Comments on: Dear Dell: Customer service should be free

Charging consumers for access to American customer service agents - as soon as the computer is out of the box? This is clearly the wrong move at the wrong time.

[jeffhesser]

dear dell, please agree to never take business advice from a blogger..... Thanks.

If you want a 'premium' service, then pay for said service. Asking for higher computer costs so that the rest of the buyers can subsidize the problematic customers is a horrible idea. Or while we are against the idea of paying for something you want, lets just fire all of the American workforce and just pay a few cents more an hour to the foreign support agents who take classes to shake that accent. brilliant. *sarcasm implied*

[aztec92154]

"The company is charging us for access to American customer support agents on products we purchased from it that went wrong? ... When did customer service become the customer's nightmare?"

Most of the time, customers call and complain about something that isn't wrong. They want training on doing something they could just look up. Customer service became a nightmare when we as consumers pushed companies to trim off additional services by buying computers and only thinking about how much it would cost to build the computer with the cheapest hardware. If you support American workers, pay the measly 12.95 a month for help. Americans (everyone in the world actually) deserves to get paid for a service they are offering you.

Have you heard of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 ($349 USD)? How could they possibly price in support as good as an Apple Genius bar? If you ask me $12.95 a month is a bargain.

[bdaughtry]

aztec92154: Well put and I whole heartedly agree.

[rturner2]

I agree that companies should charge for "technical support". I don't think that they should or can charge for "customer support" and "accounts support", however, "technical support" should definitely be billed to clients that wish to use it!

Good on Dell for making this decision. It means they can offer better service and reduce costs for people buying systems that don't require technical support.

Of course, if you don't want to use Dell's technical support, you could hire the services of a local IT support technician.

[cnetdude1977]

Mental note: Don't buy Dell.

[sithlorderic]

Lets not forget that the entire reason why Dell rocketed to huge success in the PC market was its stellar customer service. Do any of you not remember when everyone was oohing and ahhing over how awesome Dell customer support was, how you got a real person who was friendly and helpful and made sure you were well taken care of. Well now that that approach got it some business, Dell has completely turned its back on that strategy and its customers.

Example: I bought a laptop from Dell recently. They sent the wrong color. I called in and after speaking with someone in India for about 2 hours trying to explain the problem the basic answer was: deal with it. Its not a simple thing to change the color and Dell wasn't up for paying for a replacement. Only after quite a bit of complaining did they offer a $50 refund which, as a matter of fact, I never actually received. Then after one of the keys broke in the first week of use I called and asked them to fix it. After another lengthy conversation trying to understand someone in India they told me that instead of sending a service technician to fix my computer (evidently replacing the little plastic key was too much, they just replace the entire keyboard) they would send me the keyboard and I would have to install it myself. Fine, I'm an engineer, I'll do your job for you. Then when I get the part I read the instructions and there is a step that says something to the effect of "you better be sure you have this right before you clamp this down because otherwise you'll ruin everything." Yeah, then I look back at the first page of the instructions and it says "only Dell authorized service personnel are to perform this service. Dell will not be responsible for any damage to the computer due to service by a person not certified by Dell." Great so you refuse to send an "authorized service technician" and then tell me I'm screwed if I make a mistake doing the work myself. You know what, screw you Dell. Because your service is so abysmal, I will not buy another Dell in my life. Don't be so pretentious as to think that just because you are "the Dell" and such an "awesome" company that I will put up with you treating me like a beggar. If I pay you $1800 for a product it better work and if it doesn't you better do something about it, not make me beg and scream at "Pramoud" and finally fix it myself. And I'll be damned if I'm going to buy this piece of crap from you and then pay another $13 a month for you to tell me in my own language how I'm going to fix it myself. I've already got vampires like Verizon bleeding me dry with absurd monthly charges for things that ought to be included, the last thing I need is another blood-sucking company with delusions of grandeur nickel and diming me to death.

Dude, I'm NOT getting a Dell, ever.

[Renegade Knight]

@aztec92154

You are exaclty backwards. Customer Service is about taking care of customers. Not about customers taking care of the company. There will always be stupid customers. Then agiain there will be smart ones who should not be tasked with dealing with Stupid Customer Service Reps or worse Good Folks forced by the company to be stupid and go against human nature so they are forced to refuse to solve problems.

