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181 Comments
- purzzzell, on 04/25/2008, -2/+40I'm with wbeavis! I've worked for a year in an HP Customer Service/Sales call center, so I have some pretty strong opinions on people complaining about outsourced tech support. US consumers DEMAND a $300 desktop and a $400-500 notebook - if you're going to deliver something at that price that's quality, you've got to cut costs somewhere else to remain competitive and profitable. One of the places that costs are cut is by outsourcing.
If HP offered a $300 desktop and Dell didn't (but had US based tech support free), all they'd hear all day [at Dell] is "well, I can get something decent for $300 over there, goodbye!" Dell could talk about "Our tech support is in the US" all they wanted, but OVER 90% of customers would take their chances.
I applaud Dell for offering the option to get US tech support by helping to pay for their higher salaries. You get what you pay for.
Off-topic: Same problem with all the people in the US who bitch about being oppressed by a ***** economy and job market but send their money overseas by shopping at Wal-Mart. F*ck them, and f*ck the people who feel ENTITLED to US tech support. - kent1146, on 04/25/2008, -7/+43I'm going to get Dugg down for this by the Dell bashers, but here it goes:
People buy Dells because they can get a decent budget desktop PC with LCD and printer for $500. Where do you think that low price comes from? Part of it comes from cutting warranty and support quality, which most people don't ever think about until they need it. I don't see anything wrong with the ala carte model for premium support. This is a capitalist economy. If you don't like it, then shop somewhere else with higher costs and more inclusive support options. - wbeavis, on 04/25/2008, -4/+34This is a good idea. Support costs are built into the cost of a product. I'm and IT guy, so when I buy a PC I am subsidizing grandma who can't figure out how to turn the thing on.
This just makes people who want the service to actually pay for it. Funny how people complain that Dell support is all overseas and so they address the issue. The bring on local support, but because of the added cost they need to charge more. Since it is only fair to charge those who want it and not everyone, that is what they do. Yet people still come up with a reason to complain. - kamin, on 04/25/2008, -2/+30As a tech for a university, we have contracts with HP and Dell. I always buy Dell with this "Gold Tech Support". Everytime I have an issue, I use the chat feature, and my sessions are usually 10 lines long or less.
Dell: How may I help you?
Me: I have a broken keyboard.
Dell: I'm sorry to hear that. Where can I send the replacement?
Sucks you have to pay extra for it, but it is worth it. - fkr3, on 04/25/2008, -3/+22This is a premium service that gives you local people with more authority. It's optional and it's not something most people are going to need anyway.
It costs them more to have call centers in the USA. Here in Costa Rica call center monkeys get around $700 a month, the same seat in the USA would have to cost at least that a week, plus all the facilities and infrastructure and management and everything else are significantly more expensive. The only way they could make this level of service 'free' or even significantly cheaper is if they absorbed it in their product pricing, which would mean everyone pays more instead of just the people who want the extra service.
I think the Consumerist is over-reacting on this... it's just an optional premium service and that's not exactly a new idea. - urbanight23, on 04/25/2008, -1/+20Um....let me just point this out....This is EXACTLY the method behind ubuntu!! Users can have the OS for free, but support will cost you. If you are smart enough to figure it out yourself, you get to save some money. If you cant figure it out, or are too lazy to, then you pay a little extra. I'd rather have a cheaper computer and troubleshoot it myself than have support costs built in that I will never use.
- fadeout, on 04/25/2008, -9/+27When Dell laid me off (job went to India) I used my first months unemployment checks to buy an iBook.
- danz, on 04/25/2008, -2/+16Face it the price for everything is going up so why not change for extra special support? I know the company I work for was making a decision on in house tech support or 3rd party and the cost saving for 3rd party was very significant. They looked at this as a way to cut the rates to be more competitive and those who needed extra help could still get it at a price. Its a bummer to only call tech support to get an RMA and know that a chunk of the price you paid for the product has been factored in with X min of tech support time that I will never use and essentially paid for. As long as Dell uses this a way to keep their prices competitive or even shave some off there I have no gripes.
- Emused, on 04/25/2008, -3/+15In just knew there would be a need for coherent English, in Dell's desktop and server support area.And they said I was crazy.Was Orville Wright crazy when he invented his brother Wilbur, I should think not.
- therealkdog, on 04/25/2008, -0/+11You get what you pay for, everyone wants products and goods that cost nothing, yet they all want to make $100k a year. Then we wonder why all these jobs are exported into another country. Then get mad that some guy in India cant help me, even thou we all gave him a job.
- DraconWolf, on 04/25/2008, -1/+12Corporate taxes pay for unemployment, not payroll taxes.
