HP Refund Checks - Beware.

[mpm]

While I am in a semi-funk mood, I thought I would share a little bit
of today's mail with everyone.

Long-time readers will know that I have a bounced $100 HP refund check
that was returned "Account Closed". Evidently, they (Hewlett Packard
or their refund processor) only keep these refund bank accounts open
for a brief period of time.

This particular refund was for a laptop purchase. The check was
delayed getting to me because of all the Anthrax postal scare problems
a few years ago... I'll skip those details.

Fast forward to today. Out of the blue (and after several attempts to
remedy this directly with HP), I get a letter from "Estate Trust Asset
Recovery" of Gainesville, FL. The letter is actually a "Refund
Notice", in the amount of $100.

All they want me to do is sign the enclosed agreement essentially
giving them a 20% finder's fee, and send along a photocopy of my
Drivers License. (Note: I doubt I even had to show ID when I
purchased the laptop!!)

HP: Hear this. "Stick it."

I will NEVER buy HP again. Never, never never - even if you beg.

Your supposed rebate was for $100, not $80. (And that was 7 years
ago. - How about some interest?) Not to mention, the original deal
terms and conditions did not require me to disclose my personal
identifying information to third parties that I've never heard of.

FWIW, my advice is to not trust HP, or at the very least, do not
include their mail-in rebates in your buying decision. You too could
be just as disappointed.

And just to really rub it in:
Last year, we replaced our HP 8753-C vector Network Analyzer.
(Approx. $30K)
I didn't even invite the HP rep to give us a quote. We went with
Anritsu instead. (Which frankly is a better value, but that's besides
the point.)

With any luck, some HP lurker rep will email me directly with an
acceptable resolution, because this isn't even close.

-mpm

 

[amdx]

">

Your supposed rebate was for $100, not $80. (And that was 7 years
ago. - How about some interest?) Not to mention, the original deal
terms and conditions did not require me to disclose my personal
identifying information to third parties that I've never heard of.

It's not HP that is offering you $80 it's "Estate Trust Asset
Recovery" of Gainesville, FL. It seems your $100 is available from HP, if
you can
just figure out how to get it. Apparantly "Estate Trust Asset
Recovery" of Gainesville, FL. has figured out how to get it. They don't want
you to send the $20.00 to them do they?
Mike

 

[mpm]

">


� It's not HP that is offering you $80 it's "Estate Trust Asset
Recovery" of Gainesville, FL. It seems your $100 is available from HP, if
you can
just figure out how to get it. Apparantly "Estate Trust Asset
Recovery" of Gainesville, FL. has figured out how to get it. They don't want
you to send the $20.00 to them do they?
� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � Mike

That is correct.
ETAR wants me to sign an agreement giving them $20, which would come
out of the $100 Refund. I suspect ETAR is akin to ambulance chasers?

Maybe if I take a photocopy of the original bounced check, and a copy
of the ETAR offer, I can finally get some action out of HP. Though
at this point, they'd have to give me a free laptop to even begin to
earn my trust and consumerism again.

It's not like I'm a hardass or anything, but I just can't believe a
company like HP would treat its customers this way! I did,
originally, write several nice letters explaining what happened
(neither party was responsible for the Anthrax mail delays), and
though they responded, they made NO EFFORT WHATSOEVER to resolve the
problem.

HP has since lost seven years of my business.

I guess the moral to the story is that if you own your own business,
you should never let a promotion get so out of hand that you end up
losing customers over it.

 

[J.A. Legris]

While I am in a semi-funk mood, I thought I would share a little bit
of today's mail with everyone.

Long-time readers will know that I have a bounced $100 HP refund check
that was returned "Account Closed".  Evidently, they (Hewlett Packard
or their refund processor) only keep these refund bank accounts open
for a brief period of time.

This particular refund was for a laptop purchase.  The check was
delayed getting to me because of all the Anthrax postal scare problems
a few years ago...  I'll skip those details.

Fast forward to today.  Out of the blue (and after several attempts to
remedy this directly with HP), I get a letter from "Estate Trust Asset
Recovery" of Gainesville, FL.  The letter is actually a "Refund
Notice", in the amount of $100.

All they want me to do is sign the enclosed agreement essentially
giving them a 20% finder's fee, and send along a photocopy of my
Drivers License.  (Note:  I doubt I even had to show ID when I
purchased the laptop!!)

HP:  Hear this.   "Stick it."

I will NEVER buy HP again.  Never, never never - even if you beg.

Your supposed rebate was for $100, not $80.  (And that was 7 years
ago. - How about some interest?)   Not to mention, the original deal
terms and conditions did not require me to disclose my personal
identifying information to third parties that I've never heard of.

FWIW, my advice is to not trust HP, or at the very least, do not
include their mail-in rebates in your buying decision.  You too could
be just as disappointed.

