Hewlett Packard disingenuous "faulty mother board" "refuse to honor warranty" All locations, California

We have four Hewlett Packard laptops and an HP printer/scanner in our home and I've recommended the brand to others for many years, but with the advent of overseas phone centers substituting for traditional competent customer and technical support I've stopped recommending them, and the newest HP machine we've gotten - one that is still within the warranty period - began acting recalcitrantly a few weeks ago.  It shuts down spontaneously, saves files erratically and is often nonresponsive to keyboard commands.  I described the problem to tech support over the phone, they told me that it sounds like a defective motherboard and because the warranty didn't expire for two months they offered to replace the motherboard by mail order.

The power cord had also stopped working sometime ago but I thought nothing of it since we have others of the same design, but I told them I would also like that to be replaced as long as we were taking advantage of the warranty.

I shipped off the computer and heard nothing for two weeks. Finally I called them and was told that they decided there was "liquid damage" to the motherboard and that the warranty did not cover it. My first question was when they were planning on telling me this. They said they planned on telling me when I called them. They also said that repairs would run $436, more than the current market value of the machine. So I told them to ship it back, that I'd take care of it myself, and that they should just replace the power cord. They agreed to that.

Several days later the machine arrived, as we had sent it, and with the original power cord. I called and told them their mistake, that they neeeded to replace the cord, but the woman on the line said that because the computer was no longer under warranty they would not replace the power cord. I told her she was mistaken there too, talked to a supervisor and got them to agree to replace the cord. A few days later only half a power cord was shipped to us - the half with the transformer. This worked fine, as it turns out, although it annoyed me that they had originally - and then subsequently - agreed to replace the entire cable.

As for the supposed liquid damage: The first thing I did was take the unit to the IT department at my office who told me that the only way to determine liquid damage was to take a look at the motherboard and see physical stains of water marks. My techies' first response was that voiding a warranty over liquid damage which could simply be the result of condensation anyway, was unreasonably picky. Since HP had decided the laptop was no longer warrantied, I asked my IT guys to open it up and they found no sign of any liquid stains.

The machine belongs to my daughter, a college student, who is making-do with it until we have some time and a few hundred dollars to get the replacement board and install it.

I conclude that as they did in deciding to switch to an inadequate tech support operation, HP is simply cutting corners where they can. One way they they have decided to do this is apparently to limit warranty parts replacement where they feel they can get away with it.

Meanwhile, sadly, we won't be purchasing any new Hewlett Packard equipment for the foreseeable future. The desktop machine I'm currently replacing will be a home-made contraption that I'm cobbling together myself. It's no longer financially practical to do so, but it feels better than depending on a company warranty that can't be trusted. Besides, it keeps you young.