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HP To Charge For Service Packs and Firmware For Out-of-Warranty Customers

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the customer-service-you-can-count-on dept.

New submitter josh itnc writes "In a move that is sure to put a wedge between HP and their customers, today, HP has issued an email informing all existing Enterprise Server customers that they would no longer be able to access or download service packs, firmware patches and bug-fixes for their server hardware without a valid support agreement in place. They said, 'HP has made significant investments in its intellectual capital to provide the best value and experience for our customers. We continue to offer a differentiated customer experience with our comprehensive support portfolio. ... Only HP customers and authorized channel partners may download and use support materials. In line with this commitment, starting in February 2014, Hewlett-Packard Company will change the way firmware updates and Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP) on HP ProLiant server products are accessed. Select server firmware and SPP on these products will only be accessed through the HP Support Center to customers with an active support agreement, HP CarePack, or warranty linked to their HP Support Center User ID and for the specific products being updated.' If a manufacturer ships hardware with exploitable defects and takes more than three years to identify them, should the consumer have to pay for the vendor to fix the these defects?"

5 of 385 comments (clear)

  1. Re:oh well by omglolbah · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yeah.... this is going to bite them in the ass... hard.

    We recently had an issue with HP servers showing temperatures of 255C on motherboard sensors...
    They said this was a firmware issue and told us to flash the bios to fix this. We did... the sensor now shows -127C. Big help.

    It actually required a motherboard replacement and they claimed this was -not- a warranty issue because the server was too old. In the meantime we've had 4 more servers have this issue, which makes them unusable in our environment (oil rig HMI).

    Would they now not give us the fix without us feeding them a bit of cash? Fuck them.

  2. Normally I do not encourage piracy ... by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... but in this case I won't fault anyone if they have to download the essential patches from pirate sites.

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
  3. HP can't sell enough servers... by angrygretchen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We are a small shop and we are running 3 VMs on a single HP Proliant G7 Server. It has enough memory and resources that it could probably run an additional 7 VMs if we wanted to. HP is having to face the reality that the people are buying less hardware because realistically the ratio of VMs to servers is high as 10:1. HP is trying to gouge customers on the warranty because they can't make it up in server sales. Our Proliant DL380 G7 hit the 3 year mark a few months ago and is now out of warranty. The additional cost of the most basic warranty (4 hours/day phone, no onsite) for a single Proliant server is approximately $3000 for three years. That is easily half the cost of the server. And that's the cheapest warranty option. Don't even ask about the 24/7 onsite warranty. This change effectively kills the secondary market for HP hardware. Denying access to firmware means that it will be next to impossible to install or update your OS. I've had to run the HP SPP firmware upate several times to address issues that would otherwise have rendered our Proliant server useless. In fact I have an unresolved issue with our server where it refuses to reboot to the OS, unless I boot from the HP SPP tool first. If I need a critical firmware update in the future, the only option may be the Piratebay. Ugh If HP doesn't reverse this decision, our next server will most likely be a Dell. Unless Dell decides to follow HP into the dark side as well.

  4. Harvard Buiness School grads are noted for this. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Now it's just a bunch of MBAs trying to massage their stock price.

    You got that right.

    Algorithm:
      - Get hired for a big salary and a LOT of stock options.
      - Make the company appear more profitable by cutting off investments in the future to reduce costs now.
      - Declare victory and what a great guy you are.
      - Cash in the stock options and move on to a bigger company where you can repeat the process for even more money and reputation points. PROFIT!
      - Your successor inherits the house of cards and takes the blame when it collapses a few years later.

    The Harvard Business School has a reputation for graduates who use this algorithm.

    Interestingly, boards of directors keep falling for this. (You'd think they'd look at what happens to companies candidates had "turned around" in the several years AFTER they left when evaluating CEO, COO, and CFO candidates. But apparently they usually don't.)

    = = = =

    Similarly, if a high company official starts enthusing about the book "Crossing the Chasm" and you're an early hire, cash any vested stock options and get out, before you and the other early hires are laid off. (Interestingly, they usually fire them too soon, when they're still key to the company's success, and the company usually falls INTO the chasm rather than crossing it.)

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  5. Re:HP used to be greatl by SJ · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You're mistaking this company for the original HP. "HP" nowadays is actually Compaq. The old HP that everyone knew and loved is now (at least used to be) Aligent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...
    They are now Aligent and Keysight.

    So anywhere you read something about "HP" doing something stupid... Think "Compaq" instead, and it all makes sense.