Oh and Dell's track record would be such that 12.95 buys you an American Voice as they tell you all the things that has earned Dell a crappy repuation in support and service. That's not worth the price of admission. You have to fix the basics first.

[jeezyouareretarded]

dear jeffhesser, shut up... Thanks.

[Michichael]

Honestly, Dell does a lot wrong in favor of getting cheaper systems out the door. Crapware, flat out Malware/Spyware, and other bundled BS that comes with their systems. I feel sorry for home users because they don't have the luxury of an image to wipe out the crap.

I'm probably never buying anything from Dell for personal stuff.

[aztec92154]

I'm surprised by people who call OUR company (not Dell) for technical support and don't want to pay to talk to a hardware engineer. My question is: How are we supposed to pay our employees if we don't build support costs into the price of the hardware or charge on a contract basis? How do we pay an engineer (good engineers get paid about $100,000 USD per year) if we don't charge for support (and don't get me started on outsourcing)?

Our company opts for a "Apple" style model - the support costs are built into the hardware and we have a real 'genus bar' filled with support people who are obsess over using our hardware. We bundle in free support with the original hardware, and then charge a small fee their contract is up. We will never allow ourselves to be led into having a mediocre support system - which our customers absolutely love.

[angelreyes7]

Thats an issue with all retail PC's, they all come bloated with useless software. An avg consumer has to deal with that regardless, thats not exclusive to Dell. Dells PC's are better than average, I would still wipe out the image and start fresh, but I trust their harware config more than most retailers.

[Goodbye Helicopter]

Clearly you know nothing about what you speak of and you're just ticked off because you are a cheap and you are a bigot.
If the product does not include a particular service level, then that is exactly what you paid for.
It is patently false to presume that it is the fault of the product that you think you should call support.
Most support calls for most products are driven by the id10t error.
Yes. That's right. Not knowing what you are doing is your own fault, not the fault of the manufacturer.

Though marketing tells you that using a mouse and keyboard is all you need to know how to do, knowing how to do more than that does require some learning.

Nothing is free. Nothing should be free.

Do you also think that writing and publication should be free?

Grow up. Learn that you have to pay for things.

[weaponx16]

Agree with you whole heartedly sir. As a retail lackey, it boggles the mind how many people just come up to me and ask me "how does this work" or "fix this".... when my rebuttle is... Well, we offer a service for "x amount of dollars" to set that up for you or teach you... The look on their faces is if I have eaten their first born child! You don't take your car to a mechanic and say "tell me whats wrong" and he will magically tell you on the spot; you pay for him to look at it!! Jeez, people are cheap! So they deserve cheap service!

[Renegade Knight]

Clearly, you are blowing smoke.

When I call Dell for service they usually ignore every step I detailed for them and ask me to do them again. Maybe most customers are idiots. I don't doubt it. However it takes a certain amount of actual skill to deal with idiots and the regular Joe's all the way to to folks who know more than the rep. Dell doesn't have it. Quite franky if Dell techs didn't have a script they probably couldn't hand the job.

A friend of my worked for Dell. He got good training, then deal wiht idiots. Amazingly I never got someone of his caliber on the service side. Oh, that's right. He quit becasue Dell sucked to work for.

I'll pay more for equipment that works. I used to think Dell fit that mold. Not anymore. They have lost my future business until everone else sucks worse than Dell or Dell putlls it's head out. They will probably lose more because folks ask me for advice as well. I can't send them to a company that doesn't stand behind their products.

[tktnuri]

Are you serious. I called Dell this today and this eveing. Spoke with Kapil and Junaid (only reps that would give a name) and got the run around. First customer care says to call Technical Support, yet after a 40 minute call with my monitor issue. I am then transferred speak to the rep for over an hour and a half to tell me to call from home to try and diagnose the issue. Basically the monitor I purchased had a firmware upgrade 5 months after I purchased it to make the DI input HDCP compliant. Dell doesnt offer there firmware for monitors available nline for download and install you have to ship them your monitor and they replace it with a refurbished one. I gave the rep the firmware ID's version and dates of release, yet he couldn't find anything. I retrieved all info on the Dell website. If I would have purchased the monitor 5 months later I never would have called them. I called back to have another rep hang up on me and the next (Kapil) tell meafter 50 minutes that technical support doesnt handle warranty issues. Even though customer service said they did. So its not all a bunch of idiots who don't know what they are taking about. I research al purchases before buying. The India reps didn't have the same information posted on the Dell website.

