She didn’t say till I asked, but then said I would get a call “today” (a Saturday). I doubted that, but didn’t question it. Sure enough, no call, Saturday, Sunday, but then not Monday, either. I was not perturbed as I can live without closing the laptop for a few days.
On Tuesday, I called the case manager number given frequently on this site (877-917-4380 ext 94). I don’t know if extension 94 always rings to the same guy (the recording says “enter the extension of THE case manager you want to speak with”), but if you use 94 and get the guy I got, Matthew, you’ll probably be fine. He said case managers do not work weekends. I told him no problem, I kind of figured that. He said he could find no record of my chat. I don’t know if that is typical or not, but apparently my online chat accomplished absolutely nothing. Despite having no record of my chat, Matthew took all my info as if he was the first level of support, and he acted perfectly cool with that. He did not question how I got the phone number or anything. If you’re in a rush, you might skip the online chat part, but I had time, and I was willing to take the time to try to go through normal channels (although I did call the case manager number that I did not receive (or ask for) via chat).
My phone call to case manager Matthew took about 24 minutes. It took only 10 minutes to get agreement that HP would cover the repair. (The rest of the time was setting up the return.) I am not a particularly assertive person, but it was pretty easy even for me. At first, after putting me on hold to look up my S/N, he said, no, nothing I can do for you, if it was 30 days out of warranty, no problem, but you’re over 3 months out of warranty. That didn’t bother me. Of course you’re going to get a “no” at first. The case managers are just doing their job. I feel sorry for people that haven’t found this website and just give up, though.
I stayed calm and pleasant. I mentioned this site, which he said he was not familiar with (and I didn’t care or question whether that was true or not). As near as I could tell did not go visit it. I mentioned this site notes 1500 cases of this problem (not sure that is accurate but I thought I read something here that suggests that, so I said it with confidence). (It would be good if this site could keep a running count of how many cases reported for the various laptop styles on a summary page somewhere.) I mentioned that it appears to a design flaw, that it is heat related and the laptop does run hot, that I am very careful, that I have never dropped it, that I am a loyal HP customer, owning two HP printers currently and one prior, that despite this problem I like the laptop a lot. I mentioned this website lists a lot of success stories, even for users out of warranty, and I said (with a slight laugh) that I was hoping to be one of those success stories! I calmly reiterated I felt it was a design defect and HP really should cover this. He put me on hold again, for about one or two minutes, and came back and said HP would cover it.
Matthew asked for the password of the administrator account on the machine. That was my opening to say people on this site have suggested removing the hard drive and battery before shipping. I wasn’t sure how to bring that up, thinking (ironically) that I don’t want to “void my warranty” (which I don’t even have!) by messing around the insides of the laptop. He said with no hesitation, sure, that is fine, yes if you want to do that, yes, you can do that. I wasn’t sure what to expect on that.
FYI, I have a pretty heavy duty 17-inch laptop cooler with (2) 3-inch fans (Google “Big Brian”) which I always use. However, when I’m done, I have always simply closed the laptop to put it into standby. From now on (when I get it back) I will hibernate it with the power button and wait to close it when it is completely cooled (which works for me because I very rarely travel with it).
As soon as I receive my FedEx box for shipping the laptop out, I will believe this has really happened and contribute $10 to the webmaster. Thank you. When I get the laptop back in good repair, I will contribute another $10. That’s what I call a bargain!
If anyone wants to write me, put together the three parts of this address in the same order with the appropriate punctuation. First part 9onqxgm02 then sneakemail then com. I have the chat log of my (useless) online chat, and I’ll answer any questions.
I will follow up when I get the shipping box and when I get the laptop back. Thanks again!
Scott added this comment: Correction, the ABC123-45 format number I gave in an earlier post is my service order number. My case number is a 10-digit number.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
I received my shipping box today, 4/3/08, two days after placing my call to the case manager. As my final act using my laptop before attempting to ease the broken lid closed and ship the thing to HP for my free left hinge repair, I have paypal’ed $10 to proofs@vipministry.com. Thanks for the website and thanks to all the contributors!
April 4th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
I had the hinge problem on a HP 9600dn laptop. My hinge crack got extreme. I even did the red neck thing and duct taped the side of the screen. I place one (yes, only one) call to HPINVENT and I got immediate response and satisfaction. I was ask Model and Serial Number, asked if the laptop was ever dropped (no it was not, I am the only user). Next question was for my address. I recieved the shipping material in two days. I was very slow sending it away as I did not like the thought of waiting a month to get my laptop back. I received my laptop back fixed in 8 days. Best part for last — NO CHARGE.
April 5th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
my problems are over with the hinge crack. i got mine fixed in one week. the repair took just 12 hours. was recived by HP on april 4th 2008 7:56AM. the same day at 7:56PM HP shiped it back. i talked to a HP Chat guy and he said that the LCD COVER;LCD BEZEL;HINGE ASSY;HINGE ASSY were replaced. the chat also had him say that it will not happen again.
Marco: Hello John.
Marco: Welcome to HP Total Care for Pavilion Notebooks. My name is Marco. How may I assist you today?
john m: i have a question about a recent repair
john m: for my hp pavillion dv9207us
Marco: Please proceed with the query I will be glad to assist you.
john m: the customer servise number is ********
john m: and i would like to know what was fixed or replaced
Marco: Sure, I will help you with this.
Marco: I understand that you want to know the repair history of the Notebook sent to HP for repair. Am I correct?
john m: yes just what was fixed on the laptop because it was fixed too fast.
Marco: Thank you for confirming the same.
Marco: I have checked and find the below details:
Marco: repair comments : LCD COVER;LCD BEZEL;HINGE ASSY;HINGE ASSY;
john m: oh my question would be for that is it going to last longer than a year from now
john m: because i would not like to have to send it in for a repair in a year from now
Marco: Yes, the repair done will be done under highly qualified engineers.
john m: so the design flaw with the hinge assembly won’t crack again with the new repair
Marco: Yes, you areright.
Marco: Are right*
john m: how long is the warrenty with the repair
Marco: Normally, the warranty on the repair done is for 90 days.
john m: what are my options for an extended warranty?
Marco: However, if the Notebook is under warranty it will be covered untill the expiry date of Notebook warranty
Marco: Sure, please spare me few minutes while I check the available options of extended warranty.
john m: shure
Marco: Thank you for your time.
john m: ok
Marco: I have checked and find the below options available for your Notebook and the wararnty on the Notebook expired.
Marco: 1. One year normal pick up and return with accidental damage plan which will costs you $229.99
Marco: 2. One year normal pick up and return without accidental damage plan which will costs you $149.99
Marco: Let me know if you are interested in purchasing the extended warranty plan for the Notebook
Marco: I will arrange you a call to order the extended warranty right now if you are interested in purchasing them from HP.
john m: thank you for the info on the extended warranty, i will be thinking of my options over the next week
Marco: Sure, you can get back to us anytime as we are available 365 days round the clock.
Marco: Is there anything else that I can assist you with today?
john m: no thankyou for your time
Marco: Pleasure is all mine in assisting you John.
Marco: Have a nice day!
Marco: Thank you for contacting HP Total Care Real-Time chat support. If you need further assistance, please contact us again at: http://www.hp.com/support/chat. Chat support is
he did say that the repair will finally fix the hinge cracking issue. so i expect it to last another 2 to 3 years. i thank the admin for this site. i would have not known about this issue with out it. hopefully after eveyone who got there laptop repaired won’t have this issue come up in a year from the repair.
John M
April 6th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Hi, I have the hinge problem on my 17″ DV9000 in the UK, which has a different service organisation. HP are not interested in supporting me here. Is there anyone in the UK that has successfully had their out of warranty laptop repaired?
Ian - Hartleppol, UK
April 12th, 2008 at 7:23 am
UPDATE:
04/12/08
called HP tech support today and at first they tried to get the $49.95 for out of warranty service fee, I told the lady that this was not a warranty issue but rather a design flaw and directed her to this website. When they came back to the phone they said even though I am 157 days out of warranty, they would fix my laptop for free. They are sending me a fed ex box and said I should have my laptop back within 7-9 business days after they receive it. I had no problems at all and am very happy with the service I received (as of now) from the HP phone support people. Anybody still looking for a resolution should call HP tech support and direct them to this website, I’m thinking they have had enough people call that they are now covering this defect under warranty even out of warranty.
Thanks!!!
April 12th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
I am having the same problem with my laptop. At first I thought maybe I messed it up, but then I googled hinge break and HP and OMG there was a whole comunity of people with the same problem. I made my call today and I also did the chatting thing, they are so far saying NO, but hey, I got time to call em until someone pays for this. At least microsoft fessed up and extended the warranty period on my super expensive (now paper weight xbox 360)
April 12th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
My hp dv9000’s left hinge broke this week. I have had it for a year and a half and am very disappointed.
April 13th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Hi all,
I’m in the same boat like the rest of you out there. And not for the first time either.
My HP dv9000 left hinge broke, the bezel and back cover pulled apart and no warranty. From what I read, HP might, or might not help those folks that have the same problem even if their machines still under warranty (Good Luck).
For me the door is closed, I bought mine a year and a half ago.
So; Repairs are out of consideration as well, you almost can buy a new laptop for the cost, and if you could find the hinges for a reasonable price - say under a $50 - the process of changing them is complicated since you have to crack open the laptop itself to remove the hinges.
Needless to say, the metal (those hinges are made out of) is comparable to the strength of cardboard. I venture to say that they will not last for too long.
Well, I tried, and managed, to fix my laptop, only simple tools and a cost of less than 10 dollars.
The process I followed is a little primitive but with surprising results. Now my laptop works perfectly and looks just like it did before the problem occurred. I will post some snap shots of the process if I can.
One more thing *NO MORE HP*
April 15th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Well folks, after research online, including reading about the experiences of the readers of this blog-site, and after exhaustive calls, online chats with HP, emails to the CEO of HP and correspondance with Costco - I’ve finally received the box from UPS!!!! Yesterday, I dropped it off at a UPS store and the laptop is on it’s way to HP’s Canadian repair depot. All that remains now is to wait for the box to return.
This whole affair began about a month and a half after the warranty expired. Two and a half months of trying to get a straight answer left me pretty much feeling like HP was ignoring me and others who have the same problem.
All I can say to all of you who read this is - NEVER GIVE UP!! HP will come through eventually! Try everything to let them know your problem - be nice about it - and be patient. The more of you who complain the higher the “numbers” will be and the percentage of failure will eventually (if the numbers get high enough) prompt them to issue a recall.
I’ll repost when I receive the repaired notebook and let everyone know how it turned out after all this.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Well, I stumbled across this site after Google searching my hinge crack problem. Boy, I’m glad I did. Loike many of you I have a dv9000 (dv9032us actually from Circuit City) that started out of the blue with loud cracking noise when opening and closing the sceen. sure enough my problems continued VERBATIM to what has been posted here .. I mean right down to the little black pieces falling out.
Well I followed the instructions posted by the first poster and contaced HP via the online service. Spoke to some one named “Maggie”, who was nice and gave me all the canned answers I needed. First I was quoted $53 for the parts (Part # 432964-001). When I asked who can do the repair I was told HP doesn’t repair out of warranty laptops. When I pressed again about having HP do the work, I was told the repair was $298. I was very polite, took in the info and then asked to speak to someone whp could authorize a warranty repair since on the the net this is a common problem and obviously a design deficiency. I was connected to Maggie’s supervisor and was politely told my options were to #1 pay $298 for HP do the repair or #2 seek HP local support. When I asked who local support was, I was given the info for my local Radio Shack store (that’s funny!) Any ways I was very polite and stated that I believe HP should pay (my laptop is 3 weeks out of warranty) especially since they know about the problem and have issued a Service Enhancement# C01059646 (number obtained from a poster on this site). The next response was that she could no longer help me and would escalate my request to the next higher department. Maggie came back, took my info and issued a case ID number to me. She said someone would call me within 48 hours.
Today my phone call came from Mike Lowe at HP. With no conversation at all I was told a box was being sent to me. They told me to remove my hard drives, battery, and power supply and put it in the box and I would have it back within 10 days. I have gotten my confirmation emails and my box will be at my place of business by Thursday. Cost to me = $0. Good job by HP and many many thanks to all who posted here and especially to the Admin. You will see my Paypal donation shortly! It seems to me HP knows there is an issue an once you bring up the Service Enhancement# the door opens right up.
I will follow up once I receive my laptop back. Hope it goes smooth because I really do like this machine.
One last work of advise … People have speculated heat is what does in the hinge … Well I beleive it … My laptop would get so hot it would shut down … Too hot to touch sometimes … I blew out the heat sink and fans and now do it reguarly and it never overheats and it always cool to the touch. A little can of air goes a loooong way here.
Thanks again and good luck to everyone!
April 16th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I own the dv 9000 and recently experienced the “hinge crack”. My husband found this website and I utilized all the information including the direct phone number. My bottom line was that I was told that HP had been repairing this problem but that they had recently been instructed by management that there is NO RECALL on this part so stop fixing it. I paid $220 with a $100 discount to get it fixed by HP. I just got my laptop back and they replaced everything including the keyboard. It looks brand new. Service was very quick, other than being irritated that I had to pay to get it fixed the service was very good.
April 17th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I was disheartened when I saw the probable lack of support when I experienced the hinge problem with the DV9000 I had purchased from Costco that was now out of warranty. While in Costco I saw they still had a model with the same form factor case, in fact the lid was identical to mine. So I purchased a new one, took it home, removed the lid and swapped them out. It did not appear to be easy to swap the LCD display which was too bad because the metal frame at the corner of mine was also cracked right at the hinge, so I soldered mine. I put my old lid back on the new machine and epoxied the old broken screw bosses back into place. When I put it back together my temporary fix actually worked and the lid closed fine. Then I returned the new unit with my old lid to Costco, who in turn returns them to HP. I told them it had a bad hinge and I did not want it. A friend of mine who has had one for just under 6 months plans to return his before the return period expires and get something that is not HP.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Follow up from 10 above (btw, 13 - interesting solution)
My Dv9033cl purchased from Costco in November 06 has been returned with a new LCD cover and bezel. They did not replace anything else.
I’m happy it’s fixed - it only took 3 days from send to return - it’s a shame that HP didn’t fix it right away. It took two and a half months of calls/emails/chats before they finally agreed to fix it. If it cost them more than $100 to do the repair, I’d be suprised. I know the time that I spent on this cost me more than that.
When I make my next computer related purchase, HP will definately be on the bottom of my list - and I will be sure to relate this story and reference this blog to all my friends who are looking a making any purchases.
Thank you to all for taking the time to type in your advice and most of all, thank you to A.D. for this website - it’s been a huge benefit for a lot of us!
April 18th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
thanks to this web site and all the great advice I had my hp laptop notebook fixed free of charge.
I bought my notebook in Jan of 2007 and the hinge broke in April 2008. Not only was the hinge broken but the LCD screen started to split and I could not even use the computer.
I found this website and followed the instructions of initiating contact with HP with a live chat. I was assigned a case manager and was contacted within 2 days. The case manager asked me one question “what do you want us to do.?” I told him to fix it for free and do it quickly. They fed ex’d me a shipping box and it was back within 6 days.
thank you for all this helpful (and frustrating) info!
April 18th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Thank you so much for this site!
I chatted with an online rep late last week - I gave them the link to this site and they acknowledged a known issue and agreed to escalate this to a case manager.
The next day I spoke with a case manager and fully expected them to offer to repair this issue for a fee since my machine is 2 months out of warranty. To my surprise he gave me no lip and offered to overnight a box so I can ship the machine back for full repair. The next afternoon the box was there and I shipped the computer out the following monday - they recieved it Tuesday and shipped it out same day and Wednesday it arrived back to me as good as new.
The replaced both hinges, the lid and inside bezel and also cleaned the fans and replaced the heat sink. Cool, aye?
I can’t complain - and best of all it didn’t cost a cent! I will look closer at build quality for my next laptop but I can’t complain at the service they provided this time.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Hello, first Id like to thank you for starting this site for this problem! You inspired me to make mine… www.hingefix.com I did not know that I wasnt alone with this problem. I read through many of the posts and decided what had to be done! The actual problem has nothing to with the heat on the hinge. It is due to the tensial strength of the metal arm of the hinge. I
April 21st, 2008 at 7:28 am
I purchased my HP DV9000 at Costco in January 2007. The hinge cracked few days ago. It’s gotten so bad that after I closed the unit, I could not open it back up.
Contacted HP and got the same story as most of the others: out of warranty, $300 to repair and went down to 50% discount after some negotiating.
Contacted Costco and after 30 minute phone call it turns out that Costco offers additional 1 year warranty (beyond the original HP warranty). I am having it repaired at no cost.
My preference was to just return it but that would be nearly impossible after 15 months of use. In any case, I will not buy HP notebook again. Should have stuck with IBM as my previous 3 notebooks (I was seduced by the price and features offered by HP). However, I am glad I bought mine at Costco.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:07 pm
THIS IS AN UPDATE: SAT AFTERNOON TALKED TO THE FIRST NO CUSTOMER SERVICE REP. ONLY TO TELL THE STORY ALLOVER AGAIN TO THE SECOND NO CUSTOMER SERVICE, NEXT GOT A CASE MANAGE THAT OFFERED A 150.00 OFF ON A ONE TIME FIX. DIDN’T TAKE THE HER OFFER. MADE 1 CALL TO SAM’S WAREHOUSE, AFTER 5 MIN. ON THE PHONE, THEY OFFERED TO SEND OUT THE BOX AND FIX IT FOR FREE. I PURCHASED 12-07-06 WITH PLUS MEMBERSHIP WHICH GIVES ME 3 MORE YEARS OF WARRANTY. I WILL UPDATE AFTER I GET IT BACK.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:11 pm
So, I’ve had my DV9000 series 17″ notebook repaired - free of charge. HP replaced the plastic on the LCD display.
I decided to ask HP if this was going to fix the problem or if it would happen again in another year.
Here is the response…
“In regards to your concern I would say the problem shouldn’t reoccur again as this is not a common problem we have with all our DV9000 Series notebooks. However it sounds like the problem happened from wear and tear of regular use open and closing and after time a crack developed in the hinge so unfortunately I cannot rule out 100% because anything is possible that is why we encourage customers to purchase our Carepack Extended Warranty for the unknown in situations that may occur beyond your control.
For the most part I am pretty confident you should not run into a problem like that anytime in the near future especially with the parts all replaced.”
Imagine that - they say this is not a common problem and it is probably due to wear and tear from opening and closing the notebook.
Can anyone believe the audacity? So does this mean these DV9000 series notebooks only have a typical service life of 1-2 years tops? If they are so “disposable” then perhaps they should sell them for $499 instead of $1700!
I suppose I may as well look into some kind of extended warranty arrangement with HP because this FLAW will probably occur again within the next year or so.
Wear and tear - ya, right….
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
4/23/08
Approx. 2 weeks ago I started having problems opening & closing my notebook, HP DV9035nr, that I purchased on 12/06,of course it’s now 4 months out of warranty. Pieces of black plastic started falling out ,near the left side hinge, and a nut-plate, which holds the screw that secures the bezel, the part around your screen, to the back of the notebook.
So………….I’m thinking of taking it apart, finding the problem, ordering the parts and fixing it myself. Just before dismantling my notebook, I decide to search the net to see if anyone else has had this problem and lo and behold…………..I find this site, I’m not the only one and this problem looks like a design flaw.
Got on the phone with HP customer support this morning, explained the problem, along with the service enhancement # C01059646, to which his reply was “Send it to us , we will fix it and we will charge you for it” to which I replied that I wanted to esculate this matter and speakj with a manager. I was told to expect a phone call within 24 to 48 hours
I will keep you posted !
