Call center follow-up
Service and Support submitted by hourog
02/17/07
On Saturday, Feb 10, 2007 I had to call for service.
After being placed on hold for over an hour, even with a XPS expedited phone number, the prospect of providing feedback through the automated call survey center seemed a reasonable way to convey my displeasure to Dell, not only about the hold time but, also, the unreasonable script process used during the call.
Alas, the techs in India have figured out a way to thwart the survey. They refused to hang up and, when queried why I was not hanging up, they asked if I was holding for the survey. When I answered in the affirmative, they disconnected me.
Dell should, as standard operating procedure, use an email address as part of the service sign-in. This way, an automated survey could be emailed outside the control of the subject under review.
Until Dell is able to improve the terrible communications with the India call centers, you will see a further erosion of your customer base.
332
Take Care Of The Customers You Already Have
Service and Support submitted by kklemme
02/17/07
After 1 revolution of automated email response, provide a way for customers to indicate whether their need is resolved. If not, empower your email customer service representative to resolve the issue - rather than refering customers to other customer service departments (such as your Vista department, who never answers email customer service requests).
Run your customer service live chat seven days a week, so that non-business customers can deal personal computer issues on personal time, such as Saturdays.
End the interminable recordings and button pushing required to finally get to speak with a human being, when a customer calls for customer service.
Hire customer service representatives who speak understandable english and provide a telephone connection with sufficient volume so that they can be heard.
148
Ed
Service and Support submitted by emarchant
02/17/07
I have been a Dell customer for a good number of years. Bring back that original customer serviice I have told many of my students why they should buy Dell products. STOP THE OFFSHORING OF YOUR SERVICE IN INDIA AND BRING IT BACK TO USA.
Thanks for letting me voice my comments.
Ed Marchant
CIS Professor
Washburn University
Topeka, Kansas
92
Improve internal operations and quality of service. Potentially provide tiered support services - charge extra for local customer support.
Service and Support submitted by rguptaos-dyndns
02/18/07
I will share my experience with Dell to make these points.
Internal operations and quality example –
I have been a loyal Dell customer and have purchased about 7 computer / laptops (new & used) in the last 10 years. My most recent purchase was last April for which I authorized upfront payment on my credit card. Amazingly, I was charged only partially (about 20% of cost) during May – Jun than in Nov I got call from Dell that I have not paid and they wanted me to re-authorize the payment. I asked the guy to call me back in 1 week on my cell phone, during which I wanted to review my credit card bills and pay the difference. The person never called me back. In Jan I started getting call from collection agency. I paid the full difference promptly, but I wasted unnecessarily few hours.
This experience gave me the perception that internal backend operations don’t know what is going on. It takes them 6 month to figure out that the credit card transaction did not go through. They are not following through on customer next steps and are taking customer for granted.
=> Fixing these will go long way
Customer Support Quality –
One of the strength that DELL used to have is the quality of support and service. With cost pressure Dell has moved consumer support services to offshore. Until offshore support service catches up with the culture, terminology and quality (which I believe they will in next few years) issues are going to be there. This may be saving some cost in the short term for Dell but certainly has compromised the overall quality perception of DELL has a whole.
My experience with offshore customer support has been insulting on 2 occasions. I will rather pay extra to deal with professionals.
After purchasing brand new computer in April with two audio cards and buying top of the line speakers I was not able to play any songs or get any audio because the connector were not good (so much for quality control – where out of the box system does not work). Any how, I called customer service and after few minutes of hold and as a pissed customer I was yelling on customer service reps. Instead of calming me down or working with me to solve the problem, the rep literally told me ‘If I talk rudely I can go to hell’ and hanged up on me. I am not sure if this is an offshore problem or in general Dell issue.
=> Having a tiered customer service option where customers who are willing to pay additional cost of $25-50 (2-3% of computer cost) should be able to get traditional and professional customer support.
