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Outsourcing not an answer
I find the discussion of the economics involved in outsourcing computer support to India and China interesting, but based on very phoney numbers.

My experience with Indian call center support is, at best, negative. As the result of it I removed Dell from our vendor list, and I will not return them as I do not believe Dell has learned their lesson.

When support was in the U.S. I could pretty much get a satisfactory resolution to a problem with one ten minute phone call. With the support in India, I have problems with the langage issues, but also with poorly trained support people. They simply read a list from a manual. I am C+ certified, and I have over 15 years experience in I.T. support.

I typically have to call multiple times to the support number and spend over 30 minutes on the call. That costs my employer money, much more than when support was in the U.S. Typically I am trying to get warranty replacement parts. To get the parts I have to go through all the hoops, but it is getting too expensive.

The law firm I work for had a few problems with hard drive failures, under warranty. It was less expensive to go to Best Buy and buy hard drives than it was for me to play games on the phone trying to get warranty parts.

It is clear the quality of PC's is declining, even on the multi-thousand dollar units. The law firm is looking at replacing several computers in the next six months. There are good odds I will resume building the computers, again. We would get better quality, more bang for the buck, and I would still be doing the support, but I suspect with fewer problems.

Dell, GAteway, HP, IBM, and so on are cutting too many corners. Things like unsized power supplies, on even high end units, poor cooling systems, and propritary parts create the problems. With the quality of support getting worse, I can build better and faster units for the law firm, for less money.

Something is wrong here Dell, Gateway, HP, and IBM! are you listening? The answer is no. The box buildiers are thier own worst enemy.
Posted by: drichards1953   Posted on: 04/01/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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The biggest problem with Indian tech support  Michael Kelly | 03/31/04
So, can you imagine outsourcing the Rev Falwell's job to an Ayatolah?  kd5auq | 03/31/04
HP is the same  jimmybrain | 03/31/04
to be fair  V Sanders | 03/31/04
it's total costs that matter  furl12@... | 04/01/04
Outsourcing not an answer  drichards1953 | 04/01/04
International support  AbsolutelyNot | 04/01/04
That would be great if  kiddpeat | 04/04/04
Who says executives are "UNTRAINABLE"?  kd5auq | 03/31/04
Huh...  Harvey Birdman | 03/31/04
Harvey! You understood correctly.  kd5auq | 03/31/04
This is a good sign  Squawkbox | 03/31/04
Dell Dimension calls still go to India  mistergoodman | 03/31/04
EXACTIMUNDO!  AdrianKole | 03/31/04
They did not say Dimension support was moved  wd5dbc | 04/01/04
It's not only at home  JimSatterfieldW | 04/01/04
This tells me which machines I will buy for my home.  Natalie GS | 03/31/04
not for home...  ryusen | 03/31/04
Culture very difficult to replicate  ejhonda | 03/31/04
On the nose  FilledOut | 04/01/04
makes sense...  ryusen | 03/31/04
"Support?"  doncowdrey | 03/31/04
HA-HA!  Chad_z | 03/31/04
re HA-HA!  V Sanders | 03/31/04
This applies to development, too  John Carroll ZDNet Moderator | 03/31/04
Indian support  tlymer | 03/31/04
It went the other way for me  JimSatterfieldW | 04/01/04
Do you really know what you are buying?  Sunny Jalolly | 03/31/04
After all, a few Indians never bothered us much in Texas, but...  lomamonster | 03/31/04
Angry American  Quiller | 04/01/04
Angry American, or really Ugly American? [eom]  AJSmith1000 | 04/01/04
Cute  Quiller | 04/01/04
Angry American happy yeah obviously  Stallion_z | 04/01/04
Indian call centers  dhmcguire@... | 04/01/04
Let the market decide the issue  quietLee | 04/01/04
The (non)cultural problem  niolonra | 04/01/04
our economy in shambles  jfalknor | 04/01/04
Really, they are out of India?!  onederer@... | 04/01/04
I personally had this experience!!  zak2002@... | 04/04/04
Apple  TWRX | 04/05/04
Indian "support" = no support  r7di697 | 04/13/04
India failure an understatement  arlbe | 06/30/04
Hey, this is an advertisment - story by nonjournalist  mipsv | 05/06/05

What do you think?

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