April 24th, 2008 at 10:02 am
The following is the “additional comment” I left in the HP Survey which was sent to me after my DV9000z was repaired. They replaced the LCD casing, hinge, and cover. They even fixed a BIOS problem I was having, all free of charge, 4 months out of warranty. Overall my experience was positive, but it was because I remained calm, logical, and persistant. I am very thankful to the webmaster as having the Case Manager review this site is what led him to send me a box for repair. I will make a donation! Please read this overview:
———————————-
Intially, Tier 1 support immediately pushed back (as expected) and denied my service claim because I was out of warranty. I made numerous attempts to explain that the issue had developed over time, even during my warranty period, and escalated to a point where the laptop was unusable just a few weeks outside the warranty period. The issue is clearly a design flaw as the dv9000 now has a “reputation” for exhibiting a broken left hinge typically after approximately 1 year of use. This can be researched on the Internet. The Tier 1 technician refused to reason with me or at least appear to understand the problem. After each statement I made, she would reiterate, “I’m sorry, you should have called us when you first noticed the problem, the cost will be ~$300″. I asked to speak with a manager or the next level. The Tier 1 technician (with a terse tone) agreed to locate her manager, but advised me that “the manager will say exactly the same thing I’ve told you.” Clearly not the case.
After 22 minutes on hold (I was told 3-5 minutes), things took a turn for the better when I spoke to the Tier 1 non-technical manager (Leon?). This manager was interested in my explanation of the problem, and even asked a series of questions to confirm the problem in detail. It was at this point where I felt HP was standing by their product, looking to help an unhappy customer. This manager felt that the problem should have a second look from a Case Manager who would call me back within 24-48 hours. I was happy with decision which seemed fair and just.
Less than 24 hours later, I had a call from a Case Manager, Bradley. Bradley was very personable, friendly and easy to talk to. Bradley listened to my explanation of the problem and agreed to look into the problem to determine how widespread it is, and would decide whether or not I should be a granted a service claim. (After showing him this website) Bradley seemed to understand that this is a manufacturer’s defect and HP’s responsibility to stand by this fairly new notebook. After just a couple minutes on hold while Bradley was reviewing the case, he agreed to grant me a one-time service on the laptop and would send me an RMA box overnight. He was very thorough on how the process worked and even provided me a direct number where I could reach him if I had any additional questions. Fortunately this was not neeeded as the remainder of my support experience was flawless.
The reason I gave my overall experience a 10, despite the poor initial Tier-1 Support, was that the remainder of the process was so absolutely outstanding, that I completely forgot about the intial call. The shipping process was incredibly fast, having an empty box in my hands the next day. The repair time was exceptional; so fast, that the notebook was back in my hands Friday afternoon. The entire process took just 5 business days which is very valuable to me as I use the notebook for business. The entire time, the customer portal kept me updated with the status and location of my notebook and an expected date for completion (which was beat by a long shot). I understand that HP cannot make every customer happy, but I believe front line support could learn from the superiors I spoke to. The customer does not want to feel they are speaking through a corporate screen window. All in all, an excellent job by HP Support in addressing an issue and keeping a customer. In the end, the professionalism I experienced has influenced my decision to purchase a few HP servers for my business.
April 26th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I believe 1.5 months ago, I tried to chat with an online representative about the hinge problem which lead to them saying that it’s only happening to dv6000 series and my model isn’t qualified for the free repair. I was left with anger and I just gave up. I even said exactly what everyone in this website said to the rep, but they weren’t really understanding. SO today, I made another attempt and I elucidate my problem calmy and nice. Surprisingly my rep, Shaina, she totally understand my situation and a case manager is going to call me very soon. Yay! I hope I can still get my repair for free.
April 26th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Update #1 4/25/08
After initial call to HP I was told, by tier 1 support, that I would recieve a call back, regarding my hinge crack issue in 24 to 48 hours. I never got it !
On the 49th hour I called HP back and of course while waiting on the line, a message said HP’s system was down for maintanence, which meant they couldn’t even look up my case #, just my luck !
Anyways, after talking to tier 1 support………..again, he patched me through to a notebook tech.
So………..I went through the whole story again, since he couldn’t look up my case #, even gave him the service enhancement # c01059646, to which his reply was ,”the only service enhancement HP had was for the motherboard ! Uh-oh……….well one problem at a time.
To make a long story short since HP systems were down, on a friday, case managers could do nothing until monday. I was told that my esculation would be super re-esculated and that I would recieve a call back on monday, 4/28 !
Stay-tuned !
April 26th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Hello if you can erase my post from the April 20th and replace it with this one that be great since you didnt put up my entire post for that day thanks
April 26th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I’m currently in live chat. I think “Bret” and I are having a virtual standoff game or something. He said he’d be back in a few minutes with information and I’m still waiting 15 minutes later. New tactic?
Luckily I DO have an awesome extended warranty, but I’d like for HP to be held a little more responsible, considering it’s happened to so many.
April 27th, 2008 at 10:28 am
I have a Pavilion dv9023us notebook that I purchased on Newegg.com as a refurbished product in November 2007 and the hinge failed in April 2008. I contacted HP first by online chat and they notified me that the warranty had ended in February 2008.
I told them that this was not a warranty issue, but that it was a known design defect and that HP had issued a “Service Enhancment #” and that there were websites dedicated to this issue. (I did not actually provide them with the SE# or the website address, but I understand that the SE # is C01059646)
She directed me to call 800-HPinvent (800-474-6836). I called the number, and spoke with a representative who said the repair would cost $298 because I was not under warranty. I told him (very nicely) that I would not pay for this service because it was a known issue, etc… He told me that in order for me to get free service, I would first have to pay to process the repair, then seek a refund retroactively! I refused, obviously, because I would have no grounds or proof that I would get my money back. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and he said there was not supervisor on staff (it was 3:30am on Sunday 4/27/08). He would not provide me any other information, so I ended that call having made no progress.
I called again at 8:00am the same day and had much better luck. I went through the same process with the representative (telling them that HP knew about this design flaw, and that there was a service enhancement #, and that there were websites dedicated to this issue - again not providing any actual information). She directed me to the RECALL department. At first, the girl in recall had issues with my serial number, but once those were worked out, she was able to set me up with the FREE repair.
She said it would take 7-9 days upon reciept of the notebook. She sent a Fedex box to my home and instructed me to arrange for pickup, then gave me a Service Order # and Service Ticket #. She said to back up all my files because they might have to wipe the drive and reinstall factory standard issue. I told her that I did not want my hard drive cleared and asked if I could simply remove it before sending it in. She said that would be fine - and to also remove the battery and power cord before sending it in.
So now I am waiting for the box to come… I will post a follow-up when repairs are completed. Thanks!
April 28th, 2008 at 5:45 am
Update # 3 4/28/08
Decided to go straight to the source and called 1-877-917-4380, ext.94 and spoke with Joseph , a case manager. Told him the problem, about this site and my shipping box is on the way.
Will be donating to this site when I recieve my notebook back!
April 28th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Called 877 917-4380 and did extension 94.
Sending me my replacement box today!!!
Whether they acknowledge it or not, when you call and speak articulately and clearly about what is happening, they get right to fixing the problem.
Keep calling! THEY WILL FIX IT NO CHARGE!!!!!!!!
April 28th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
One more thing,
It is Ok for you to remove your harddrive and memory cards, so you dont get screwed on that end by having them replace the machine to factory specs.
Do this before sending them the computer.
Thanks!
April 29th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Thanks! Dave’s comments have really helped me navigate the HP maze. Also, the first time I called extension 94 I got an ESL operator and she was unhelpful and referred me back to the original tech service line. I called again and got another operator that was more than helpful, my box is on its way. It did take more than an hour to get through and actually talk to a human that would help.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I have been dealing with this issue since Sept. 07. I bought my HP Pavilion dv9005us in Oct. 2006. I have called numerous times to HP support (1-800-HPINVENT) and have received no help. My warranty was up in Oct 07 and of course it was when I needed to send it in for repair. The only option I was given was to pay for the extended warranty for $99.95 which was just phone support. Of course phone support wasn’t going to repair my hinge and entire plastic around my screen being broken. Well time has passed and now my computer does not work at all. I believe my monitor being a blank screen is a result to this hinge crack problem. So I have had no laptop for several months now!!! I use it for everything and am screwed pretty much. So I have tried every thing I could find under the support from HP.com and well none worked!! I called HP a few times again today and was told at first it would cost at min. of $298 to fix it and if there was other issues they would call and it could be more. Well the last tech I talked to told me it would be $698 to fix my computer…screw that! I told her I might as well throw it in the trash and buy a new one! So frustrated I began looking online. I found this site and have called the 1-877-917-4380 *94. I talked to a different case worker than listed above. Of course she could find no record of my S/N or information of me calling..how convenient. Anyways, I told her I know they are aware of this problem and that several others have contacted them regarding this problem. She got all my info and is sending me out a box! THANK GOODNESS. She told me to remove the battery and my hard drive unless I wanted it formatted back to the original way it came when I bought it. So I do not know if they are going to fix it completely since the screen isn’t working but atleast the hinge issue is being resolved. I just love how rude everyone at HP has been over this whole issue and to finally get someone who doesn’t argue back and will actually do something about this problem!!! I will post back when I actually get my box and have my laptop fixed. Thanks again for everyone’s comments and to the person responsible for this site! I owe you big!
May 1st, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I purchased my HP DV9000 laptop @ Sams’s Club and purchased the 3 year extended warranty for ~$90.00. 15 months later (only 120 days out of the 1 yr HP warranty) I opened the monitor one morning and one of the hinges connecting the monitor cracked and broke into pieces and the stripping around the monitor began to bend. The laptop was not dropped or disturbed from its previous use the night before, so I had no idea what provoked this hinge to fall apart. I noticed on this site that hundreds of consumers have had the same problem with this laptop, obviously leading me to believe that this is design error. I noticed that some consumers had luck getting their laptops repaired after warranty for this problem, so I called and asked for the same treatment. After being transfered to 3 customer service reps and finally ending with some sort of decision maker, all they offered was a $150.00 discount off a minimum $300.00 repair, not even entertaining the opportunity to repair an obvious product defect, poor quality hinges. They just kept referring to the fact that I was out of the 1 year warranty and that this was a reflection of “normal wear and tear” which they do not cover. They reacted to my complaint as if they had never heard of this problem before, but that it could happen with extensive wear and tear. My computer was rarely moved or experienced extensive wear, the plastic hinges are just poor quality, poor design, cheap plastic, and should have been replaced by HP.
I need to point out that not one service rep @ HP even offered to sell me an extended warranty or even ask if I purchased one, they just persistently offered argument and expensive resolve. Note that I spent 2 hours on the phone with HP attempting to have them aqknowledge a huge problem with their product! I just continued to sit on hold for most of the 2 hour period.
Completely uncertain if my exteneded warranty would cover this, I called Sam’s Club extended warranty claims and they quickly offered to help. I could not find my original receipt but knew I had purchased the extended warranty by the price on my credid card receipt. They were happy to register it late, and were very helpful. Within 10 minutes they had me a service repair number and felt that they would be able to fix the problem at no cost, as their extended warranty covers normal wear and tear. They contacted the repair company immediately and a box was sent to our home within 2 business days for us to ship our computer safely to the repair company. The repair was made to my computer, fixed perfectly, cleaned, and shipped back to me within 6 business days! No charge, no hassle, great customer service.
I am greatly disappointed in HP and their committment to quality product and service. Sam’s surpassed my expectations with their extended warranty and customer service. Kudo’s Sam’s and thank you for great service, standing behind me as a customer.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:28 am
We purchased the HP DV9074cl from Sam’s Club early in December 2006, and started having problems with the left hinge creaking just before the holidays last year. A few months ago, the creaking progessed to a cracking noise, and within days the left side of the display was coming apart! We were royally t’d off, given that the problem conveniently waited until we were out of warranty before presenting itself!
Now the laptop display is threatening to come apart completely, and my husband has been seriously contemplating the use of various glues and tapes to remedy the problem on his own. I know we’re out of warranty, but Gorilla Glue just seemed like a bad idea… So I hit up my old friend Google to see what others might have to say about HP laptop hinges. Lo and behold, I find that an entire website exists about this problem!
Anyway, I just got off the phone with HP case manager Shawn (didn’t bother with calling other numbers for HP customer service or using online support first), and am still in shock over how professional he was in handling my call, and by how quickly he addressed the problem!
I was completely honest with him right from the start - I told him I hadn’t spoken with any other HP reps prior to calling the case management number (a HUGE THANKS to those who posted that info on this site!!!), that we were having serious issues with the left hinge and lid assembly coming apart on our dv9000 series, and that I knew this was a known problem with the laptop because of all the information found on this website. He seemed surprised to hear that a website/blog dedicated solely to this problem even existed, but didn’t dwell on it at all (didn’t even ask me to repeat the website URL for his notes).
He took some basic information down (name, address, phone) to create a customer profile, then asked for the serial number and product number found on the underside of the machine. He verified that our registration information listed in their system was current, and double checked that he had our shipping address correct. He then asked if he could put me on hold in order to assign a case number and put the specifics of the repair into their system. I was on hold less than 2 minutes, yet he still apologized for my wait time. (Apologies for such a short amount of time? WOW!!!)
He then went through the details of how the repair service works, answering my questions along the way:
HP is sending a prepaid shipping box to us via FedEx, which we should receive in 1-2 business days
Told me how to send the laptop back to them, including instructions on how to back up (or remove) the hard drive, not to send the battery pack or A/C adapter, etc
Went over what to expect once the laptop has been shipped (allow 7-9 business days to receive the repaired machine, noted that the extent of the repair is at the discretion of the technician, etc)
He then asked if I had any other questions, and I decided it was time to bring up the elephant standing in the room that we’ve been desperately trying to ignore:
“So… how much is all of this going to cost us?”
to which he replied “Nothing.”
WOOHOO!!! In less than 15 minutes from placing the call to the case manager line, we had reached a satisfactory solution without the first hint of problems one typically encounters when dealing with “customer service” representatives.
I’ll definitely be back here with updates once the laptop has been repaired and is back in our possession.
Thanks for all the AWESOME info provided by this site! You’ll be seeing a donation from us very soon!
May 6th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Repair Successful!
Synopsis (refer below by letter for more detail if you wish.)
System: Pavillion DV9000T CTO, purchased March 8, 2007, Hinge broke April 23, 2008. Out of Warranty by 45 days when broken and first call placed.
A. 4/23 Called help desk, elevated to Manager, promised a call from Case Manager.
B. Case manager did not call, but that was probably legit, their system was down.
C. 4/28 Called and spoke to a case manager got the OK for an HP fix after a long discussion. Key points;
1.Systems with a 2006 build date (serial number begins with 6) case managers are authorized to approve a repair (mine had a 2007 build date.)
2. Military personnel are approved for repair
3. Case managers have wide latitude.
4. Owning other HP products helps get you an out of warranty repair.
D. Shipper received on 4/29 and I sent the Laptop to HP. They received on 5/2. Expected returned to me date 5/12.
E. Laptop returned to me on 5/6. Fixed.
This site’s tip jar has been hit with $45
Details;
A. Placed a call to 1-800-474-6836. Spoke to Mohamed who offered no help, only that the system was out of warranty and HP would do nothing. I was firm and polite and requested to speak to a manager. Mohamed said the manger would tell me the same thing, but, after a 10 minute hold the manager came on and promised a case manager would call me within 24 hours.
B. When no case manager called me I called the number posted on this web site (1-877-917-4380 x094.) There was a recorded message saying their system was under going maintenance and normal business was on hold. A case manager did answer and confirmed the recorded message. He told all would be back to normal on Monday. I said I’d call back.
C. I called the number again and reached a case manager (I’m withholding his name.) He asked me how I got the phone number, I replied from a web site tracking this problem.
There was confusion on my system the part number record did not correspond to the serial number record. The CM reconciled that. Then he took me through the out of warranty discussion. I held my ground and argued that this was not a defect in materials or workmanship but was instead a design defect and that an implied warranty of merchantability (that a product must be suitable for its intended purpose) covered the design flaw. I’m not a lawyer, but I remember this aspect of the UCC from an MBA class.
The CM asked what I did for a living (Investments.) He said later that he was trying to find out if I was military as HP supported the military. He asked if I had other HP products. I do a printer. Apparently this can affect a positive outcome.
The CM also told me he could do authorize repairs on a system built in 2006, but he did not have the same pre-authorization for a system built in 2007. (Build year is indicated by the first digit of the serial number.) I asked if a design change had been implemented for 2007, the CM did not know. I pressed that the 2006/2007 distinction was arbitrary and meaningless unless there was a documented design change.
The CM told me they had the power to do what is right, but several times he said my situation was a dilemma and he was concerned about his manager’s reaction.
He finally agreed to do the repair as a courtesy and then we spent several minutes getting the info straight and having the CM take me through the necessary caveats about backing up my data etc. It was all OK with me.
D. The shipper arrived with everything I needed. I cleaned out any confidential data, packed it up and dropped the box off at a local FedEx Kinko’s. They took it from there. HP had and is sending confirming e-mails with a link toto a web site with tracking data.
My expected return date is 5/12.
E. I received a status e-mail on 5/5 reporting my system had shipped. Fedex tracking showed a 5/6 delivery and it was delivered. My hard drive appears fully intact and the hinge seems to be fixed. We’ll see how it holds up over time.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Started having problems with my dv9000 and saw this website - got online with HP, as soon as I mentioned the left hinge, they asked for my serial number and started the process to get a box out to me. rec’d the box 2 days later, sent the laptop in on a tuesday, they rec’d on wendsday fixed on thursday and back to me on friday. really appreciate this website to let me know I wasn’t the only one with this issue - thought I would be out of luck being that my notebook was 15 months old
May 6th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Thanks for all the tips! My Hp pavillion dv9207us was bought mid March 2007. I noticed that the left hinge cracked around that time (after warranty ended). I never move this laptop. At first, I called HP and said it would cost $298. I tried to remain calm, but I got angry, and I got no where.
Then I found this website, read most of the posts, and used the chat line first to create a case number. Shane, who was very nice, initially offered to provide the part number and the closest service center. After reporting to him that it seems that it is a known defect, he offered a case manager, who will call in 24-48 hrs. I asked for a ticket number and he gave it.
I called the case manager number posted on this site, (1-877-917-4380 *94) and spoke to Brenda, who was very nice; She asked for my initial ticket number, and found it on the computer. She made it a point though to state it was out of warranty, so I was a bit nervous.
She took some information, made it sound that ‘taking care of a hinge is no big deal, we can do that’ and is sending me a fedex box, and hp will take care of it, for free.
She did mention, that this will be a one time thing since I was out of warranty (it is now 45 days out). I asked about the possibility of the right hinge also going out, and she put in her information for service techs to ‘look at it’ as well. She created a different ticket number.
Total time: ~1hr; Thanks again for all the previous posts!
May 7th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Update #4 and final
After going thru the recommended steps, got my notebook back and repaired in 7 days, thanks to this site. Hittin’ paypal up next !
May 8th, 2008 at 10:15 am
I am 3 months out of warranty, but stated that the problem began about 7 months prior, so they agreed to fix it for me free
Make sure you get to talk to a case manager about it, they actually listen.
May 8th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
I went through the same as everyone. HP says they are not responsible for it but if you persist and keep on asking for someone higher up you end up with this number 1-877-917-4380 *94 and they can authorize the fix.
Just DON’T GIVE UP!
May 8th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I had the same issue as described here. Unfortunately I had no idea that this website existed so I had to navigate my way through H-P on my own. Long, long story short….
1) Model dv9000
2) Purchased 12/06
3) Crack appears 1/07 (one month out of warranty)
4) Had purchased extended service plan from CompUSA who went out of business so I wasted a bunch of time trying to get it repaired through that route.
5) First contacted H-P via chat. Person on the other end acted like they had never heard of such a problem before. Gave up when they said I would have to pay $100’s to have it fixed.
6) Contacted a local repair shop who said “oh yeah, we get these in all the time. It’s a design flaw”
7) Called H-P on the phone this time and called them to the carpet. To their credit, they immediately repaired for free. This was in Feb-08.
Everything has been working fine since and the computer was out and back in about 3 days.
