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Blogger gets $200 check from HP for declining Vista's EULA

arstechnica.com — This is the story of how one blogger, uncle_benji, managed to convince HP representatives that he was entitled to a refund because he did not want to agree to Windows Vista's EULA. His reward? A $200 check.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 23, 2008

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  • leahpee, on 07/23/2008, -3/+224Who puts a $200 check on eBay? Idiot.
  • Coffeedemon, on 07/23/2008, -2/+186Better question is who buys a $200 check off eBay?
  • aphexcoil, on 07/23/2008, -4/+1741. Purchase $299 computer at Best Buy.
    2. Refuse the EULA.
    3. Collect $200.
    4. Return computer, pay 15% restocking fee.
    5. Profit $155.

    Rinse, lather, repeat ...
  • salvadorwii, on 07/23/2008, -11/+1381. Print HP logo in normal check
    2. Put check on eBay
    3. ????
    4. Profit!
  • ginestony, on 07/22/2008, -6/+124If you want to get anything done in this country you've got to complain 'til you're blue in the mouth.
  • inactive, on 07/23/2008, -0/+93The same people who bid on and buy a gift card for the same amount as the gift card is worth. I never understood that.
  • inactive, on 07/23/2008, -7/+82The same kind of idiot that would donate money to Ralph Nader's presidential campaign.
  • JasonCox, on 07/23/2008, -1/+73That's a lot of money considering HP sure as hell didn't pay $200 bucks for Vista; but hey, free money is good money!
  • caseycoold, on 07/23/2008, -3/+65Actual aArticle: http://equiliberate.org/?q=node/3
    wtf is with using a site, that found the article...
    in another article?
  • bigsteve, on 07/23/2008, -0/+46Best Buy doesn't charge restock fee on desktops, only laptops.
  • nunofgs, on 07/23/2008, -0/+46Well, I'd buy it for $50.
  • alimighty1, on 07/23/2008, -4/+48Or you know, just go to work for a week or so and make much more than $200
    plus, you don't have to waste months of your life calling HP.
  • Lewie, on 07/23/2008, -9/+51Ralph Nader? Now I know this guy is crazy.
  • Physicsmazz, on 07/23/2008, -0/+41He's a blogger, he's got nothing better to do.
  • rald84, on 07/23/2008, -1/+41holy crap and i paid $300 (inc. rebate and shipping) for a lenovo with vista. i should have tried this.
  • kingbyu, on 07/23/2008, -1/+37After briefly looking over this guy's blog post, it seems to me that on the HP books, they weren't refunding his Vista money, just rather giving him what he wanted, adopting a "customer is always right" sort of philosophy. The "program name" on the check said "customer escalation" which indicates that it was paid out just because the customer complained loudly enough.

    Many good companies have some sort of account from which they can solve customer disputes. It seems to me that this guy was probably paid out of that account.

    I would guess though that the intentions of the guy were to hurt Microsoft by not providing them with the a sale of a Vista license. Instead, it came out of HP's pocket in their attempt to keep a customer happy. The title of the guy's blog post was "How I got a Vista refund from HP," but I would guess that he really didn't get a refund for Vista (a refund for Vista would mean that he was paid out of the Vista sales account). Instead of a refund, he just got some "please be a happy customer" money.

    I'm not saying that it is right to be forced into paying for bundled software that you don't want, but I also don't think it is right to pester someone (or some company) until they give in and give you some money just so you go away.
  • jfreeman, on 07/23/2008, -1/+38No, I think he got $200 to shut up already.
  • RetepNamenots, on 07/23/2008, -6/+41Or, you could just skip out all of those steps and just steal it...
  • laserdog, on 07/23/2008, -1/+32It's called blog spam.
  • yesplease151, on 07/23/2008, -0/+31Shipping killed it for me
  • smacksaw, on 07/23/2008, -0/+25That's what Kid Rock would do.
  • n1eb, on 07/23/2008, -4/+28My car came with cupholders in the back, but I don't need or use the cupholders in the back. The manufacturer doesn't owe me $200 for the cupholders that I don't want. I should have chosen a car that didn't have cupholders in the back. "But he's talking about the EULA, there was no way for him to know it's contents until after the purchase." Then you take it back to the store and say you're returning it because of the EULA - like an *****. But you don't contact HP and demand a refund for the portion of the product that you don't feel like using.
  • oderdigg, on 07/23/2008, -2/+26Any country...
  • inactive, on 07/23/2008, -3/+27Which country?
  • dondara, on 07/23/2008, -3/+27This is about being a dick. First off, who even reads those EULA's? They are just lawyer rubbish that can't be enforced. (You can't sell me something then try and force stipulations on that sale. You take the cash, deal is done.) He was just trying to make a point and HP tossed him some change and told him to ***** off. This guy is bragging about being annoying. He could have better spent his time.
  • Khast, on 07/23/2008, -0/+23If more people actually sat and read the EULA of various products...more people would refuse to agree. The things they say you are liable for, they aren't the consequences, and heaven forbid their privacy section....
  • sysop073, on 07/23/2008, -0/+233) Make sure story gets on Digg
  • digiguy, on 07/23/2008, -1/+22He wouldn't get back $200 if he returned the PC, unless HP are morons
  • nightowl313, on 07/23/2008, -0/+20Somehow, I think underwear is also involved.
  • mdude85, on 07/23/2008, -0/+19I wouldn't exactly call dozens of hours of work and months of waiting "free money"
  • bnolsen, on 07/23/2008, -3/+21This is a big part of the MS scam.

