HP has gone some way toward satisfying me, after a long process of petitioning by me, and despite their recalcitrance. Last month I posted about the trouble with my Pavilion a1240a desktop computer.

I purchased the computer in December 2005. The reason I purchased a computer from HP is because my organisation has a purchasing agreement with them worth tens of thousands of dollars annually. Consequently, HP offers discounted equipment to employees.

I told HP that although I was satisfied with the computer until recently, as a result of the problems I experienced, in future, when considering the purchase of a replacement computer, I would be very mindful of the response of HP to my complaints. I told them that I found HP to be bureaucratic and difficult to deal with. Nobody wanted to take responsibility for my case.

On 30 January I contacted HP because the DVD drive wasn't working. The service desk operator told me there was nothing they could do for me because my computer was out of warranty. I asked to be put through to a supervisor. He, also, told me there was nothing they could do.

At no point did HP apologise for the malfunction of my computer just one month out of warranty.

Thrown back on my own resources, I got in touch with Geeks2U, who sent a technician to my apartment. He tested the DVD drive and found that, although it would read CDs, it would not read DVDs. This visit cost me $150.

I went on holidays for ten days. Returning to Sydney, I found a card from HP in my office workstation offering to extend my warranty for a year. It would cost me $180 to do so.

So I telephoned HP sales and told them about these things. Eventually, I got in touch with a representative who offered to escalate my case. He also said that he would find out if the warranty extension offer applied in a case where a computer has already malfunctioned. I provided him with the serial number of my PC.

(I also own an HP all-in-one desktop printer. I am, in general, very happy with the PC and the printer. I find that I can operate them easily and they provide me with the kind of performace I expected when I made my purchases.)

However, regarding the computer, I told HP that I thought it shameful that, only one month out of warranty, the DVD drive ceased to function. Clearly, this is not good enough. I assured them that, when it came to buying a new machine, I would be very mindful of both HP's product reliability and HP's customer support.

Subsequently, HP telephoned me and I purchased a two-year extension on the computer's warranty. It cost $220. And today, a representative of a company called AWA Limited visited my apartment and installed a new DVD drive, gratis.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. In total, I think I talked with HP a dozen times over the phone to achieve my goal. They would not, however, reimburse me the cost of calling a technician to my apartment.