To be honest, I’ve had several H-Ps over the years and I have generally found their support to be quite good.
May 8th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
To correct dates above….computer was purchased 12/07 and the crack appeared in 1/08. Issue resolved in 2/08.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
I had my display assembly replaced but I have a number of outstanding complaints that have not been resolved and I have therefore decided to apply for a full system replacement. I’ve put up the details at: http://www.koshyjohn.com/hp
Please tell me if you have any tips to get the problem resolved to my satisfaction.
May 14th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
*UPDATE*
I received my laptop back today and its repaired good as new! I am so glad I was able to get it fixed and at no cost! According to the regular customer service #, they told it would be $698..they were wrong! I will be donating to this site because with it, I would have been screwed!
May 15th, 2008 at 2:28 am
HP Pavilion zv6000
I bought that laptop from COMET, in near Eastham London in october 2005 and the hindge broke in september 2007. first the left hindge broke, then after a month the right one is gone. i am still using the laptop, by putting 2 big heavy books behind the screen to support it.
i think there is a design fault with this laptop. because the screen is very heavy and the hindge was not strong enough and was also designed poorly.
i tried to contact HP but they don’t want to replace it because the warrenty period was over. they told me it will cost more than $300 to fix it.
This laptop really have a design fault. It seems like all hindge was broken with less than 2 years time. but why we need to suffer for their design fault? they should replace the hindge without cost, because it’s their fault.
hp don’t use that kind of hindge anymore because i think they already know that there is a design fault.
i am in sydney now, if anyone can help me about fixing the hindge of my laptop, please send me the info at shuvro2k@yahoo.com or you can send me text in my mobile too at +61416970322
May 16th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Long story short, my hinge started to crack while I was deployed to Iraq. No chance to have it repaired there. A few months later it was really messed up, but it didn’t matter as I fried it due to being on an unstable power source. By the time I returned I was out of warranty and thought I was going to have to pay for it myself. Best Buy estimated around $500 to repair. Luckily I found this site. I wasn’t going to settle until I had it repaired for free (figured I would have to pay for the internal parts I fried). Well today I was told everything would be repaired for free and a box was on it’s way. Awesome, if this works out I will def donate to this site. Good luck to everyone else out there.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Thank you for this website, truly what the net is all about. Bought my DV9000 in late November ‘06, the hinge started breaking April-May ‘08. Found your website, went online with HP 5 days ago. It seems they have been dodging me. A case manager was to have called within 2-3 days, now it is 5 days and still no call (although there was a note in my file that they left a voicemail, which I never got.) In the past past week have done two online chats and one phone call. Today is Friday, they say a case manager will call Monday. Meanwhile, the service tech noted that this was a “very sensitive issue” and that therefore they needed to make sure it was handled in the proper manner. I will keep you posted as we move forward.
May 17th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Well I got my computer back and am in the process of getting everything reinstalled. So far no wireless problems. They replaced the motherboard, wireless, screen hinges, and screen casing.
When you get the box to send your computer in, it will have a sheet of paper for you to fill out with check boxes for you to check for all of the problems you are having. Be sure to note all of the problems that you are having with your computer.
Keep in mind that if you have this problem with your computer your computer will eventually crash like mine and others have. Your computer is a ticking time bomb
Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com
May 18th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
hey all,
i bought my 17″ HP DV9000 Feb.2007 from PC world LIverpool, UK and less than 15 days ago while i was in china the problem of cracking happened to me in the rare left hand hinge and along with that i have experienced some trouble with the system too since the pc stop responding and freezes alot …. any way to sort out the system problem.
thanks alot
May 20th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Model: dv9030us (Circuit City)
Purchased: 11/2006
Cracked: 05/2008 (out of warranty)
Repair process: 5/6/08 Called HP about ordering parts, quoted $300 for repair. Found
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/execteam/email/hurd/index.html and gave Mr. Hurd our opinion of HP’s products. Found this excellent site, and went back to Mr. Hurd to share it with him.
5/7/08 Received email from HP that Customer Escalation Team would call us. Sent link to this site to Consumer Reports and the Houston Chronicle, asking them to look into the story.
5/8/08 HP called and agreed to cover repair, although out of warranty. Shipped box to us.
5/12/08 Received box from HP. Removed battery & hard drives before packing for shipping.
5/13/08 Dropped box at local FedEx outlet.
5/16/08 Received repaired notebook; HP replaced both hinges and the LCD cover & bezel. Replaced battery & hard drives. Running like a charm. So far.
The best advice we found on this site was to remove the hard drives before shipping. I would add the link to the process: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01311536.pdf or http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00778927.pdf.
Our thanks to everyone who took time to post here, as well as to the administrator who has devoted so much time to bringing us all together.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
thank you AB! i called HP a few months ago assuming that they would replace the hinge (i have an extended warranty on a compaq presario r3000). i love this nb and take very good care of it and told them that, clearly, it was a manufacturers problem, not a cosmetic issue due to “wear and tear”. i was unprepared for their refusal, and became angry and hung up. the clock is ticking on my warranty so i decided to renew my efforts and fight back! i’m so glad i found this site. i called again today and simply explained that while i am very pleased with the nb, i have noticed that the computer often overheats, which has obviously caused my back hinge to crack… a common problem in many hp notebooks. i don’t know if it was my initial introductory explanation revealing that i had done my homework (and will not accept your bs, mr. tech), that the representative was super helpful, or my respectful, friendly and humorous manner… or maybe a combination… either way, it took less than a minute for him to put in the repair order. i am a little concerned about his speedy agreement, that maybe i’ll get a call from the repair center telling me that there is too much damage and i need to pay $600 (what they originally told me! nuts!), but i made the nice tech dude verify that it will all be $0.
wonderful! i hope everyone else gets their business sorted out. i would recommend: be prepared to discuss all of the info and evidence this great site provides and don’t be a rude jerk because nobody wants to help a rude jerk.
good luck!
May 21st, 2008 at 10:33 am
Just wanted to follow up. Case manager got back to me by phone, noted this was my first service request, also noted that I had referenced this website in my online chat with the customer service rep, and agreed to fix the problem for free “as a courtesy.” Received the FedEx shipping box yesterday, will send it out today. It’s all good!
May 21st, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Thanks for everyones input on this site.
I had first called the general number and they told me it would be $300 to repair, my lap top is about 1 1/2 years old.
Then I found this site and followed what others had said about calling (877-917-4380 ext 94) and the code #C01059646. I mentioned this website, and he was familiar with it. It took about 10 min on the phone, he said they would repair it for free. I shipped my note book out on a Thursday and got it back with a brand new lid the next Monday. I couldn’t believe how fast. They must be getting pretty good at repairing these. Thanks to the webmaster, I will be chipping in a little for the cause. THANKS!
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:33 pm
DV9005US shipped to HP on Mon fixed Wed/Thurs overnighted to me got here on friday.(Was suppose to be a 10 day turn around) There was no hassle in getting it repaired case manager said hinges may be fixed as a courtesy. Was not charged for anything Only hassle was from phone/chat support and the extended wait for an initial call back from case manager. No reformat almost 2 years out of warranty
United States
May 25th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I to have experienced a problem with my dv9207 notebook. I had almost decided to send it back to hp for repair. It is 2 months out of warranty. i calleed th 800-INVENT number and got a very nice gentleman. I explained my situation and mentioned this web site. He told me he was one of the first ones to handle this problem. He told me he has been instructed to take care of it regardless of whether I’m out of warranty or not. He sent me a box with packing and a return label to ship back via FedEx. I boxed it up Mon.5/19/08 and shipped back to HP. I received it back from them with a whole new screen,hinge, ect.this Fri. 5/23/08. Four days!!! Great job. I am very pleased.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Well I just got my newly repaired DV9000 back fixed.
They have fitted 2 new hinges, a new display and a new display cover.
Very pleased that I got this done as unit was way out of warranty…Just wondering how long these hinges will last though.
Altogether a pretty good experience with HP and the repair dept, although I am sure had I not be forewarned of this problem during my chat time with them they would have tried to get out of repairing it.
Thanks so much for this site, I would be the owner of a new (Non HP) laptop now had I not stumbled across this site!!!
May 28th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Hello Everyone. I have an HP dv9000 series notebook that I purchased in Dec. 2006. My warranty ended in Dec. 2007. The “hinge crack” started about 2 weeks ago.
After I found this site, I contacted HP via their online help last Friday. I was basically told that my laptop is out of warranty and that it would cost $298 to repair.
This morning I contacted a Case Manager (George McPheen) at 1-877-917-4380 ext. 94. I was prepared to stand my ground concerning the defect and that “being out of warranty” should not matter. To my surprise, George was absolutely terrific. He was aware of this issue. He took down my information and told me that HP would repair my laptop at no expense to me. He said my FedEx box would be here in 2 days or less and that the turn around would be approximately 7-9 days depending on the availability of parts. He said that they will also do a complete diagnostic checkup on my laptop and replace the motherboard, if needed (apparently some people have experienced wireless issues but I haven’t thus far).
George told me to call him if I had any further questions or wanted to know the status of my laptop. I also asked him about an extended warranty and he told me to call him when I’m ready to buy one and he will take care of me.
When sending in your laptop, you can keep your charger and battery. George did ask me to leave my harddrive in the laptop….I guess for some of the diagnostic stuff but that’s fine with me. I have nothing to hide but will backup all of my data and probably reformat/restore my computer to factory defaults to be safe, since I do work for clients and process financial transactions.
Make sure you document your case number and order number. The order number must be written on all four sides of the return box.
Best of Luck,
Scott
May 29th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Hi, Yesterday I called HP tech support twice and spoke with two different Indian people getting no where. After that I tried getting a hold of tech support through chat, also getting no where. So today during normal bussiness hours I called 1-877-917-4380 ext. 94 and spoke to someone and gave explained to him my situation stating that the laptop hinge was broken because of an HP defect and it seemed promising until the warranty issue came up (my warranty ran out Dec. 2007). So I called the Case Manager number a second time about 30 mins. later in hopes of speaking to someone else, and luckily I did get someone else. We spoke for maybe 20-25 mins and it was promising the whole way, when she finally mention that she will send me a box to ship my laptop in for replacement. Turn around was quoted at 7 days.
My laptop situation…..It had the broken hinge on it for a few months now, but since I use it only as a desktop and never go mobile with it, I did not see this as an issue. Last night my computer suddenly just froze on me and when I try to turn it on, the screen is black with blobs of dark silver/white on it. It still turns on but I cant see anything except blobs, even with a flashlight and I have better than average vision. So Im wondering if the hinge breaking and cracking the side/exposing the insides has caused some wiring to loosen. Anyway if anyone knows more about LCD screens/laptops ( I only have experience in taking apart non-laptop PCs) I would appreciate it if they would shoot me an email at joekaveh@gmail.com Oh btw, I will be donating some money to the cause, this site helped so much. Thanks to all the people who posted and of course the webmaster/admin!
May 29th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
(sorry for all the spelling and grammar errors) in post 58
June 1st, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I chat with HP online, got a box for me to ship in for replacement.
please download ” CoreTemp ” from the link below to measure your pc’s core temperature.
http://alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
the normal temp should be under 60-65 which is normal.
abnormal core temperature will hurt your system and short computer’s longevity.
the DV9000 series not follow the industrial standard, therefore, HP should offer lifetime warranty on dv9000 issues lifetime.
I also have heat problem, but fortunately, it is not cracked untill now. I am pretty sure, sooner or later, this machine will die due to the overheating issue because the hinge area and touch pad extremely hot with temperature up to 80-90.
You can find too much much complaints online if you search by the key words “overheating dv9000″ “hot dv9000″, ” issue dv9000″, or whatever you can imagine.
call HP for compensations.
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Well if you call the case manager number, just hang up if you get Burke/Burt. I couldn’t even get my problem out before he asked “How did you get this number?” I mentioned the website to him, and he said “No. No. That’s not right.” So I told him the site listed the complaints of hundred of HP owners with this problem, and that this number was recommended. He promptly told me “Well they were wrong,” and hung up.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:35 am
update (post 58). Called/chatted with HP on the 29th, got the box 2 days later, and today June 3rd got my laptop back in working order!! The following items were repaired/replaced: System board/LCD Bezel/LCD Cover/ Keyboard/ Hinge. They gave me new everything, and even replaced my keyboard (which was working fine…?) The overheating got so bad that my computer would turn on but not display anything, even after airblasting the fan and insides properly. Thanks so much for this website!! I just donated 10 bucks for the cause. Good luck to anyone else who has problems with their broken hinge!
June 4th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
I purchased my Pavilion dv9005us in late November 2006. The hinge broke 2 days ago, so it was about 6 months out of warranty. I called the HP Support line (800-474-6836). I first talked to Jeremy who tried to be helpful, but ultimately said that since my computer was out of warranty that I would be charged for the repair. I asked if I could speak to a manager. After being on hold for several minutes I was put through to Monica. She was very helpful and agreed to send me a box to return my notebook. The estimated turnaround time is 7-9 days. Without the information on this blog, I doubt I would have been sucessful at getting HP to fix it on their dime. I’ll be sure to make a donation.
June 5th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I purchased my dv 9008 in Dec of ‘06 from best buy. First my wireless card stopped being recognized. Then about a week ago i noticed the left hinge was not working properly. Now the hinge is completely broken. I first talked to HP regarding the wireless card and was told i was out of luck since it was out of warranty. After the hinge broke I called back. They now say the card will be fixed for free but said a supervisor will call me to discuss the hinge. I had the rep. look at this web site and it helped very much. They are sending me a shipping box with prepaid shipping and gave an estimated turn around of 7-9 days. They know there is a problem you just have to force the issue.
June 6th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Last saturday my left hinge of my DV9000 broke, today (friday) I finished fixing it myself.
After grinding off the metal strip which tore off, I made a duplicate out of 2.5 mm stainless steel. Sawed, bend and drilled it. After reassembly it worked just fine.
Only need to glue the coves and it’s better than new.
June 6th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Success Story - Update to post # 57 on this page.
Don’t waste your time contacting HP online. Contact a Case Manager at 1-877-917-4380 ext. 94. I spoke with a Case Manager named George McPheen or McPhee and he provided probably the best service I have ever received from a company. He listened to ever word I had to say about the cracked hinge and never said one negative thing to me…such as the laptop being out of warranty since Dec. 2007. He told me that HP would fix it at no expense to me.
I received the box from George and shipped my dv9035 laptop to HP. The received it on 6/2, repaired it like new and returned it to me on 6/4. I was amazed at how quickly they repaired the laptop. I also received an email from George stating to contact him directly if I experience any issues with my repaired laptop. George provided excellent service concerning this issue.
Best of Luck to everyone here,
Scott
June 6th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
go to hp chat support. tell them your left hinge is broken. tell them to talk to their supervisor if they haven’t heard of this being eligible for a free repair (warranty or not). they will tell you that a case manager will call you within a day. be sure to get your case number. if this doesn’t work keep trying different people on hp chat support. this a known issue and people deserve a reliable computer.
my hinge didn’t even appear to be broken when i noticed my lid casing separating around the left side of the screen.
if your screen casing is separated, it is a problem with your hinge not supporting the weight of opening and closing your screen. it is a known issue that hp will fix for free, since it really is a problem with their design of the computer. the plastic parts are no match for the heat of this computer. i hope that my new parts last for much longer!!
i just got mine back a couple days ago good as new, 7 months out of warranty. my left hinge was sunken down a bit further than the right, separating the screen casing over time. they replaced the plastic casing, the keyboard and both hinges for free. I LOVE HP
June 9th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Another success from the direct case manager line. I spoke to James and although he didn’t say, I could tell he was familiar with the problem and had been through it before. Took less than 15 minutes and that includes him reading you the tracking numbers and stuff which is half the time. Even though the hinge broke, this experience does make me confident to buy from HP in the future.
June 10th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I just bought one of these laptops used on craigslist, and I fear I’ve made a big mistake. The left hinge on my laptop is cracked and is exhibiting all the same problems listed by others.
Does anybody know if HP will hassle me about not being the original owner? Is there any way they can tell whether I am the original owner or not?
June 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
After reading the following on hp.com, I decided to just call them: “If an end user transfers ownership of an HP product to another end user or company, the remainder of the warranty period may also transfer to the new owner.”
The CS rep I spoke with said he was aware of this website and of the problem being a defective part, but that the #C01059646 code is no longer in effect. He was quite courteous, but said that there wasn’t anything more that he could do. He said that code was effective for about 1 year and recently was rescinded.
Any suggestions? Should I call back again tomorrow and try to get somebody else?
June 10th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I have a HP-DV9207US with the bad hinge on it. I contacted HP through the chat and the tech said he needed to escalate it and I would receive a email from them within 2 hours with a case number. The tech also said someone would call me within 72 hours so I guess we wills ee what happens. I will keep you all informed on the prgress. Thanks for this website.
June 11th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Just cut the hinge shaft off, but leave enough to epoxy a pen cap on the end. You won’t notice a difference. Fuck HP.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:38 am
My dv9009nr screen began coming apart just a week or so after the 1-year warranty expired. At first, I just snapped it back together and all was fine. But eventually, as you all can guess, it stopped snapping back together. I now must tightly hold the left hinge together as I open and close the laptop in order to keep the thin plastic surrounding it from cracking under the stress. The wireless card and vga videa-output have also failed, which I believe is also because of the excessive heat of this unit. I contact HP by support email, as I prefer to write out my complete request instead of answering a hundred irrelavent questions over the phone. (This was 6 months after the warranty expired). The reply I received apologized for the problems and stated that a service repair had been initiated at $0.00. I received the box this week to send in my computer. I’m also assisting my aunt with her support request. She has the same model laptop, and, you guessed it, her hinge is breaking. Her first response stated that the issue was being escalated to the case manager and requested some additional information. I will update you with the results of both of our repairs. All seems to be going well so far. I agree with those who’ve said that if you contact HP, be assertive yet respectful. It may get you better results.
June 13th, 2008 at 5:56 am
I hate to say it but it is happening again. I had my dv9000 fixed for free from HP on April 3, 2008. now the hinge is getting loose again. if i remember correctly first the hinge would get loose then the cracking noise then snap.
I think the hinge problem will not go away. i strongly think HP should give us all replacements AKA different Models. since i was given only a 90 day warrenty on the repair. i am screwed, so i will take legal action just for me, AKA a small clames court.
i am pissed that the HP tech rep stated that it would not happen again. maby i can use that against them.
so i had a success story but now i am back at before it was fixed. Prepair to get more complaints.
June 16th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Funny. HP is totally aware of the problem with the dv9000 series. If you have a NB with this failure, and the NB is in warranty, they’ll have to fix it, if the NB is out of warranty, they’ll catalog the failure as customer induced damage. That’s ridiculous.
That explains why they’ll ask for a charge. Just escalate and a Case Manager will place the order at no charge. Don’t loose your patience it or else you’ll continue with the same problem. Don’t call the Case Manager directly, they might hung up on you. Case Manager’s from the US suck great time.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Another success story. After finding this website I contacted HP - my DV9060US was 2 weeks out of warranty at that point. I started with web chat support and got the run-around. The agent then said that after the proof of purchase was received, they’d fix the hinge problem since it was so close to the warranty expiring. After no contact after two weeks of sending the scan of the proof of purchase, I went back to the chat support. This time the flatly said that my DV9060 was out of warranty and wouldn’t be fixed for free. They stated there was no record of a supervisor approving the fix. I then asked to speak with a supervisor. I got a US 800 support number. I had to start ALL over again - and once again was told that the notebook was out of warranty. I asked to go to a supervisor and finally got a case number and sent to the QA support line.
This agent took the information and informed me that my particular model wasn’t covered by HPs hinge repair campaign.
At that point I called AMEX - they offer an extra year of warranty if that card is used for the purchase. I made the error of stating that the hinge was creaking several months before I contacted HP - so they said “sorry, we can’t cover it because the failure occurred before the warranty expired” … yet HP stated they wouldn’t cover the repair because I reported it two weeks after the warranty expired. A real catch 22.
