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12:33 pm EDT
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HP Smartfriends miss represented their services to me when I applied in January. They installed Mozy Pro back up on my HP computer and said I could cancel at any time. They failed to explain that it would be a $70.00 cancellation fee. They said I could cancel HP Smartfriends and still retain Mozy Pro Backup which wasn't true. They told me that if anything happened to my computer that I would be able to connect to Mozy Pro and download my files and saved programs to my new computer. This also isn't true.
Recently my computer crashed I purchased a new computer I called to have Mozy Pro installed on my new computer they failed and were unable to download my files after 3 attempts. After a month waiting for them to call me back I called and another person made an attempt, He also failed. I needed my records so I sent my old hard drive of to get the records off of it. It cost me $180.00. I called HP Smart Friends a told them to cancel my contract and they said a manager would call me within 10 days. After 14 business days I called them and demanded to speak to a manager they transferred me to 5 different Techs and to last finally put me in touch with customer service. Oh buy the way I first called on April 8, 2013 and on the 18th they charged my credit card for another months service. I ask for a total refund of $99.67 that I had paid. They refused and said they would cancel for $70.00. They did refund me the last month. The whole experience with HP Smartfriends has cost me over $300.00 including getting my old hard drive copied for 4 months for absolutely nothing. When you call HP Smartfriends you never know who you are talking to, you get someone different that maybe anywhere in the world. HP Smartfriends is RIP OFF.

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Linda Kase
US
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Jan 28, 2015 10:37 am EST

I paid $49 dollars on the same day they set up Smartfriends for 14.95. They were unable to fix my hp computer so I bought a new dell. Now they will charge me $70 to cancel service; but won't (can't) switch it to my new Dell.

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Mary Jo Drager
US
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Sep 16, 2015 11:22 pm EDT

Same thing happened to me with HP SmartFriend support. Transfer to transfer to transfer, could not diagnose the problem and finally said tier 3 tech support will phone me within 24 hours. HP tech support never phoned, and I am charging back the software support service contract cost--a whopping $216.49. The runaround is all we got from HP SmartFriend support.

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Rodneybbrn
US
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Nov 27, 2015 7:38 am EST
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I had a problem with my HP Pavilion HPE. I was told that for a $64.99 onetime charge, I could get six months service for two computers. After two and a half weeks and 12 different HP support techs, the problem was not fixed. I finally bought a recovery disc, because the recovery program in the Pavilion did not work also. I got my system working again. Since than, HP has decide to charge me $29.99 monthly or $70.00 to get off their money gathering scheme. I am in the process of working with my bank, and if necessary going to court to get them out of my bank account. DO SOMETHING ELSE, DO NOT GET INVOLVED WITH THIS ORGANIZATION!

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Rhonda 4871
US
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May 15, 2017 10:07 am EDT

I bought into the scheme also, now paying 14.99 a month for a year. My desktop computer was running slow, after five different techs downloading different cleanup and scanning programs my computer quit. I had to buy a new computer. I'm still paying for the service for the next 11 months. It will be a cold day in hell that I ever call them for help.

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sheduntno
US
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May 17, 2017 11:46 am EDT

Same issue. $49 setup, then $14.99 per month. They are unable to fix anything, I always end up doing it myself. I have told them repeatedly to cancel. I end having to initiate chargebacks every month . The only way to to stop them is to report fraud and change your card number. Then they start calling and harrassing you for payment but at least they don't get your money.

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Ampvolt
US
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Nov 08, 2017 9:58 am EST
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After months of not using service I started to get calls promising rebate - they just had to access my computer. Process sounded fishy so I hung up. Calls continued. Nothing stopped them not even Do Not Call Registry. They kept changing their number. When calls were coming as often as 3 times a day I contacted HP. They said nothing could be done with hackers. Now they are calling using legitimate HP SmartFriend number. Blocked it. NEVER SIGN UP FOR SMARTFRIEND! Their site is obviously NOT SECURE.

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Mithri
US
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Dec 12, 2017 12:24 pm EST
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Terrible customer service. They try to squeeze money out of you. In addition to the subscription money you pay they make every effort to sell you the USB with software for additional charge. My experience is that i have raised two tickets with them and they were not able to resolve both. And i have to go through the hassle of waiting on line for 40 minutes everytime i call them to get in touch with technical support. And i dont have any words how awful their support is. i was totally dissatisfied and decided to cancel my subscription and the case manager called me and told in addition to the setup fees and monthly subscription i paid, i will be charged $70 for cancellation. So in total HP charged me $135 and giving me zero value. The case managers dont care about anything except the cancellation fee. I know i am at loss to cancel the service because witht he cancellation and setup and subscription i paid i should have easily continued the service for next 6 months, but i don't want that's how much i am frustated with their so called service. i took my laptop to staples store and they were able to fix the issue in 2 days and costed me $80. Stay away from HP.