    First things first...there are laws in almost all US states against "product tying".
    A company can't just legally force you to buy windows with hardware. It's not legal.

    A big problem is the issue of purchase price. If the guy were to only receive a refund check of say $60, that would definitely entitle him the right to buy as many copies from HP for $60 as he wanted and resell those OEM copies at whatever price he liked. Again, reference the "product tying"

    The problem is that MS keeps a very tight lid on all of this by doing their OEM deals all under the table and using a big stick to enforce them. Sadly it seems the state & federal governments aren't willing to enforce a clear windows refund path, especially considering microsoft was convicted of anti-trust violations for "product tying" in the first place.
  • WELLDOITLIVE, on 07/23/2008, -5/+22I just blue myself
  • h4mx0r, on 07/23/2008, -4/+21What's the point of auctioning the check? No one's going to frame it... and if it's addressed to him then can anyone else even cash it? Hell, you can donate the difference directly to whatever you want. Even me.
  • thcobbs, on 07/23/2008, -1/+17Stop it or you'll go blind!
  • tom957, on 07/23/2008, -14/+28This guy rules.
  • bpoteat, on 07/23/2008, -0/+14After returning the PC, you are out only $44.85, the restocking fee, and you have a check for $200. $200 - $44.85 = YOU FAIL!
  • digiguy, on 07/23/2008, -5/+18He still has Windows on the recovery disk. Re-install to factory and accept the EULA... lol
  • inactive, on 07/23/2008, -2/+13I wonder if more folks will start doing that now...
  • nightowl313, on 07/23/2008, -0/+11No, no. He bought the computer with Vista, and a portion of his purchase price went to paying for that software. Because he refused to accept the EULA, and then claimed that he was going to install Linux, he received back 200 dollars from HP, NOT windows, for the price of the Vista software that he didn't use. I'm guessing that HP would then transfer that cost to Microsoft, as though the customer had simply returned a copy of windows.
  • plnegative1, on 07/23/2008, -1/+12im sure that is illegal
  • tas08, on 07/24/2008, -0/+11Well THAT'S interesting. A laptop seems like a lot less work to "restock".
  • azbmr, on 07/23/2008, -1/+12You assume too much. Most computers don't come with recovery disks these days. They make you burn your own when you first start up the machine (at least my Compaq did). You have to pay an extra $20 or so for a recovery DVD (if they even offer it).
  • encrypter, on 07/23/2008, -0/+10I think he meant the recovery partition
  • Shak, on 07/24/2008, -0/+10Shhhh.... Don't let out the secret. We hide the middle steps with ??? for a reason, silly.
  • rmxz, on 07/23/2008, -1/+11The original was submitted to Digg too:
    http://digg.com/microsoft/How_I_got_a_Windows_Vist ...
    but apparently didn't get as many votes as the blogspam (or else the new Digg algorithm likes blogspam better).
  • gcnaddict, on 07/23/2008, -2/+12Well they kinda had to. I don't think HP was too keen about letting the guy return his computer because he was unhappy with software.
  • Azuroth, on 07/23/2008, -0/+10Which is, conveniently, another HP model.
  • raynar, on 07/23/2008, -4/+13"When he saw the Windows Vista EULA and the HP EULA, he decided he wanted to move to Linux. He wasn't happy that there wasn't an option to decline the EULA..."

    Sure there is. Its called "dont buy a prebuilt with Vista". What do you expect if you dont accept a eula? Is it supposed to say "Ok, you dont agree, but here, go ahead".
  • asnider, on 07/23/2008, -0/+9Customer service rep with a thick Indian accent claiming his name is "Bob?"
  • inactive, on 07/23/2008, -5/+14So your process is to bitch to the wrong people, annoy them to the point of harassment, and then get money you're not entitled to?
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