I called back to HP’s QA support and got another agent. Apparently they have terrible record keeping, I calmly explained that a supervisor had approved the repair and I was getting the run-around. This agent quickly agreed to fix the hinges under warranty and had a box sent out the next day. I reported that the keyboard was sticking and that the power adapter plug-in was loose.
HP fixed the hinges, replaced the whole lid (benzel) and keyboard. The AC adapter plug still feels loose.
So, don’t take no to an answer, keep asking for a supervisor. If you get the run-around. Hang up and call back and you may find a better customer service agent.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Without this website, I would never have contacted HP for repair and simply purchased a new laptop at the point that this one failed entirely.
I contacted HP via online chat. I refused to pay for the repair or a warranty. I asked for a warranty repair. The laptop was 8 months outside the warranty. Online chat escalated the matter to a case manager.
2-3 weeks later a case manager called (by that point I did not expect a call, I figured I was going to have to start the process via chat again, but I just had not gotten around to it).
The case manager indicated that there was nothing HP could do. I objected, she put me on hold, came back to the line and then offered a free repair.
I think the key all along is to state simply that this is a design flaw/defect.
A shipping box was sent to me a day or two later.
I have shipped it to HP and I am curious to see the condition the laptop returns in.
At this point, I am happy with HP’s response, although they should take responsibility for this design defect and issue a recall.
After I noticed I was having a hinge issue, I stopped opening and closing the laptop and I got by with it for a while. The most damage was caused when I closed the laptop to ship it to HP. The screw came out and the lid separated more than it had ever before.
I did find one site with a do-it-yourself repair, but I would never have been satisfied with my own repair.
June 22nd, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Hi all:
Well, I purchased TWO DV9000s before I ever heard of the hinge crack issue. Purchased one for a non-profit I work for and another for my home-based graphic design business. I have not had a problem so far, but have had both machines less than a year each. I bought them as desktop replacements and use them all the time. Hoped to see them be 5-7 year computers for us. I like them, but am concerned about the hinge issue.
Questions:
1) Is there something I can do in handling the machines to avoid the problem?
2) Will every machine eventually experience this problem?
3) Can I expect HP to fix the machine at little or no cost if I have a problem?
4) Should I spend the money and buy an extended warranty? If I do, will it protect me for this issue?
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Ok, I think this site has come full circle…when i was complaining to HP, i was fully assuming that my 2 year old had somehow done this job on my notebook.
The actual “case worker” at HP explained to me that this was a “common problem”, caused by HP’s decision to load the left side with all the heat. He actually pointed me to this website! Gave me the actual address. I pointed out that he basically just admitted fault and he started to stammer a bit. I’m sure HP would be happy to know how helpful he was!
June 24th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Yes, purchase the accidental damage protection, it will cover you for everything
June 25th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
First of all thank you for this site and to everyone who supports it! I just finished contacting HP and with the info. provided here I was referred to a case manager who will call me. However, I was thrown by a question asked me about the cracked hinge - which was, ” Are you refering to the plastic piece or the metail clip ?
I don’t see a metal clip, it seems to be the black plastic casing. Am I missing something? How should I answer this question?
June 28th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I am a little excited that i may be receving a Replacement Laptop because of having this Hinge Crack Twice in 4 months.
All i can say is i hope the new models don’t have these issues. i am probably getting a simular configured model. a core 2 duo, geforce 8600m 512MB, 2GB RAM, 250gb Hard Drive.
HP was better than Dell to me, but after all of these problems… i don’t know.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Thanks to all of you for your helpful insights to this problem. I have had similar problems since March 08 when my hinge cracked. I purchased my DV9000 laptop in December 06 and all was well until several months ago. I called HP’s customer service number after trying the online chat which produced nothing positive. I spoke to a Level 1 tech who didn’t help, asked for a Level 2 supervisor who didn’t offer much help and finally was referred to a Case Manager named Todd. He was very helpful and seemed to immediately know about the issue, even if he didn’t directly comment on it. After some research, he came back with the offer for free shipping and free repair of the defect. He really didn’t question me much at all. Only to say that HP has sent a “directive” to their Case Managers, as of July 1, 2008 to offer FREE REPAIR to those with this problem!!! So, my advice: be persistent! You have to state your case to the lower level SP’s but once you work your way up the line, it seems to get easier. It’s almost like they want to discourage you early on so you won’t pursue it further. Don’t give up! We’ve paid way to much for these computers and I don’t care if the warranty is up or not! They should be responsible for the fix! I’ll write back with an update once the box comes and things progress. Best wishes to you all!
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Well I have to say this site is working wonders!!! I thought I was screwed when my hinge broke. 3 months out of warranty, I called HP and pushed a little bit, I referred them to this website and had a case manager assigned to my issue. I had a call the next day from the case manager who told me it would cost $300 for the repair. After explaining the wide spread issue that has been found he offered to have it shipped in free of cost, no guarantee on the repair though. I sent it ready to tell him to shove it if he expected payment. after one week my laptop is back in my hands no charge completely repaired. I am very greatful to this website and to HP for their prompt service and repair. Good luck for those reading this and dont give up!!!
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:03 am
I am so glad I found this site!! I just got off the phone with HP after reading the step by step help on this site and a box is on the way for my hinge problem with no charge! It was smooth and worked great. I too will be sending a donation to this site. Thanks again to everyone.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Hello all, I had this problem in June, so I use HP Chat to present my problem, and the person in charge said me that I wasn’t under warranty, so she couldn’t do anything, but that she’d scale the problem… she told me they will call me in 2 business days.
After 3 weeks!!… they call me and told me they will repair the notebook without charge, since it’s a common problem with dv9000 series.
I got the box and they returned it after 1 week completely repaired =).
They re-imaged the HD (I don’t know why), but well…
I’m pretty happy, they even solved a problem I forgot to mention about hibernation on windows.
July 6th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Success…maybe:)
My dv9000 was purchased in November 2006. Around January 2008, the hinge started to break. It was bearable for a while since I really hated to have to pay to fix it since it was just out of warranty. I let it go until now. Finally all three threads that hold the screws in broke off and things just started to come apart. After looking for replacement parts on the internet, I found this site, and realized the problem was not due to operator error, but to a “design defect”. After reading through most of the posts I decided to call HP at 800-474-6836. Like most, I intially spoke to a customer service rep from India. I was told my laptop was 238 days out of warranty but was sent to a technical service rep. I again explained the situation to the techincal service rep, but was told since it was out of warranty, I would have to fix it on my own. After explaining the information I learned here, to little avail, I asked for a floor supervisor. The supervisor initially told me the same thing(it was out of warranty.) I again explained what had happened and that I learned on this site that thousands of people had the exact same problem with this model, and that it was due to a “design defect” (phrase used courtesy of an earlier poster:), and that I felt HP should take responsibilty. The floor supervisor agreed and said that they would fix it for free. I was sent back to the technical service rep, who documented the case, took my information, and then transferred me to hardware service rep to have a pre-printed fedex box sent to me. I was assigned a serice # (in this format XXX111-01) and was told that I could check the status at hp.com/go/csostatus. The entire call took about 55 minutes, but thanks to the information on this site, it should be worth it.
July 7th, 2008 at 7:24 am
I bought a HP Pavilion dv9334us in June 2007, and on July 6th 2008, my hinge cracked, just two weeks out of the warranty! At first I freaked and blamed it on my boyfriend who had just been using it, but after googling it to see if I could fix it myself, I came to this website. I spent hours on the phone with HP trying to make them realize that I did not cause this and that there was a website dedicated to it, but upon hearing that there was a Service Enhancement # (C01059646), they became more willing. At first, they told me that there was no service enhancement on my product, but after I told them to google it and they read that it allowed for one free, out-of-warranty bench repair, they referred me to the case manager and said he would call. I was pretty skeptical because I had heard that they say that but it’s usually not true, so I told them my concern and they said the case manager would definitely get back to me in two days, or I could call back and ask for him myself between 8am and 5pm. However, I’m pretty sure my case manager had had these complaints before because when he called me this morning (less than 12 hours after the break!), he told me he was sending a box and didn’t even ask me anything about it. $300 saved!
July 8th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Purchased HP Pavilion dv9235nr March 15, 2007 at Best Buy. Last night, June 28, 2008, hinge on bottom left cracked and small nut fell out to desk; hinge now seems loose and am not sure how long it will support screen.
Called HP June 29; case worker called back as they said June 30. After our conversation he said he would send a box for shipping to Ca.. I insisted that both hinges, broken left and ok right would be replaced and he agreed. Box arrived July 1 and I sent laptop off July 2. It was returned today, July 8, and everything works fine. Thanks for the site and the information it provides.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I have a DV9225US and it cracked allmost a year after i got it. I just did the online chat with HP and am waiting to hear back. they guy i talked to promessed i would be contacted with in 48 hours… just time to wait and see
July 10th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
After reading all the posts, I did the online chat with HP tech support and got a service ticket number. The tech support person told me that she was escalating the case to a case manager and told me I would get a call within 48 hours. In less than 24 hours I had received a call and after talking to my Case manager (David - ext 08), he agreed that this is a well documented issue and that HP would be happy to replace the parts for free. There is a box on the way to my house tomorrow or the next day and he promised a turn around of less than a week. I also told him I would be removing my hard drives and battery and he said that was fine. My laptop was purchased in Feb 2007, so it is VERY out of warranty. He didn’t care, and said that since this is a widespread issue, HP would be picking up the tab. If any of you run into someone that is not sympathetic to your case, remind them that you are a laoyal HP customer (I have 3 laptops, 1 desktop, and 1 laser printer of theirs), and that should help grease the skids. My case manager was very professional and helpful. He explained that he will be seeing my case through, and that if I have ANY questions, that he would be the one to ask. He also said that he will be sending me update emails and calling me to tell me when the laptop is on it’s way home. I also got a website (www.hp.com/go/csostatus) that you can plug your case # into and see what is going on at anytime. HP seems to be stepping up to the plate and this is a more than fair solution to my issue given the fact that it is no longer under warranty. I hope you all have the same pleasant experience when you contact them.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
I’m so glad this website exists. It may have just saved me. I bought my laptop in June of 07, dv9000 model, dv9317 to be exact. It was my brand new shiny computer to take to college with me. At school I had it positioned on a laptop stand by the air conditioning to make sure it stayed cool. I barely ever moved it from there, but my life revolved around everything this laptop did for me. Coming home for the summer, the laptop was moved around quite a bit more and started making a cracking sound when opening and closing. I had no idea what this could be but I continued using my laptop. the black frame eventually started popping apart when I positioned the screen so I would snap it back together and continue on. Soon after, black bits of plastic started falling out and then the hinge completely broke. That was a week ago. I am out-of-warranty by a month and an extended service plan I bought through Sam’s club when I purchased by laptop covers only mechanical and electrical failure. I was about to give up and pay for the repair(Which would have literally drained my bank account…I’m a college student) when I decided to google my problem. I took very good care of my computer, never dropping it or mistreating it and keeping it as cool as I could when this all happened. I KNEW this was not my fault. This website gave me the support I needed to make HP fix my problem. I got a case number, spoke to my case manager and referenced this website. My computer is getting shipped tomorrow to go to the repair center to be fixed free of charge. Thank you for the site, the support, and all the information. I’m passing this site on to everyone I know to help get allocations to keep it running. Fight back against this manufacturing defect!
July 10th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Thanks Hinge Crack Guy
Bought my dv9005ca off craigslist in vancouver last year notebook hinge started cracking in March this year wasnt happy but dealt with it, but it started getting worse alot worse i couldnt close it, then i found this site got lots of info decided to phone hp, they basically said sorry bud out of warranty. what happened next was a blessing in disguise my wifi stopped working so i called back now a month later told them the scoop they said they can fix the wifi out of warranty due to a HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement but he said he could not fix the hinge i said thats crazy, i was then giving a case manager, she was not 100 % they would fix the hinge crack but pretty sure they would. so anyways the box came back last week everything fixed i almost shed a tear, i hope this helps somebody like somebody else helped me
Hinge Crack man im sending you 20 paypal bucks tonight
Thanks again
July 11th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I purchased an HP dv9000t and even though it was under warranty at the time the hinge broke I was told by HP that it was NOT covered under warranty and there was nothing I could do. After my warranty expired I contacted HP after learning of your site and explained my situation again, and again was told that my particular model was not covered by any repair protocols as the DV9000T is not a model that HP has had any problems with.
I’m extremely angry that HP did this and will NEVER buy another HP product again.
July 12th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Computer: dv9000t purchased 11-4-2006
Thank You for providing this website. I followed the information posted here and just received my computer back with a completely new LCD case. HP provided excellent service without much effort on my part. I am now totally sold on HP and will certainly continue to purchase their products. Ok, this is how I went about it.
1. established case with online support. the important part of that conversation is as follows:
Marco: I have checked and I regret to inform you that the warranty on the Notebook expired .
Customer: yes i know that, but i understand this is not a warranty issue but a design flaw on this model
Customer: and customers have had their computers repaired whether out of warranty or not by HP
Marco: let me check with my supervisor and see what best I can do for you in this case.
Customer: thank you Marco
Marco: I have checked and find that as the Notebook is out of warranty I can escalate the case to the case manager who will call you regarding the issue within next 24-36 hours.
2. never received that call, so I called the 877-917-4380 ext. 94 number. Had to explain situation all over again. Again i was told it was out of warranty. I politely, calmly explained that it was not a warranty issue but a design flaw; referenced this site and how many HP customers received excellent service with this problem; that I owned many HP products (which I do). Those seemed to be the magic words to have my computer sent in for repair. The HP representative was very nice and helpful and even gave him personal number and extension for further help.
3. Turn around time was less than a week over 4th of July holiday. When I received my computer back there was a problem with the hard drives I had taken out before sending in my computer. I called HP tech who spent considerable time with me until it worked perfectly.
I will now support this site thru paypal, thank you so much!
July 15th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I unfortunately was completely turned away. Mentioned website and service enhancement and everything and all I got was for them to tell me it would cost $250. I will try again and mention how I do own several HP products and how I am from a military family, maybe then they will help out more. Will keep you all posted.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:46 am
I have had an typical but unusual experience–Purchased dv9005ca in November 2006. June 20th the hinge started cracking, little black pieces fell out, and then some kind of black ball-bearing. My friend totally lucked out in finding this website, so on July 14 I called the 1-888 number and was told the same old story–out of warranty–and I was quoted CDN$399 to get it fixed. Asked to speak to the case manager. She called back the next day and despite a very long conversation, she refused free repair. I told her about the website–she said “Well, maybe they are fixing them for free in the US, but we will not in Canada.” I asked to speak to her supervisor and was told, “Our supervisors do not talk to the customers”. I don’t have a degree in sales management–but that sound very wrong.
So not to give up, I called another case manager (picked an extension by random), pretended I hadn’t called. He said they had received a directive from HP on July 1st stating that all hinge repairs will be fixed out of warrany for free, and he said he would send out the box immediately. Until I gave him my address (in Canada)–at which point he was told by his supervisor that they would have to “look into this”, but not to worry they will get it fixed.
Totally bizarre–exactly the same computer and the same company. Maybe it is a language barrier as we speak Canadian ;o)
I am still waiting for the call.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:58 am
A success story from Canada.
I just got off the phone after calling the 1-800-474-6836 Tech Support # for HP Canada. I had called a week ago and was told a Case Manager would call. After waiting a week I called this morning and after a short wait spoke to Glen, a Case Manager. He said that there had been pause in fixing this problem because someone had brought a legal case about this. But he also said he thought that had been settled because they were now reparing this again, but only for in-warranty laptops. I quoted him the Service Enhancement # mentioned in Message# 11 here, and he looked it up. It had, apparently, been amended to say that the hinge problem was now being fixed for free for out of warranty computers.
The box is now on its way to me.
By the way, after talking to Glen, I was passed to a support tech to arrange the details and was told that there was also a service enhancement advisory for the wireless modem in this model DV9010ca. As I have been having problems connecting to my router, she said that this would also be fixed.
I told them how much I appreciated this great service from HP, and many thanks to everyone who has posted to this site, what a great resource.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:26 pm
This website is great and saved me from tossing my dv9008nr notebook away. I did not realize so many other HP 17″ notebook owners had the same problem. Here is how I successfully handled HP.
1. I started by calling first thing on Monday morning (which is 5am PST) using 1-877-917-4380 ext. 94.
2. The case manager (George) asked if I had put in a previous troublecall and I told him “no”. I explained the problem with the left hinge on the notebook and asked him if he was familiar with the problem. He informed me that he was and would take down my contact information.
3. George said that HP will fix the problem even though it is out of warranty (I bought the computer in Dec ‘06 from Best Buy). He volunteered this information and never tried to quote the $299 fee. Maybe I lucked out or maybe HP is finally trying to make amends for their design flaw. I now have a Transaction and Order Number with the shipping box to be delivered in 1-2 business days.
Thank you to orginator of this site and to all those who have posted with their wonderful advise.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Thank YOU!!!
My hinge started cracking way before my initial warranty expired in December, but with two small children and never any time to make a noise free phone call, I didn’t report the problem until the screen started to split. (shame on me)
I had purchased my DV9000 AND 3 year extended Total Care warranty from CompUSA. Well as most of you know, CompUSA went out of business last year, and turned over their notebook service contracts to Tiger Direct. Well rest assured that if you call Tiger Direct for a repair, they’ll tell you to call HP, and when you call HP, they tell you to call Tiger. Lovely, huh? I didn’t have my original paperwork from the purchase, so basically I was screwed out of my $250 warranty. I finally got in touch with someone at Tiger who would at least give me an email address to write to for a copy of the original invoice. Problem was it took WEEKS for a reply. And even then they basically ignored my calls about the hinge fix.
SO I did my research and found this wonderful blog.
First I logged a ticked with HP support online, who told me it would be $298 to fix the hinge. SO I escalated the call to a case manager and the very next day I received a call from Monica Smith.
I told Monica about my warranty issues, about this website, and about the hinge break. I explained that I am the mother of two small children who runs a home business and without my laptop I can’t make money, nor did I have the $300 needed to fix the hinge. Seriously, have you ever had to purchase diapers for twins? LOL.
Monica said I’d get a box the very next day, and to make sure I sent it in ASAP and she’d have it repaired and returned pronto.
The next day, (July 10th, I received the box). I needed my laptop over the weekend so I kept it until Monday. I removed my hard drive, and packed up the laptop. I marked the paper according and described my issue. I also marked that the battery was dead and would not recharge… even though Monica said they would probably not fix that without it costing me.
I called 5 days later for a status update, and was told the ETA for the repair was the 24th, approx 10 days after they received it.
Much to my surprise I received my DV9000 back yesterday, fully repaired. They replaced both hinges, motherboard, heat sinc & pad, keyboard, fan, screen casing, and outer casing. And they replaced the battery. All at no cost to me.
Thanks so much for starting this website. I’ll be sure to send $10 via paypal today!
July 24th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Long story short. Got HP Pavillion dv9000 Apr2007. Left hinge broke May2008. Trying for 4 weeks to get it fixed since son home for college for summer. Have 3 year unlimited warranty 4 the Internal Network with Assurant Solutions. They don’t cover hinges. Called HP @ 800-474-6836 and made a service order with Samantha to fix the hinge for $311.90. Saw this web site and read what to do. Called 877-917-4380 ext 94 and spoke to Rob. Explained to him I made a service order and the charges I was quoted and about the web site and the stories of 100’s of other people who are having the same trouble as me. He changd my sevice order from chargeable to NO CHARGE. Thanks to HP for taking care of their responsibility this time and MAHALO FROM HAWAII to whoever started this web site….ALOHA
July 26th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Thank you for this wonderful website. My contribution was sent on Thursday. I purchased my refurbished dv9035 laptop in January 2007. I noticed the start of the separation about two month ago but didn’t know what it meant. A large cracking sound and screen distortion occurred about three weeks ago which caused me to start looking for a repair. I had negative experiences with HP and my purchase point which was Fry’s Electronics. To be brief, I had purchased extended warranties from HP and Fry’s. HP would not acknowledge their warranty and Fry’s said my problem was abuse and not covered by the warranty. Fry’s accusation of abuse caused me to try to research the laptop model for issues and that caused me to find this website.
