Geeks to Grandmas - Service Customization

May 18, 2007

Posted By:  dell_admin1

256 Votes

Status: Archived

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Dell wants your feedback on the following idea intended to improve customer service and support:

We're considering providing customers the ability to self-select their service queue based on their own technical capability, such as "Advanced Computer Knowledge," "Intermediate," or "Beginner," further customizing the support experience.

UPDATE (May 18 at 8pm Central):
A number of people are asking for more information about this idea so they can comment. However, this idea is not a defined “offer” at this point, so many details have not yet been determined. That’s why we want your feedback! Others have asked if this idea would cost extra or not… in this case, that has not yet been determined and we’re hoping to use your comments to help define the answer.

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  • Aug 19, 2008     Comment Link

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    Posted By: phubert

    Yep. No such thing as a perfect, totally flawless solution... and never will be (this side of the Great Divide, anyway...)
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  • Aug 18, 2008     Comment Link

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    Posted By: comprevolution

    i think that this is one of the Best / Worst ideas ever. Best- if you know what your doing you should be matched up with a tech that wont ask you if your computer is plugged in, after you have already troubleshot the pc and know the problem. Worst- people may think they know more then they really do and will say advanced but needs medium or low and will tie up an advanced tech rather then a middle or low tech.
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  • Apr 22, 2008     Comment Link

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    Posted By: jackie_c

    FYI: WhatGÇÖs Next for Dell Customer Service
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  • Feb 4, 2008     Comment Link

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    Posted By: zanlok

    http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/services/prosupport/end_users?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd
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  • Nov 30, 2007     Comment Link

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    Posted By: phubert

    Looking at this thread again, I wonder that Dell hasn't gotten more involved in the DISCUSSION. Do they prefer we move over to the FORUMS???? But, @dell_admin1, you PUT THIS HERE. IF Dell wants us to 'discuss' -with- them only in FORUMS, shouldn't you have put a link TO the Forums here?????? Once more, I make wild assumptions and ask a question because of silence.
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  • Nov 30, 2007     Comment Link

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    Posted By: liraco

    It would indeed be nice, and it could probably also spare tech support people a few headaches or at least prepare them for the user that's coming if they're assigned to a certain area (advanced, "grandma", etc.) Still, this could also see several issues rise up if people are choosing a level higher than what they are (let's say a kid thinks he's advanced and has no idea how to see what version of video driver he has installed.)
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  • Jun 7, 2007     Comment Link

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    Posted By: phubert

    BUT, we ARE carrying on different discussions in this thread, addressing different problems. We just have to sort that out as we read so we don't wind up criticizing someone because we have lost the context of THEIR argument.
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  • Jun 7, 2007     Comment Link

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    Posted By: phubert

    But, your Ford (Honda, in my case) dealer WILL maintain the WARRANTY. And, I thought that's what this was about. ESPECIALLY when, as in the case of lindahewitt, you have PURCHASED such support. As to diagnostic software. Well, I'm not interested in diagnosing OTHER software. MY concern is with the hardware and the systems I've always worked on (not Intel platforms) have had pretty much failsafe, foolproof diagnostics, with phone-home and automatic hardware replacement delivery! I can see no reason why ANY hardware platform should not have comparable automation from the standpoint of identifying a hardware problem accurately and reporting it clearly. Dell's OpenManage RAID management software will post impending failure WARNING messages for disk drives from which a phonecall to Dell elicits shipment of a new disk drive BEFORE the old one fails completely. My point is that there are EXISTING tools, but they are not integrated, they don't self-update, and they aren't available across ALL platforms Dell sells. And, I have TRIED to say if Dell _addresses_ this issue (integration, self-updating, availability on all platforms) and even extends it for desktops/laptops, they can dramatically IMPROVE the customer experience, while ultimately reducing their own costs.
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  • Jun 5, 2007     Comment Link

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    Posted By: superd

    I fail to see why people need tech support in the first place. It's like buying a car - Ford will sell it to you, but they aren't going to help you drive it. People who can't swap out their own memory/HDD/battery to diagnose their issue *should* pay more than a tech who has already tried all the parts in another system and has narrowed it down to the PSU.

    Software support is costly to Dell. Have a problem? Hardware techs aren't any more prepared to instantly diagnose your syntax error at line 397 than you are. Don't like it? Call M$ or do a full reinstall.
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  • Jun 5, 2007     Comment Link

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    Posted By: superterran

    phubert & lindahewitt, I don't care what kind of diagnostics software they write, or for what platform they write it on. Diag software is almost always shit; GIGO. When your working with a system as complex as your run of the mill Vista Certified system, Diagnostic software can easily pull false positives. When somebody, I don't care who they are, takes the Diagnostic log file as the authority on if that system is running OK or not, then they aren't going to make a proper diagnosis most of the time. And, in lieu of a trained pair of eyes, ears and real-time interaction with a system... no amount of phone support will ever live up to your average 15 year old kid in most instances. Diagnostics are designed to supplement technical expertise, not replace it. Unless I'm just absolutely stuck on a problem, I tend to use Diagnostics to get a confirmation on my diagnosis; not to pin-point my problem. I know, first hand, that getting errors durring a memory test could just as easily mean that the frequency*multiplier is wrong, or that the PCI SCSI card keeps dicking with the memory addressing. I know to check for these things, and when I run a diagnostic for a specific problem i've already eliminated those potential causes out. So, I don't rightly care what diagnostic software comes on a computer, if it has firefox installed, or if it has Beryl for that matter. I want Dell to say 'hey, this guy knows his shit... we won't insult his intellegence by giving him a crappy diagnostic CD and taking it's word over his.' Now, your average computer user might have to depend on Diagnostic's to figure out what's wrong... and the script-reader, i mean support personnel, might not be able to get a better diagnosis than what his software says, but That's where the Grandma Tier support comes in. I'm in the 'Expert' support bracket, and I'm telling you - I want to inform you of my status, and then I want you to become little more than a yes-man. I don't want to be second guessed, and I don't want to sit there and have to go six rounds with somebody who doesn't even speak my language natively; and If I have to go six rounds with him, then he sure as hell put up a fantastic argument to support his cause. I don't mind debating with people who know what they're talking about - but I hate being in the situation where your explaining to them basic principals that they should have learned years ago. Sometimes PC support is worse than the local telephone co-op's internet support; 'I'm not restarting every PC on my network because your cable modem won't connect... that has nothing to do with it... Look, you obviously have no idea how DHCP works...' <->s rampant. Thats my 2 cents.

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