How To Fix Dell's Customer Service

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News.com columnist Erica Ogg editorializes about Dell’s sagging customer service and how to fix it. I think the biggest thing on the list applies to many big companies; outsourced customer support. It may save companies a few dollars here and there but the sheer amount of customers it turns off isn’t worth it. Am I wrong?

"A lot of their problems stemmed from, as they expanded rapidly and they tended to outsource their operations, they set up these call centers around the world. I don't think the service they were getting out of them was as good as it was before they did all this expansion," said Rosenfield.
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Two funny tech support calls, one was actually a call to Dell one is related to Dell:

Call 1-800-4MyXbox to register a new Xbox 360, I wait through the prompts and the menu, a person with a heavy Indian accent answers “Thank you so much for calling Dell, how can I help you?”

WTF?!?!? I hang up, I must have called the wrong number. Check the number…seems OK, hit redial…

Wait through the prompts and menu, heavy Indian accent comes online “Thank you so much for calling Xbox 360 tech support”…

LOL!! The first dude must moonlight for Dell or was a new hire and still had his old job on his mind when he answered. :D



After a brand new Dell monitor failed a week after purchase, I called Dell tech support. I had obviously reached a call center in India and I could barely understand the man on the other end.

Tech: Thank you so very much for calling Dell, how may I help you.

Me: My new Dell monitor died. I checked the power cord. I double checked all the cables. It’s dead.

Tech: Can I have the service tag number from the computer.

Me: It’s just the monitor. The number is 1234567, manufacturing date is 32 days ago, I bought it 6 days ago.

Tech: Yes sir, thank you very much for that information, I have need of the service tag number from the computer.

Me: It’s just the monitor. I bought the monitor from you.

Tech: Yes sir, thank you for that information sir. And the service tag number is?

Me: There is NO service tag on this monitor. Here is the serial number AGAIN = 1234567

Tech: Thank you for confirming that information. The service tag is on the back of your PC next to the….

Me: LISTEN TO ME…I bought the monitor….just the monitor…I built my own computer

Tech: You built your own Dell?

Me: … ????
 
The bEst is when someone with a heavy accent tells me his name is Dave, or Phil.......not saying that his name can't be Dave or Phil, the probability is pretty low though.
 
Fharakin said:
The bEst is when someone with a heavy accent tells me his name is Dave, or Phil.......not saying that his name can't be Dave or Phil, the probability is pretty low though.
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I put a call in with Cisco a while back and I was told that I'd be put in touch with "Jason." I called back with my support number and I was sent to my contacts voice mail which said, "SomeIndianNameICannotPronounce" is unavailable. I cracked a smile and left him a message and used his alias name, Jason. :)
 
I won't ever buy another Dell product simply because of their craptastic support, ever.
 
I haven't had a problem with Dell.. aside they sent me a second monitor and could not find any information on doing such a thing LOL :D However it had a samsung panel inside and I prefer LG so I sent that one in for an LG panel and long behold I got one. I like their fast shipping to replace stuff. But they really do lack service support.

I'm obviously in Canada.. I never did get someone with an accent tho, I think the call centre is in Kingston, Ontario ?
 
I've run into that as well. Hi "john" lol!

One nightmare that I discovered this past winter is that Dell's Technical Support, Parts & Customer Service departments don't talk to each other.

They don't share one common customer service database, instead each dept has its own.

If you have a case number, and you call a different dept, they have no access to that case number, and will issue you a new one. Which means they'll want your contact info all over again.

Also, instead of appending the current case number/current case, they still issue you a new case number, even if it's for an on-going issue. Which, imho, is stupid!

Our company stopped being a Dell support center after finding this out.
 
I've had no issues with the Small Biz side, usually get an American in the actual United States (I always ask where they physically are, out of curiosity lol). I will not call the Home side unless my Dell laptop is literally on fire.
 
Fharakin said:
The bEst is when someone with a heavy accent tells me his name is Dave, or Phil.......not saying that his name can't be Dave or Phil, the probability is pretty low though.
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I agree, its embarrassing for both parties. Your name isn't Bill, its Samir, nice talking to you, lets get to fixing this problem.
 
Serpico said:
I agree, its embarrassing for both parties. Your name isn't Bill, its Samir, nice talking to you, lets get to fixing this problem.
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It could be worse, he could introduce himself as Billy Joe Bob... :D
 
I had a discussion along the lines of this with dell once....


