Buy an Elite HP PC, Get Your Own Support Staffer

jfruh writes "HP reversed its decision to spin off its PC business, but it's still left with the question of how to make money in a commodity business selling standard-issue machines manufactured overseas. One idea they're contemplating: improved customer service. If you buy an HP 'Elite' PC and have problems, you won't have to phone into a tech support call center where an entry-level drone reads off a script and tells you to reboot the machine; you'll have access to a specific support tech who will work with you as long as you own the computer."

Comments

Start with basic customer service first.

[jhoegl]

Seriously HP, starting with better basic Customer support would gain you more market share.
If Dell can figure it out, so can you.

Nightmare

[mvar]

Anyone who has had a little help-desk experience can already imagine the horrors of having to deal with a specific annoying customer every fucking time he calls for help

Re:Nightmare

[Raistlin77]

Anyone who has had a little experience with a small company can already imagine the horrors of having to deal with a specific annoying support rep every fucking time they call for help.

Works both ways.

Meet the new drone, same as the old drone.

[Sponge Bath]

Whoever is assigned as your support tech will still be under the same policies meant to minimize costs to HP, that means limited training and script reading. Given the turnover in tech support, even an "assigned" drone will likely be some random person by the time you need help. This sounds more like marketing than an actual change in policy.

Re:One Question

[themightythor]

It obviously "Player Character".

Re:*blink* Eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean Dells home grade tech support. Anyone who has purchased Dell's business line of products such as workstations/servers knows you get someone in the USA on the phone that is usually very knowledgeable.

Re:One Question

[hairyfeet]

Actually it just shows how out of touch geeks are with the public, as someone who has been making his living serving that public since before there even WAS a Windows let me bust some myths okay?

1.-A tablet is NOT a PC, it is in fact not even considered a computer of ANY sort by the masses. its a "screen that plays videos and angry birds" and they look on it as a personal computer about as much as their wristwatch or ATM.

2.-A phone is NOT a personal computer, or even has an OS, again see 1 only add "helps me find stuff and Googles"

3.-The reason ARM netbooks never had a chance is because there is no such thing as a netbook to the masses, its a "baby laptop and baby laptops should do everything a big laptop does only slower, because a baby is smaller than a grown up"

I hope i have cleared up some common myths held by geeks about what is an isn't a PC. to the public the ONLY thing that is a PC is a computer that runs Windows and supports ALL their old programs, be it in desktop or laptop form. That is one of the reasons Windows tablets is DOA, both in X86 and ARM, as it tries to break common perception. If its a tablet its supposed to work like a big phone, if its got Windows its supposed to have a keyboard and a mouse or trackpad. people don't like things that go against perceptions, see the open hostility to Win 8 as an example as i've shown it to over 200 customers and within seconds they are actively hating the thing, its just too alien.