I used the email address for HP that is listed in story #50. I received a very nice call two days later, a FedEx box the next day and the return of my repaired computer in about a week. The term “service enhancement program” was used for my free repair. The executive who called me gave instructions not to reimage my hard drive and I wrote the request twice in the return documentation. However my hard drive was replaced with a new one and the old one was sent back to me with a note that said “hard drive failure.” So I’m in the process of getting everything set up again which slowed my response to this website. Please note that the shipping instructions from HP said the machine would not be repaired if the hard drive was not included.
HP said a “better” stronger hinge would be used in the replacement so that the problem won’t occur again. We’ll see. HP also said the dust should be blown out of all computers every 6 months to prevent heat buildup. I use a notebook cooler which I think helped delay the start of the hinge crack.
Regarding the extended warranties: HP gave me a new one year extended warranty starting this month. I wrote Fry’s president to complain about the treatment that I received. Fry’s headquarters called me and said the notebook hinge crack was a known design flaw and apologized. Corporate talked to the local store and the store returned the cost of the extended warranty. I’m saying that is not sufficient because I never used the warranty, they had the benefit of my money all of this time, I lost time and money traveling to and from their store for the repair (they wouldn’t even accept my computer for repair) and the reason I purchased the warranty was because I wanted it. However, I realize a warranty has no value if it is not honored. I’m going to make at least one more call to corporate and I’m thinking about placing them on the complaint website. I think it’s called “Twitter.”
July 28th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
****READ THIS ENTIRE RESPONSE****
Thanks to this website I was able to speak with a case manager directly who promised to repair my laptop free of charge. I’ve listed 3 steps below which worked for me…
First, about my laptop: I have the Model DV9005US. I got the hinge cracking problem about a month ago. I thought I would just have to live with it, until it got worse. Although I take care of my laptop and it looks new, it is 22 months old & 10 months out of warranty. Either way, a laptop which was purchased new for over $1,000 should not fall apart like this. So I made a phone call.
NOTE: Skip the online chat. Make your call earlier in the morning, I called around 9AM. Be prepared to spend over an hour on the phone. Be patient and be polite! Get your point across without being rude!! Visit HP’s Recall website to check if your computer ALSO has any of these issues in addition to the hinge crack which can be fixed FREE of charge:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?docname=c01087277&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN
STEP 1
Call 1-800-474-6836. Speak with a rep and explain your issue. Provide necessary information. If the rep responds that your laptop is out of warranty, ask for a supervisor. Explain to the supervisor that the hinge crack is a common manufacturer defect, NOT an abuse or warranty issue. If no results, obtain your Case number BEFORE moving on to step 2. I believe it is best to have a case number (like a paper trail) before moving on to step 2.
STEP 2
Call the corporate office: 650-857-1501. Choose the Operater Services option. Explain to Operator that the “hinge crack” issue and ask to speak with a case manager. I was transferred over to a live case manager immediately. You can also call a CM directly @ 1-877-917-4380 ext. 94 but you may have to leave a message.
STEP 3
Explain the situation to the case manager and provide your Case Number. Be prepared to provide the model, S/N, P/N, phone # and your home address.
I had no problems with my case manager - instead she was a huge help! I was told that a notebook box would be mailed to my home & “service enhancement” repairs would be performed free of charge. She also suggested that I remove my hard drive or do a back-up unless I don’t mind having a system restore performed by a service technician.
If your case manager is rude or unhelpful, thank the person for their help and try steps 2-3 again. Don’t give up!! Hope this helps.
I’ll be back with any updates…
July 31st, 2008 at 5:23 am
I followed similar steps as the above post calling the 1-800-474-6836 and speaking to two different people who gave me the same “out of warranty speech” and “checked to see what they could do for me”.
After this response…I asked to speak to a case manager or an executive/supervisor I was given a case number and told I’d get a callback as the supervisor was unable to speak to me at that time.
That was about 6pm Tuesday night. Wed morning at 7am I received a call from the 1-877-917-4380 ext. 94 case management department and the person there gave me their full name and their hours they worked should I need to call back!
Needless to say I should receive my Fed EX box today and get my DV9000 fixed in the next few weeks FREE OF CHARGE under the service enhancement. FYI, my case manager did tell me that my computer was out of warranty etc. But they were still going to fix it for me. Like they’re doing me a HUGE favor!
THANK YOU NOTEBOOKHINGECRACK.COM!
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I first posted on July 17th, and was waiting for the case manager to call me back. I was on holidays for two weeks, so could not get in touch with her until yesterday.
Now she was all sweet and nice and said that the “directive” had been changed and they would fix computers that were out of warranty for up to a year. Later in our conversation, she said “six months”. I don’t care now–the box is on its way!!
Great website…thanks a million.
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Just an update…. HP sent a shipping box on 07/18/08 (free fedx) and I returned it to the on 07/25/08. I just got notification they fixed the hinge and are shipping it back. I should get it 08/004/08. ALL FREE OF CHARGE. I chatted on line one time only. I bought the laptop 14 mos ago and they still fixed it free, no arguments
August 7th, 2008 at 7:30 am
OMG this site rocks. Another Win !
I purchased a DV9500 at Office Max in Nov. I noticed the hinge was getting loose and the LCD would not stay up and with in days the hinge had completely split.
I called repair and the said it was under warranty and would fix it but that if it had been damaged their might be a charge. I had googled & skimmed some info enough to know it was a known defect and I had barley used the thing so I knew that I had not caused the damage.
I logged on the repair website and checked the status this am. It said the laptop was out of warranty (which it clearly is not) and the charges would be over $429.94
I just could not believe it and assumed that when I called them and pushed back they would immediately acquiesce and repair it under warranty.
As I was sitting on the phone with some of the rudest unhelpful, down right shady customer service people I have ever spoken too. I found this website ! And started reading. I spoke to 3 different people and when I asked for the names of the people I had spoken too with the last person. They actually HUNG UP on me !
So I called the number listed at ext 94 listed as caseworkers that can be helpful ! And with in 5 minutes Melissa had given me a case number and confirmed my lap top would be repaired at no cost under warranty. The key it seems is to make sure when they log your case that you mention the hinge 1st and not the LCD compromise that the crack causes. Or at least that is my guess.
I will be making a donation too !
August 8th, 2008 at 4:20 am
I bought my dv9005 at Circuit City in December of 2006, and I purchased an extended warranty. I later found out that this extended warranty does not cover accidental damage, only “normal wear and tear.” I wouldn’t have gotten a warranty on purpose that didn’t cover accidental damage, so I either missed something or someone lied.
Anyway, the hinge issue started for me around 2 or 3 months ago (no problems with the LCD thus far). I found this site and decided I’d better get something done about it, so I called Circuit City’s repair line. I described the problem and expressed my concern that it might get worse. The tech asked me a few questions and told me to send it in for repair. Great! No worries, no hassle.
I sent the laptop as requested and got a phone call a week later. The person leaving the message said that it appears the bezel was cracked (no joke, that’s PRECISELY what I told the tech) and it was *not* covered under the repair agreement. So 5 days later (12 after originally sending it in) I got the laptop back in the same condition.
I filled out the support request form on HP’s site explaining that I realized the laptop was out of warranty but would they help me? About 3 hours later I got a response email requesting some contact info, and by the end of the day a case manager had spoken with me and issued a $0.00 repair order! She did say that she would help since I had tried to do my due dilligence and go through my extended warranty service first.
I got no pushback whatsoever during any of my correspondence with HP on this. They may not be recalling the item, but at least they’re doing the right thing on an individual basis.
I sent the laptop in late last week and am awaiting its return. I anticipate continuing to be a happy HP customer.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I bought my dv9000 in November 2006. It was a great laptop…I loved it. By February 2007, the hinge was making a cracking sound when I moved it. I didn’t think much of it at the time. In December 2007, the hinge ripped apart on the lower left side. I thought this was just a one-off thing, and since I was out of warranty it was my bad luck. I called HP support and they gave me the $300 box option…I turned it down.
In May 2007, my wireless started to fail. I reinstalled the OS, which helped–a bit. It would still come and go no matter what I did. It finally quit working no matter what I did–even with a clean install of the OS I had no wireless connection!
I found out HP has as a Service Enhancement for the issue, so I called customer support. I got a really nice lady, who immediately agreed to send me a box. I sent it in August 1st.
HP replaced the hinges and motherboard and returned it to me today, August 8th. The hinge looks as good as new, and my wireless works like a charm.
My only worry is that the fix may not be permanent…but only time will tell I guess.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:44 am
May 2008…correction. That’s when the wireless failed.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Just found this web site, my problem happened about a month out of warranty but is now 4 months over due. I have contacted HP 5 min ago by email so I will see what comes of this. I sure they do something as the laptop is only 16 mth old. Great website I will keep you all posted.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Model: dv9008nr
The left hinge and screen housing broke at the end of July 2008, and I contacted HP at the beginning of August. I simply chatted with customer service and explained the problem. I explained that the machine had not been dropped or mishandled, and the agent offered to escalate the case to a case manager. I was not pushy or demanding at all. A case manager called me two days later, and I told him that I believed it to be a design problem, as I had viewed this site. He offered to repair it for free, and he sent a box via overnight service. I boxed it up on a Wednesday, took it to FedEx, and it was back on my doorstep the following Monday. HP replaced both hinges and the screen bezel. No problems, easy process, very friendly help!
August 11th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Addition: The machine was out of warranty, and I had no extended service agreement.
August 16th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I purchased a dv9000 for college on February 07 at Best Buy. I thought it was an awesome computer with the power of a desktop.
Then suddenly on April 08 I noticed how the plastic around the screen was splitting near the left hinge. At the beginning I did not care but some time after it became an inconvenience because I couldn’t open/close the lid easily.
The school year ended and I flew back to my home country for the summer and there was no way I could’ve gotten it repaired there.
I just came back to the US and the first day that I arrived I contacted HP via online chat and I talked to this guy who said that they were aware of the issues regarding the dv9000 models. He said that he would escalate the case and that a case manager would call me in 48 hours.
Three days passed and no one called me. I then did a little research on this blogs and found two phone numbers for case managers. The first one was 1.877.917.0380 (”0″ for the next available case manager) but didn’t work. I just found that that it was a typo. Then I tried 1.877.917.4380 (ext “94″). This guy asked me where I have gotten the number and I told him off the blogs at www.notebookhingecrack.com. He didn’t sound pissed off or anything.
I gave him my case number explained him that no one had called me. Then he said that my laptop was going to be fixed for free and that a box would be sent to me with a prepaid label to send it back with my laptop.
THE BOX ARRIVED THE NEXT DAY!!!!!!!
I’m sending my laptop on monday. Thanks notebookhingecrack.com if it wasn’t for the guy that started this website I would’ve been screwed. I’ll be donating some money soon.
August 16th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I forgot to mention that I was way out of warranty although it kind of obvious.
August 18th, 2008 at 9:13 am
I’m #102. I tried sending you money via PayPal and I got a message back saying it was not accepted by you. Please advise.
August 19th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I just had the same hinge cracking issue happened to my HP notebook yesterday, I thought I had to just live with it because I was about 2 months out of warranty. Until I found this website, after reading all the postings here I figured I would give it a try and call the same 877 number.
So I called this morning and a lady picked up. I basically explained to her what happened, first she asked me if I have a case number and I said no, then she went on and tried to defend HP by saying that it’s caused by normal wear and tear, but I told her that the laptop is only 14 months old and I’ve been taking care of it. Then I did what many others did here and mentioned this website. She immediately responded by saying that it’s not a HP website and they have no way of verifying the information (it almost seemed like she had been down that road before or they had been told what to say). I calmly said I understand but there are hundreds of people having the same issue with their HP notebooks and it cannot be just coincidence or wear-and-tear. She then asked for my serial and model number and put me on hold, when she returned she said ok as a one-time only service they will repair my laptop’s hinge issue for free. She stressed that they will fix the hinge issue only, and said if they find anything else that needs repair there would be charges but they would call me first. We then proceeded with my information and she gave me a transaction # (10-digit number) and a customer service # (something in the format of ABC123-01). She said they will send out the return material within the next 24 hours and I should send back the laptop only without the accessories like the power cord or battery, and I should back up the hard drive just in case. She also said the repair should take about a week and I should get it back in 2 weeks at the most. At the end she gave me the same 877 number I called (x94) and said this is the number for all of the case managers and any of them would be glad to help me, then we said bye and went on separate ways. I was so excited that I had to come here immediately and to post my experience.
I have to say I didn’t expect much at all (from past customer service experiences) but it turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. The whole process took less than 15 minutes and I didn’t have to raise my voice or to argue with anyone. I will update the list once I got my notebook fixed on how that process goes.
Thank you for the web site and for everyone who contributed. I would still be living with the broken notebook if not for this site.
August 19th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Great website, thank you for putting it together.
My DV9000 hinge broke on the day before I went to a 6 week trip to Europe. I thought I was already out of warranty and said “screw it” and bought a Sony Vaio as a replacement. After 6 hours of installation the Vaio screen had a red / dead pixel in the center of the screen - it was defective.
Then I was so pissed off that I bought my first Apple Laptop after 20 years of computing (Macbook) running Vista perfectly and faster than either the Vaio or the HP.
After I came back from my trip I dug into my receipts and found out that back then my laptop would still have been under warranty, but now it was clearly out of it.
I called the number of the case manager above (alone this number is worth a 10$ Paypal donation, which I made) THe guy was nice, asked me where I found this number and I said from this website where thousands of other users that complained.
He checked my serial number and said that my machine is 135 days out of warranty. I said yes, I understand, but here is what happened to me (see above). He said thats ok, they will make a ONE TIME exception and send out a box and fix it for free and if it breaks again 6 months down the road HP will be off the hook and I said fine. So they gave me a 10 digit case number and send the box in 2 days.
Cheers
Oliver
August 19th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
My dv9060us is 17 months old, only set’s on a laptop desk on a rare occassion I close the lid so it’s not like it get’s open and closed a great deal. Went to close it last night and the left hinge broke.. Found this blog contacted HP they assigned a case number and said a case manager would call me within 48 hours. 24 down, 24 to go. What amazes me is I have an old IBM 600x that has been a work horse and have never had any problems with the hinges. So I am sure this has to be a design flaw.. I hope HP fixes it on there $$$$$$.. Thanks for the BLOG
August 20th, 2008 at 9:59 am
my DV9207 returned yesterday and works great! was 2 months out of warranty when I found this site - simply followed the directions to call HP Corporate and got case manager- very professional and helpful- unit was shipped back and repaired NC
Really appreciate this site and the time and effort Adam has put into it- I donated via PP today and highly recommend that all that use it do the same. Before this I was looking at $298 or a trashed laptop- certainly we all owe him something for what he has done for us
August 21st, 2008 at 2:19 pm
My dv9000 left hinge brook last week and out of warranty. I followed instructions from the site.
1. Started with online support and he said it will be almost $300.00 to fix I said but this is a known issue and to please escalate me to a case manager. He said I will get a call within 48 hours.
2. 6 days later no call from case manager. I called the # listed on #114 with extension #94 ( got a women) Explained the problem and where I got her #. She stated HP knows about the forum but does not respond to forums. But for customer satisfaction she will send me a box and fix the problem for free. She also said that HP claims the hinge problem is from closing it on one side and not using two hands.
I am glad this site is around otherwise the word would not get out about this common problem with these laptops. I will be donating in the next couple of days. And hopefully if enough people call HP they will get the hint and issue a recall.
One piece of advise is be extremely nice.
August 21st, 2008 at 3:00 pm
V5000/V5240NR purchased 08/20/06. Left hinge cracked 08/15/08. Did the online chat. CSR stated I was out of luck. Asked to escalate to a service ticket. CSR claimed service tool was “down” and they’d have to input it later to create a ticket. I asked if they could email the service ticket and then said it’s not very assuring to know that HPs own computers are down. CSR then said, hold on it appears to be working now. (huge coincidence…)
Got case number. Case manager “Jeanette” called the next day. She was extremely helpful. I stated that I’d rather not go without the notebook for days and would like to replace the hinge myself. Gave her the part number off the left hinge that I copied when I took the notebook apart to determine the problem. She said she’d see what she could do because nobody ever requests the part and are just happy to send it in to be repaired.
Case manager called early the next day. She stated the parts had been sent the day before and I’d be receiving them that day! A few hours later Fedex showed up with the parts. That is incredibly fast service and I am very impressed with HP, as I was with my last issue 2 years ago (needed a Recovery disc since the recovery partition was corrupt. They overnighted one at no charge.)
Received both left and right hinges. New part number on them. I haven’t taken the notebook apart to see if there’s any design change. All received a new fan assembly. Perhaps it’s a upgraded design. I’ll compare it with the old one when I tear it down. I was very happy to get a new fan too. Although I hadn’t mentioned it, the fan has been very noisy since the notebook was about 6 months old. Even when it was cleaned as new, it was still very noisy. Hopefully this new fan will solve the problem. I plan to put some extra heat shielding around the hinge area and open up the air vents a bit to help prevent another hinge crack again.
Thanks notebookhingecrack. I would have never pressed this issue with HP if not for your site.
August 22nd, 2008 at 7:13 pm
I have contacted everyone who deals in compaq NX9600 parts for 382081-001 hinge. everyone tells me they are out of stock. I am having no luck the material used is pewter and it is like a solder, very crappy of hp to to use something with little tensel strenght. if any one knows were one is please hit me up with e-mail seanb1215@gmail.com Thanks all…..
August 25th, 2008 at 11:59 am
As I stated above, I was given the same answer that all of you were given about it costing me $298. But I read the success stories so I wouldn’t give up.
I called 3 times. Got the same story. No way around it. In fact, at one point the customer service manager said he wouldn’t talk to me because it wouldn’t change things. I kept my cool through the whole conversation which is difficult to do when you can’t understand the foreigner on the other end of the phone.
However, I decided to try CHAT once. I skipped it in the beginning because I thought I’d get better results in speaking with a human.
Through CHAT, I was first given the same story, but as soon as I said..”That’s funny, I’ve found this website with an entry as late as yesterday that said HP was fixing this problem outside of the warranty period because it is a defect.” BAM! I had a promise that a Case Manager would be calling me back and setting up service.
I later spoke to the CASE MANAGER and she said this is a known problem with these laptops and they are fixing them. I told her about my other phone calls and she said she’s not sure why I was told this wasn’t a known problem.
I got my box. Shipped the computer today and am awaiting my results. I know when it comes back we won’t be opening and closing it often for fear of another break. When computer comes back and is fixed…I’ll make a donation.
Thanks everyone!
August 26th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Bought a DV9260NR from Best Buy a little over a year ago. Hinge cracked a while back, but I figured I was up the creek, so didn’t bother calling HP and dealing with a 3 hour convo with a foreign script-reading CS rep.
Well, decided to do the HP Live Chat deal last night, gave them a rundown on the problem, knew that it was a known problem, referenced this website, mentioned that I knew that there was an internal memo on the issue, and that HP was repairing the defect out-of-warranty. The Live Chat person apologized, and escalated the case within 10 minutes!! I gave them my info, and was told that a case manager would contact me between 24-72 hours. As if by magic, got a call from my case manager this morning at 10:00AM, 12 hours after my chat!!
The case manager was super easy to talk to, and told me she would immediately send out a shipping box to my home, there would be zero charge to me for the repair, and that she would personally make sure the laptop was indeed repaired before it ships out to me!! Way too easy!!
On a sidenote, she asked me if I had added memory to the laptop, I said I had, and she instructed me to reinstall the original memory, as “sometimes third-party parts/accessories don’t come back from the repair center”,lol!! Just a heads up for you guys.
