Dell hooks up PC customers with online support

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RE: Dell hooks up PC customers with online support

Just to set the record straight, I have been providing in home support for Dell clients for almost 8 years. I have heard all the stories both good and bad. I've been a technician for 18 years and consider myself a real technician.

Above and beyond, locations of thier call centers, accents of the technicians, the techs are bound to follow "cookie cutter" methods using decision tree problem resolution software. While this can work for many...for many this will not work.

Where the process actually fails, is the technicians they employ are basically pulled off the street and set in front of a screen. Any one of my clients with reasonable computer ability could do this.

IF they actually hired technicians that had any level of field experience, they could visualize what the client is saying or have a better grasp on what they are saying. If they possessed basic troubleshooting skills, and had some PC background, they would be able to cut to the chase more readily.

For example, a client calls in and complains an optical drive can't read a disk. Before you know it, a tech is looking at the system using Dell Connect monkeying with the registry.

Being an experienced tech, I know many clients at least have the Dell Resource CD or a Windows CD. Since most systems no longer have Floppy disks. That drive HAS to act as a boot device. Both the Resource CD and the Windowd CD/DVD they provide are bootable.

So the first step should be to test that basic capability if possible and fail or pass the drive. The optical drive has to boot to one of those discs and is the bottom line. Instead they seem to have the I'll prove it is a software issue before I will entertain it is a hardware issue approach.

This has gone on longer than just since Dell Connect was introduced. Likely they offer some sort of financial incentive for the techs to resolve issues without having to send out a tech.

Nothing else I can think of would account for 2-3 hours on the phone and then finally giving up and sending multiple parts to throw at the problem...just in case hardware is the problem.

The resource cd also has diagnostics on it and can locate some hardware issues. When I ask clients if Dell had them run diagnostics, often the response in no.

The bottom line though is that there is no warranty by any manufacturer that will leave 100% of its' clients 100% satisfied. Part of this stems from the fact there isn't a very large profit margin on computers. The "Real Money" is made by selling peripherals, extra software, items like monitors and printers by other firms that put thier name on it, additional sevices, and of course extended warranties.

Extended warranties give them a mechanism to get your money upfront and invest it to make more money. This doesn't cost them anything. Actually providing support and sending techs with parts reduces the profit. The later being more costly.

Over the years, manufacturer support levels have declined proportionally to the price of the computer. As I said, they have little profit in the computer itself, and that is due to competition.

So to put it all in a nutshell, consumers are victims of mass productions and lower prices. just like the government there is not much you can do about it. They all do it roughly the same way. So jumping ship when one manufacturer often leads to the same result regardless of who you buy from next.

Posted by: mrwelch98@...   Posted on: 12/10/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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