- purzzzell, on 04/25/2008, -0/+10All of us who agree with Dell on this should go reg the consumerist and fill their comments with our feelings on this. I was scanning the comments and everyone was just bitching about this being *****.
- BobMysterioso, on 04/25/2008, -2/+11you: Hey Dell?
Dell: Yea? Whats up brother?
you: ***** you, Dell.
Dell: You know, I'm just trying to make a living. I come here, I work, I put in my hours trying to help people and look at the thanks I get.
you: ***** you! ***** you in the ass! - smacksaw, on 04/25/2008, -0/+9Or...you could buy from Dell Business and get the same thing for free. In fact, the Business side often has better deals, period.
- purzzzell, on 04/25/2008, -0/+9Some other computer maker that DOESN'T offer the OPTION of paying for US tech support? are you a retard?
- inactive, on 04/25/2008, -0/+9Dell just laid off 1100 service reps in Canada, wonder if they'll do the same.
- TheSabre, on 04/25/2008, -2/+11Wow. Nice to see where your priorities lie.
- TRENT310, on 04/25/2008, -0/+8Exactly. This applies to most other services or products that have a business line, like internet service - where you actually need tech support from time to time (since you don't have privileges to change things on their network).
Next Business Day service is amazing. You complain about a loose switch at 10PM the night before, and the next day, a person shows up at the door with a new motherboard.
Sure, sometimes it costs more, but remember you're also getting a better product for that price. - inactive, on 04/25/2008, -1/+9I've got a Dell. It came with three year a unlimited warranty when I got it on a special sale.
They're service so far as been beyond all of my expectations. Everything I previously learned led me to believe I would get awful service. That couldn't be farther form the truth though. Maybe that will change. From this article I'm hoping this is just a new service and won't effect my existing care plan which is excellent. So far, it's twice as good as my experience other companies including Apple for example.
I've had accidental damage to my laptop twice. Each time I was terrified they were just going to say the damage voided my warranty once they had it and hand and then they would hold it hostage for some ridiculous repair fee.
No such thing happened. It came back each time good as new with no questions or complaints. They really mean it when they say you could step on it or drop in a pool and it's still covered.
The real kicker is that I'm in NH right now, and each time it went for repairs in Texas. It went to Texas and back in three days. That's not time out, that's complete time. Last time I shipped it out on a Monday and I got it back on the following Wednesday. I would have never believed that until I saw it happen. Went out Monday; arrived in Texas Tuesday morning; was repaired Tuesday morning; shipped out Tuesday afternoon; back in my hands Wednesday afternoon. I'm aware of overnight shipping but I never would have guessed that they'd process, repair and send it back out all on the same day they received it.
They're phone service is great too. I didn't by a Dell with Linux pre-installed because I was buying one of their sales, and it of course (unfortunately) did not include any options for that. I use Linux though. When I had a questions about the firmware for my hard drive I called Dell. When I told the support guy during their preliminary questions that I was using Linux not Windows, I was immediately transfered to their technical support for their Ubuntu pre-installed machiens. I told the Ubuntu guy right up front that I had not purchased a Ubuntu Dell, he said, "That's fine, if you're using any Linux distro we'll still do out best to help." The guy was friendly and fantastic. I felt like we should go out for a beer after. In truth I didn't need a Linux specialist to help me with this specific issue. However, the fact that I was privy to one even though I didn't by a Ubuntu Dell or pay for that service was pretty damn cool in my opinion.
The only help I've ever had from Apple was waiting in line for two hours to see a kid who pretended to know allot about computers when he really just knows how to point and click to "settings". When he realized that I already knew at least as much as he did about my problem and that using allot of "technical words" wasn't confusing or frightening me out of asking them fix the computer, he then deferred me to his boss who without even asking me any questions himself or speaking to the person I had been dealing with said, "there's nothing they can do for you," hoping that I didn't actually understand the service contract. He did not help me until I specifically pointed out why they were obligated to help me. As soon as I did that his attitude changed and he was all about making things right. I did eventually get satisfactory service but not until I first had to go through very unfriendly, unhelpful and smarmy people who knew shockingly little about their product and by that I mean both the computer and their Apple Care plan. They were clearly of the mind that they should attempt to avoid fulfilling their end of the deal if they could get away with it.
I've heard of plenty of people having totally positive experiences however.
That's just my isolated experience with each company. I'm sure many people here could relate complete opposing scenarios for both companies.
Also, it's likely I won't buy another Dell in future having more recently reviewed Micheal Dell's personal contributions to political campaigns.
Just some food for thought.
Also for the record, I've owned two Dell machines that have never given me a problem. My recent damages were my fault (though accidental) and had nothing to do with how the computer was put together. Myself, my sister and my girlfriend have all has multiple problems with the hardware in iBooks and MacBooks.