And just to really rub it in:
Last year, we replaced our HP 8753-C vector Network Analyzer.
(Approx. $30K)
I didn't even invite the HP rep to give us a quote.   We went with
Anritsu instead. (Which frankly is a better value, but that's besides
the point.)

With any luck, some HP lurker rep will email me directly with an
acceptable resolution, because this isn't even close.

-mpm

All this over a $100 rebate? Aside from satisfying a childish sense of
revenge, what have you gained by condemning the entire HP organization
and subverting your unrelated Network Analyzer purchasing
requirements? Really stoopid.

 

[mpm]

All this over a $100 rebate? Aside from satisfying a childish sense of
revenge, what have you gained by condemning the entire HP organization
and subverting your unrelated Network Analyzer purchasing
requirements? Really stoopid.

I don't appreciate theft, which is really what this is.
They took $100 of my money - plain and simple.

So in a sense, they "charged" me for this sort of behavior, and I
don't want to disappoint.

I intend to keep trashing HP, at every opportunity, until they live up
to their end of the deal. And that means $100, not $80 or any other
BS.

And to be fair, we would have purchased the Anritsu anyway since it is
a much better product than anything Agilent (sucessor to HP) has, and
is a lot less expensive. But the fact remains that they (HP/Agilent)
were not even afforded the opportunity to bid.

Now think between the lines here. Could I have ordered (anything)
and then made the final deal contingent on getting an additional $100
off the sale? You bet your ass. Especially for these sort of
dollars.

But if you think that way, you're missing the point.

Actually, what they (HP) did was a crime.
In my State, I could have sued for triple the damages.
But I don't operate that way. I'd rather just give my business to
the next guy.

I have a call into HP again today to try to remedy this one last
time....
But only because I received the letter from that outfit in
Gainesville.

 

[Richard Henry]

I don't appreciate theft, which is really what this is.
They took $100 of my money - plain and simple.

So in a sense, they "charged" me for this sort of behavior, and I
don't want to disappoint.

I intend to keep trashing HP, at every opportunity, until they live up
to their end of the deal.  And that means $100, not $80 or any other
BS.

And to be fair, we would have purchased the Anritsu anyway since it is
a much better product than anything Agilent (sucessor to HP) has, and
is a lot less expensive.  But the fact remains that they (HP/Agilent)
were not even afforded the opportunity to bid.

Now think between the lines here.   Could I have ordered (anything)
and then made the final deal contingent on getting an additional $100
off the sale?  You bet your ass.  Especially for these sort of
dollars.

But if you think that way, you're missing the point.

Actually, what they (HP) did was a crime.
In my State, I could have sued for triple the damages.
But I don't operate that way.   I'd rather just give my business to
the next guy.

I have a call into HP again today to try to remedy this one last
time....
But only because I received the letter from that outfit in
Gainesville.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

HP is not Agilent. HP is a personal computer marketing company,
formerly known as Compaq.. Agilent is an instrumentation engineering
company, fornerly known as Hewlett-Packard.

.

 

[Mark Zenier]

Fast forward to today. Out of the blue (and after several attempts to
remedy this directly with HP), I get a letter from "Estate Trust Asset
Recovery" of Gainesville, FL. The letter is actually a "Refund
Notice", in the amount of $100.

This sounds like this is one of the "Lost Property" scams. Sounds like
your name is on an unclaimed property list that's run by a state
government somewhere. Where you can get your money for a lot less than
20%.

Try either missingmoney.com (a coop web site that covers many states)
or the states where the funds could be registered. (Some states,
Washington for example, run their own site). Probably the state where
the refund processor was registered for business.

Mark Zenier [email protected]
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

 

[mpm]

HP is not Agilent. �

Agreed. However, some of the top brass did go with the sucessor-in-
interest company, so in that regard, the ones at the top who may have
"benefited" are still involved. Though that nuance position is not
part of my original consideration in this regard, nor am I attempting
to apportion any of that $100 owed me to particular company
employees. Say what you want, but that $100 is still value to the
company (i.e., money saved, etc..), and if they do it enough, it adds
up.

As I already mentioned, we would not have purchased test gear from
either HP or Aligent anyway. The point is, they didn't even get the
opportunity.

Timeout: - I guess maybe I'm glossing over reality here.
When Agilent purchased HP's instrumentation business, part of what
they were buying was HP's "goodwill" associated with that business
sector. "Goodwill" is a financial term which you can research later.
Essentially, (among other things), it's the ability to make a sale
without investing in extensive advertising and marketing due to brand
loyalty, brand recognition from prior advertising, good word-of-mouth
reputation, etc... Anything that has intangible value, that can be
counted on to generate future revenues. Which I agree, overall, HP
did generate tremendous goodwill and Aglient was justified in the
capital expenditure related thereto. That said, HP still owes me
$100.