Dell >> Thanks for calling tech support blah blah blah
Me>> Hi,my video card is dead. I've tested the monitor on another comptuer and it is fine, however when I turn it on, all I get is garbage. It posts and boots fine, but the output to the screen is garbage.
(normal check cords crap)
Dell >> Have you install the latest drivers?
Me >> It puts garbage on the screen, it doesn't even display the post properly
Dell >> So you havn't installed the latest drivers?
Me >> ...... It doesn't display the post...
Dell >> Try installing the latest drivers
Me >> .............. It doesn't display the post, it just gives me garbage, I can't see anything after it boots but garbage
Dell >> Can you read me what it says?
Me >> .... smiley face, left arrow, greater than sign, # @$!@$, smile face, ......
Dell >> Let me get my manager
Me >> .....
 
Not 2 hours ago-

Guy: Dell, service tag, how can I help...
Me: I have a hardware problem with a Poweredge 2650.
Guy: Does this issue have anything to do with Openmanage installation?
Me: No, it's hardware.
Guy: Does this issue related to VMware?
Me: Hardware.
Guy: Does this issue relate to small business server 2003 configuration or setup?
Me: H.A.R.D.W.A.R.E :mad:

5 minutes later, I spoke to an intelligent guy.
 
Calling Hp is always fun too. "Hi this is Michael how may I help you." of course a strong indian accent.
I have nothing against that. The problem is when you are dealing with a consumer who has problems understanding technology in the first place. Adding a partial language barrier is not going to help the situation.
 
Here is the end all of all indian customer service videos. I promise you will all laugh yourselves silly.

http://callcentermovie.com/index.html

There may be a bit of strong language just due to the fact that they are cursing in indian and it shows up on the screen as curse words, but theres no actual cursing in english. :p

I promise you this will really make you happy after calling indian support.
 
For homes, this does suck.

In my business, I've got a dedicated account team though, which is handy.
They all live in America, all speak English.

And they all have numbers to certain departments to where if I need tech support, I'm always connected to an American.



The trouble is that no other PC maker out there really bests that though...
 
Dell GOLD tech support = English as first language - usually... and knowledgeable.

not GOLD tech support = Indian ~98% of the time.

Fix for Dell tech support = bring back the jobs to the U.S. and hire knowledeable techs.

That is all.
 
HP printer with obvious major hardware failure. No phone support for this printer only text based chat support. See my sig for brief sample of that train wreck. I don't want to remember it in full.
 
hmm not seeing sig. Anyway. One of the lines was "pleased to be cleaning the rooolrs" I think he wanted me to clean the rollers. That was the obvious solution to the printer not turning on. In some alternate reality I guess.
 
to be honest the last time i called dell it went pretty well.... it was for my dads laptop... cd drive would not read ANY disks

went through all the steps... filters... drivers... firmware everything

dell took control of the computer and went to do all of those steps... which i quickly told me "already did that"... sent out a new drive
 
The last time I called he said his name was Bob. I actually involuntarily laughed and said "no it's not". He laughed as well and said it was Deepak. That just made me laugh even more, I never expected him to acknowledge it. He turned out to be pretty intelligent too actually and solved the issue.
 
We have Dell PowerEdge servers at work and a Dell PowerVault and each time I had to call them I had someone from the west coast help me. The last guy I talked to was earlier this week, pretty cool guy, but when he said, "Can you hold a minute? I have to take a dump." Lol I couldn't help but laugh and said "take your time."
 
Half of the customers I talk to everyday rejoice when I answer my calls in understandable english. The other half get pretty surprised when I know my way around the games and/or programs they're using. I love my job...just need more $$ :D $$
They do share one common issue, they each complain about Dell support.:rolleyes:
 
I've never had a problem with Dell. Mind you, this is Gold support. It's awesome.

I call up, quote the service tag and say so and so is broken. I'll tell them I've run through all the standard troubleshooting (even if I haven't) and within 2minutes they are agreeing to send out a replacement part and asking whether I'd like a technician to install it or if I'm capable to do it myself.

One time I unpacked a new Dell from the box, plugged her in and fired it up and got the biggest surprise...it shipped with the 110v setting on the PSU (I'm in Australia). They sent a new PSU out for that, although the guy said it was a once off. They usually wouldn't replaced a part for a fault the customer (me) cause. I don't agree it was my fault, but whatever, still ended OK.
 
Reminds me of the time I tried to RMA a 3com pcmcia network card. I had completely no idea what the other person was saying. In the end, I gave up.
 
We use HP at work. A friend and co-worker of mine is from India,like went to school and all there, and sits 1 cube over from me. You know it is really bad when, HE refuses to call india for tech support.
 
Besides Apple, Dell consumer support is ahead of all other PC manufacturers. The article should really apply to all PC manufacturers besides Apple since they are all equally bad or worse.

