After a mere one and a half months, my HP iPAQ 211 totally crapped out. Can you believe this total claptrap? My iPAQ actually showed signs of breaking down this morning when the unit suddenly chimed and reported an "out of program memory" message. I was like, "WTF" since I wasn't doing anything with my iPAQ at the time (it was simply sitting on my desk). I figured a soft reset would do the trick. Nope! That did not work. After a reboot, the Windows Mobile 6 "Start" menu was not populated with any program shortcuts at all, and the unit froze up shortly thereafter. I then tried a "clean reset" which cleared the entire unit's memory and set the entire iPAQ back to factory "out of the box" defaults. This appeared to fix the problem temporarily, but my iPAQ got very unstable and froze up again (not to mention the "Start" menu program shortcuts failed again) within a couple of hours. At this point in time, my blood is well on its way to boiling.
During my troubleshooting steps, I noticed the battery cover was quite warm to the touch. I removed the battery cover and observed the battery was unusually hot; which leads me to believe the battery overheated and quite possibly fried the motherboard components of my beloved iPAQ. Needless to say, I was steaming mad once I reached this point.
I initiated a phone call with HP technical support to get my iPAQ shipped back for warranty covered repairs. I outlined to the technician on the other end of the phone that this is the second iPAQ I own that had to go back to HP for repairs during the first year of ownership. Oh yeah, I cannot even get a replacement iPAQ because I didn't pay the required $129.00 extra for HP's 3 Year/Next Day warranty coverage. So what good is the included 1 year warranty? Since when do manufacturers not back up their products with a solid, out of box warranty? Since when did customer service become so dreadful? Manufacturers like HP have no problems taking our money for their products, and now all of the sudden we are required to pay extra money for first class warranty coverage which should be provided in the first place; especially at the high prices they charge for their products. Such a pity, my iPAQ is was one hell of a solid, fast performer. Too bad my iPAQ's included 2200 mAh lithium ion battery overheated and fried the iPAQ circuitry in the process. So much for quality control.
After getting my case submitted into the systems at HP, I then asked to speak to a supervisor. After a lengthy hold time, the supervisor finally picked up the phone. I wanted to know if he would make an exception by simply shipping me out a replacement, especially given the very short life span I got out of my iPAQ. He declined my request and told me that my iPAQ would have to experience three problems within 90 days of each other to be even considered for a free replacement. He also told me that if my iPAQ would of failed within the first 30 days of ownership, I would of been shipped a free replacement. Crap, I missed it by 17 days. Come on, man! He would not budge. I then stated my complete disappointment in HP's quality control, and poor customer service. I am seriously never going to purchase an HP product ever again.
You know, I didn't even get a freaking apology from the supervisor until I bluntly asked, "Do you even really care about my situation?" After my inquiry, he said, "Yes sir, I am sorry for your experience with HP, is there anything else I can do for you?"
Why yes, there is something you can do for me. It's called "customer service."
What a concept.