Dell drops some tech calls to India

After receiving customer complaints, Dell has stopped sending U.S. technical support calls for two of its corporate computer lines to a Bangalore, India, call center.

Calls from U.S. purchasers of Dell's OptiPlex desktop and Latitude notebook personal computers will be handled from existing facilities in the United States, a Dell spokesman said Monday.

"Our customers weren't satisfied with the level of support they were getting" from the India operations, said Dell spokesman Jon Weisblatt. He declined to give details about the customer complaints.

The decision involves a shuffling of tech support tasks, Weisblatt said. He said it would not affect employment levels in either India or the United States.

The Austin American-Statesman reported on Dell's shift in tech support work from India to the United States on Saturday.

Brooks Gray, analyst with research firm Technology Business Research, said Dell customers complained of language difficulties and delays in reaching senior technicians when speaking to tech support personnel in India.

Gray said Dell not only has routed calls to U.S. facilities but launched new policies, such as limiting the amount of time a tech support agent can talk with a large corporate client before referring the client to a higher-level agent.

Dell is "being very proactive," Gray said.

Like other technology companies, Dell has established a presence in India, which offers highly educated, low-cost employees. Indian outsourcing has come under fire, though, as U.S. technology jobs have been cut.

Dell said its decision to reroute some technical support calls does not amount to abandoning its strategy to expand in India and elsewhere. "We're going to grow employment in the U.S. and India," Weisblatt said.

Technical support calls from European and Asian purchasers of OptiPlex and Latitude customers will continue to be handled in India, Weisblatt said. What's more, tech support calls from U.S. customers with other Dell products may be fielded in India, Weisblatt said.

Dell's Truly BAD customer service

I just bought a Dell desktop and If dell has moved ANY of it's customer service call centers back to the US they must have no connections of any sort hooked up.

I suspect that all the calls go to a huge Bangalore warehouse, and the 'Reps' just pass you around with a nice repetoire of lines that you become very familiar with if you keep trying for C.service long enough.

'Customer Service" avoidance techniques include, but not limited to.
1. Asking about the weather,many times
2. Putting you on hold to check with
someone.(many times)
3. Send to Bogus manager.
4. Send to Bogus Department,or back to
call waiting cue.
5. Give customer an extension that is
a message loop.
6. Invent Acronyms or 'unique' computer
configurations to confuse and hush
customer
7 Talk as fast as possible, combine w/
# six for synergistic effect.

8. Ask Irrelivent questions about
family or use soothing voice tones
practiced in rep language training,
contrived to calm Customer. (when
he/she becomes aware that all of
you (the caring DELL reps) have
absoultly NO intention or(perhaps)
capability of actually helping them.

9. Just plain lie,
10. Use your imagination. Dell
encourages creativity.

I am convinced the Case #s they give you are really warnings about how difficult a customer is to get RID of. I got two #'s!!! That ought to tell you something. Of course I still don't have any answer to my question.
Dell and Customer service are oxymorons and should NEVER be used in the same sentence together.

The sad part is I used to really like Dell.
I went back and this is what I get? Dell is doing a great job keeping an eye on the BOTTOM line.

Anne

[LSvach]

When will Dell respond to 'consumer' complaints?

Amen to the complaints about Dell's Customer Support. Now that they have turned OFF the pipeline to India for business users, when will they do the same for all their faithful consumer customers??

[Karimojong]

So true and beautifully crafted. I think mine were in Chennai! BRAVO!

[keckert21]

July 2006-Dell Customer service STILL OUTSOURCING ITO INDIA AND PHILLIPINES

Dell did not change where their customer service calls go to. I just purchased a new laptop and have had the worst service I have ever experienced. I have talked to people in India and Phillipines. Language barrier is a problem. I am now waiting for my third replacement laptop after 15 calls to their pathetic Customer Service dept. Being passed back and forth between Tech Support and Software Support which is worthless. No one takes ownership of the situation. They just pass you around hoping to get you off the phone as quickly as they can. Requesting a Manager is a waste of time too. I was promised a call back. Do you think anyone really called me back in 24-48 hours? NO! I WILL NEVER BUY FROM DELL AGAIN. AFTER PURCHASING 5 PC's since 2000 this is by far the WORST Service I have ever experienced. If they have been having these problems since 2003 and it is now 2006 with no changes that just shows me that they don't care.

[Dragon]

Most people have problems that are caused by the customer, himself. Maybe Dell should spend more time targeting the experienced user.

[dckca]

I,ve had a similar experience. I e-mailed tech with a very simple question. The e-mail was returned , advising me to call so I did. I spoke to not 1 but 7 people with an Indian accent, some I just could not understand at all. They kept putting me on hold and saying they had to check with someone else. In the end they said I didn't have a problem, my computer would work fine as is although I was missing a part. After an hour of conversation with associates I couldn't understand I gave up and hung up. I've e-mailed again and hope I get results this time. I hate to ask this but does anyone know how I can get to speak to an English person? The whole experience was very frustrating.