[wratbatblue]

If I hadn't already stopped buying Dell computers for home use, this would have caused me to stop. Dell PCs have been going steadily downhill in quality for a couple of years, and their customer service has been hit or miss for longer than that. Now they want us to pay for access to people we can understand, to help us with problems on a product we bought from them, which now isn't working right. That's not a joke, that's a travesty.

[ballmerisanape]

If Dell would stop selling cheap POS computers and have better quality control.. their support costs would be lower.. and maybe.. just maybe.. Dell would actually be worth something.

[Penguinisto]

Funny, but business customers get local (US in this case) tech support for their products, be it Dell, HP, IBM/Lenovo... 'course, you do pay for the privilege.

Now if you want it free, deal with the accents. And BTW: it ain't just the hardware OEMs that do it, either.

[umbrae]

Dell died about 5 years ago. Their machines are crap. Go buy from Newegg.com instead. No support, but you won't be buying sometime you have to toss in the trash when it is outdated.

[sgirard]

Buy a Mac.

[ghosford]

What, and pay for customer support?!? I can now do that with Dell, and get my call answered in under 120 seconds!

[Perry_Clease]

"What, and pay for customer support?!? I can now do that with Dell, and get my call answered in under 120 seconds!"

Free customer support comes with a new Mac. Sure it is only 90 days, but your statement that you have to pay for it is a falsehood. http://www.apple.com/support/complimentary/

All of that aside I am with Dell on this. To offer free phone support they would have to increase their prices.

I just took a look at Dell's website, they have a support forum as does Apple and others. Those places are always my first stop when I need help with a computer or software problem, then I do a web search, calling tech support is a last choice.

[nickh2]

Mac support costs absolutely nothing if you know where to look: http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa

Hundreds of thousands of registered real life Mac users. They actually work with their machines on a daily basis, instead of someone on the other end of a phone looking it up in the company approved manuals.

90% of the time, you will get a usable answer in minutes.

[gggg sssss]

and pay 50 percent more than a similar dell? LOL

[Perry_Clease]

"and pay 50 percent more than a similar dell? LOL"

Go price a "similar" Dell and then come back and tell us the amount. Go on, I dare you to price compare a Mac to a similar Dell.

[aprilskye]

Yep, buy a Mac. This will eliminate many of the potential support calls that Windows people "need.". My husband, a serious Windows guy, is finally coming around and wants a Mac next time. He watches me diagnose any Mac issues by using the Apple support discussions while he has to jump through hoops to resolve problems. When he saw me unpack my latest MacBook Pro and how quickly it was up and running compared to what he had to go through with his Dell laptop he saw the light. He used to mention how much more money Macs were but has now, finally, come to the realization that time is money and spinning your wheels trying to fix Windows issues is not only frustrating, but costing him in lost productivity. Maybe other Dell users will take the plunge.

[MaggieRed]

...and your PC chickens, have come home, to roost!

I luv it.

[jpmays]

I think some of you are missing the point that Don is trying to make... when one buys a computer, it generally comes with free tech support for a limited period of time, such as 90 days, 120 days, or even maybe a year before one would have to pay for additional tech support. I think the point Don is trying to make is why should an individual have to pay extra just for the 'privilege' of being able to speak with an US support agent. Sure, if the warranty/service agreement is expired, then I can understand paying for additional support. On the other hand, if the computer/device is new enough where the warranty/service agreement has not yet expired, then one should be able to speak with whatever support agent one prefers. After all, the person has already paid for the support since it is part of the cost of the device.

Just my two cents...

/jp/

[aprilskye]

I agree, your take on the column is how I read it too.

To pay for the "privilege" of speaking to American tech support is what I oppose. The reason Dell and other companies have gone to off-shore tech support is because it can pay those workers a great deal less money. Most of the time the difference in English is not a problem, but there have been difficulties understanding some of the workers. I remember a hilarious story at a party of international IT workers when a co-worker was regaling us with his experience calling tech support and getting someone in India. The woman greeted him on the phone by telling him her name was "Beyonce." This was around the time that 60 Minutes did a segment on teaching workers in Indai how to speak "American English." I'm sure this worker picked her American-ized work name thinking that the singer's name was common.

