Panipat dealers unhappy with HP

Pooja Sharma

Dealers in Panipat say that customers have been facing various issues related
to warranty, delay in returning the equipment after servicing as well as
difficulty in locating the HP service center. Following scores of service issues
and complaints from customers and dealers for the past five to six months,
members of Panipat Computer Dealers Association (PCDA) paid a visit to HP's
authorized service center-Addonis Electronics last November and found an
untrained person looking after the center.

According Ajay Singla, President, PCDA, “The entire Panipat IT dealer
community, as well as customers have been facing service issues with regard to
HP products for the past five-six months. PCDA had discussed the issue with the
HP representatives in Panipat on a number of occasions but to no avail. The
complaints kept increasing so finally we decided to pay a visit to the service
center.”

Vivek Mittal of Panipat-based Apex Computers said that as a dealer he had
never come across so many customer complaints regarding HP products. “We are
fed-up with HP's existing service center (Addonis). There was a customer who
had problems with an adapter. When he visited the service center the concerned
professional had no knowledge about it and returned the same stating that there
was no problem with it. For the past few months we have been receiving two to
three complains on a daily basis and now we have stopped directing customers to
that service center.”

Another dealer, Vinay Jaggi of Computer Empire, stated, “If the service center
accepts the equipment then the same is returned to the customer after almost 10
to 15 days, leaving consumers furious. One customer approached Addonis to get
his printer repaired but the product was returned, as it was not under warranty.
The customer then sent the same to HP's service center in Karnal and within
three days the printer was returned to him with the service issue sorted out.”

Surender Panchal of Shree Sai Computers added that he had been receiving a
number of complaints about HP's service center. Panchal particularly was
facing problems related to replacement issues. He also added that the company
takes a lot of time when it came to replacing a product.

Pankaj Sharma, CEO, Star Computers, stated, “Ninety percent of the products
sent by us to the service center for repair/replacement are sent back,
unattended by unprofessional executives who are not aware of the technicalities
of the device. If they accept equipment, they take a lot of time to return the
same to the customers. The standard delivery time taken by any company is not
more than three days but HP's service center takes more than 10 days to
deliver the same.”

Rahul Kapoor of Digitech Computers stated that he had sent his customer to
the service center with his printer. After a thorough check he was told that the
cartridge was faulty and needed to be replaced. He purchased a new cartridge
from the market, but the problem persisted. “Now the service center has no
answer to it. This clearly indicates that there is no technical person sitting
there,” said Kapoor.

Echoing the same concern, Singla said that it was difficult to locate Addonis as
there are no clear indications around the center. “Several customers have
informed us that they had gone past the service center on a number of occasions
but there was no sign to suggest that it was an HP certified service center, and
this further added to their problems.”

He added that what was more disheartening for dealers was that an untrained
person had been made to sit at the service center in place of an authorized
service professional.

The association has discussed the issue amongst its members and has suggested
that if needed all the members would gear up to ban the company. “We have
tried to resolve the issue amicably, but with no response from HP's end we
have decided to blacklist HP products and services,” reiterated Singla.It may
be noted that the association had sent an e-mail to the HP representatives in
Panipat, including Ajay Agarwal, Zonal Manager, HP NCR region and Kamal Kant
Chawla, Regional Manager, HP, following which Agarwal responded via an e-mail
and assured them that he would take up the matter.

On contacting HP, the spokesperson stated, “HP has an excellent service and
support infrastructure across India. That includes 342 service and support
centers across 155 cities, spanning metros and upcountry locations. We do not
have any complaints from Panipat in our records. In fact, to further improve our
service and support in Panipat, we have recently setup a new service center in
the city.”