Wanted: Battery cover for HP 2200 series, Hp wants $24!

My friends car broke down- it was his 3rd Ford. It needed a new Ignition unit. You'd think they'd fit it for free for a returning customer? Not really.

Pay for your part- it's not HP's fault.

In the meanwhile poll all of the other machine makers to see who will provide free parts out of warranty so you know where to buy next time. Best of luck.

What a pathetic excuse for a metaphor! The big difference being an ignition unit actually does something, and requires fitting - while a battery cover is simply a molded piece of plastic with no moving parts. The original poster didn't want one free, but one at a reasonable price. They cost peanuts to make, as I suspect a few thousand fly off production lines every minute.

Marc wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@doris.uk.clara.net:

"Peanuts to make"(depending on number of parts in a single run),then there's packaging,distribution,stocking costs and inventory taxes on the parts.

And that battery cover DOES do something,it holds the batteries in. Otherwise,he would not need it.

If it's just a "molded cover with no moving parts",then make a form,and mold your own.You could glue the pieces of a broken cover back together,and use that rubber casting material to make a mold for a new,intact one.(and see how much it costs to do it!)

| > Pay for your part- it's not HP's fault. | >

| > In the meanwhile poll all of the other machine makers to see who will | > provide free parts out of warranty so you know where to buy next time. | | What a pathetic excuse for a metaphor! | The big difference being an ignition unit actually does something, and | requires fitting - while a battery cover is simply a molded piece of | plastic with no moving parts. The original poster didn't want one free, | but one at a reasonable price. They cost peanuts to make, as I suspect a | few thousand fly off production lines every minute. | | | -- | Marc | See

What a pathetic lack of depth of thought.

They will make as many as they think need spares, plus machines. Setup times are the same for this bit of plastic as any other. then there are packaging costs into individual units, stock keeping, storage, handling and packaging costs whatever the part is. That won't be worked out on how much plastic is in the part, but how long it takes- the same as a battery or screen. They don't use cheaper labour to handle the parts, cheaper computers just to stock control those parts, or cheaper packaging.

Criticise when you have a little understanding of the manufacturing, storage and distribution systems, not because you think 'it's a little bit of plastic that costs peanuts to make'. That is only a small part of getting *any* part to a customer. The part is probably a cent, but that is not the major part of any spare part cost for anything.

Then there are taxes, transport costs ........

How these costs are assigned to parts are down to a company- perhaps it is individually costed- guess what? That adds to the price you pay. Perhaps they apportion an equal share to every part, whatever its value. That is up to the company. You don't like the result? Buy elsewhere- but all companies must cover their costs or they won't be here to sell you those spare parts you like to moan about.

What you say may be true. On the other hand when companies make proprietary products and proprietary parts for those products they can charge pretty much what they want because there is no competition. Some companies are fair on their specialty part pricing and then there are those that do take advantage. I don't know the truth of the situation here, but it may not be quite as simple (or complicated) as the understanding of manufacturing, storage, and distribution systems...

And they won't tell.

But the prices may be reasonable and understandable to those who set them.

I am also victim to these kinds of practices, I get charged those same prices so the personal attack by Marc is not justified just because I wrote down the possible stance of that particular company. I know they are not easy to bear when you are faced with them, but I did not set them. An example I have recently faced is a replacement battery needed for my pda. The battery was quoted as £25- quite expensive compared to some, but I could live with that. The sting was that the only way I could get a battery (apart from a warranty repair) was by them fitting it. The communication got as far as a claim that it was policy set by Hong Kong. The £25 was supplemented by a £45 labour charge. That is £70. Plus Carriage.

Then if there are taxes on top of that it's another 17.5%. The battery is plug in and the back case is help in place by 4 screws- there's an easily justified (it's our standard cost sir) fixed price of £45?- around .

If you are American the conversions for you: Battery $47.95 Labour $86.32

Total: $134.27

Tax if applied: $23.50

Total: $157.77

Plus Carriage Costs. For a battery. For an almost 2 year old machine. Compare that to a pda price.

Yes Marc. I am subject to these companies behaviour too, and your having a go at me does not affect them in the slightest. Still, if *you* feel better for your act on *another* victim of business practice because you can't see the difference between someone trying to explain how things work and someone who charges those prices then go and feel happy with yourself.

Fair point, I don't work for HP. I live opposite their UK HQ tho :o) You do work for them then?

Since HP make many of these anyway (for their new models) your argument makes no sense. I was not suggesting they setup a new production line for just one battery cover - but I'm sure you knew that :o). If they have 2 million being made for new devices evey month, it does not cost them $24 to assign one of those to be posted out to customers who need them to be replaced. Its a known design "flaw" in the 2210 that if you drop it, the battery cover is the first thing that brakes (maybe not a flaw, since its better than the whole case taking impact) - so there is probably a high demand for repacements anyway. $10 for postage maybe?

Please just don't compare a PDA to a car! Ford replacements generally are cheaper than other car replacements over here, as they are near enough expected to go wrong at some time.

Alan - i'm not having a go at you, if that's how it came across then I'm sorry about that. I think its more down to my written English and the way I put my point across (pretty badly, looking back). I just happened to disagree with the point you made and the way in which you justified it.

I think maybe a good example of more HP (proprietary) predatory pricing is their printer cartridges. They even sued a competitor who was rebuilding used cartridges to try and stop the competition. Course they do work on the Polaroid principle, and that is to sell the machine cheap and the supplies dearly...

I lost a chrome proprietary (fancy logo and styled) Ford wheel nut cover awhile back. Being the pessimist I am I expected to be gouged US$30 or 40 bucks for it. I was pleasantly surprised at $13 (from a dealer no less). So proprietary does not necessarily mean predatory....

You come across sounding reasonable and sincere. According to Usenet charter, paragraph 42 (which always has the answer), this is strictly not allowed. Please correct and flame all parties present.

thank you.

:)

On Wed, 9 Mar 2005 10:13:44 -0600, "Robert Bullock" put finger to keyboard and composed:

Yeah, I'd have to agree that demanding $24 for something that probably costs 10c to make is an affront. If HP had ordered extra parts at the time of manufacture, then that's probably all they would have paid for them. And shipping those extra parts from China (?) in the same containers as the full product should have cost no extra. As for their cost of supply to you, just how long does it take for some menial serf on the basic wage ($5/hr ???) to find and "handle" your goods into a paper package? Is a poorly designed piece of plastic worth 4 hours of someone's labour?

- Franc Zabkar