The installation and troubleshooting of Hewlett Packard (HP) All-In-One (AIO) printer/scanner/fax units can often be troublesome and problematic. This has been the case for years. To be fair, HP printers and AIOs are probably the best brand to purchase, and we will continue to recommend them (with a warning that installation can sometimes be tricky/difficult). Once properly installed they work great, they are very reliable, and they have the fewest “consumables” that have to be replaced during the lifetime of the device. But again, installation can sometimes go wrong, resulting in a sometimes very difficult troubleshooting process that can sometimes take a very long time and, in some cases, no solution is every found to get all functions working properly. The same can be true if the device driver becomes corrupt or if an upgrade does not install properly. Notice the emphasis on “sometimes” in that last sentence; problems don’t happen often, but when they do they can be extremely difficult and time-consuming to resolve.
In light of this, our company position is that we will install/troubleshoot HP AIO devices on a “best effort” basis, which means that we cannot guarantee a solution and all time troubleshoot such issues will be fully billable whether we actually fix the problem or not. When explaining this to customers it is important to point out that we still recommend HP AIOs as excellent products, but there is a chance that troubleshooting can be difficult (and expensive), that is the reason for the “best effort” policy. This policy applies only to HP AIO devices, not HP printers (or separate scanners).
If customers ask about an alternative brand to consider then we should recommend Xerox AIO products.
ATTENTION ADMINS: It is extremely important that this be explained to customers whenever they call for service that includes installation or troubleshooting of an HP All-In-One device. Again this applies only to AIO devices, not separate printers or scanners.