P.S. If the Admin would like the Case Manager’s Phone #, Ext. #, and name to help out the people on this site, just shoot me an email, more than happy to oblige!! Thanks for keeping the site up!!
August 26th, 2008 at 11:06 am
My computer arrived yesterday. HP changed the hinges and the LCD Cover.
The whole process took about two week including non-business days.
I hope that the hinges don’t crack again. When I got it back I noticed that the computer was a little bit heavier due to the new hinges so I hope that’s good.
HP stole the remote that was in the express card though. But I honestly just don’t care anymore.
Thanks to the guy that started this website. Thanks to you I didn’t pay a cent. Not even for shipping.
September 11th, 2008 at 11:51 am
My laptop is going to be collected from me tomorrow to be repaired for free, even though I am 10 months out of warranty. Emailed tech support first, and they said a case manager would call. They didn’t so I rung up, gave tech support my ticket number and told them a case manager would ring. I was put through to another guy, who asked me to describe what the problem was and he said that’s fine, and would send a courier with a box to pick the laptop up.
Sounded like he would also give the laptop a service for free as well as replace the hinge. I can confirm that the problem is not related to the heat produced.
The problem was realised a year or so ago, that the hinge is too long to support the weight of the bezel, and I am by no means the first in Europe to report this problem, and that’s in fact why they are giving free repairs.
I was quietly confident. All I can say is be polite and you’ll get somewhere. If not, ring up and start a new ticket and see what they do a second time. However, in Europe (and South Africa where they handle European calls) they are aware of this problem with the DV90XX series of laptops and are repairing them if you have the associated symptoms with the problem.
Will give an update when I receive the laptop back as well.
I have a DV9088EA laptop by the way, and the hinge cracked randomly a fortnight ago or so!
September 17th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I am so very thankful for this website. After several attempts on the phone (HPinvent) to receive help for the problem, I decided to try livechat. No questions were asked beyond the simple explanation of my problem. The technical support personnel immediately informed me she was escalating the issue to a case manager who would be contacting me. I received two calls AND an email from my case manager while at work, and will be calling him back soon. It’s nice to have these comments on here that instruct me exactly what to say in order to achieve success! I shall repost my (hopefully) success story shortly!
September 17th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I called the case manager (Mary), who was very polite and helpful in regards to my issue. Apparently, this is becoming a very well known situation right now. Not once during my entire livechat/case manager conversation did I have to argue or convince them to cover my problem. The case manager I spoke with was under ext. 19. I was on hold for quite a while, but she immediately agreed to authorize for HP to repair my computer for free. No one seemed to question my story or the handling of my computer. She asked if I had sent in my laptop before and I told her this is the first time I have had ANY problems with it. Then, Mary told me they were fixing it under “customer service” and I would not be charged with the repair!
I should receive a box soon. Further details to arrive shortly, I hope!
September 19th, 2008 at 1:36 am
I have of course had the same problems…after 3-4 months my screen hinge cracked. (Along with problems in battery life, overheating, and the AC Adaptor input is in a horrible place) Luckily, I did purchase a Best Buy extra warranty that covered this repair…there is no deductible, but I had to wait about 2-3 weeks to get the laptop back. Now that I have my laptop back there are horrible patches of blue dots visible in my screen….Here we go again.
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:19 am
I had to get my DV9207us model hinge fixed a second time. i fought the $350 charge and actually have a comment from Devan an HP Supervisor. he said there was a Manufacturing Defect from one of the Suppliers. he stated that my hinges won’t crack again. I hope this is true, i personally have had it with HP, i will never Buy or recommend an HP product as long as i live. spending over 10 hours on the phone with some Indian who can’t understand a word you say is horrible. if the hinges crack one more time i will Sue HP for the total price i paid for the Laptop. (i am not the suing type, it is just the feeling of being ripped off that gets to me.)
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:25 pm
What a cluster! Bottom line, NEVER GIVE UP AND KEEP CALLING. Thanks much to this web page, helped me out tremendously and saved me a few hundred bucks. I am publishing the minutes of my investigation and followup here for people to use successfully. Dont even bother with chat or the India people. Go straight to the case manager line with the extension of 94 or 95 and keep calling until someone will help you.
Hinge Repair
Carol: Hello Bud.
Carol: Welcome to HP Total Care for HP Notebooks. I am Carol, How may I assist you today?
bud hicks: Hi there
bud hicks: I have an issue with my Dv9000 laptop hinge, left side
bud hicks: I understand this is an admitted design flaw by HP and that you will fix it out of warranty.
bud hicks: hello?
Carol: Sorry for the delay.
Carol: May I know the serial and product numbers of your Pavilion Notebook? It is underneath the notebook on white sticker.
bud hicks: s/n: cnf646435w
bud hicks: dv9030
bud hicks: p/n: rg339ua#aba
Carol: Thank You.
Carol: I am afriad to let you know that your Notebook warranty has expired on 12/26/2007
Carol: We will be unable to arrange free repair service for your Notebook to fix Hinge issue.
bud hicks: i realize that, but this is an apparent design flaw by HP and they have been fixing them out of warranty
Carol: If you wish you can contact Casemanager the higher managemnt regarding this.
Carol: As I am frontline agent, I do not have authority to arrange free repair.
Carol: You need to contact phone support to contact Case Manager.
bud hicks: Who does have that authority that I can talk to currently
Carol: To contact our HP Total Care phone support in the US call 1-800-474-6836. Business hours are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Call at 2300 on 09/22/08
Spoke With:NOBODY
Result:3 hours on hold!!!!!
Call at 1410 on 09/23/08
Spoke with: Anthony
Result: Told me I am out of warranty and that HP has no documentation of this issue!!!! Tranferred me to supervisor.
Name: Nita
Result: Call case management department @ 650-857-1501 Case#:8016375834 (no luck with this number, called the one I found in a blog at www.notebookhingecrack.com 877-917-4380 ext 94
09-23-08 @ 14:30 called 877-917-4380 ext 94
Name: Gina
Result: 10,000 bloggers does not make this a known issue and HP does not have anything on file for it. You are out of warranty and it will cost 298 dollars to get it fixed. No one here will give you a different answer.
09-23-08 @ 14:33 called (3 minutes later) 877-917-4380 ext 95 (just a shot in the dark on the extension!)
Name: Unknown, forgot to get it
Result: “Not sure if it is an issue, I deal with printers. I am however going to open a case and have someone contact you within 24 hours. I understand your frustration and while I cannot promise you anything, other than we want to keep your business.”
09-23-08 @ 17:00 called 877-917-4380 ext. 08 looking for a guy named Ryan that emailed me. He was not available, so I got this nice girl.
Case Manager: Angelia Fulbright
Result: Sending box to me to send in notebook for FREE repair. This Case manger actually admitted to it being a known problem! She said that they would be happy to replace the FAULTY part, regardless of warranty.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Bad news for ZV6000 suckers. I contacted a case manager in March about my computer (both hinges cracked). Of course it was out of warranty…and I was out of luck. HP refused to acknowledge that it was even a problem and told me to pay the fee or stop calling.
Because of the recent success posted on this site, I though I would try again. It was pointless. Although the case manager (Nicole) I talked to was very nice, HP is not fixing this problem…and even if they were (as Nicole explained) they would only fix those computers under warranty (???). She explained that the “tech” department hasn’t had enough cases to declare this a manufacturer’s defect. I asked what constitutes a case, and she responded “sending in the computer for servicing.”
Hopefully you see the problem…
No one is going to pay $300 to fix a computer that could potentially be defective; especially if the repair only comes with a 3 month warranty (and as most of you have seen, it takes at least 10 months for the cracks to develop). Because no one is fixing the problem (paying HP more money), there aren’t any “cases.” If there aren’t any cases, then the “tech” department isn’t reviewing the model for potential defects…and the zv6000 owners might as well bend over and take it raw from HP because that is the only service they will ever get.
I have owned 2 HP computers, and I don’t even know how many printers. I would consider myself a loyal HP customer. I explained this to Nicole. Her response was nice (a bit scripted), but roughly translated to “HP doesn’t care.”
HP posted $91.7 billion in annual revenue in 2006 compared to $91.4 billion for IBM, making it the world’s largest technology vendor in terms of sales. In 2007 the revenue was $104 billion, making HP the first IT company in history to report revenues exceeding $100 billion. Now I know why…
September 24th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Hello all-
Mine is definitely a success story thanks to this very website!
My HP Pavilion dv9000t was originally purchased in October, 2006 and was out-of-warranty about 10 months when I had it repaired in August of this year. The best part, however, is that it was repaired completely free of charge.
How did I do it, you ask? Well, I prepared for “battle” with HP by researching/reading the posts here and developing a bullet list of things to do or be prepared for. The following is a compilation of advise and recommendations I read from several postings on this site: I hope it helps you as it certainly helped me:
1. Call tech support at 1 800 474-6836
2. Be prepared to go through several individuals in HP’s “chain-of-command”: tech support, supervisor, case manager.
3. Politely cite “notebookhingecrack.com” and argue the following:
a. approx. 1500 laptops with hinge crack problem
b. apparent design flaw
c. been a loyal HP customer and would hate to have this issue end our long-time relationship
4. Be prepared for the following- and yes, they will do this as they tried every single one of the below on me:
a. “it’s out-of-warranty”
b. “it will cost $49.95 to talk to tech support”
c. “it will cost $298 to repair”
So, here’s how it went down for me:
August 15, 2008- called tech support and talked with Susan. I began be telling a little white lie- “Hi Susan. “you know, I was just on the phone with a guy named Dave from HP and he said that this is a well known and documented issue with the 9000 series and that HP will repair free-of-charge. Unfortunately, I lost my cell phone connection. This is when I called you”.
Susan gave me the run-down as indicated in #4, above. I requested to speak to a supervisor. She put me through to Logan. I gave Logan the Dave story. He denied that HP would offer to repair for free. Logan also, gave me the run-down as listed above. I requested to speak with a case manager. Much to my surprise, I was assigned a case manager named David Glaser!
David said that the hinge crack issue was well documented and the reason for the crack is the hinge connection is too tight. As a result, the stiffness causes fatigue and eventual cracking over time.
Well, to make a long story longer- David sent me a prepaid shipping box, I sent my laptop in, and had it back in just over a week.
So, there you have it. To add to my contribution, here’s David’s contact info: (877) 917-4380 ext. #08. He can be reached between 1:00 and 10:00 pm.
One last piece of advise- be polite! There was a couple of times I wanted to cut-loose on tech support, but I kept my cool. It seemed to help.
take care,
Danny
September 27th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Thank you so much for your help everyone!!! I am typing this from my newly repaired dv9100 notebook! I sent it in on September 22nd and it was shipped back to me on September 26th! It took two days for the FREE repair! I am so happy with HP for the help I received.
Just like everyone else said, be persistent. SKIP the 1-800 number and go straight to livechat on the HP website. I am going to include the dialogue between my agent and me on the livechat. My case manager, Mary, was wonderful. She called me multiple times throughout the week, to update me on the progress of my laptop, including when it would be shipped to me.
As soon as I come into money with my new job, I will make sure to donate some money to this website. It has been so incredibly helpful to me!!! Good luck everyone!
Scarlet: Hello Stephanie.
Scarlet: Welcome to HP Total Care for HP Notebooks . My name is Scarlet. How may I help you today?
Stephanie: hello! I am having a problem with the physical condition of my laptop
Stephanie: I closed my laptop while it was still on last night, and when I opened it, the left hinge on the laptop cracked
Stephanie: From what I understand and have researched, this is a documented problem with HP Pavilion laptops and HP has covered this problem for customers before
Stephanie: It has never been dropped.
Stephanie: Now, I am unable to close the lip to my laptop
Stephanie Jones: *lid
Stephanie: SN: ***********
Scarlet: I regret to know that. I will be glad to assist you with this regards.
Stephanie: PN: *******
Stephanie: thank you
Scarlet: May I take 2-3 minutes of your time, while I check the notebook warranty?
Stephanie: Sure
Scarlet: Thank you for your time.
Scarlet: I see that your notebook is not covered under warranty. I will escalate the hinges issue to our case manager you will be calling you regarding this issue.
Stephanie: thank you
Scarlet: May I have shipping address and telephone number?
Stephanie: telephone number is **********
Stephanie: shipping address is
Stephanie: [removed]
Scarlet: Thank you for the information.
Stephanie: Thank you for your assistance
Scarlet: Pleasure is all mine assisting you.
Scarlet: May I know the convienent time to call you?
Stephanie: after 3:30pm PST
Scarlet: You will be getting call within 48 hours.
Stephanie: Wonderful. Thank you
Scarlet: You are welcome.
Scarlet: Is there anything else I can assist you with
today?
Stephanie: That is all!
Scarlet: Bye. Have a Good Day ahead.
Scarlet: Thank you for contacting HP Total Care
Real-Time chat support. If you need further assistance, please contact us again at: http://www.hp.com/support/chat. Chat support is available 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.
Stephanie: Thank you. You do the same.
September 28th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Good news, i just Talked to Leo Laport on his “The Tech Guy” Show and i told him about this site and how the HP pavilion DV9000 Hinge Cracks. It was a live show and was on XM-Satellite radio. Expect more People to come to this site. http://techguylabs.com/radio/ShowNotes/Show496#toc9 the show’s audio recording will be up a week from now.
Hopefully the right people were listening to the show, i hope the news gets out about this growing issue. Leo Laport is one of the most well known techies. he said that he owns a HP Pavilion laptop, so if his cracks he will tell the world about it. HP i hope will soon be forced to issue a Recall. Bad publicity = bad business
September 30th, 2008 at 1:26 am
I too have had trouble with my dv9000. Not only did my hinge break, but my wireless card went on the fritz. I got into the online chat, and told them my problem. I told them my computer was out of warranty. Rory asked me to hold on a minute, and he came back saying he was going to forward it to a case manager to get me a free repair. Honestly, the best customer service I have from a major company like this ever.
Thank you for this site, without it I would have never even talked to them because my warranty was over.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Update to 127 above.
Received laptop today (attempted delivery yesterday but wasn’t in) and laptop has been repaired. They replaced the back cover, the LCD bezel and the hinges. The hinges are stiffer too which is nice, and it’s all back to normal They also gave the laptop a service and tested for other problems, including how much ram was being read and upgraded my BIOS.
They didn’t format my hard drive either which is quite good as it doesn’t mean I am going to spend hours reinstalling software, but then again a fresh install would potentially quicken it up. However, either way I’m happy and impressed with HP on this issue.
Once again, I am in the UK and contacted the Technical Phone Support Team on 0844 369 0369, and go through the option saying your laptop is under warranty, even if it’s not. I emailed and got a ticket reference first of all so when I rung, gave them that number and told them that this should be passed to a case manager. I was then put through to someone in South Africa and after 50 mins the repair was scheduled.
2 weeks to repair the laptop is relatively good. Not too sure where it was repaired, but I suspect it may have been outside the UK. Anyhow, it’s back and up and running
Be pleasant and firm when you speak to someone and you’ll be fine. If it doesn’t work the first time round, just keep ringing until you find someone who doesn’t know about it, but in Europe, I’m sure the phone support people know about this problem.
October 6th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
hey folks same problem left hinge crack developed. I could barely open or close my laptop DV9005us
google the problem found the parts and then did my research to find this site.
I immediately started a chat with Hp to see if I could get mine repaired for free.
chat as follows. I was not going to pay for this so I knew I would find a solution to this:
Bryce: Hello Bryan.
Bryce: Welcome to HP Total Care for HP Notebooks . My name is Bryce How may I help you today?
bryan : I have a hp dv9005us and my left hinge is broken. i cannot open and close the laptop properly
Bryce: We truly regret for the inconvenience caused to you.
Bryce: Let me help you in this regard.
bryan : please do
Bryce: As the hinge are broken you need to send the NOtebook to us to get it replaced with new one.
bryan : yes
Bryce: Okay.
Bryce: May I have the Serial (eg: CNS34915MC), Product (eg:DS542U) and Model Number (eg:Pavilion zt3000) of the Notebook?
bryan : pavilion dv 9005us
bryan : sn xxxxxxxxxxxxx
bryan : pn xxxxxxxxxxx
Bryce: Thank you for the information.
Bryce: Bryan, in order to get the Notebook flxed you will be charegd 298$.
Bryce: In this process the complete hardware on the Notebook will be diagnosed and if any other issue is found the issue will be resolved.
bryan : No, this is not going to work. This is a manufacture defect. Please see website http://www.notebookhingecrack.com
bryan : This should be replaced by Hp Support no charge.
Bryce: Let me check the details.
bryan : Ok.
bryan : Are we still connected?
Bryce: Yes.
Bryce: I would go ahead and Escalate the case in this regard so that you would receive a call from our Case Manager and you can convey the issue with him and get the issue resolved.
Bryce: Is that okay with you?
Bryce: Please provide the below details to update the information.
bryan straube: I Just need a repaired laptop or a new one. Whatever it takes please.
Bryce: Okay.
Bryce: Shall I escalate the case?
Bryce: Shipping Information (United States address):
* Name:
* Organization:
* Mailing Address (No P.O. Boxes):
* Apartment/Building/Mailstop:
* City:
* State:
* Zip/Postal Code:
* Phone Number (including area code):
bryan : Please do, if you cannot assist me further. I would like the highest level of management available so this can be handle quickly.
bryan : Bryan
bryan : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx suite 100
Bryce: Bryan, I am escalating this case to our case manager.
bryan : roseville
bryan :
bryan : Thank you Bryce.
Bryce: You are welcome.
bryan straube: Is there anything else you need from me? Do i need anything from you to reference this chat?
Bryce: Bryan, I will be creating the case and you will be receeving the call soon.
bryan : Thank you.
Bryce: Thank you for your patience and time.
Bryce: I have escalated the case, here is the service ticket number: 8015503330
bryan : thank you for your help
After this 2 days later an Hp rep called… I straight up said, “There is no way that a customer should pay for a known defect that happened in the factory. I admitted to being out of warranty and even still within a 5 min phone call, I had a prepaid box coming from Fremont Ca to get my Laptop fixed.
6 business days later I had my minty top cover and new hinged laptop ready for use.
Thanks for all the helpful info. Be Stern, Be Smart, realize this is a huge company that can and will fix your stuff for free, if you show the patience and effort to go about it correctly.
Good luck,
Bryan
October 9th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I purchased a HP Pavillion DV9000 model #dv9207us from a now closed down CompUSA. Recently I had a completely (somewhat) unrelated issue with my video card dying, presumably from overheating. Purchase date was in march of ‘07, so I am out of the 1 year HP warrantee as many other posting on this site are, however I was sorta forced into buying a 2 year extended warrantee which thankfully I am still covered over for the video card. When I sent in my computer to be serviced, it was denied service based on this physical damage on the device, IE the cracked hinge issue. I had been aware of the issue but didnt think much of it because as others have stated, you can simply snap it back shut, and just be mindful while opening and closing. They suggested contacting HP for a certified repair of that before they could further service my computer under the terms of my warrantee. Of course HP quoted me at the $298 to repair, and right about now I am in a terrible loop of service technicians who wont put me through to a case manager. Heres hoping for a sucessful outcome, I will be persistent thanks to what I have learned and seen on this site!
October 9th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
well i have a success story, After 3 Failed repairs. i am getting a brand new Replacement Laptop. I am getting a HP DV7t.
It has a completely redesigned Hinge. so lets hope this site Never has to include the DV7 or the DV5.
I hope this is the last time i have to deal with this. going 1 year and 8 Months with this problem is long enough.
I have to wait for 2-4 Weeks for the replacement to come.
October 10th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Wanted to let everyone know that because of all the help on this site, we just received our HP9000 Pavilion laptop back from California, with the hinge repaired.
One week and two days ago, my husband opened his laptop, and the hinge cracked. The laptop was purchased at Sam’s in February 07, so we knew it was out of warranty. We googled “laptop hinge broken” and found this site.
