About 12 months ago I bought a new PC from PC world in Charlton, for those of you that have read my review on Mastercare will know all about that purchase I why I made it.
Although I walked into PC World not knowing what I was going to buy, would it be a desktop, a tower or a laptop? After some great advice from a member of staff by the name of Ash I came away with a new Compaq Presario S4500UK. Included in the package was a Compaq flat screen monitor, keyboard, mouse, CD and DVD ROM drive as well as CD / DVD re-writer and finally an Epson Stylus inkjet printer.
The PC came pre-installed with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition so there was no hassle of having to install an operating system when the PC arrived. All I had to do when I switched the PC on was to register my details via the Compaq website in order for the warranty etc.
After getting everything up and running I could not have been more than pleased with my new PC, it had everything I wanted. Although it was an expensive PC it was definitely worth the money. I had also paid out to have it again covered by a Mastercare Coverplan Agreement in case anything was to go wrong.
Well that’s exactly what did happen. After a couple of months a friend of mine at work lent me Windows XP Professional which after upgrading to this had decided that this was a much better product and he was normally right when it comes to PC advice so I went with what he said.
I took the CD home and put it into my CD drive, it auto ran as usual and the setup programme for XP Pro started to run. Everything at this point appeared to be going really well with the install, it was going smoothly. So as far as I was concerned this install would complete without a problem. How wrong was I?
After part of the installation the PC reboots itself and this is where the problems began. The setup would not continue, but at this point the PC gave me the option of entering the Home edition so I did. After various attempts of trying to get the XP pro install to continue I gave up and decided to completely uninstall what I had started and go back to the Home Edition. This then caused more problems.
After a reboot of the PC nothing worked, and when I say nothing I mean absolutely nothing. When the PC starts you get the word Compaq across the screen before the PC continues with the reboot and accesses Windows. Only this time it would not work.
I tried various different things, but nothing, what ever I did would not work. So I was left with no other option but to call PC Service Call, the company that works on behalf of Mastercare. After about an hour on the phone to them they were unable to solve the problem and suggested I contacted Compaq.
Obviously due to the fact I had no PC access at this point everything had to be done over the phone. As usual with these help lines the numbers are not cheap to call. The only good thing with Compaq was that the number I had to call was a 0870 so was charged at 0.79p per minute so this was not too bad and would hopefully be able to solve my problems.
I tried to call them but to my disappointment I could not get through they had closed for the evening as they closed at 6pm weekdays so it was going to have to wait another day. Fortunately the following day I managed to get through and after going through the usual automated answering service I finally got through to a person. This person to begin with did not seem like they were going to be very helpful as they were basically saying it was my fault.
But after he had tried all the possible options with me to get Windows XP to start again he became more helpful. By this point I think he realised I did have a major problem and was not calling just for the sake of some help.
Eventually the person I was talking to told me that I was going to have to use my Windows installation disk. But I did not have one as the software had been pre-installed as part of the package. I, at this point could see me having to go an either argue with PC World for some install disks or to have to go and buy XP separately.
But after some further discussion about when and where I bought the PC etc, what errors I got the member of staff from Compaq Customer Services offered to send me a complete set a re-build disks. What this would basically do would be to set the PC back to its original factory settings. In other words after installing the disks the PC would look like it did the day I bought it. The only problem was would be how long these would take. I had already been without a PC for a week and was getting withdrawal symptoms!
The set of disks which contained a complete set of 5 CDs for a complete system recovery arrived via First Class mail with in 48 hours. How pleased was I? I was finally going to be able to use my PC again. I put in the disks and they started the complete recovery and without boring you with all the details of what the disks did I basically had a fully recovered PC within the space of an hour.
I could not have been more than happy with the service that I received that day and without the help of this customer services department I would have some serious problems now. Either that or be completely out of pocket as I would have to make a further purchase of windows. Since then I have recommended people that are buying a new PC that if they are unsure of PC’s to take a look at Compaq as good customer support is always a major advantage.
Since that day I have had other minor problems with my PC and have discovered the Compaq website where they have all sorts of information. The address I was using was www.compaq.co.uk although this will now redirect you to a different address as Compaq are now part of Hewlett Packard (HP).
On the website you can get all sorts of help with all Compaq and HP products ranging from Laptops, to Desktops, from Printers to Servers. There is a complete list of contact numbers to call if you require any assistance along with the costs of the calls per minute and the hours that they will be open.
As well as telephone support you can also request support via email, this involves you filling out an online form which then sends direct to the relevant department in HP.
They then tell you that you can expect a response within the hour in most cases. I have emailed them a good few times now and have got a response with the hour every time.
As well as this you can also have what they call HP Instant support, there is two options to this the first is Self Help and the second is Active chat. Both of these options require them to take a so called photo of your PC and send it to them support teams. For this you have to agree to before you can proceed with either option. Once this is done they will take you through into each option. Each one is pretty much self explanatory, the self help sends you possible causes and solutions where as the other allows you to chat direct with a support member of staff.
Should you feel that the problem with your PC is driver related as opposed to another technical issue then under the support and drivers link on their website you can find drivers to download. This can be for a variety of hardware products, be it printers, drives or monitors etc they have pretty much all the drivers you may need.
The website addresses for support are:
www.compaq.co.uk
Or www.hp.co.uk
Both of these addresses will redirect you to HP.com for the UK region.
If you want telephone assistance then call:
For Printers, Scanners, Digital Cameras, CD and DVD Writers
0870-010-4320 Mon – Fri (08.30-18.00)
Pavilion and Presario Multimedia PC and Notebook Products
0870-010-4320 Again Mon – Fri (08.30 – 18.00)
For Warranty Support
0870-842-2339 Mon – Fri (08.00 - 18.00)
Basically what I would say is that if you have or intend to buy and Compaq or HP product then visit the website as it contains support information for before and after you purchase. I have dealt with many customer service departments including computer customer service departments and have to say these are definitely one of the most helpful
Service As Good As Their Products 
Our previous Computer set up was a Compaq, and in its last days it played up a lot, and I have to agree with you, the advice /help we got from their support team was excellent. Great Review.......Roy