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Customers Rate PC Vendors' Tech Support
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)."
When you are supporting something, you become a genre expert, and as such, have a domain of knowledge about the product that few outside of tech support could hope to attain.
Besides, when you've worked tech support, you only remember the bad calls, never the good ones.
RomSteady - I came, I saw, I tested. GamerTag: RomSteady / http://www.romsteady.net
I wonder if there is a connection there?
In amny ways tech support is a waste of money for the computer companies. Most people aren't very intelligent consumers. By intelligent i mean people who would pikc up a copy of consumer reports and closely analyze the the details of a brand of computers such as how good their tech support is. Instead most people will buy things based on the specs, the looks, and the price. So, for the msot part Compaq's crappy tech support doesn't hurt them, because the person who needs tech support has already paid for the product and therefore any time they spend on them represents a loss in money.
Dell is the top manufacturer of PCs, no doubt largely because of its good technical support, however the contrast in the number of sales for Dell vs Compaq doesn't correlate well with the tech support satisfaction numbers.
A rabbit in the hand is worth 4 in the cage
Why do you think people buy German cars? It's partly the engineering and partly the aftersales service. (Okay, it's also partly a status thing too....) ;-)
I defected from Apple for quite a few years...but when I started doing more creative stuff again, I went back. Glad I did....they seem to really trying to give customers a solid product offering these days. However, they're also not trying to be all things to all people.
-psyco
I've had two Dell computers without problem. The PCs worked fine for the duration of their life with me(2-3 years) and all was good.
This past winter I was going to buy another one only I had a complete brain fart about the limit on my card since I had never used it to make a purchase over $100 online.
So they send me an e-mail back saying the bank denied my purchase but did not give them a reason and I was to call Dell back, yadda yadda. So after figuring out about the limit from my card company I call Dell back and explain. I called the number they told me to call in the e-mail but after waiting 20 minutes to talk to them they had to rout me through to someone else because it wasn't the right department. So I wait another 20 minutes and I explain the problem to the next person...oh wait, it's not their department so they route me some place else. So I wait another 20 minutes and I explain the problem to the next person...oh wait, it's not their department so they route me some place else. Only this time my connection is disconnected...
I was so irritated I just forgot about the entire thing. In 2 days they had to release my order (as said in the e-mail) and I never did get a Dell. I built my own computer (thank goodness).
This could have all been avoided had I not bought the computer on the last day of a significant sale (free shipping -$90 plus a free upgrade or two, so I was saving quite a bit). Because of that I couldn't just cancel the order and configure and buy again.
In any event, that entire ordeal soured me to Dell.
After a great experience building my own computer months later, I'd never go back unless perhaps I ever bought a laptop.
-- Scientist: You aren't going to leave me here, are you? Boagh! Thump...
what about sony? they didnt make any of the lists. but they did make anouther report saying there notebook support was poor ( above gateway hp and compaq) anyone actually register with consumer reports to get updated info? please share.
A few years ago a Jaz disk would eject immediately after inserting it in the drive and I called Iomega. After going trough the automated stuff (push # for ...), I finally got a live person on the line.
After the usual (cables, drivers, etc....) stuff she exactly told me what to do to make it stay in there (easy: keep your hand the disk, until it snaps, it never had the problem after that occurence). She even was very patient with me because I had to walk to the computer each time to do something because the phone and computer were in different rooms. After being helped, I thanked her for her friendly and useful help, and she actually sounded astonished anyone would thank her for the help.
And now you say they don't remember the good calls? *snif* (Oh, and she had one kind of sexy voice with a slight Irish accent)
Price shouldn't make a difference.
I like big butts and I cannot lie.
And yes, it was not an obvious problem by a long shot, dealing with how an update handed obsolete names of some computers on the network. They were very competent troubleshooters and they finally solved the problem.
Since I make a point of complaining when service is bad, I thought it only fair to send an email to them praising the service. I received a kind, personal, reply from the tech support supervisor.
Apple's got my business for as long as they like.
On Monday afternoon I called them and they said they'd send me an overnight shipping package.
Tuesday, mid-day, an Airborne Express box was sitting on my porch. I packed the machine and brought it to the Airborne office for shipping.
Wednesday, I check the website and my machine arrived in the morning, has been fixed and is being shipped out in the afternoon.
Thursday, mid-day, an Airborne Express box is on my porch with my laptop with a new hard drive.
