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What to do When Technical Support Fails?

Posted by Cliff on from the cutting-the-red-tape-around-your-hardware dept.

trifster asks: "At this year's Comdex I purchased a Buslink USB 2.0 Cardbus adapter for my laptop. It was a good price and a partial impulse purchase, however it was defective out of the box. Before Christmas 2003, I set it back via Buslink's RMA process. It will be 2 months tomorrow, and I have not received my replacement nor have the 3 phone calls or 4 emails been addressed. What can one consumer do when he is on the East Coast and his hardware is held hostage on the West Coast? What have your experiences been in resolving these support SNAFUs?"

18 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. Well, by sinergy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You just stop wasting so much time over a $20 part. I don't see why people make such a big deal over cheap things.

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    1. Re:Well, by cybermace5 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My thoughts exactly. I typically look at the money I'll gain from pushing the issue, and then figure that the maximum amount of time I'll spend on it is no more than how long it would take me to earn that much at $40 an hour. The other week I called in about a $10 shipping overcharge on some parts I ordered, but I spent no more than 15 minutes investigating the issue and getting it resolved.

      Kind of like balancing your checkbook; how much time do you spend doing it, and how much money you recovered compared to the hours invested? I keep a very good idea of what I have in the bank to the nearest $10 or so, but I'm not going to waste time looking for a $1 bank mistake. I scan over my bank statements and if there's a $200 mistake, I'll see it.

      There was a guy on the electronics newsgroups a while back who must have posted a dozen times complaining about an overcharge from Mouser that turned out to be about three dollars. He spent a lot of time on the phone, escalated through the managers, etc.

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    2. Re:Well, by Enfors · · Score: 4, Insightful
      You just stop wasting so much time over a $20 part. I don't see why people make such a big deal over cheap things


      I don't think that would be a good idea. If we let companies get away with stuff like this, they'll learn that its safe to screw customers over just as long as the item in question is cheap. I, for one, wouldn't want to end up in that situation. In fact, capitalism itself relies on the principles of self-moderation - if we want capitalism to work, we as consumers have to make it work.
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      -Enfors-
    3. Re:Well, by zelphior · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That's all well and good if you have a good job earning $40 an hour. However, for those of us struggling through college, living on ramen noodles and walking or hitchhiking to class because we can't afford gas, then it's worth it to get that $20 back. I try to pinch every penny so that I can afford to feed my addiction to technology. Since I spend pretty much all the spending money I do get on technology related stuff (computer parts, games, etc.), if something doesn't work, then it's worth it to me to try to recover my money or get it replaced with something that does work.

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      If you can read this then I forgot to check "Post Anonymously"
    4. Re:Well, by HeghmoH · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The thing is, if everybody took the attitude that it's no big deal, and it's not worth the time to go after it, then companies would try to get away with it a lot more. Don't look at it as a way to get your money back, look at it as keeping the company honest. I agree that you need to keep perspective about the issue, but just because a $20 error will take more than $20 of your time to fix isn't necessarily a reason to let it go.

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      Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
    5. Re:Well, by dasunt · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My thoughts exactly. I typically look at the money I'll gain from pushing the issue, and then figure that the maximum amount of time I'll spend on it is no more than how long it would take me to earn that much at $40 an hour. The other week I called in about a $10 shipping overcharge on some parts I ordered, but I spent no more than 15 minutes investigating the issue and getting it resolved.

      Your analysis is flawed.

      You ignore the possibility that by investigating these companies, you end up pressuring them to have a higher quality of business.

      If that increases the quality of the product, then we've all gained more then the $40+ that was lost.

    6. Re:Well, by cybermace5 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No, my analysis is not flawed. I never said that I would just let it go, I said that there was a limit to the amount of time I would spend trying to get my money back.

      If I have to spend too much time forcing a business to provide adequate quality service, I won't do business with them again. I tell them as much, and most of the time they fix the problem and I will do business with them again. Most businesses really aren't out there trying to provide bad service; it's usually human error and companies usually try to get the issue resolved in a minimum amount of time.

      The pressure is applied to the business within the first minute of your complaint. They know that if they don't satisfactorily resolve your issue, you probably won't buy from them again, and you'll tell your friends not to either. Any time you spend after that first minute is just you trying to get your money back. Multiple calls and hours on the phone will not pressure a business to improve itself. If you have to spend that much time, the business has no intention of improving itself.

