HP worker spills company secrets

Now that his or her NDA is expired, the worker felt the need to release 14 trade secrets that the outfit likes to keep hidden. The Consumerist reports that these 14 secrets include the fact that HP laser printers have a built-in page-count after which they won't work. The counter is in the drum kit and it is always cheaper to buy a new printer rather than get it fixed. It is possible to do a NV ram reset but this has a few risks.

To get passed HP's voice prompt system you should shout "Agent" into the phone and you will be connected to a human.

HP tells its help desk people not to spend more than 30 minutes talking to punters whose printers cost less than the print cartridges. These are throw away printers and are not meant to be fixed. HP cartridges have a warranty separate from their printer. If the cartridge starts playing up and the warranty on the printer is gone you can still phone up.

All HP printers which have been on the market for longer than six months have foreign tech support. HP's Parts Store was recently moved to Central America and isn't talking to HP Tech Support.

Apparently, they are miffed because the Tech Support CSR can see what is in the HP PS inventory and knows when they're telling porkies. HP Parts Store has a habit of losing stuff.

Tech support has been told to hang up on people if it is discovered that they use non-HP cartridges or if punters who threaten to sue them.

HPs has a Beta Software website. It contains lots of drivers that have not made it onto distribution cds yet and fixes. µ