Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Customers Rate PC Vendors' Tech Support

Posted by timothy on from the from-bad-to-worse dept.

VorfeedTech writes "News.com has a story on consumers' satisfaction with tech support. The article goes on to mention ConsumerReports' survey results comparing a few of the major PC vendors. Apple rated the best for tech support. I guess this is where they think different (TM)."

4 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. Dell v. Gateway by drunkmonk · · Score: 3, Informative

    I work at a university and we have a huge computer contract with Dell, so pretty much every PC we have comes from them. We don't have much trouble with them, and when we do, the service has been excellent. Of course, we don't call the home user line, either, but if you're a corporate user I'd recommend them wholeheartedly.

    Now, as for Gateway... when I was in high school, I worked for a company that had an outsourced tech support contract with Gateway. I was on hand when Windows 98 rolled out and all the poor Windows 95 users screwed things up when upgrading... I can honestly say that they hired anyone that could effectively grip a mouse. It was sad, but maybe things have changed.

  2. My Mom's Mac by standards · · Score: 4, Informative

    My Mom was proactive and bought a Mac a few months ago. She had problems with connecting to the Internet.

    Since I know little about the Mac and how it accomplishes such things, and since I live about 2500 miles away from here, I said "Um, Sorry Mom, call Apple".

    And so she did. And to my amazement, they solved her problem. Not only that, but she actually emailed her good experiences to me within a couple hours.

    I have to admit this is the only good tech support experience I've heard from a PC company. Years ago, when I had a PC from another well known company, the tech support guys made me jump through 1000 hoops before they'd admit to a problem that could be fixed with a BIOS upgrade.

    Apple didn't make my Mom do that!

  3. Re:Who is doing the support. by Draoi · · Score: 5, Informative
    Is it an apple employee trained to do tech support or an external support employee trained to support apple?

    [OBDisclaimer: I work for Apple, in fact the Euro support centre is next-door but right now I'm speaking just for myself.]

    Yes, Apple have full-time, trained employees working on tech support. They do in both the US support site (Sacramento, CA) and in Europe (Cork, Ireland).

    By the way, every new Mac sold also contains a diagnostic CD. The user can simply insert it, boot in 5 seconds and get a result back for tech support without even needing a supporting OS!! Kewl or wha' ....

    --
    Alison

    "It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." - Albert Einstein

  4. Call me back! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    The best thing I loved about Apple's Customer Service, is that when I called, the lady asked me my name and then asked for my phone number so she could call me back just in case we got disconnected. Do you believe that? I can't remember the number of times that I've been disconnected on Customer Service lines, but for once someone got it right.

    If they disconnect you, then they should call you back.

    Thanks Apple!