112
Support
Service and Support submitted by crayonj
02/18/07
Create a way for consumers to get local support when they purchase a Dell Product.
We should be able to enter a zip code in a data base and have selections of who can assist someone when they have computer issues in their area.
In my opinion, this is easier than calling a toll free number.
169
Bring Back Original Dell Quailty !
Desktops and Laptops submitted by hal2001
Mar 27
Dell has cut corners on it's Inspiron 530 ( yes I know it's the lower cost product line) by leaving out the easy to open top case release of it's parent Dimension model, and in other small ways both inside and out. No it's no biggie to grab a screwdriver and waste two minutes opening the case on the new line of Inspiron 530's that now replaced the old Dimension series. What it is saying to me as a customer is I need to think twice about a Dell purchase as Dell is more then willing to lower the quality overall to keep that bottom line where they want it. Compare a Dell from a year ago to the same product line (XPS products also) and you'll see the difference yourself. Don't sell the customers a box of plastic and imported parts and then put what once was the proud DELL name on the outside.
270
6 major issues to be fixed by Dell
Dell, Sales Strategies, Service and Support submitted by jervis961
02/17/07
Dell became a top company by providing choice and customer service to a customer that wasn't available at the time but has since fallen behind the pack in these areas. Needing a translator when calling customer support is unnacceptable and other companies are rapidly passing Dell in technology advancements. While this site is a good start, many things need to be changed for Dell to become the market leader again.
1. Customer support needs to be in well spoken English and with employees who are allowed to do more than just read from a script. If they are speaking with a computer savvy customer the rep should be allowed to deviate from the script as long as they don't go outside the relm of normal policy.
2. Better options: Other companies offer high end components in small computers but Dell only supplies intel video processors in its 14" laptop. Dell needs to allow customers to get the size computer they need but with options from low cost through the high end so they can get a computer that is "Purely you".
3. Less forced options: I hate that I am paying for and XPS with internet security when I don't need it because I already have a subsciption that will transfer over or AOL is installed when I know I don't need it. They need to add an option of none of the above to all the added software sections.
4. Better pricing: Why is it over $200 to upgrade from 1 GB of 533 MHZ ram to 2 GB of 677 MHZ RAM? I can go to Crucial.com and get the 2GB 677MHZ kit for under $200. Upgrading with Dell after you own is even worse at over $300 this is crazy.
5. Custom Dell website: Customers want to feel special why not make a MYDELL website that when you log in you get a site designed the way you want it. If you aren't interested in the small business site it gets removed, you don't like to go thru the accessories sections when customizing a system so you don't see that section. Click on customer support and a list of your computer pops up asking which one you need help with and only shows the options for that system.
6. Customer loyalty rewards: I have bought 6 Dell systems over the last few years, why can't I get better customer service or pricing due to my loyalty to the company?
6925
Customer Service
Service and Support submitted by thombaird
Apr 10
If Dell wants to slow down sales they are doing it the right way by getting rid of Gold Tech Support. My company needs to buy new computers and I will not buy any without Gold Tech Support. I made that mistake once before and never again. If I can't get Gold Tech Support I might as well buy from HP or Lenovo. They can provide non-English speaking techs in India.
180
Improve Dell Support to actually solve problems
Service and Support submitted by programatix
Apr 3
Most of the time when trying to get problem solved by contacting Dell Support, it seems like I almost end up without actually solved the problems.
It would be great if Dell spend more time to investigate each report and actually find a solution instead of the most favourite solution, "Therefore, it is advisable for you to reinstall the operating system of your computer."
The following are the examples the problem I've encountered which end up with the above solution
Problem #1
Media Direct button does not start Dell Media Direct in Vista. But if the laptop is turned off, pressing the Media Direct button boot the laptop to Media Direct OS.
I actually wonder what is required to make the Media Direct button function. Is it QuickSet? If it is so, why not spend some time to find the root cause and fix it? I believe at some point, some of us faced this problem. Is reinstalling the OS is the only solution?