      Don't stay on hold for 45 minutes to get a $5 rebate, with the idea that you're helping the business world into some enlightened age of customer service utopia. All you're doing is reinforcing the fact that they do not need to resolve complaints in a timely manner; customers will wait for them and take whatever abuse is required to get their five bucks.

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  2. Go to the top by rm007 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A strategy that has worked for me in the past is send a letter (or email) to the president or CEO. When things get cascaded down from offices like that, results tend to happen.

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    I've finally got around to changing my sig
    1. Re:Go to the top by innocent_white_lamb · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Sometimes it can work from the other end too. Low-level managers want to be noticed by their higher-ups so they can get a promotion. If you can provide the low-level manager with a "project" that he can resolve and thereby demonstrate how clever he is, sometimes that's enough incentive for that low-level manager to act and resolve your problem.

      Of course, you have to present the problem in the proper way to accomplish this.

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      If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
  3. Threats, credit card fruad, better business bureau by n1ywb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A) Threaten them. Demand to speak to managers. If they won't give you the numbers, or if you can't even talk to a real person, do your own digging to try and find some real nubmers. Check the yellow pages for instance, or maybe their WHOIS record.

    B) See if your credit card company can offer any recourse. Most of them have a zero fraud liability I think. If you paid cash or check, SOL.

    C) File a complaint with the better business bureau. This may sound lame, but it can actually be quite effective. I have friends who were getting screwed by some company and have come out far ahead after complaining to the BBB.

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    -73, de n1ywb
    www.n1ywb.com
  4. What can one customer do? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Learn.

    Learn not to do "impulse purchases".

  5. Slashdot could be actively collecting data by evilad · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The poll mechanism already in place would be an excellent way to collect /. user experience with different hardware vendors, and perhaps other things like online vendors. I for one would be very interested to see non-sponsored surveys of satisfaction among a relatively technical audience.

    It seems to me that having a database of this sort of information would go a long way towards
    a) removing this sort of Ask Slashdot, which is pretty pointless beyond being a good way to rant, and
    b) actively improving the sad state of affairs in the world of technical support and customer relations.

  6. document everything by j-turkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Whatever you decide to do, full documentation will frequently galvonize your argument. When you called, did you write down who you spoke with and when? Did you keep your emails to them? Have you sent them a registered letter?

    At this point, I'd write their CEO a letter, showing all of this documentation (names, dates, etc). If I were trying to run a business, I'd be grateful to find out whose fault it is that my customer service sucks. If you don't hear back right away, follow up with a phone call to the CEO.

    If a letter to their CEO fails, you have the BBB and small claims court to fall back upon as a last resort. Your documentation will be a great asset to you here as well.

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    -Turkey

  7. Always use a credit card! by nycllama · · Score: 2, Insightful

    At least you'll get your money back without much of a hassle.

  8. Not fraud by hey! · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Your best bet is to have your credit card company credit your account, which they probably will do, especially if you have documentation. Then just tell Buslink to keep its defective card.

    Don't get hung up on trying to prove fraud because you're complicating things. Your case is simple: you paid for a working widget, you never received a working widget, and the widget in question is currently in possession of Buslink and they apparently have no intention of returning it to you. Your position should be very clear here: Buslink has your money. Period. They didn't defraud you (that implies intent), they just didn't perform.

    Any other course of action will eat up way more of your time than a cheapo PC card is worth. You probably feel violated, but really at this point you've probably wasted more time and anguish on the company than they deserve. Get your money back if you can and write off the emotional cost in any case. Retribution will just waste more of your time.

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    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  9. Re:contact your attorney general by qqtortqq · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've gone through the BBB before wen ordering parts from another state, and they were very helpful. Although they have no way to enforce anything, if the company fails to respond to them or refuses to work with you, they get a bad mark on BBB's records. On both the complaints I've filed, i got calls the next day from higher-ups wanting to fix my problem and avoid the bad mark on thier record.

    Now before I order from a new supplier, I check thier BBB record. The record from the company I never recieved my order from was horrible.

  10. Use a credit card by Imperator · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If you used a credit card, then when the purchase came in DOA you could have called them up and asked them to dispute payment on the product. That way the reseller has every incentive to work with you, either to give you your money back or to give you a product that works.

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    Gates' Law: Every 18 months, the speed of software halves.
  11. At this year's Comdex I purchased... by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Answer:

    Don't speak to anyone at Comdex, and for the love of humanity do not swipe your card at any vendor's booths much less buy anything.

    For that matter, don't go to Comdex!