Miscellaneous laptop discussions forum: Help! How do I speak to am American at HP?

I am having so many problems with HP's customer service number. Today and yesterday my husband and I have collectively spent 10 hours on the phone with them and still have no answers.

I politely but firmly asked for assistance from an American or Canadian service rep and was simply returned to the central call menu in a nightmare carousel of helpless and pointlessly repetative calls.

I desperately needed customer service as I had to give a presentation this morning to 300 people and my computer crashed with my presentation inside.

We purchased an extended 2 year warranty and now when we finally need some help they tell us that even though they can see our invoice number and date of purchase, we never sent back some crummy postcard so now i have to go locate my proof of purchase, fax it in and wait 2-3 weeks for processing before they can even help me! While 6 reps told us this, 2 reps told us that we are covered and didn't need to fax anything. Everytime we call we get a different story.

I finally took the notebook to Geek Squad at Best Buys (who were amazing) and they said my hard drive is caput, and I need a new one which should be covered by warranty.

HP should do America a favor - help rebuild the south from Hurricane Katrina and set up call centers there - offering jobs to Americans who have lost theirs recently. HP has lost me as a customer after 10 years of loyal patronage. Unfortunately for me, I still have to deal with their horrific customer (dis)service to repair/replace my notebook.

Anyone have any advice how I can speak to an American or get this sorted out? I have to take my National Board dental hygiene exams in a few weeks and can't be without a computer for very long!

Please help!
amerricka@gmail.com