Comments on: My tech support wish list

Don Reisinger is fed up with tech support and he has a list for companies to follow to improve their customer service.

[cioob]

um.. mine's funny.. my hp laptop refuses to boot up properly after i bought it.. So i called the customer support. The agent tried all he knew.. then told me to run a hard drive diagnostic from the BIOS setup. When i went to it, it says time estimated is 2 hours, and the agent said his shift is over soon, so he said he would call back in the morning. I ran the test after I hung up, and the test found an error in 5 mins only. I called the same number back, went through all the support categories to reach the laptop section only to hear the system tell me "Thank you, good bye". then hangs up on me. I tried several times more, with the same result..Is this HP's way of cutting down cost? i dont know, but i'm not buying from them again.

[aztec92154]

Newbie PC users: First, there isn't anywhere that is cheap (less than $120) to fix your computer. If you have a problem with your computer, you MUST pay for someone to fix it. There is no free way to get it fixed. It will cost time or money, its your choice how much you spend of each. Also, you can't pay someone $120 and expect hardware to be included, that's just labor for a diagnostic and work to fix the issue. If you want a knowledgeable computer support person, expect to pay a fair price.

So here's the answer for you Mac users, go online and make an appointment at your local Apple store. The "Apple Genius" will run a diagnostic for free. They will tell you if its covered under their warranty or AppleCare. If its not they will let you know how much it costs to fix. I always just bite the bullet and have them fix the computer, UNLESS it makes sense to buy a new one. Its your choice, take home a broken computer, pay to have it fixed, or buy a new one.

WinTel PC USERS here are the costs for Geek Squad, which is your 'Apple Store', just not as trendy. If you end up buying a hard drive at best buy, they will be expensive.:

Geek Squad:
Diagnostic
$69.99 - $129.99 USD
http://www.geeksquad.com/services/computer/category.aspx?id=231

Hard Drive Upgrade:
$49.99-$149.99 + the cost of a new hard drive
http://www.geeksquad.com/services/computer/category.aspx?id=1567

If all else fails, find a geek friend. They will hate because you've ignored their many passive aggressive attempts at saying: no, I'm tired of fixing friends computers for free. They will look at your computer and wonder how you can possibly run anything more than notepad on your computer that hasn't been upgraded since SP1. You will wonder what SP1 is, then loose interest and not care. It is at this time that you should bring your geek cookies and soda. Walk away and let them tinker with your computer, they will eventually spend countless hours looking at Fry's ads trying to find the cheapest hardware for your computer. They will actually spend it looking for new parts for a new computer they want to build. Deep down inside, they are thinking its a waste of time to fix a computer. A new computer would be a better option. They will go buy hardware, and you will thank them for their time spent away from WOW. IF anything, its a good thing that you got them out of their office.

[Inconnux]

My biggest gripe is I can't understand their 'English'. I've had to ask them to repeat themselves several times because their accent is so strong that it is not understandable. When I call any helpdesk I ask for someone who speaks English as their first language.

[forkboy]

I too have become very fond of the chat feature, which I've used with a handful of tech/consumer electronics companies.

Regarding your issue whereby the support person tries to walk you through a process with which you are already familiar, that's a bit unfair in my opinion. They don't know your level of experience and to be frank they probably don't know much themselves and use the script because they don't know anything themselves.

But I'd like to pass along my favourite tech support hotline: Smart Computing magazine. With a subscription you get access to a live English-speaking person who will provide to you tech support for your computer. This alone is worth the subscription. I've had one for a few years and have made use of their tech support folks on three occasions and have been very satisfied each time.

[danscruz]

I have three questions regarding purchasing an hdtv.
1) Is there a way to view cable hdtv without having to pay a monthly fee (approx. $8.00) for the hd box from Comcast or going to Satellite?
2) Sears has a deal on the plasma 42'" Panasonic (model # TH-42PX80U) for $600.00. With a five year protection plan I can get a high rated TV for under $1,000.00. Any reason not to buy it?
3) Do you have any consumer ratings for stores both on-line and retail?

[heatheratsupport]

Aztec- I couldn't agree with you more! Once you are faced with a problem that you can't fix, the clock is running up the cost of your time and you'll still need to pay someone to fix.

The company I work for (full disclosure), support.com, actually addresses a bunch of the concerns you guys have with their remote tech support services: TOTAL fix (not hardware, of course)= $120, plus you get a 5 day moneyback guarantee in case the problem comes back. The service is remote, so you can opt for text chat or phone service, whichever you prefer. All our agents are based in North America, so no frustrations with people you can't understand...

In my experience, it is SO worth it to just pay the money to have it fixed right the first time and not have to wait on line for shoddy "free" tech support, chase down your techy friends or drop your computer off at the store, etc.

Don: I'm curious how you propose the agents should recognize someone who knows what they are talking about? I venture that I talk a good game on self-diagnosing my problem to a point, but if someone told me to "run an ipconfig diagnostic" I'd probably have to ask them to repeat themselves to determine whether they were speaking English. :) (Probably another reason why I am so sold on our remote solution- the consumer doesn't have to do anything at all but sit back while the engineer does all the work. : )

[aztec92154]

I actually think the idea of your company sounds great. Being open "365 days a year from 5AM to 11PM PST" is nice, using a "remote desktop" or NetMeeting type technology to take over customers computers is awesome, and pricing is very reasonable - for those in America. I wish you the very best. :-)

[Dave_man1123]

By golly, CNET is really putting out some stinkers today.

Your tech support wish list is so out of touch with reality that I can't begin to comprehend how you landed a job a tech writer.

Almost all of your wishes are completely infeasible. Do you understand the effect that 24 hour support or techs that actually know what they are doing would have on prices for tech services/products?

Furthermore, it is completely impractical for tech support to cater to anyone with a higher than average tech knowledge. If you had ever spent time working in tech support you would know that 99.9% of people who call know absolutely nothing about the technology they are using.

As with some of the other writers on this site, I am astonished that you are able to hold a job writing for a tech column.