Since I am “tech support” at our house, keeping our 3 desktops and 2 laptops going, I poured over this site, and was ready to do battle. Started with the case manager direct line that was mentioned here. Talked with a very snotty and un-helpful case manager who told me she didn’t know what I was talking about, and I had no business calling this line if I didn’t already have a case #. I told her I was happy to start at the bottom and work my way back up to her department if that was the way she wanted it, I just thought I’d save some time for all involved. She wanted no part of this.
Started on HP chat online. (I’d used them earlier this year when we had to return a defective printer, they escalated that immediately, and I received a new printer within days, along with instructions on how to send back the defective printer in the same box.)
Here’s my HP chat:
Robin : Apparent design flaw in left hinge. Opened the laptop today and it broke. Left side of screen is separating. This laptop does not travel, stays in the house.
[An agent will be with you shortly.]
[You are now chatting with Renee .]
Renee : Hello Robin.
Renee : Welcome to HP Total Care for HP Notebooks .
Robin : Hi! Renee, thanks for “taking my call”.
Renee : You are welcome.
Robin : I have our s/n and p/n numbers, when you need them.
Renee : Robin, I understand that the left hinge of the panel has broken. Am I right?
Robin : That’s right. Opened the laptop today, and the left side is almost un-hinged, afraid to open or shut it. Looks like the left side is trying to split open.
Renee : Thank you for the information.
Renee : To assist you better, may I have the Serial Number (Ex: CNS34915MC) Product Number(Ex: DS542U#ABA) and the Model Number (Ex: DV6500US) of your Notebook?
Robin : S/N
Robin : P/N
Renee : Thank you for the Serial and Product number.
Robin : Sure.
Renee : May I know, in which country you have purchased the Notebook?
Robin : USA
Renee : Thank you.
Renee : Robin, it seems that your Notebook ’s warranty has expired.
Robin : I’m aware of that. I believe this is an obvious design flaw. I don’t expect the top to fall apart like that.
Renee : As from my side I will forward the details about your Notebook to our case manager.One of our case manager will call you about this.
Robin : Thank you, Renee, I appreciate that.
Renee : Please provide me the following details, so that I will create a case for you.
Renee : Full name:
Complete US adress:
Phone number:
E-mail id:
…….
Renee : Thank you for the details
Robin : You’re welcome.
Renee : Also provide me the convinient date and time to arrange a call for you.
Robin : I work from home, and that’s my home phone, so usually just about any time.
Robin : Is it possible to get a copy of this chat transcript?
Renee : You will receive an option to save the chat session once we disconnect our chat session.You can save it in your Notebook .
Renee : Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
Robin : Do you have a common time frame in which I might expect a call?
Renee : I am afriad, as I am forwarding this to our case manager I do not have much information about this.
Renee : If you want I can arrange a call back at your convinient time.
Robin : Okay, I just didn’t know if this week, next week, today, tomorrow. Today or tomorrow would be great.
Renee : Sure, you will recieve the call bcak within 48 business ours.
Renee : *hours
Robin : Perfect. I think we’re done here.
Robin : I’ll look forward to hearing from the case manager.
Renee : It is been my pleasure assisting you today.
Renee : Thank you for contacting HP Total Care Real-Time chat support. If you need further assistance, please contact us again at: http://www.hp.com/support/chat. Chat support is available 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.
Renee : Good bye and take care.
____
This was last Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday, a very helpful case manager Neal called, told me he was sending us a box. The fedex box came on Friday. We shipped it back the same day. It was delivered to the California facility on Monday. They shipped it back this Wednesday, we received it Thursday.
It’s fixed. They didn’t wipe the hard drive. It was all very easy, thanks to this website. Had to jump through a couple of hoops, but nothing too difficult.
I am sending $ for this site right now! Thanks to all of you!
Robin
October 10th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Made comment 239 on the hinge crack page. My notebook was out of warranty so after reading through the success stories page I decided to give the online chat a shot. Chatted with an HP tech who immediately escalated the case and told me I would receive a call within 48 hrs. 48 hrs past so I contacted them for a second time. I started another session the third time because I still had not received a call. The third tech stated that a concern manager would call me within 24 hrs and I did receive the phone call. She was real nice and told me that my notebook would be repaired right after I told her my problem. We chatted for several minutes and I brought my problem and this site up for conversation. She said they receive a lot of calls regarding the notebook hinge and them being out of warranty. Hopefully my comment can encourage and help those who needed some encouragement. Good luck and as everyone says, don’t give up!
October 13th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I have started my process after coming across this site … wish I had found it months ago …I have had the broken hinge for months , gingerly holding it together as I opened and closed it … after months of frustration, I bought a new laptop , and in the process of looking to find a cheap way to repair the old one … found this site ..online chat was just completed , we will see when I get my call from my case rep !
October 14th, 2008 at 6:41 am
Well I have th same basic story as the rest of you , with one major twist … when I reiceved my call from the case worker , Rebecca …. she was rather snooty and became very rude and aggressive …as I tried to explain , as y’all did that I beleived it was a design flaw , all she kept sying was HP has not issued a recall , and since your warranty is expired, all I can do is offer to pay for half of your repair … when I asked how it was fair for them to repair others out of warranty , she continued to reply , that what I saw was a website not done by HP and she can not discuss any other repair other then my own … she got more and more rude , kept talking over me… I asked to speak to someone higher up , with her reply that she was the end person I could speak to on this matter
Anyone have another suggestion ??
October 15th, 2008 at 7:45 am
I called HP yesterday after I opened my dv9000 only to have the top cover practically split in half. I spoke to the live chat technician (bot) who escalated my story to a case manager (Julia). I recieved my call today and spoke to her. She explained that HP sold over 100,000 dv9000’s and that this page was created by a small group of individuals with a common problem. I expalined that the hinge appeared to be a latent defect that HP should fix, she countered with until HP officals calls it a defect it is only a broken hinge. She hit me with the $298 repair fee, I countered with another mention of this page, where she parried and called all of the people who “claimed” to have received free repairs exagerating the truth. I went back and forth with her for 20 mins. She finally sighed and took $150 off the repair. I know that I was probably taken, but I NEED my computer and would have had it repaired by HP regardless. The $150 off took a bit of the sting out of the repair cost. My next lap top will be an Apple, but that is a couple of years down the line.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
I had my computer approximately 11 months when the hinges began to get loose. In September, the right hinge completely separated from the computer, causing the plastic casing around the screen to crack. Wires were exposed, and the screen would sometimes flicker on and off. I contacted HP over 7 times regarding a broken hinge on my dv9500. The first time, I was told that it wasn’t covered and that it would cost over $400 to repair. I called again several days later and was told that hinge cracks happen frequently. The HP representative told me to send it in for repair. I sent it in and was told by the repair center that it was not covered by the warranty. I was quoted $400 for the repair. I gave up and sent it to a local repair shop. The owner told me that he got hinge breaks on HP laptops all the time. He said that he would try to contact HP himself and get through to Level 2 support. HP told him that the hinge had broken due to abuse. The repairman said that he didn’t think that it was mishandled, but that it wasn’t worth paying for the repair because he thought it would break again. He then recommended this website. I began researching the problem, and finally decided to give it another try. This time I decided to use HP Chat. The chat wasn’t working that day, so I had to email my problem to HP. The next day I received a very unpleasant email from “Adam” at HP. He basically told me that I was wrong and that it wasn’t HP’s responsibility. He said that my model wasn’t affected by the defective hinges. I decided to try HP Chat again. I was assigned to “Sefan” and he told me that HP typically covered hinge repairs. He didn’t ask me any questions, but told me that he would arrange for me to send it in to be repaired for free. I sent it in on October 7, and on October 10 I checked the status of my repair, and HP had added a service charge of $325. At this point, I had given up on a free repair, but I called customer service to ask why there was a $75 discrepancy for the same repair. I said that I was promised a free repair and had the chat log to prove it. I told them how I was originally quoted $400 and now I was being told that it would be $75 less. The representative told me that I had been misinformed by HP chat. He said that it is unusual for them to repair hinge breaks for free. He said that it happens due to “normal wear and tear”. I asked him why his company was selling a product that had a live expectancy of less than a year. He said that he didn’t have an answer for me, but to contact HP Chat Support to ask why I had been misinformed. I contacted HP Chat and asked if hinge breaks were typically covered. I was assigned to “Seriah” and she told me that they were. I asked her why there was so much confusion over whether or not this problem is covered by the warranty. She said that she would have “a higher official” contact me within 3-4 business days. That was last Friday. I was contacted on Monday by HP. I had been assigned a case manager. He reviewed my rather large file and asked me to tell him what had happened in my own words. I told him the whole story and when I was done he said, “I’m sorry for the problems you’ve had trying to get your computer fixed. I’m going to waive the service charges.” I thanked him, and today I received my repaired computer. They replaced both hinges and the keyboard. The plastic casing around the screen was also repaired. I know that my story is long, but the key is to be persistent! You have to be firm, but polite with them. Eventually HP will fix it!
October 21st, 2008 at 10:21 am
I called support and reported the hinge issue and was told they would send me a fedex box. I was happy it was so easy! then at the END of the conversation was told it would be almost $400.00, no amount of “this is a defect” would sway the man so I came back to this site to see what else I could do. I am hopeful that HP will fix this.
October 27th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
to Post 148: Andrea
I have sent my HP dv9207us in 4 Times and never paid a penny. i even receved a brand New laptop for free! since HP was not able to fix the hinge.
Ask to talk to Zeblin he is the one that helped me in this matter.
October 29th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Got my laptop back two days ago. Called one time and got it in no problem. Received my box from fedx and had the laptop fixed in a week. they also looked at a wireless internet card that was not working for free and the computer has been off warranty for 6 months. One of the best customer service I have ever experienced
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:16 am
2 Nov 08. Sent email to CEO two days ago, received email auto-reply, followed two days later with a call from Case Mgr. He informed me that they wouldmtake repairs (at no charge) to the faulty hinge problem. A follow up email from the Case Mgr included case no, S/N, etc, comfirmation of my mail address, zero charges, etc.
He inidcated about 10 working days turn-around. No guarantee that the HDD would not be “reimaged”. I plan to attach a note to the unit requesting the HDD not be “reimaged”. In any case, I have everything backed up (Acfronis True Image on ext. HDD). So can only hope for the best.
I must say, I’m quite impressed with HP’s attitude and rapid response. I will remain a faithful customer and recommend them to all potential customers. ‘Ray USA!
Now waiting for the shipping container (expected approx 4-6 Nov).
Bob
November 11th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Bob Davis can you please post the CEO’semail address. Thanks!
November 11th, 2008 at 11:22 am
I have owned, rebuilt and serviced many laptops. You and your readers should find this helpful.
Instructions on how to break your laptop hinges and cases:
1. Carry it by the screen. This may require several attempts.
2. Force the screen back beyond it’s stops.
3. Use the machine as a file folder and close the lid on stacks of paper.
All 3 forms of abuse are sure to work.
November 14th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Shipped my laptop on 6 Nov to HP in the their packing box on 6th. (Paid overnight shipping).
Surprise: Got email back THAT SAME day with shipping info.
On the following Monday approx 3:25 p.m I had the repaired/returned laptop in my hands.
Looks loke new complete new lid, they also noted new keyboard (didn’t know there was a problem).
And, as HP said, NO CHARGE! Works just great. No lid problems and more important my OS set w/all data was returned totally in tact.
Typed by a happy camper. Thank you HP for your quick and very efficient response to my problem!
Bob
November 15th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I bought my HP Pavilion (dv9008nr) notebook on January 11 2007. All was well until about May of 2008, I noticed that the seam of the LCD screen’s casing was starting to split, I also noticed the left hinge would creak every time I opened and closed my notebook. So, a few weeks later, I called HP technical support (even though my notebook was almost a year and a half out of warranty at this point). I spoke to a support representative, and he basically told me that it would cost me $298 to repair my notebook (which did not surprise me). I told him that I have not neglected my notebook in any way. His reply to that was basically that if I did not have a way to prove it, HP would not warrant the repair, and even if I did, my notebook was out of warranty so it would be irrelevant. At this point, I was off from school so I wasn’t traveling with my notebook too often, so decided to put it off (for now). Five months later, I starting small popping sound from the left hinge, I decided that something had to be done, so I emailed the CEO of HP and explained the issue that I was having with my notebook, I also linked him to this site. Three days later I received a call from an HP case manager named Daryl Jenkins, he help me set up my case as well as my service order, so I can send my notebook to a HP repair facility. I received my empty box the next day; I filled out the necessary information, packed up my notebook and shipped it out the same day (11/5/08) at 8pm. I received my notebook today (11/14/08) around 2pm. I checked my notebook over to make sure that everything that was said to be repaired was actually repaired. I have to say, I am quite please with HP for finally owning up to their design flaw and taking the initiative to make things right. I would also like to thank the owner of this site for, well… making this site and making this issue with HP’s dv series notebooks a more widely known problem, and for posting possible solution, it is much appreciated, thanks again!
November 18th, 2008 at 7:03 am
EXCELLENT SERVICE FROM HP in the Netherlands.
Within 5 days my laptop (9202ea- 1 year warranty, 20 month old) was collected by UPS, repaired by HP-repair centre in Weiterstadt-Germany, and delivered back home at Den Haag, The Netherlands. No costs at all.
November 19th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
My dv9035nr (purchased Dec 2006 @ Bestbuy) has experienced this very same issue - it started in late Sept 2008. At first, I was able to “snap” the cover back into place but this issue has been declining since. As a prior poster indicated, it obviously worsens as the top is opened/closed … which is commonplace since laptops are designed for travel. Does “Poor Ergonomics” sound fitting?
On a side note, I came to discover only a few months after purchase that HP discontinued this model. While that it not uncommon, I’m guessing it’s partly related to inherent issues such as this flaw. What upsets me is that Bestbuy / HP continues to sell them to the public when clearly there’s an issue.
Even though my warranty expired, I was able to get the repairs paid for in full, by calling 800 followed by VISA911. My bank card has “buyer protection” through Visa which DOUBLES the Mfg Warranty on EVERY purchase I make using the card.
November 19th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Great news for me - HP will honor my repairs, despite being 11 months out of warranty. It turns out that I won’t need to utilize VISA911.
Here’s my chat transcript, for those interested:
####
Paul: My left hinge has cracked and no longer allows the top to be closed. Site states that HP acknowledges this as a DEFECT and will repair at no cost. Please advise. Thanks. www.notebookhingecrack.com
[An agent will be with you shortly.]
[You are now chatting with Kaelyn .]
Kaelyn : Hello Paul.
Kaelyn : Welcome to HP Total Care for HP notebooks. Please give me a few moments while I review your problem description details
Kaelyn : I understand the issue correctly, the left hinge has broken and it is difficult to close the Notebook. AM I Correct?
Paul: Yes. As I understand it, this is considered a defect by HP and free repairs are being offered (according to www.notebookhingecrack.com)
Paul: That 3rd party site has hundreds of people affected worldwide .. and many post their experience with HP regardin this repair.
Paul: Many of which are like mine; a DV9000 series laptop
Kaelyn : Alright.
Kaelyn : Could you please let me know the following System information of the Notebook which has the issue:
Model Number (eg:Pavilion zt3000):
Product Number p/n (eg:DS542UA#ABA):
Serial Number s/n (eg: CNS34915MC):
The Model, Product and Serial number are located on a white sticker called the service tag, beneath the Notebook.
Paul: Model: dv9035nr
Paul: Product: RG343UA #ABA
Paul: Serial: **********
Kaelyn : Thank you for the information.
Kaelyn : Please give me few moments while I search for the Warranty information.
Paul: This same laptop has other defects since day 1 of ownership - (1) blue buttons on quickplay do not work, unless I remove battery and A/C then power it back up. Eventually buttons will fail again. (2) fan is very loud (rattling sound).
Paul: I am already at the latest BIOS, according to HP product page.
Kaelyn : Alright.
Kaelyn : Thank you for your time and patience.
Kaelyn : As I see that the Notebook comes under free repair serivice I am glad to inform you that I can take the Notebook for repair. Is that fine with you?
Paul: Yes - good news. A few questions, of course. How can I request that HP technicians do NOT reimage the hard drive?
Kaelyn : Well, let me explain you that as you are giving the Notebook for repair, they might format the Hard Drive and then install the new operating system, however I recommend you to take the back-up of the data.
Paul: Thanks for clarifying; I would take a full backup. However, I do not want Vista installed - is there any way around this issue? If I enclose a note taped to the laptop screen, will that be honored?
Kaelyn : Well, I really regret to say that the repair center would install the pre-installed operating system when the Notebook was shipped to you at the time of purchase.
Paul: Okay, no worries, I can reinstall afterwards. I am happy to have the laptop repaired and at no cost to me.
Paul: Is there an estimated turn-around timeframe (how long would HP have my laptop, before returning it to me)?
Kaelyn : Yes. The repair would take 7-9 business days of time.
Kaelyn : (rep asked for my contact info and mailing address – to send the shipping box)
Kaelyn : Here is the description of the service.
Kaelyn : If you decide to take advantage of the Mail-in Process option, you will need to know the processes involved. The shipping and repair of your PC will typically take 7 to 10 business days to complete, and will involve the steps outlined below.
NOTE: Please complete the steps in the section “Preparing the PC for Mail-in Process” below while you are waiting for the shipping box to arrive.
=== Mail-in Process process ===
1. A shipping box is dispatched to your home and should be delivered within one to two business days from the time the service is requested. Packing
instructions, a return shipping label, and strapping tape are included in the shipping box. 2. Pack the computer in the shipping box using the packing
instructions.
NOTE: Please pack and ship only the Notebook PC. Do not ship the monitor or any accessories (power cables, mouse, keyboard, manuals, CD-ROM’s,
joysticks, etc.)
3. After the computer is packed and secured in the shipping box, you will call the required shipping company to schedule a time to pick up the box. The
phone number for the shipping company is included on the instruction sheet.
4. The shipping company picks up the packaged computer and delivers it to the repair facility. This could take as long as two business days to complete.
5. The repair center receives the package and inventories the contents of the box. 5. Once the computer is repaired it is repackaged for shipping. 6.
The shipping company picks up the repaired PC from the repair center and delivers it back to your address. This could take up to two business days to
complete.
=== Preparing the PC for Mail-in Process ===
1. It is recommended that critical data be backed up to removable media on a regular basis.
It is your responsibility to back up personal data to reduce the risk of lost data. As stated in the manufacturer’s warranty, Hewlett-Packard Company
cannot be held responsible for lost data. If the Hard drive is accessible, it is recommended you copy personal data files onto Floppy, ZIP, or CDRW
media prior to shipping the product to HP for repair.
2. If you have added any third party products or accessories:
To properly diagnose the problem with the PC, it is necessary to have the computer in the same configuration it was in when originally shipped by the
manufacturer. HP recommends that third party products or accessories be removed or uninstalled prior to shipping the product to HP for repair. Hewlett-
Packard is not responsible for any third party products, devices or accessories that are shipped to the repair facility.
NOTE: If third party products or accessories are left in the PC:
To accurately troubleshoot the computer, if installed, third party products and accessories will be removed at the repair facility. If a problem is
resolved by removing or uninstalling the third party device, this will be noted in the repair documentation. The device will NOT be reinstalled in the
PC, but will be shipped back to you in the box with the repaired PC.
Hewlett-Packard is not responsible for any third party products, devices, or accessories that are shipped to the repair facility.
Paul: I’ve copied that for reading afterwards - thanks.
Paul: You said “If you decide to take advantage of the Mail-in Process option”. Is there another option?
Paul: Also, if I mention the issue with the quickplay buttons AND the loud fan, will those also be repaired (and at no cost)?
Kaelyn : Well, I am taking the Notebook for repair, I would also mention other issue also.
Paul: Thanks - will do. If I understood correctly, you are saying that (aside from mail time) HP will repair and ship back my laption within 7-9 business days?
Paul: If so, that’s very acceptable, especially since this is a business-use computer.
Kaelyn : Yes. It would take 7-9 business days to send the repaired Notebook PC.