Time from problem discovery to problem resolution: 70 hours. Cost to me: $0. (Well, I did miss out on the $200 rebate offer when I bought it by one friggin' day ... darn you Apple--why won't you be nice and give it to me anyway? why? Oh ... sorry ... )
--- Jason Olshefsky
Karma: Poser (mostly affected by adding this line long after everyone else did)
"Apple is a terrible company to include in this kind of survey. A very large percentage of their customers are Mac enthusiasts."
Attacking the survey methedology with a vague unsupported assertion is not really the way to prove a point.
The reason I doubt your assertion is that during the 'dark years' before Jobs return, customers were leaving the platform and making their dissatisfaction with the quality of the product and support well known.
I think that one reason Apple might rate high is that they are responsible everything on my computer: the hardware, the OS, Final Cut Pro, the iTools, the iPod, and so on. Also, their stuff no longer seems to break as often as it did 4 years ago.
I swear, they can be complete idiots sometimes.
:)
We purchased a dozen or so LCD monitors from Dell, to go with some of our existing, but still new ( 1 year old ) Dell desktops. One of them had two horizontal lines running through the screen, at about 1/3 and 2/3 of the way down.
This line was present both when it was hooked up to the computer, and during the self test when powered on by itself.
The guy on the phone kept insisting that I swap out the video card, just to be sure. Obviously, if it happens when its not even connected to the system, its not a problem with the system.
Another time, fairly recently, I called up to get a replacement fan for the back of the cpu, as it had been whining incessantly (much like I'm doing now).
"How did you determine the problem is with the fan?"
"Uh, I used my ear."
I guess I really can't fault them -- it's apparent they're working off scripts and trouble shooting diagrams. Always get my replacement parts the next day though. Best thing about Dell
I had an odd failure on my iBook. Somehow I managed to snap off the male plug end of the battery charger INSIDE the female power connector of the iBook. The 'book was under warranty, but past the 90 days of free phone support.
This was obviously a hardware problem, but the tech was not able to even discuss it with me without a credit card number. He told me that if it was a hardware problem I would not be charged, but if it were a software problem I would.
I explained that there was no way that it could be a software problem since it was a physical plug not going into a physical hole because a physical piece broke off.
Long story short, I had to give my card number (was not charged), they sent me an Airborne box, which I filled with my iBook and gave back to the guy who was dropping it off. They had to wait for a part so it took a week to get it back, but all is well with it now.
I just thought it was funny that even Apple has some strange policies in their tech support department.
- Vincit qui patitur.
Though my subject is consumer vs. business, it is in regards to the type of support line you get thrown into. I have a Gateway at home, and I bought this machine back in december of 98, right when the dual 450's mother boards started shipping. I had purchased this box but, it was considered a business line workstation. Plus, it came with 3 years warranty. I have had to call them up twice regarding my SCSI CDROM dying on me. (I don't think the plextor scsi cdrom i have likes the 80min cdrs...i'm digressing) Both times, that I have called, the support has always been excellent, and the staff was highly technical (and they were females, too...kudos!) None, the less, I always explained to them what was going on, and they have never given me much trouble. They have sent me two replacement drives, and this last one is still working. (Whew!)
I think perhaps that the article is decent, but it does not paint a clear picture. Perhaps, the various vendors of computers have separate groups of customer support, and i would not be surprised if the ones for the business side of things were much more technical than the consumer side. For example, Compaq has always made great business class machines and servers. But I wouldn't put my money in their consumer side products... that's just me though.
"if you just pretend to do what they're asking instead of actually doing it, it goes much more quickly. "
Well, it sounds as if you know what you're doing, but what about those who don't? There are a lot of people who call tech support who want a quick, easy fix, that do just what you describe; pretend to do something, lie and say it didn't work, and then call back (usually in 10 minutes, especially when the procedure you gave them should take 30.). Why? What good does that do them? Well, in my case, it usually means they want me to fix their files, or they want an excuse to complain. In the case of hardware support, i can only assume it's the latter, or that they are intimidated.
Snarky comments and the continuing stereotype of tech support people as minimum-wage or ignorant really makes our job tougher, needlessly. Sure, the stereotype is right in some places. But what about the legions of knowledgeable support staff who can no longer do their job, because the customers on the other end are sometimes preconditioned to assume that they will get no help, and just biding time until they can escalate the call to a manager.
We cannot help those who do not wish to be helped.