Problem #2
After motherboard replacement, when the laptop is turned off, Media Direct button does not boot up the Media Direct OS.
This actually has a solution (after I experiment with the tools found in Media Direct CD). The RMBR.EXE actually sets what the buttons (Media Direct button and Power button). For example, if your OS is in Partition 2 and Media Direct is in Partition 4, you run this in CMD,
RMBR DELL 2 4
But instead of informing this, Dell Support ask me to reinstall the OS starting with Media Direct Recovery.
Problem #3
Shuttering audio playback in Windows Media Player, even after upgrading Windows Vista to SP1.
After Dell Support blames Microsoft for the problem, he asked me to reinstall the OS.
But I believe the problem lies with the SigmaTel audio driver. With this driver, we can't even use the Vista Audio Enchancement features or we will get weird audio playback.
340
Start Warranty periods when the system is received, not shipped!
Service and Support submitted by markj2k
Jan 31
I have purchased several Dell systems over the last month or so for myself, and some consulting clients. I've noticed in each case that the warranty start date is the day the PC shipped, not the day the PC was received by the purchaser. This needs to be changed. The order status page changes to show when the system was delivered, so Dell knows when the delivery date is. That is the day the warranty should start.
It might even be required from a legal standpoint in some areas, not sure about that.
2040
Start by improving tech support
Service and Support submitted by stultificare
Apr 16
I have a laptop that won't POST. In my first online chat with Dell, the tech diagnosed it as bad memory. I knew this was wrong because the memory worked fine in another laptop and known good memory didn't help out my laptop.
So I got on chat again and the tech determines that it's a bad LCD panel. I tell the Dell tech that I think it's the mobo, but he says it's the LCD and dispatches an on-site tech with an LCD kit. If a new LCD fixes a laptop that won't POST, it'll be the first time in my years of tech support that that's been the case. I try chatting with another Dell tech, but none of them will send me a mobo until the LCD swap is tried.
The on-site tech shows up and the first thing I tell him is "I don't think this is going to work." He laughs and says that he saw the work order and doesn't think that this will work either. Sure enough, it doesn't.
So I hit up another Dell tech and finally get a motherboard and a technician dispatched. The next day the tech decides not to show up or call. I get on Dell chat but nobody can give me contact info for the tech. That's especially frustrating because while I don't like changing laptop motherboards, it's something that I can do and if I knew how to reach the tech, I could have gotten the part from him.
Around noon I let my Major Account Rep know that the tech hasn't gotten in touch with me. My Major Account Rep says he'll escalate the call. The net effect of the escalation does not result in a technician coming out that day. It does result in my Inside Account rep calling me at 5:30pm to open a ticket which then results in my getting an email a couple of hours later that the replacement part has been dispatched.
So I have a dead laptop and a part that's been dispatched. In other words, it's back to square one. I can't wait to see if the technician will show up tomorrow.
The especially good part is when I asked if there was a way that I could just ask for a part to be dispatched and I was directed to the Warranty Parts Direct site where I had the opportunity to pay money to become certified to to the job that Dell Tech Support should be doing.
Instead of trying to be all cutting edge, try improving the basics:
*Hire tech support personnel who can think and troubleshoot and have enough flexibility in their job to send out a new mobo even though the blinking lights indicate that it's an LCD problem.
*Keep a closer rein on the on-site techs so that they can be easily reached.
*Make an "escalation" of a trouble ticket actually mean something.
As an aside, I've tried Dell Gold Support and found it no better than regular support. I've also tried to get support on systems purchased with 4-hr same day support. I've never succeeded in getting same day service.
Here's a contrast: At my old job, we had a Lenovo laptop that kept failing. Someone finally complained to our sales rep who looked up the specs of the system, managed to find a laptop of nearly identical specs, and he drove it over to our office himself and swapped it for our flaky one. And that was a place where we only bought a few dozen Lenovos each year.
340
 track my votes
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