Hewlett Packard in disarray

Henry

Quit your unpleasant womaning, and take the case to small claims court. It is inexpensive, and by law, they cannot be represented by a lawyer. Find an appropriate person in the most directly related group inside HP to name in the lawsuit - ideally, someone that should have the authority to solve the problem, *and* that you have already contacted. Have *all* of the facts in hand: *who* you contacted, *where* (what group, and relevance), *what* was said and promised, and *when* that discussion took place. In chronological order, and if at all possible, a letter that says other material that show *public* promises that contradicts the intent or phrasing in the letter. Also, elucidate your troubles in trying to get them to perform to that promise of customer support. You *must* have some lost money involved to sue for, and be able to prove that loss in a legitimate manner. Costs of travel, legal work, investigation cannot be used. Did you, on a regular basis, do any kind of business (personal or otherwise) with that computer being your main method of doing that business? That is a good basis for loss. But, what did you do to mitigate that loss? Did you buy, rent or borrow another computer while the main one was unusable? The costs of the replacement could be added to the loss. Some courts also allow punitive damages, and have been known to automatically add that in nasty cases like this. You cannot put a value to punitive damages, even if the court can add such - so the *most* you might say in a court that allows punitive damages, is (only in *closing*) "perhaps punitive damages might be in order" - or something like that, but no stronger, but maybe weaker - if you mention it at all. Those that come into small claims court are presumed to not know the law (unless they pop in and out on a rather regular basis).