[Alexander_Goldman]

Here's my point of view on how Dell can fix this. First, I believe customer service does is instrumental in customer retention and the key 'word-of-mouth' advertising.

The big picture is that many CS jobs have been farmed out to India and thus they should cultvate CS centers locally in the US. To do this, charge an extra $10-20 per system if necessary (or whatever the cost) and bring back the oursourced jobs to the USA. It would also be an effective PR marketing tool as they can surely use some good publicity right now as public sentiment towards Dell continues to nosedive. This addition in price would still allow Dell products to be competitve in price with others in the industry. The reason? Every person who buys a Dell computer will have the right to access this superior level of customer service - even if you never need it.

The warranty on a new computer is what, 1 year? Then EVERY person with an inquiry should, at the very least, get this 'PREMIUM' level of service for one year. If I was VP of Operations, I would ensure that as long as a person owned a Dell item, they would always have access to the very best personnel. It will pay off several fold in the long term as I view the customer service just as important as the product itself. Dell has lost the cost advantage with many cos outsourcing to China thus level of customer service becomes even more critical. If they want to stand out, be known in the industry for providing the highest quality of customer serivce. My personal assessment is that Dell simply doesn't 'get it' any more and perhaps it has been this way for quite some time..

[ghosford]

I never thought I'd be writing this, but *Microsoft* (yes, *Microsoft*), is charging customers a monthly fee to have access to its...customer service representatives. The company is charging us for access to...customer support agents on products we purchased from it that went wrong? What a joke. When did customer service become the customer's nightmare?

The answer, for Microsoft is a couple of decades ago. And no one complains (much), because it's our only option. Yes, some techies may switch to Linux to get free web-based support, but for the average user, even most of the Linux dealers make their profit from support. For operating systems (MS, Apple, Linux, AIX) any telephone-based support requires that a fee be paid.

On the other hand, Intel-based hardware dealers have, for the most part, offered free technical support for a period of time, usually 90 days to 1 year. You can debate about whether or not you should pay for tech support, and you can debate about whether a company should charge a premium for US-based support (or would one of its competitors offer a discount for those willing to deal with a foreign accent?). But the market will ultimately decide Dell's fate. Will their competitors join them with a similar policy? Or will their competitors capitalize on Dell's policy and market their "free American tech support" (for those companies that still have it).

Once a consensus is reached in the marketplace, it really doesn't matter what *should* be done. I certainly think that Microsoft *should* offer free tech support. But that doesn't make it more likely that they will provide it. Likewise, if this policy provides value that people (not us techies, but the average computer buyer) are willing to pay for, it will stick. Dell has made a business decision that, although novel, will be approved or denied by the market forces.

[RideMan]

It's worth noting that both Microsoft and Apple have put their knowledge bases, the very same troubleshooting documents that their customer service techs use to answer your questions, in very public places. All of the technical resources that the help desk agent has available are also available to you the customer for free. Which means if you are paying for customer service you are not paying for the information, you are paying for the *service*...for the knowledge and experience of the agent, and that agent's labor in searching the KB for your answer.

[rosejensen]

Here's the deal. I paid for drivers ed when I was 15. It was almost $200 if I remember correctly. I didn't call Chrysler (the maker of my first car) when I hit a deer 2 weeks after getting my license! It was my fault! I didn't operate the car properly. Then I paid to have that car fixed. I didn't get any "free" customer service. I didn't expect it.

I don't understand why consumers think they deserve "free" service when it comes to other forms of electronics. I worked at a very well-known retail electronic (mostly computer) service center. You wouldn't believe the calls that I received in the name of "customer service." People wanted me to help them set up home networks over the phone FOR FREE! People wanted me to remove viruses and spyware or "just tell me how to do it."

Bottom line, my knowledge is a commodity and no one has a "right" to it. If the product is genuinely defective, okay, Dell should take care of that free of charge. Maybe a better way to handle this would be to have a call screener. It could even be one of those foreign call centers. You are having a legitimate problem with the HARDWARE of you purchase...alright, we will forward you to the American call center for free. You want some help setting things up...or you have a question on how to use the SOFTWARE...or any other issue not related to returns or warranty covered areas...well...then you can continue to talk to me and deal with my accent or you can pay to talk to an American.

