Social Media has changed the relationship between the consumer and the manufacturer

It failed on me for the last time! I went online and searched Google to see if my current challenge with my HP printer had been experienced by others – and…

It had been! In fact there were dozens of reports of an inkjet failure in the very same model I had. After reading several posts, and feeling my blood pressure rise a few points after each one, I concluded that this printer had been hopelessly misengineered. 

Yep, a product destined to fail – and right about at the close of the warranty period too! Planned obsolescence. Modern junk. 

BUT – THIS TIME I was not going to be the “sucker” who runs out to the nearest Staples and ponys up a century note for a new printer (likely to die a similar death in the near future!) Instead, I decided to take action – and the PEN (well, really the keyboard) would be my “weapon of choice”. 

I crafted a message, found HP’s “Facebook page”, and started my own “HP Sucks” facebook page and posted details about the incident and about how I was “done with HP”. 

What happened next impressed even me. I received a contact from HP Customer Service – not the low level drones stationed in Manila mind you! This was a guy right here in the USA. He was even authorized to make a decision – whew! He said he “heard me” and got authorized to replace my two year old P.O.S. printer with a brandy new HP printer that he said has the print head in the cartridge, so a casual user like myself would be replacing the print head each time he ran out of ink – and that would ELIMINATE the issue I experienced with my old unit. 

the power of social media
My new HP 5660… Evidence of the POWER of Social Media

Time will tell whether his theory holds, but for now, I have a brand new HP printer – sent to me at NO CHARGE from HP. I am taking this moment to publicly commend HP for taking action in my case – although I must wonder just how much pressure do manufacturers (and businesses) like HP feel from the “power of the consumer” as they post their experiences online – often in Facebook groups and on their own “walls”. 

Yep, social media has changed the world! 

By the way – the HP 5660 is a nice, compact printer, perfect for anyone living in an RV!

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