Dell support isn't totally broken. The business and enterprise support are actually pretty good. That's also true of other manufacturers. Keeping support costs down on low margin hardware just has horrible results on the consumer side.
 
wormstrangler said:
I've never had a problem with Dell. Mind you, this is Gold support. It's awesome.

I call up, quote the service tag and say so and so is broken. I'll tell them I've run through all the standard troubleshooting (even if I haven't) and within 2minutes they are agreeing to send out a replacement part and asking whether I'd like a technician to install it or if I'm capable to do it myself.

One time I unpacked a new Dell from the box, plugged her in and fired it up and got the biggest surprise...it shipped with the 110v setting on the PSU (I'm in Australia). They sent a new PSU out for that, although the guy said it was a once off. They usually wouldn't replaced a part for a fault the customer (me) cause. I don't agree it was my fault, but whatever, still ended OK.
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Wierd. Aren't almost all PSUs now smart enough to switch between 100/110/220 automatically?
 
I really don't think Dell's support is bad at all.

People just like to complain about things, especially about ginormous companies such as Dell.
 
A farther comment, from discussing this issue before on a software development board (lots of Indians) the reason that call centers do ["hello, my name is BoB" when the person speaking has a string enough accent that it's blatantly obvious it's not, is that "Hello, my name is *unpronouncable*" actaully caused higher levels of customer dissatisfaction. IMO changing the script to "hello, call be Bob" would be a step in the right direction since it would eliminate the impression that the call center people thought they were pulling one over on us.
 
DanNeely said:
IMO changing the script to "hello, call be Bob" would be a step in the right direction since it would eliminate the impression that the call center people thought they were pulling one over on us.
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I don't think anyone is questioning why they do it, it's just ridiculous that they should have to do that in the first place.

pxc said:
Besides Apple, Dell consumer support is ahead of all other PC manufacturers. The article should really apply to all PC manufacturers besides Apple since they are all equally bad or worse.
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I dunno, IMO Apple is just as bad.
They give me more of the runaround than anyone else ever does...
You can *usually* talk a Dell rep into replacing a hard disk or something if it is failing... Tell them the symptoms, what you've tried, etc- and they overnight one. Or the next day, a tech is on-site to do it for you. Apple doesn't come near close to that.
 
People are morons....

Did you know that HP, Compaq, Dell, etc's PC's are all made by the same company in China? I'm not going to tell you the name, but they are, and just rebranded.

Computer companies make very little from desktops. The big names make their money in the server market and the contracts to support those servers.

If you have ever dealt with a enterprise class dell support rep, you know they are top notch. Especially dell - all their enterprise support for people in north america is BY people in north america. Microsoft can be bad - you can have a very critical issue, but will end up with someone in India.

When it comes to consumer, the companies don't care as there is very little money to make in that realm. However, there are exceptions to the rule, such as Dell's XPS systems, which the customer pays a premium to have a computer that they could have built, but didn't know how, where too lazy, or too rich, or maybe just wanted it "NOW"
 
Inf0 said:
Not 2 hours ago-

Guy: Dell, service tag, how can I help...
Me: I have a hardware problem with a Poweredge 2650.
Guy: Does this issue have anything to do with Openmanage installation?
Me: No, it's hardware.
Guy: Does this issue related to VMware?
Me: Hardware.
Guy: Does this issue relate to small business server 2003 configuration or setup?
Me: H.A.R.D.W.A.R.E :mad:

5 minutes later, I spoke to an intelligent guy.
Click to expand...

They ask you all of those questions so you get to the right group - on the first try. If you have a problem with VMWare, obviously you don't want a server tech who knows nothing about OS's other than windows, right?

So if you have a problem with VMWare you are transfered to the group that handles that.

Yes - some call directors are programmed to stick to their scripted questions, however, its just luck of the draw if you get one that will transfer you right away or do as they are brainwashed.
 
haven't had a problem with dell's support yet. but i have had problems with asus. asus is GARBAGE compared to dell and if dell is bad now.....yikes....
 
I'd be happy if all the big names had to start playing on a real level playing field. A small shop like us provides top notch support but people just hit us up for help then go buy their system elsewhere. If Dell or HP actually had to provide real knowledgable english-speaking support to go with that $400 computer, it would be a $600 computer. And if they had to pay the same OEM license fee for Windows XP that the rest of us do, it would be $640. That would fix things nicely and it would help white box builders survive. The problem is these guys CLAIM to offer some kind of warranty or support when in fact they have no intention of honoring it without spending 20 hours on the phone.
 
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