grumpyIn early September, I bought a new HP laptop. I've had good luck with HP products. My only complaint with this one was the battery life wasn't quite what I expected. The battery is only a 6 cell -- a 12 cell would provide double the battery life. So I went to HP's website and started battery shopping.
I found one that looked right, so I called HP, gave them the part number of the laptop and asked if the battery I found on their site was the right one. They said it was, so I asked if it was cheaper to order online, and the rep said it would be the same if I did it with him on the phone or online, so I went ahead and placed the order on the phone.
October 1st: the battery arrives via FedEx. I get it out of the box, turn my laptop over, and proceed to do the installation. It's the wrong battery. The contacts on the new one are near the end of the battery (yet on a long side) -- if I put the battery in, the contacts would line up with the locking mechanism. The contacts on the standard battery are about 1.5 inches from the end.
I called HP, told them about it, and they said they would send the correct battery when they received the old one. I find a FedEx shipper near my house and send the battery back.
Today, I get the new battery.
Or, the old new battery.
They sent me the same kind as they did the first time. Same exact one. I thought it would be different because the shipping weight on the first one was 2.1 pounds, and it was 2.5 pounds on the second battery. I was wrong.
So... I spend over an hour on the phone with them. The final guy was in "tech support" (didn't seem like it). I spent over half an hour on the phone telling him my phone number 4 times, my email address 3 times, the RMA on the first battery 3 times, the order number for the second battery twice... etc. When I asked him if a 12 cell battery existed for my computer, he didn't know -- all he was doing was documenting for an escalation specialist.
Grrr. I can't wait to spend time of my life I'll never get back with that person.
tl;dr: ordered a battery. got sent the wrong one... twice.