HP is a personal computer marketing company,

Agreed, in part. They are actually a multi-national with at least
seven distinct business sectors according to their most recent Annual
Report. At the time, they were selling laptops, which is the key
point here because that is what the $100 rebate check was for. What
they do now is of little consequence to me. But for the record, HP
and its subsidiaries are involved with everything from television set
manufacturing to heart-lung machines.

http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/71/71087/AR2007/pdfs/hp_annual_report_2007.pdf

formerly known as Compaq.. �

No, they acquired Compaq through merger and acquisition.
HP was in the business prior to the M&A and actually ran Compaq as a
separate business entity for some time. In short, they bought out
their competition.

Agilent is an instrumentation engineering
company, fornerly known as Hewlett-Packard.

Yes. That business unit was sold off and the spin-off was renamed
"Aglient".

I think Mercedes Benz (or their predecessor in interest) built the
ovens that incinderated all the Jews in WWII. Did you have a point
here? I guess I missed it.?

 

[mpm]

This sounds like this is one of the "Lost Property" scams. �Sounds like
your name is on an unclaimed property list that's run by a state
government somewhere. �Where you can get your money for a lot less than
20%.

Try either missingmoney.com (a coop web site that covers many states)
or the states where the funds could be registered. �(Some states,
Washington for example, run their own site). �Probably the state where
the refund processor was registered for business.

Mark Zenier �[email protected] �
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

Thanks Mark. I will definitely look into that.

I actually called HP again today.
That sure turned out to be a really stupid idea!!!

All it did was get my blood pressure elevated again.
For example, even after I told them the bounced check was from 2001,
they (robotically) continued to ask me for my claim number (which of
course, I was never issued), when even by their own admission, their
rebate records only go back 3 years.

If the records only go back three years, does it really make any
difference what number I give them?? Duh!! (Mental note: Idiocy
knows no boundardies!)

I did finally get a supervisor on the phone who reluctantly gave me a
fax number I could send a copy of the bounced check & the ETAR offer
letter to. I have zero confidence this will ever get paid. In
fairness, the supervisor did understand the problem fully, and was
respectful and apologetic. But it's not like a replacement check is
in the mail, either.

Like I said, I've been through this before. (many, many times with
HP)
No more. I will (continue to) never buy anything HP. Not even a
ream of photo paper.

I'm done with them. Except to go out of my way, on occasion, to trash
their goodwill.
I almost feel obligated to do so, and certainly justified. -mpm

 

[Richard Henry]

Agreed.  However, some of the top brass did go with the sucessor-in-
interest company, so in that regard, the ones at the top who may have
"benefited" are still involved.  Though that nuance position is not
part of my original consideration in this regard, nor am I attempting
to apportion any of that $100 owed me to particular company
employees.  Say what you want, but that $100 is still value to the
company (i.e., money saved, etc..), and if they do it enough, it adds
up.

As I already mentioned, we would not have purchased test gear from
either HP or Aligent anyway.  The point is, they didn't even get the
opportunity.

Timeout:  -  I guess maybe I'm glossing over reality here.
When Agilent purchased HP's instrumentation business, part of what
they were buying was HP's "goodwill" associated with that business
sector.  "Goodwill" is a financial term which you can research later..
Essentially, (among other things), it's the ability to make a sale
without investing in extensive advertising and marketing due to brand
loyalty, brand recognition from prior advertising, good word-of-mouth
reputation, etc...  Anything that has intangible value, that can be
counted on to generate future revenues.     Which I agree, overall, HP
did generate tremendous goodwill and Aglient was justified in the
capital expenditure related thereto.  That said, HP still owes me
$100.


Agreed, in part.  They are actually a multi-national with at least
seven distinct business sectors according to their most recent Annual
Report.  At the time, they were selling laptops, which is the key
point here because that is what the $100 rebate check was for.  What
they do now is of little consequence to me.  But for the record, HP
and its subsidiaries are involved with everything from television set
manufacturing to heart-lung machines.

http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/71/71087/AR2007/pdfs/h...


No, they acquired Compaq through merger and acquisition.
HP was in the business prior to the M&A and actually ran Compaq as a
separate business entity for some time.  In short, they bought out
their competition.


Yes.  That business unit was sold off and the spin-off was renamed
"Aglient".

I think Mercedes Benz (or their predecessor in interest) built the
ovens that incinderated all the Jews in WWII.   Did you have a point
here?   I guess I missed it.?

When HP and Agilent split, the got the names attached to the wrong
companies. The instrumentation company should have been names Hewlett-
Packard (or HP) and the computer company should have been named
Compaq. The "good-will value" would have then been correctly
assigned.

 

[mpm]

This sounds like this is one of the "Lost Property" scams. �Sounds like
your name is on an unclaimed property list that's run by a state
government somewhere. �Where you can get your money for a lot less than
20%.