Again these are individual experiences. I want to share them though so for those who would say all Dell's crap and Apple is rules. Both companies have allot of merit and my personal experience is quite opposing to allot of what's reported on this site. - aladrin, on 04/25/2008, -1/+9I love this idea. I -never- call tech support unless I've got broken equipment... And most broken equipment comes that way from the store, which I return said equipment to if broken.
So why should I help support someone else's tech support call? I'd much rather make do with the free crappy support and let people that want to call because they can't change their resolution pay for the support they need.
Of course, I usually build my own systems, too... - Bullsnot, on 04/25/2008, -0/+7You can still get free support. This is just a premium if you want higher end support.
The free support offered by Dell still exceeds the free support offered by all competitors. All PC manufacutrers are supported out of other countries, mostly India. Dell free warranty is 1 year or 3 years depending on product, competitors are 90 days - 1 year depending on product. - LynchBomb, on 04/25/2008, -0/+6Yeah, there was no way I was going to read this blob of text the first time it was posted earlier on the thread, so I'm certainly not going to read it the second time around.
- Projektorboy, on 04/25/2008, -0/+6Look at the sense of entitlement that you've all grown from technology companies shifting to a business model that actually makes sense. When all's said and done we were actually being spoiled by constantly having low to no-cost high-paid Americans supporting our product.
Dell can't legitimately sell their product on their razor thin margins and somehow hack in the cost of keeping a tech support agent paid. They had a couple of choices of how they could have gone about this. They could just inflate the cost of all their PC's $50-100 which makes them less competitive, or they can shift that dollar amount and then show you the real cost of subsidizing a tech support agent.
While I agree that a company should do its best to ensure that the customer is happy with the product, the support infrastructure needs to be financed somehow. Dell isn't going to magically conjure up the money to put more American butts in a call center. The money needs to come from somewhere, so offering it ala carte is the best compromise they could come with.
I'm no Dell fanboy or apologist, but I'm certainly not with the hive-mind of consumer outrage on this one. It's tough to have to deal with this but there is no such thing is a free lunch, kids. - wrestlingnrj, on 04/25/2008, -0/+6I've never dealt with Dell Home Support, only their Business Gold Support and they do a great job. In fact last time I called I found out the guy I was talking to used to work right down the street from me. I've use them all of the time when we need parts replaced on warranty computers and they are very helpful and quick (maybe it's because they're based out of Texas still and not India).
- dcmusicfusion, on 04/25/2008, -8/+14Isn't 666 a bit excessive?????? Calling someone the devil....isn't exactly an effective strategy for change. Same reason we don't want to call "terrorists" by the same name.
- Ju1c3, on 04/25/2008, -0/+5i am an IT guy, and i deal with this stuff everyday. when i buy a Dell PC for a customer, i already put the 3 year parts/ gold tech support on the computer order. its worth every penny to the customer. if i am on the phone for an hour running test for a computer to get the people on a script to send me a part, it cost the customer the 1 hour plus the time for me to install it and get everything going. however, with good tech support, i can get a part on the way to me in like 5 minutes. it saves the customer $150 everytime a part breaks if they make the initial $300 investment in better tech support for me.
- WriterSD, on 04/25/2008, -0/+5Oh ya, the last time I got technical help from Dell, they explained that I only had so many "free" ones left, and then I'd have to pay for the same technical expertise. They did a really great job, though.
- cerealman, on 04/25/2008, -0/+5Blame all the people complaining about paying extra for better support. The consumers didn't want the service those people were offering.
- smacksaw, on 04/25/2008, -1/+6And the other 7 lines are "Have I satisfied your every want, need and desire today?" and then "I am going to email you a transcript blah blah" and then "Goodbye, thank you for blah blah" kind of stuff.
- tonage, on 04/25/2008, -1/+6silverleaves' opinion is crap.
- tonage, on 04/25/2008, -0/+5If Dell charged what Apple charges, they wouldn't have to charge for tech support.
- N00bicals4543, on 04/25/2008, -9/+14"This new fee-based offering is designed specifically for those customers who want to engage with the same dedicated team each time they have an issue with any of their in-warranty Dell-branded products. The premium service offer provides household support by an advanced support team in North America for one year. The technicians are empowered to address a comprehensive range of issues across the breadth of Dell's product line."
Don't i get that already with dell, for free?
its a shame that more and more companies are adopting this strategy: paying more for the same as before or worse... (ie: Bell Canada) - AL7AIR, on 04/25/2008, -1/+5So is Dell lowering the price for the people who know how to turn their products on?
- BinaryFragger, on 04/25/2008, -0/+4I still can't believe they shut down the Ottawa call centre only 2 years after building it. What an incredible waste of money.
