Clearly Understandable English & Don't Treat all callers as "idiots"

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Clearly Understandable English & Don't Treat all callers as "idiots"

520 points posted to Service and Support by hipowerone 05/07/07 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

As a PC consultant, Dell Owner, and often user of Dell Support, I encourage Dell to require that "any" support personnel be able to demonstrate that they can speak and be clearly understood in English, or any other language, as a requirement for employment by either Dell or off site support facilities.

I am tired of having Dell customers give up on Dell when they try to call Dell Tech support. It is because they get techs who truly try to speak English, but their native tongue and dialect prevent what comes out from being recognized as English.

What took the cake for me in this matter was a customer who had paid for a business Latitude along with 4 year support. I was called in to handle a warranty issue (back light dead). I called Dell Support and got a "foreign" English student for support. Supposedly he was located somewhere in Canada(???). I spoke slowly and repeatedly enunciated what I wanted and repeatedly told him to slow down and repeat himself for each question he asked, just to understand what he said.

Secondly, get rid of the scripts. All callers are not idiots. I called clearly understanding the problem. No amount of talking could draw this tech away from the script or convince him that the screen was black, period. Anything he wanted me to do or try would not bring the back light back to life or make the screen bright enough so that I could answer questions about what the computer was doing or saying.

My customer sat nearby, listening on speaker phone, as I worked my way through to the final diagnosis that indeed the back light needed to be replaced under warranty. This customer stated that the call took twice as long as necessary and she clearly would not have had the patience to work with the Dell tech. She stated that she would think twice next time she needs to buy a new computer. She did not feel that she should need to have "paid tech support" to call and talk with Dell tech support.

Check out our latest Idea in Action!

tomyrush 05/19/07	There must be a way to bypass Dell's "Script Kiddies" and get to someone who can actually work with one to solve a problem. Requesting to speak to a "Script Kiddies" supervisor does little to solve ones problem. Give us a "Press X to speak to a knowledgebal tech".
urger1 05/19/07	I just be happy if they spoke plain English with no accents. I have a hearing problem so I have enough problem with English let alone a India person trying to help out. Dell is just a companies that's clearly trying to save money by outsourcing their call center. My brother who used to swear by Dell gave up and bought a HP. I might be tempted to join him.
uksp Jan 31	There is a way to bypass them.. Get gold/silver support.. I do agree in principle with you on the issue that it's a waste of time scripting the discussion when someone has already been through the Dell website, googled the problem, etc.. I would hope these people could transfer the call to someone more experienced when they feel they're beyond their depths.
kara_k Feb 1	Changed status to UNDER REVIEW.
zanlok Feb 1	Dell has been restructuring their approach to support with the corporate customers. Hopefully they follow suit for the Home customers that are willing to invest a little more in their support contract / warranty.
cary_g Feb 24	We heard you. You asked Dell to “get rid of the scripts” and recognize that customers calling for tech support may have different levels of expertise. We need to treat IT professionals as the professionals they are. With the launch of Dell ProSupport earlier this month, we’re putting your ideas in action. We offer two customizable packages for commercial customers – ProSupport for IT and ProSupport for End Users. If customers pass a certification test, with ProSupport for IT they can take advantage of a new program called Fast-Track Dispatch. This will give you tech-to-tech access and the ability to "skip the script" and immediately request a part or service call when you already know your problem. Ultimately, our goal is to help you solve your problem faster. Keep the ideas and comments coming! Cary Gumbert Dell ProSupport Global Product Lead
kara_k Feb 25	Changed status to PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED. Check out our latest Idea in Action!
badblood Feb 25	like I went to ideas in action and don't understand what the update has to do with this idea actually....unless of course raving is going to be part of Dell's new support standards.
jorge Feb 25	Its a DUPE! Come on, why are the duplicates being given a status tag?
badblood Feb 25	that's true too. This is one of the most highly DUPLICATED ideas on the block.
zanlok Feb 26	well, do you want them to merge and then flag only the original? it looks like they are right, though, their new approach sounds better.
badblood Feb 26	I still don't know what it has to do with this idea.

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