You pay for convience. That's how it works. By the way. This is America. I believe in capitalism. If someone is willing to pay for it...then it's hard to argue agains selling it...

[RideMan]

You've got an excellent analogy there, rosejensen. But let me suggest something else...

If your car starts making a strange noise and you want to know whether it is serious or not, you are going to go to the manufacturer's tech support agent and have him take a look. You don't expect much, just a quick look and listen, to which you expect the answer to be either, (a) "They all do that" or (b) "You'd better get that checked out". You don't expect to pay for that level of service. If the answer is (b), then you expect to pay the diagnostic fee and the repair cost.

To me, that's exactly what you're suggesting in terms of a call screener to separate the PEBKAC issues from the apparent hardware failures.

[Commandoclone87]

I whole-heartedly agree that most calls to tech support should be charged a service fee. Especially if the caller is someone whom is too stupid to actually read the instruction book or has absolutely no common sense.

I mean, we are here on the phone trying to help them fix a problem that is usually created by the customer in the first place. Should we really have to waste our time fixing your mistakes for minimum wage with you complaining in our ear and saying how crappy support is while we can still hear you.

If charges are not for the support, they should be for the poor service rep who has to deal with a new ******* every couple of minutes and for their time and energy and skills in fixing the issue.

[DENOBIN]

@Rosejensen - Right on! That is exactly the point. You should get the best service available within the warranty period for legitimate break/fix issues only. Beyond that, you should pay for premium service. If you need tutoring or setup help there are plenty of industrious individuals who will provide that service locally. I do not want to subsidize anyone elses "setup" issues.

[tktnuri]

When you got in your accident you didn't get charged to file your insurance claim did you? No, it was built into the price of your premium.

[Pishkado]

I don't care if I get American customer support. I want customer support from an agent I can understand. If I can understand the person, I don't care if they're in Indiana, India or Mars (other than the communication lag in this last case). I don't think that's an unreasonable request. I'd like to see Dell explain why I have to pay extra to get it.

The strategy to first make it good and free, then cut the quality but keep it free, and after that charge to get back the same quality that we had for free originally - if the CNET censors will pass this word, it's the right one - sucks.

[gerrrg]

I've chatted online with several Dell Customer Support agents on technical issues, and I've never had a wait or a problem. In fact, the persons that I chatted with online, ended up working with me offline via email over the weekend, even though my Dell service contract was up. They also understood my colloquialisms, so I strongly suspect they were based in the US.

The one time that I talked with an actual representative over the phone, the person had a slight accent, so I asked, and unless she lied, she said that she was in Texas; Round Rock, I assume.

[gerrrg]

Did I mention that they sent me a boot disk with Windows XP OEM to replace my older one, no extra charge?

I've had better experiences with overseas call centers than with U.S. call centers. Only once have I had a problem understanding an overseas support representative. I can understand the accents of Americans better, but several times I've had rude American support representatives start an argument with me. The Indians I've conversed with have always been polite and helpful.

When you get a Dell computer you get a guarantee of support, period. So what if the support center is in India. The support agreement when you buy the computer doesn't guarantee you free support from any particular nationality. If you think Americans provide better support service than Indians then paying the premium is acceptable.

[iff2mastamatt]

At least it is possible to talk to someone who can speak English.

[bobkatdell]

As a Dell employee, I'd like to say that this should not be a discussion about where our employees are located, but more so how can we provide them the level of support they would like. That's the benefit of Your Tech Team. It is a one-stop shop for all the Dell products in people's homes that are still under warranty. It is recommended for people who want a more personalized experience. Just as our products are becoming more personalized so are our service offerings. Does it cost a bit more than our standard tecnical support, yes it does. The most important thing about it is that our customers choose. The service, which has been available for several months, has been extremely well received by customers.

[Alexander_Goldman]

Ah, a very interesting argument and well said. However, I believe the real issue is that most people who call feel they should recive some minimum level of service and are not receiving it. Specifically, this 'minimum' level of care entails a live representative without waiting for an excessive period of time (say 10 min?), a person who can be understood, and most importantly, someone who can quickly and efficiently resolve the problem. I view this new tailored service as something everyone should have access to in the first place.