- m00nmaster, on 04/25/2008, -0/+4Gold Tech Support + Next Business Day = More time to work on real issues.
- Bullsnot, on 04/25/2008, -0/+4Its not greedy business to want to stay alive. All competitors are using cheap India support. Dell is able to keep prices competitive with them by doing the same. For those that WANT the extra service they are offering that also, but passing the premium that it costs for North American labor along to only those that want it, not everyone.
- xeemo, on 04/25/2008, -1/+5waitt....customer service? or tech support?
- darkamster07, on 04/25/2008, -0/+4too much!? welcome to the internet
- cerealman, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3Even Apple requires you to pay for extra support. Ubuntu even! You want cheap products, fine, they'll give you a cheap product. But with that, you'll get cheap support. Can't have cheap products and expensive support.
- mobbo, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3Ditto. Our company has Gold Tech Support. I had an Optiplex 745's power short out. I was on the phone for about 3 minutes with a guy just to confirm it was the power supply, took my info, and promised a tech the next day. The guy showed up right on time, swapped out the power supply, and that was it. I was waiting for the part where I was to be shafted... it never came. I love having that contract!
Oh, and ***** CONSUMERIST.COM. They banned me from commenting. That site is nothing more than sensationalist stories (OMG THIS PRODUCT IS NOT PRICED CORRECTLY LOL!! WHAT A RETARDED COMPANY!!). Shame... used to be a regular stop on my daily browse. - DellDrEvil, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3This is nothing new.
What the heck did you people think "Gold Tech Support" was?
That extra $300 per desktop (or $1000 per server)
buys you a competent tech support guy, who speaks the same english you do (based out of one of the American call centers) and is generally knowledgable. (the server guys have bailed my fat ass out of the fire a dozen times. [Round Rock Building 7 represent!] - inactive, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3Wow. I made some of the worst typos of my life in that one.
But still, for me, Dell has always been great and Apple treated me like a douche. I would have expected exactly the opposite, but there you go; one man's experience. - SpongeBad, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3You can thank the weak US dollar for that one, too. It costs just as much to run a call center in Canada as the US now, so there's not much incentive for Dell to keep the Canadian call centers open.
- veriix, on 04/25/2008, -1/+4It's the consumerist, what are gonna do. The site where consumers are godly infallible super-beings and corporations are...well, the devil.
- battletrax, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3"Every complaint can be solved with money".
Oh so i suppose i can get a girfriend with money now?
"reads the classifieds"
dammit. - biohazd, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3"at no additional charge"? - And how, pray tell, do you expect them to pay for it? By increasing the prices and forcing everyone to pay, regardless of whether they actually want access to higher paid, better trained support staff?
The reality is that most consumers are short-sighted idiots when a competitor waves a bargain in their faces. By the time the majority of them realise exactly how little they get in product support, the idealistic company has long since filed for bankruptcy and said consumer is left with no alternatives. The free market is ruthless, there is no room for idealism. - xDibblerx, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3Who cares about the stupid tech support anyway. This is for grandpa who can't figure out how to open his e-mail because he deleted the icon off the desktop. This has nothing to do with warranty information which will still be free to call. I typically void my warranty within a couple minutes of having a computer anyway because I'm yanking out crap components and replacing them with better stuff.
I am finding that Dell does suck a bit just because they are proprietary and upgrading the crappy 300 watt power supply to 470 is going to cost me double the normal price just because I can't just buy the cheap one off of newegg and the motherboard on Dell computer have no extras. I bought a cheap-o Acer and I'm loving it because it's all stock parts. They're cheap parts but at least stock so that I can upgrade all day long... - Rapter09, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3The problem is that some there are an unfortunate majority of people that don't see the intelligence and the reason in that theory. A lot of people feel entitlement. A common refrain from customers is "I paid ___ for this you be doing everything in your power for me." They think just because they've bought your product for market price and it was something they personally had to save for months and months that you become their eternal slave, and that the company they purchased it from owes them their firstborn, or something. People don't buy things they can afford. Some people don't seriously understand the concept of "If you're smart enough to figure it out yourself you can do it, otherwise you have to pay somebody else to do it that knows how to"; they just think computers are magic and that they don't have to lift a finger to do some seriously complicated work. Of course, that sense of frustration and entitlement stems from a feeling of powerlessness in the face of things the they can't fix, but it still doesn't change the person yelling on the other end of the phone and/or counter.
- culbeda, on 04/25/2008, -0/+3Apparently, people are failing to realize that the prices of the machines have dropped to a point where manufacturers are forced to cut every possible corner. I'm glad there is at least the option! (And if you do enough business with Dell, FYI, they discount the cost of the cost of Gold Support.)
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