Try either missingmoney.com (a coop web site that covers many states)
or the states where the funds could be registered. �(Some states,
Washington for example, run their own site). �Probably the state where
the refund processor was registered for business.

Mark Zenier �[email protected] �
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

Good call, Mark.!!
You're a genius.

I found a similar website for my state, and now I can get my money
direct.
I do still have to send them a copy of my photo ID, but since they
(the State) were the ones that gave it to me in the first place, I
guess no harm done....

Now I just have to decide if I want to blow my winnings on a tank of
gas, or stock up on beer.

-mpm

 

[Mark Zenier]

Good call, Mark.!!
You're a genius.

Well, I had to do an unclaimed property search as part of putting a
value on my mom's estate. All that I found were unclaimed refunds due
to some distant cousins. This explains how they could have got there.

I found a similar website for my state, and now I can get my money
direct.
I do still have to send them a copy of my photo ID, but since they
(the State) were the ones that gave it to me in the first place, I
guess no harm done....

Now I just have to decide if I want to blow my winnings on a tank of
gas, or stock up on beer.

Looks like HP's refund processor was set up as a separate corporation or
trust that got dissolved, but had to file any remaining known unclaimed
assets with the state to be put into trust. Cheaper to stick the
government with the paperwork than keep the outfit going for a few more
months and followup on unprocessed checks.

The customer service droids at HP should have had that in their answer book.
If they ever knew. Probably outsourced to the lowest bidder. A bad idea
when the company's reputation is on the line.

Mark Zenier [email protected]
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

 

[JosephKK]

When HP and Agilent split, the got the names attached to the wrong
companies. The instrumentation company should have been names Hewlett-
Packard (or HP) and the computer company should have been named
Compaq. The "good-will value" would have then been correctly
assigned.

Almost works except for the difference in timing.

 

[JosephKK]

Whoa! It just dawned on me. _Bounced_ check??

Here in AZ I can turn a bounced check over to Sheriff Joe. He'll
collect the amount owed you, plus a fine, plus send the culprit to an
all-day-school session, at their cost ;-)

...Jim Thompson

Sounds like a reasonably good law, now explain why and specifically
how to apply it to multinational corporations.

 

[[email protected]]

While I am in a semi-funk mood, I thought I would share a little bit
of today's mail with everyone.

Long-time readers will know that I have a bounced $100 HP refund check
that was returned "Account Closed".  Evidently, they (Hewlett Packard
or their refund processor) only keep these refund bank accounts open
for a brief period of time.

This particular refund was for a laptop purchase.  The check was
delayed getting to me because of all the Anthrax postal scare problems
a few years ago...  I'll skip those details.

Fast forward to today.  Out of the blue (and after several attempts to
remedy this directly with HP), I get a letter from "Estate Trust Asset
Recovery" of Gainesville, FL.  The letter is actually a "Refund
Notice", in the amount of $100.

All they want me to do is sign the enclosed agreement essentially
giving them a 20% finder's fee, and send along a photocopy of my
Drivers License.  (Note:  I doubt I even had to show ID when I
purchased the laptop!!)

HP:  Hear this.   "Stick it."

I will NEVER buy HP again.  Never, never never - even if you beg.

Your supposed rebate was for $100, not $80.  (And that was 7 years
ago. - How about some interest?)   Not to mention, the original deal
terms and conditions did not require me to disclose my personal
identifying information to third parties that I've never heard of.

FWIW, my advice is to not trust HP, or at the very least, do not
include their mail-in rebates in your buying decision.  You too could
be just as disappointed.

And just to really rub it in:
Last year, we replaced our HP 8753-C vector Network Analyzer.
(Approx. $30K)
I didn't even invite the HP rep to give us a quote.   We went with
Anritsu instead. (Which frankly is a better value, but that's besides
the point.)

With any luck, some HP lurker rep will email me directly with an
acceptable resolution, because this isn't even close.

-mpm

ETAR isn't a scam, though you may feel like you're getting ripped off
with the 20% finders fee. Here's the deal. The state of Florida
requires that all money belonging to a company's customers is returned
to the customers. If it cannot be returned they are required to turn
it over to the state after a certain amount of time. Before this law,
companies used to just pocket it. The state then posts the
availability of this money on their lost property website. Since this
is public information, companies like ETAR can get access to it and
along with a private eye's license they can access other information
about you to track you down. The state does try to track you down as
well but since they can't charge you a finder's fee and since it is a
government agency and since they are making money on the property they
hold, they take their sweet time in doing so. ETAR takes advantage of
this and makes a business out of it. So ETAR's not trying to scam you,
just trying to make money off you. As far as requiring your license,
that's the state. They require that proof be provided that the person
collecting the money is the correct person.

But of course if don't like HP, that's another story.

ecoplunge