Paul received a door hanger from with a nice personal note from a salesman for the lawn care company TruGreen. “I see you’re treating the weeds already, but I have licensed techs, who use industrial strength products,” he wrote. “Give us a call to see aggressive gauranteed [sic] results!” How perceptive! Peter could almost take it seriously were his current lawn care company not TruGreen.

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Ryan tells Consumerist that his HP dv2700se laptop has been problematic, losing wireless connectivity, and overheating a bit. And when I say “a bit,” I mean “tried to set his desk on fire.” HP’s solution? Keep replacing the graphics processing unit (GPU) with the same flawed part until his warranty runs out. Ryan does not find this solution acceptable. Here is his story, with pictures.

In early 2008(?) I purchased a HP laptop that started freezing and wireless would go out etc..I read up and found out the issue was with the GPU and requested a different laptop without the faulty gpu. This was before they were cranking up the fan to increase the life of the units. So they sent me and upgrade! a special edition, 14.1 inch, bigger HD, more memory, it was great. Then I look at the GPU, its an 8400m again. I get pissed but decide that they helped me out and the chances of it failing again were slim. Wrong.

About 6 months in I had the same issues with my dv2700se. It started freezing, getting really warm, mouse stopped working, and wireless. I sent it off and they didn’t find anything wrong. I then sent it off again, very upset, but still was kind over the phone. They sent it back with a new motherboard and the same gpu, even though I requested something with an ATI card. They also applied the bios change so then fan was always on.

So about 3 months after this repair the battery stopped charging. This was due to over-use of the battery with the fan being on. So 3 months after that it starts overheating again! this time it almost lit a envelope on fire!, charred it black and set off a smoke alarm. Checked the temp and it was running at 82c, thats 180+ degrees.

So I call the number I got from [Consumerist], and get a case manager [redacted]. Hes very nice and says they will replace the motherboard, and the LCD as I have a extended accidental damage warranty. I explain the new DV4i with an ATI card would be cheaper than replacing the motherboard and lcd. He said they never replace laptops. I asked why they did the year before? no answer. I ask him about the defective 8400 cards and he says “yeah its been a pain in the rear, but what can we do”. He pretty much said yeah we are just going to put a defective part in it, again, until your warranty runs out.

I work for best buy on the weekends, and run a design firm during the week. The HP is my portable machine I take to clients, and if I need to work on 3d stuff on a plane etc..

I am constantly recommending HP stuff at work, but that is going to end now. It has been almost 2 years and I have never got more than 4 months out of the unit without issues.

Ryan sent an update a few weeks later:

I keep getting the run around from them. They now want me to send it to their engineers. I asked them what happens if the engineers deem its overheating? they said it will go to the repair facility. I said its been there, 3 times, and the same parts keep over heating. Soon my warranty will run out and it will cost me 400$

I haven’t gotten anywhere with them cause I don’t have email address’s to anyone important. One of the case reps even went as far as to call me stupid, saying I cant say that its overheating without being a HP certified tech. Even though I’m a certified tech and have been working on and with computers for over 15 years.

Ive pretty much given up, and my 1,000$ is now a waste.

An extended warranty and executive customer service have failed Ryan. Unfortunately, it may be time for him to escalate to some serious hardball. We’ve published stories in the past about readers with similar self-destructing laptop issues (or other problems that were HP’s fault) who have found success through filing in small claims court. Ryan’s computer wasn’t one of the notorious dv6000 models, but this draw get their attention to the fiery lemon that they sold and keep not repairing.

Man Gets Brand New Laptop After Suing HP In Small Claims Court For Losing His
Reader Receives $900 For Broken Laptop In Small Claims Court

Fab lawyer Sam Glover wrote a guide to taking a big scary company to small claims court for Consumerist: read it and learn.

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The federal deadline for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is midnight Central Daylight time, June 30, 2010, but state deadlines are often different and earlier.

Check out the list of state deadlines from the Department of Education.

Applying early is always better… you don’t want them to run out of money, right?

Application Deadlines [Department of Education]

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The New York Times takes a look at one dubious beneficiary of the recession, the for-profit trade school. These places offer training in fields like health care, computers and food service …and enrollment is soaring.

The sales pitch says that students will be able to find gainful employment and pay back the massive students loans they take out to pay for the trade school — but that’s not always the case. And the recruiters apparently know it.

From the NYT:

Ms. Wallace left her job at ITT in 2008 after five years because she was uncomfortable with what she considered deceptive recruiting, which she said masked the likelihood that graduates would earn too little to repay their loans.

As a financial aid officer, Ms. Wallace was supposed to counsel students. But candid talk about job prospects and debt obligations risked the wrath of management, she said.

“If you said anything that went against what the recruiter said, they would threaten to fire you,” Ms. Wallace said. “The representatives would have already conned them into doing it, and you had to just keep your mouth shut.”

A spokeswoman for the school’s owner, ITT Educational Services, Lauren Littlefield, said the company had no comment.

In Hard Times, Lured Into Trade School and Debt [NYT]

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It you’re sitting around not feeling scared enough, we recommend taking a look at this episode of the PBS show Frontline. In it, you will learn that regional airline pilots (they fly the planes that say “Continental” or “Delta” on them, but actually have little to nothing to do with those airlines) make very little money, work crazy long days, and often have tiny amounts of experience. Also: the big carriers that paint their names on the planes have no legal responsibility to make sure the “regional” flights are safe.

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