HP Settles Kickbacks Case for $55,000,000

It's always good to know, amidst all the constant skepticism about the government, that at least they try to keep it clean now and again.

They should have suspected kickbacks as soon as they saw an agency using HP machines. Why else would they buy them?

So - is that money going back to taxpayers?

Well, every corporate giant is found to be guilty of something sometime. Business is seldom clean.

In other words: We want special treatment to not pay what other companies have to pay for the same thing.

Not saying what HP did was right, but I still think its bogus that they tax the hell out of companies which in turn makes the goods for the common citizen more expensive and then use their power as gov't to not have to pay the same prices.

Companies don't pay taxes, all they do is pass the taxes on to their customers which means we get screwed.

So they are getting rid of the kickback problem with kickbacks, but this time to the government.

"Oh, we admit to this. Now let's bribe the US goverment".

The entire GSA program is a joke and should be axed. GSA does not prevent corruption and EVERYTHING costs more. Plus, purchasing through GSA is a pain in the ass. Try to shop at their website, I dare you. I'd hyperlink it but I'm afraid to get my post blocked as spam - just search GSA advantage and check it out.

This is why we don't want our government running anything that they absolutely don't have to.

I'm pretty sure the 55 mil was to compensate for overcharging the US Gov't for computers. That's kind of what the article says.

Holy crap. 55 million? And it took us this long to find it and solve the problem? Sad sad day.

Great. So whenever HP pays we can just reduce this $55,000,000 from our current national debt.

We used to owe $13,400,000,000,000 but now we only owe $13,399,945,000,000.

Hooray.

Hp is not the only one.

HP systems aren't that bad you know. They have excellent warranty cover, and they're reliable (if you ignore 2009 and 2010 laptop models that is).

You do pay more than you would for building your own, but you also get better warranty. I expect the same to be true with other vendors, but since our company's been using HP exclusively since 2004 I can't tell. I just know from another company that dell isn't the way to go, and that siemens laptops are even more unreliable than hp ones.

Taxpayers won't see a dime.

"Let the buyer beware" just doesn't seem to cut it anymore...

HP used to be the absolute cream of the hardware crop. Top notch equipment, top notch quality. The have not devolved into something barely better than Packard-Bell. Heck, they haven't even updated their calculator designs since I was in college 30 years ago!

How come no one makes a cool graphing calc with an e-ink screen?

Just as long as I get my share... I was promised a huge cut on this settlement!

This is what's wrong with a "free market". Imagine where companies like Intel, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco would be if there wasn't some (however inept) management by the government. It scares me to think that I'd be typing this right now on my $10,000 IBM personal computer connected to the "Cisco Worldwide Network" using Internet Explorer 5.0.

Cause paying $100 for a TI-82 is bad enough, add on another $50-$100 for the screen and we're talking a semester's worth of Ramen.

hahaha that's funny, money going back to taxpayers...

Ha the government is NOW worried about companies overcharging them? They never seemed to care before what's so different now?

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and again..