Paul: When shall I expect the box to arrive? Also, once the box arrives, how long do I have to ship it out (is the offer time restricted)? I am concerned with the approaching US holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas)
Kaelyn : you would receive the Mail-in box with in 3-4 days.
Kaelyn : You need to send the Notebook to us within 15 days once you receive the Mail-In box.
Paul: Will the repairs be performed in the US?
Kaelyn : Yes. The repair would be performed in USA.
Kaelyn : Paul, I had created the case, Is there anything else I may assist you with?
Paul: May I know the Case# assigned?
Kaelyn : Here is the Activity Id: ****** for future references.
Paul: Thanks for making this so easy and helpful. I am very pleased with your service.
Kaelyn : Its my pleasure.
Paul: Good bye
####
November 24th, 2008 at 9:55 am
HP Finally recognizes the issue!
I just received following via email:
******************************************************************
URGENT SUPPORT NOTIFICATION FROM HP
******************************************************************
HP Pavilion dv9000 Notebook PC Limited Service Enhancement Program
HP is offering a Limited Service Enhancement Program through
May 31, 2009 for the left display hinge on the HP Pavilion dv9000
notebook PC serial number that you registered. If you experience
a broken left display hinge before May 31, 2009 or previously paid
for a left display hinge repair, please refer to the HP website
at: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01611512
If you have not experienced a broken left display hinge, no action
is required on your part.
Sincerely,
Hewlett-Packard Company
This Urgent Support Notification was sent to ******@yahoo.com
because you registered with HP or Compaq as a product owner and
this message is critical to your product ownership. HP prides
itself in being customer focused, quality driven and a company
that customers can trust and count on, and we apologize for any
inconvenience.
HP is committed to respecting your privacy. For more
information, visit our privacy policy at
http://www.hp.com/country/us/en/privacy.html
or contact us at
HP Privacy Mailbox, 20555 SH 249, MS 040307, Houston, TX 77070
November 24th, 2008 at 9:57 am
******************************************************************
URGENT SUPPORT NOTIFICATION FROM HP
******************************************************************
HP Pavilion dv9000 Notebook PC Limited Service Enhancement Program
HP is offering a Limited Service Enhancement Program through May 31, 2009 for the left display hinge on the HP Pavilion dv9000 notebook PC serial number that you registered. If you experience a broken left display hinge before May 31, 2009 or previously paid for a left display hinge repair, please refer to the HP website
at: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=ca&docname=c01611512
If you have not experienced a broken left display hinge, no action is required on your part.
Sincerely,
Hewlett-Packard Company
November 24th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Yeah! Many kudos to websmaster for creating this site. Its saved lots of us time and money. Also, demonstrated that HP is one of the few corps that actually give good customer service, if you call a case manager.
Bottomline: HP has finally recognized this as an official defect:
******************************************************************
URGENT SUPPORT NOTIFICATION FROM HP
******************************************************************
HP Pavilion dv9000 Notebook PC Limited Service Enhancement Program
HP is offering a Limited Service Enhancement Program through May 31, 2009 for the left display hinge on the HP Pavilion dv9000 notebook PC serial number that you registered. If you experience a broken left display hinge before May 31, 2009 or previously paid for a left display hinge repair, please refer to the HP website at: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01611512
If you have not experienced a broken left display hinge, no action is required on your part.
Sincerely,
Hewlett-Packard Company
November 24th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I notified HP about my left hinge crack about two months ago. I just sent an email with complete information about my laptop and exactly what happened. My email was promptly escalated to a case manager, who called me within a couple of days. He was extremely helpful and polite, and never questioned my assertion that I treated my laptop with kid gloves.
My laptop is about 6 months out of warranty, but repairs were arranged free of charge and with practically no effort on my part. I was sent a paid shipping box within one day, sent in my laptop, and had my completely repaired laptop back in my hands FIVE days later!! Amazing turnaround and service!! The case manager even called me to follow up and told me that my computer was on its way back to me—and it arrived about a half hour after he called.
My laptop was sent within the US for repair, to Northern California. I am completely satisfied with HP’s response to my problem and their awesome service to repair my laptop and get it back to me in less than a week! I’ve always known HP to be a great company, and the customer service I received on this issue was stellar!
I was also happy to have received the notice sent out to all registered owners of the laptops with reported hinge problems that I received this morning, as another poster mentioned above. I am glad that everyone will be able to get their Pavilion fixed—I certainly love mine and am grateful for the repair and great service I received!
November 25th, 2008 at 7:43 am
It appears that HP has finally given in…check it out
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01611512
November 25th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
HOORAY! FINALLY SOMEONE AT *HP* HAS LISTENED AND RESPONDED! Please consider posting this on your FRONT PAGE:
RECEIVED: 2008-11-24
FROM:
************************************
URGENT SUPPORT NOTIFICATION FROM HP
************************************
HP Pavilion dv9000 Notebook PC Limited Service Enhancement Program
HP is offering a Limited Service Enhancement Program through May 31, 2009 for the left display hinge on the HP Pavilion dv9000 notebook PC serial number that you registered.
If you experience a broken left display hinge before May 31, 2009 or previously paid for a left display hinge repair, please refer to the HP website at: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01611512
If you have not experienced a broken left display hinge, no action is required on your part.
Sincerely,
Hewlett-Packard Company
This Urgent Support Notification was sent to ********@********.com because you registered with HP or Compaq as a product owner and this message is critical to your product ownership. HP prides itself in being customer focused, quality driven and a company
that customers can trust and count on, and we apologize for any inconvenience.
HP is committed to respecting your privacy. For more
information, visit our privacy policy at http://www.hp.com/country/us/en/privacy.html
or contact us at HP Privacy Mailbox, 20555 SH 249, MS 040307, Houston, TX 77070
************************************
November 25th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
For some reason, the sender email address was removed from my prior post. I’ve now removed the “@” sign to see if that helps retain it:
“Hewlett-Packard (at) urgentsupport.americas.hp.com”
November 25th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
It would be helpful if people would post here regarding the condition of their computer AFTER receiving it back from HP.
Aside from the repairs, did HP wipe the entire hard drive? Did they install the latest version of Vista, even if you had WinXP PRO before sending it in for repairs?
Thanks!
November 27th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I just contacted HP for my free laptop hinge repair and I must say that it was a very smooth process. I recommend going to the HP customer service site and it will give you all of the information that you need to get the repair. At no time did they ask how old the computer was.
This was the easiest thing I have done in months. I am very pleased that HP is taking care of this seemingly common problem. However, Best Buy doesn’t seem to know anything about this free repair because they wanted to charge me $300 to fix it. Can anyone out there spell “SCAM”?
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:02 pm
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************I M P O R T A N T******************
***************************************************************************************************************************************************
Hi,heres the message i got from HP, I speak french, if you don’t, just get it translated, THERE’S A RECALL ON HP LEFT HINGE.
*** PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE ***
HEWLETT
PACKARD
………………………………………………………………….
Cher client,
Dans un effort soutenu visant à toujours vous offrir un service qui saura
vous satisfaire, nous avons joint la confirmation de votre récente Solution
de soutien Hewlett-Packard. Veuillez conserver le présent document pour vos
dossiers.
L’état de la garantie mentionné plus loin dépend de l’exactitude du numéro
de modèle, du numéro de série et de la preuve d’achat (si requise). Veuillez
vérifier si tous les renseignements sont exacts. Si un renseignement est
erroné, ou si vous avez des questions concernant le service à la clientèle
relatif à votre produit HP, veuillez communiquer avec le centre du service à
la clientèle HP en composant le numéro de téléphone approprié indiqué dans
le guide de l’utilisateur du produit.
***Important: S.v.p. ne répondez pas à ce courriel car cette boîte
électronique n’est pas installée pour recevoir des messages électronique. ***
Vous pouvez vérifier en ligne l’état actuel de votre commande, à l’adresse :
https://warp1.external.hp.com/CSO_Status/Order_Status_fr.asp?CSONumber=J25977&ItemNumber=01&Zipcode=H7A4G1&country=Canada
ou en allant à l’adresse Web mentionnée ci-après et en entrant J25977 comme
numéro de commande et H7A4G1 comme code postal.
https://warp1.external.hp.com/CSO_Status/Order_Lookup_fr.asp?country=Canada
Vous pouvez obtenir en tout temps un soutien hors pair en allant à l’adresse
http://www.hp.ca . Grâce au service à la clientèle primé de HP, votre
ordinateur personnel vous permet d’accéder à un monde de services de
soutien. Vous trouverez des conseils et des astuces, de l’aide relativement
au dépannage, des programmes pilotes, des forums communautaires et un
soutien technique par courriel (accessible uniquement dans le cas de
certains produits), et beaucoup d’autres outils qui vous aideront à obtenir
rapidement les réponses dont vous avez besoin.
Salutations distinguées,
Service à la clientèle HP
……………………..
December 4th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Finally, free repair!
dv6000 series:
To maker a long story short:
> Sent in to HP for free motherboard replacement
> Charge 328$ for hinge
> Chat support/Reese/Only for left hinge and not right
> Chat support again/Keith/Mentioned problem + site/Talked to supervisor/automatically escalated case
> 2 days later - call from case manager, asks the problem, repeat the whole frustration > “okay i’m getting this fixed for you for free, and i’m keeping your case open till you recieve your laptop back fixed and call me to close the case”
Condition:
> 3 business days later - box from fedex, replaced: LCD bezel, display, keyboard, reformatted hard drive, display pca, heatsink fan, new AC cable (something wrong with that too apparently)
Problem was with right hinge on a dv6000, free replacement despite the other free fixes being for the dv9000
Don’t give up hope
I just hope this thing stays fine for another few years at least! Even though it’s replaced I feel like it’ll pop up again any minute…
December 5th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
i sent in my dv9000 and i got it back in 5 days and thay put a new bezel on it for free thx HP!!!!!!
December 9th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
My dv9000 was returned to me in 9 days, with new hinge (obviously), as well as replaced system board, LCD bezel, LCD cover, and a hard drive.
Looks great, however, is majorly overheating even worse than before - GPU is currently 92 celsius, core 72…
January 5th, 2009 at 5:57 am
received email from HP for free repair with hinge problem. call them, they sent me a box to put the computer in, drop it off to fedex(it’s prepaid fr HP), got it back within a few days, repaired like new(they changed the whole casing).
the most important thing is ithink they fixed the heat problem, i noticed my computer is very cool temperaturewise.
very satisfied with their service.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I contacted HP concerning my laptop’s broken hinge. They sent a box for returning the computer the next day.
The laptop was received by HP on Jan 20th. The expected return date was Jan 28th. They have updated the case showing a new return date of Feb 11th.
I happy they will fix the defect for free, but the 2 week delay is a drag.
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:56 am
Update to previous post (173):
After giving me a new return date of Feb 11th, HP completed the hinge repair and delivered my laptop on Feb 2nd. They replaced the 2 hinges, case lid and bezel.
I am very satisfied with the service although it did take 19 days from pick-up to return.
February 5th, 2009 at 10:48 am
I called customer service this morning around 8am central time and said that I am having the common left hinge problem with my dv9000, which I bought October of 2007. They looked up my serial number and said that it didn’t fit the requirement of being below 716, mine was 723. I proceeded to explain that it is defintely a manf. defect. She says she is following protocol and her hands are tied so she is going to set me up with a case manager. The case manager called me around 6:30pm. I told him my problem. He gave me no rebuttal and set up the free repair. Very smooth process. lasted a mere 9 min total, half of the time was being put on hold. The box to ship my computer will be here tomorrow and takes 3-9 days to be fixed. I suggest talking calm and explaining how this is slowing progress down for you. So don’t by that they wont repair your computer if you don’t have the serial number requirement.
February 11th, 2009 at 11:57 am
success! from the moment i call hp to the moment i received it repaired count 1 week and 1 days!!!!! hp canada rock!
now it’s like brand new witch the front and back bezel changed!
February 17th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
re: post 169…i was just about to give up home, my dv6000 is a DINOSAUR and i was sure this wasn’t even something i should pursue. glad i found this site today, and i shall be live chatting with them soon. i am NOT about to get a new laptop 3 months away from graduation!
February 18th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Well, I wish I had a positive story to tell, but it looks like I’m going to have 2 unusable DV9000-series laptops both which functionally work but cannot hold up their LCDs making them unusable as laptops.
Unfortunately for me, it looks like I waited until they were too damaged and now neither HP nor my warranty company (Squaretrade) is wanting to fix them. I had foolishly thought that early on that the damage would be considered “cosmetic” so I didn’t file early and now that the molding in the case is broken on both ends (THAT’s how its held together WTF!!!), I’m looking screwed.
For my DV9000T which has the broken left hinge I sent it off to HP using the service enhancement. A few days later the status got updated. Out of Warranty. Cost to repair $1065. Yes, apparently even though the laptop functionally works fine, it needs a new Motherboard (BS!), a new CPU (BS!) and a new LCD panel (BS BS BS!). They pretty much gave me the finger and told me to go away.
My other laptop (DV9009) doesn’t have the left hinge problem: it just fell apart due to normal use since as I’ve mentioned, the laptop is held together by some cheap plastic molding in the case. Who designed this thing!! I’m going to try to get Squaretrade to fix it one more time (last time they claimed my DV9000T was not damaged under “normal use”) and see what happens.
My previous laptop HP ZD7000 went like this: power connector broke (spent $250 to fix it), video card died, shipped off to HP, they claimed that it had “water damage” and would cost over a grand to fix, was contacted because of a class action lawsuit, signed up, waited forever, finally got them to ship it out, HP finally fixed it (gee: you still think it was water damage???). Got it back. 3 months later the power connector broke again. Mother F!!!!
So, that’s it. I’m done. Period. No more expensive HP laptops. I’ve spent my whole life as a PC guy, but Apple seems to be the only one to be interested in making a decent product. Next time, we’ll be buying a Macbook. I suggest you do the same. HP didn’t learn from its lessons with the ZD7000 and it won’t learn from the DV9000. Other PC companies are the same. 1.5 year shelf life, just to get you out of warranty.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to email me at kirk@hilles.net if you find this helpful or have a similar story, but I’m burned and hurt and done.
February 20th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Well, I’m in a bit of shock. It turns out that even though HP quoted me $1065 to fix the laptop, they actually FIXED the laptop anyway for free. Thank goodness!! They replaced both hinges, the front bezel and the ever important back cover which holds it all together.
I’m not sure how long it’ll be before it breaks again, but heck I’ll take it!
Now, I’ll see if Squaretrade will fix my DV9009 since it has a damaged RIGHT hinge. If not, maybe one more shot with HP at fixing that one.
Thank you all
February 25th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
wow i found this website a little too late.
i went to ebay bought hinges for this hp dv8000
both were cracked in the bottom corner.
cheap flimsy hinges.
i repaired it myself, using the service manual.
overall success.
first time around didnt plug into the inverter.
so had to reopen it, but i am on the laptop now and somewhat happy.
i guess somewhere along the line pressure marks were made on the screen. i am upset now because i love this 17″ screen so much that it was worth all the elbow grease to fix it.
March 8th, 2009 at 6:01 am
I found this website a few months back and bookmarked it - then I checked back two weeks ago and saw the update that HP was correcting the problem (which actually was in my updates info when I did my HP updates). I called on HP on Monday March 2nd and the rep was easy to deal with and nice, it only took about 15 minutes to complete the info and got a tracking number- box came in two days, though I was afraid it would be gone for a month, so I didn’t ship out until the following Monday, March 3rd - received email the following day March 4th they received laptop and another March 5th it was on it’s way back - I received laptop back March 6th, fixed with two new hinges, bezel and cover - very satisfied!! I will definitely stay with HP next time - I had Toshiba and Gateway previously and got a defect with Toshiba they wouldn’t correct.
March 8th, 2009 at 6:04 am
p.s. Since I got the laptop back in three days I thought maybe I mailed it to myself, instead of HP, and was afraid to open the box, lol.
March 8th, 2009 at 6:09 am
p.s.s. Sorry, forgot to add thanks for this website, if I didn’t find it, I never would have called HP and chalked it up to another bad purchase - I’m sending a small donation through PayPal - keep up the good work!!
March 14th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
re: DV9210US
I just called and HP said they will fix all the problems, hinge and blank screen, etc. Tech said it has been isolated to replacing the motherboard.
HP has identified a hardware issue with certain HP Pavilion dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 and Compaq Presario V3000/V6000 series notebook PCs, and has also released a new BIOS for these notebook PCs, version F.39 for dv2000/V3000, and version F.3D for dv6000/dv9000/V6000.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01087277&printable=no&encodeUrl=true&
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:25 am
I called HP customer service yesterday about the left hinge crack on my Pavilion DV9500 notebook. It is causing the LCD casing around the hinge to crack and pop open. Customer Service said they were only covering DV9000, DV9200 and DV9400. It did not help that my notebook is out of warranty. This is clearly a problem that HP is having even if enough people with other models have not been reported. I was disappointed with no resolution.
May 3rd, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Hi all I have a HP 9000 myself and have noticed the last few months that the screen seems to be looser then what it once was. I am wondering if this is a sign of the hinge problem starting. I have also had issues with the wireless card and the overheating. I have a burn on my leg from this. I know dont laugh. I have issues with my legs from a disease. It is not just a blonde issue. Thanks for all the information. I saw the letter from HP and their cut off date. Not sure why they would put an end date on their defect. Again, thanks and any info would be appreciated.
May 13th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
I’m in a bit of a pickle. I have a dv9540us with a broken right hinge, and they’ve made it clear that I’ll have to pay about $400 to send it in to be repaired. I’d rather not pay that much, but I need it fixed by the time this summer ends and I go back to school. Will I gain anything by waiting, or is there any particular way I should nudge them? Or should I suck it up and pay and hope for a refund later?
And thanks so much for creating this site, it’s really nice to be able to commiserate with other victims and to have some kind of voice against this ridiculous company.
September 4th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Well, here it is 9.1.09 and my hinge just broke a couple of days ago. I guess I was unlucky that it lasted this long, as HP will not cover the repair, but will only offer a discounted repair rate of 149. I even had it escalated to a supervisor who said HP won’t budge and will only offer the discounted repair rate at this time. Thanks for the site!
September 7th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I bought my DV9201ca in Mar 3 2007 and on Apr 22 2008 the left hinge broke. I contacted support - they seemed to think my purchase date was in Feb 2007 - and after waiting a very long time they said they would change the purchase date to Mar 26 & repair it under warranty. I received the shipping box very quickly, but decided to hand-deliver it so I would be sure I would be without it for the shortest possible time. I got it back in about 3 days - but they reinstalled Vista & I had to start over again.
In Nov 2008 the wireless stopped working - I think it was a BIOS problem - same drill - drove up to the suburbs to personally hand deliver to repair depot. (now I have two shipping boxes at home). I got it back quickly - this time expecting a Vista reinstall - but it was the same way I left it.
In the mean time, noticed that my left hinge problem was universal and they were now fixing everybody’s for free.
Now it is Sep 2009 and my right hinge just broke. Contact support and of course they said the limited service enhancement period is over…
December 16th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Well I just repaired my dad’s zv5000 laptop - both hinges had died. It took HP 3 months to get back to my initial e-mail asking about the problem.
The hinge cost about £45, and a few hours of my time and it’s as good as new, apart from a slight bend in the little plastic covers, but that can’t be helped as that happened when the hinges went.
If anyone is stuck with this still and you’re in the UK, drop me a line and I’ll see if maybe I can sort yours for you!
eglsnewton at hotmaildotcom
January 13th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
http://www.insidemylaptop.com/how-to-replace-broken-left-hinge-in-hp-pavilion-dv9000/
i replaced a screen using this site’s instructions, and even gave them a donation because it worked oh so good. woot woot
February 24th, 2010 at 8:19 am
you have a wonderful site!
March 22nd, 2010 at 5:02 pm
So I have a HP DV 9000 which I bought in 2007, the broken hinge was repaired Fall of 2008, now it is Spring 2010 and the hinge is broken again.
Getting this problem fixed is not the end of the issue as it will reoccur agian.