Hewlett Packard HP Charging for problem their Tech Support caused, Internet

My son bought an Envy laptop for 1,000 + at Best Buy months ago.  Spilled soup on it therefore had to pay them 388.00 to fix via Fed Ex. 3 weeks later we have a corrupted windows and it needs to be redone, losing all my son's research he has recorded.  The lady in India sent us to Smart Friend, the 3rd party company where we sat on hold forever.  Finally hung up.  She said if we don't want to lose everything doing a complete Windows wipe out, Smart Friend would have to help us...for a fee. Isn't that what Tech Support is supposed to do?  We regret buying from HP/Best Buy.  We should have bought the EXTENDED warranty too for an item of that price ($1,000 +)  I personally think they did something to the PC while there being fixed.  They will never admit it though I'm afraid.  I did just file a complaint with the Attorney General like someone advised here.

I filed a complaint with Department of Justice in California against HP for fraud and possible identity theft because of the so-called 24/7 technical support that HP charges $99 for. 

It was my experience that every time I called the 800 support line I was directed to countries all over the world.  Never the same place but it seemed like I got the same person giving different names on a couple of occasions.

The tactics employed were deliberate phone disconnects and what seemed to be an unsupervised and unprofessional group of people vacant of competence and attentive concern for quality customer care.  

The technicians I dealt with gained remote access to my computer to fix the problem.  I realized it was a facade and after several hours and three different attempts, the problem was never fixed.

They failed to record actual dates and times of access to my computer showing I received support.  This caused serious concern.  Whoever HP is contracting with to provide what they are claiming to be computer technical support, they are not keeping records of times, dates, and support provided. 

The 24/7 tech support never fixed the problem I had.  But other things happened after these episodes that gave me concern about illegal access to my computer without my knowledge.  HP refunded the $99 I was charged for the tech support and mailed a system recovery DVD and application and driver recovery CD to me. 

Consumers need to file complaints with the Department of Justice,  Attorney General's Office, in their state about these issues.  There is the fear of identity theft especially where the person accessing one's computer is somewhere else in the world.  When the computer issue is never fixed but HP claims they provide such service for a fee, there is rightful reason to question tactics as being fraudulent and unlawful.

After filing my claim with the Attorney General, and only after this, I then received a response from HP located in Palo Alto, CA.  Written letters of complaint that are concise and articulate, providing a time line of factual evidence, is the best venue.  Waste little time with HP so-called customer support.   Just file your written complaint to state and federal agencies.   

Smartfriend is an HP department (unsure if it is an outsourced team) that deals with 3rd party software that is not covered by the HP manufacturer's warranty.  They also deal with things not covered under the manufacturer's warranty as well. 

As a former case manager for HP, I expect the response will be the statement that HP is not responsible for lost data.  It does specifically state that within the manufacturer's warranty.  Did HP do walk you through the restore, or did they do it themselves through a remote connection?  Either way, it does come up before the restore and say something like, "this will wipe out your system.  Do you want to make a backup?".  Once that is past, HP will likely not be able to assist you in getting the information back.