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Seafordraven
US
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Jan 11, 2018 7:12 pm EST

I had a issue with Windows 10 update. I contacted hp support and they told me it would cost 99 bucks. I paid. They then told me I needed to back up my files. I did this. They got the updated loaded. I ended up losing some of my personal file. Then I told the tech that I am getting the blue screen of death, with codes like this, "system thread exception not handled", "IRQL not less or equal", "unexpected kernel mode trap", "attempted execute of non executed memory". The text told me that was not a issue. Since then I'm have several shut downs a day. I then contacted HP support again and they told me I would have to pay again because my case had closed. I told the tech that they had created this problem. I will never deal with hp again and I am very close to throwing this laptop out the window.

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betsys
US
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May 01, 2018 2:48 am EDT
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HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE Service!
They pushed and pushed me to pay $50 for support, telling me that the were convinced my computer problem was a software problem.
Several minutes into the check, the technitian said 'nope, it's a hardware problem'
and HP refused to refund!
I call this THEFT.

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Kevin Lee Mcmahon
US
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Nov 01, 2018 5:41 pm EDT

Warning HP Smart Friend Scam. We called HP to support a pc that was about 9 months out of warranty they told us to pay the subscription of $50 plus $15 a month we agreed. They assured us they could fix the issue we were having with windows 10 not booting into windows and we were in an endless recovery loop. After trying several different things to no avail they told us wed have to reinstall windows and wipe the computer clean but we had to buy their discs for $50. We agreed. They took all of our info and came back and sorry because your computer is out of warranty we cant send you the recovery discs. Then what the hell did we just pay them $50 for? Because we were out of warranty. Hp Smart friend is a scam. I encourage anyone who has paid for it to dispute it with their credit card companyn.

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BogdanO2
US
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Sep 10, 2019 1:52 pm EDT
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Hello all,

Just thought I'd point anyone looking at this to DriverSupport.com . Way better service than HP Smartfriend at only $10/month. You can cancel anytime without fees and there are no upsells of any kind ever.

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Sllew777
US
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Oct 05, 2019 7:14 pm EDT

Same experience. I have ID theft going and I had several computers hit with RATrojans obviously no fun. One being a HP Pavillion that originated from my business. I was having trouble retrieving data off the HD and it kept crashing. The computer was 13 months old. I paid the 70.00 fee, some wierd guy with a thick accent basically directed me to open up a screen share WHILE HE WENT ON SUPERANTISPYWARE.COM and downloaded the free edition. He said my computer had to scan basically for hours and told me to call back when it was scanning. So enter weirdo #2 who I spoke to after the scan. He said my computer was so hacked basically I should just sell it or throw it away and get a new one. My whole purpose for paying the money was to have someone with more computer expertise and/or knowledge go into my computer and tell me what was going on and how to stop it. That was not going to happen with these people. They did not even offer the paid version of SAS come on seriously. BYE smart friends. So they too charged me for additional months and scammed me. I lost respect for HP after that experience.

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Millie000111
US
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Nov 22, 2019 11:18 pm EST

They lied to me and told me they had some firmware I needed to download-said it would cost 49.99.
Paid and transferred to tech to get download info-- they do not have the software- TECH HIMSELF TOLD ME THE SALES DEPT WOULD SAY ANYTHING TO GET YOUR MONEY. Requested immediate cancellation- was told I have to speak with a case mgr. to get my account cancelled and get a refund. I work 12 -14 hour days and am too busy to take calls. Every time I called they said they cancelled it and issued a refund - everytime they were lying. RIDICULOUS YOU HAVE TO SPEAK TO A CASE MGR TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK. You don't have to speak to a case mgr when they initially steal it from you in the first place?
Took 3 weeks and many many more calls to HP "smartfriend" to get to a case manager. She refunded the 49.99 and in 3-5 days it was back in my account. I just found out she did not cancel the service and they have been taking 14.99 out of my bank account for the last 3 months so she refunded the initial fee but instead of cancelling- "gave me 3 month free"? with the stipulation that I would cancel in 90 days if I did not want to continue. BUT SHE NEVER TOLD ME THIS! I THOUGHT IT WAS CANCELLED! I MADE IT CLEAR I NEVER WANTED ANYTHING TO DO WITH HP'S SCAM AGAIN. So now they are into my bank account every month for 14.99 and I have to go through the nightmare of trying to cancel and get a refund again. SHADY AS F**K !
THIS IS FRAUD! Why is this BS allowed to continue? WONDER HOW MUCH THEY COLLECT WITH THEIR CASE MGR CANCELLATION POLICY- I have 3 HP laptops and a hp all in one printer /scanner. - NEVER buying another hp product or service again- they will NEVER BE GETTING ANOTHER CENT FROM ME AGAIN- SCREW YOU HP AND YOUR SMARTFRIEND [censored]

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