If you want to tailor service, then perhaps this might roll.. Have live Dell representatives available from 8 AM to 8 PM Monday to Friday - ALL IN THE US (eastern time or whatever..) If you want to charge extra, then charge an extra $10 for access to live representatives with guaranteed 2 min or less wait times (or $10 for premium fee refunded) and make this service 24 hours.

Essentially, the way I see it, your 'choice' is really not a choice as a customer is choosing between less-than-adequate service versus adequate service. No argument that the new service has been well received by customers but this two-tiered service is not good when the default choice is simply unacceptable. I speak from personal experience and as long as this system is in place, Dell's brand will continue to suffer..

[Alexander_Goldman]

My vision for Dell's revamped Customer Service Strategy (US and Canadian customers). One number for North America (Eg. 1-888-DELL-CSR or whatever..)

1. Customer Service representatives brought back to the US with 3 call centres in the US - One in Texas and the other two based on a feasibility study. Likely one on the east coast.

2. New hours of US operations: 8AM to 6PM (Texas time) Monday to Friday

3. Wait times in the 5-12 min range MAX.

DELL PREMIUM SERVICE: (can market at $7 per year for home users/$30 business OR one time $29 charge for lifetime access, non-transferrable for home users - THESE FIGURES CAN BE CHANGED.. Just brainstorming and ballparking numbers..)

1. Access to Dell Executive Support Tech (or some other fancy name) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Expecially important for businesses with Servers and 24 hour service.

2. Support Tech all have at least 5+ years of experience in their respective fields (ensures top quality product knowledge)

3. Guaranteed representative within 3 minutes or fee refunded.

This is something I believe the public would be willing to pay for and base level of service improves.
Until I see or hear about some tangible improvement, I will NEVER use Dell again as I was extremely unhappy with how Dell CS operates.

[slacker15]

If you want better service, don't buy from a giant. Look at www.cyberpowerpc.com. Every computer you build comes with a 3 year warrantee and UNLIMITED LIFETIME CUSTOMER SUPPORT. Sure, you overpay 150$ on the computer, but you get free accessories. They even have links to the drivers for all components they use right there on the support page. Small computer botiques are definately the way to shop if you want somebody to actually care about having you as a customer. I've bought 3 computers from them in 4 years (gifts and upgrades, nothing has actually gone wrong with them) and will continue to support them, because they have always supported me.

[MaggieRed]

If you buy an Apple product you get free 90 days phone support and 1 year warranty. If you buy Apple Care you extend the support package out until 2-3 years depending upon the product.

It is expected that the company that manufacturers the product and sells it, should provide free support for short period of time to help their customer with any problems. I guess that's why Apple products are considered the premium products.

If you buy a new car, you get free support and maintenance during the warranty period.

Buy a Dell or a Microsoft product and you must pay extra for that.

[tcr071]

What? You are trying to spin this where Apple's ripoff service is actually a good thing? 90 days is pathetic. There are never problems within 90 days. You either get problems in the first week of use or you get problems when hardware starts malfunctioning down the line. 90 days of service and having to pay extra is a joke and is actually WORSE than what Dell is offering. At least with Dell you have phone support regardless you just might be talking to someone in India. With Apple you got 90 days and you either buy extended and you are out of luck. Both companies offer 1 year warranty.

A company should provide free support for the same time period that they offer a warranty. If the warranty is one year there should be one year of phone support. Don't try and deduce that Apple offering a shameful 90 days somehow makes it a premium product unless your definition of premium product is something you pay extra for in which case I would agree.

Which one of these sounds the best?

Lifetime phone, email, chat, and mail support.
One year warranty, phone support, email, mail, and chat.
One year warranty and 90 days of phone support.

[Renegade Knight]

@tcr071

I've had occasion to use the support services of Dell, Gateway, HP, and Apple.
Apple wins, hands down. HP is second. Gateway was merely infuriating, and Dell is intensionally calculated to do what Gateway does out of sheer ignorance.

[oooh5615]

Rephrasing George Carlin, don't like it - don't eat it! Simple as that.