jcm337

better customer service

Service and Support submitted by jcm337 Aug 12

You could streamline your customer service. I just had to talk to 7 people in order to find a tracking number to see when my package would get to me. Also, don't use the automated call system unless you follow up with an e-mail since you can't always write down a tracking number while driving in the car. Another idea would be to bring back your Canadian call center since they always worked through things smoothly. 5 Comments »

Don't cave in to the RIAA

Service and Support submitted by jcm337 May 20 **PARTIALLY IMPLEMENTED**

Here is an abbreviated version of what I will be sending to my regular blogs and podcasts (edited to fit their formats and typical areas of discussion) regarding the burdensom nature of what happens when a company like Dell listens to groups like the RIAA over its own customers. I would like to mention up front that overall I am very happy with my Dell experience so far, but may not stick with them if I see this sort of thing happen regularly.

" I used to rip streams (legally from NPR for class projects with proper citation) on my old XP machine and recently needed to do something similar on my new Dell laptop. My laptop didn't seem to have a stereo mix feature, but I knew the hardware supported it so I read through several forums where people (mainly musicians) needed that feature. After searching around, it seems that Dell had distributed drivers that intentionally disabled this feature. There was alot of talk online about how this was under pressure from the record industry to close the loophole allowing stream ripping of Internet music. I'm not sure about the truth of this, but it seems plausible considering the hardware still has this capability and it was once a very common and useful feature. Fortunately, armed with knowledge of the issue from the forums, I was able to get a support person from Dell to work with me to fix it (sort of). Apparently enough people had complained about the lack of a stereo mixer function that they released a set of drivers for an older computer that enabled this feature and I was able to apply it to my sound card by running it in compatibility mode. But wouldn't it be nice if they simply hadn't disabled the features in the first pace?

p.s. An hour and twenty minutes on the phone with tech support usually leaves me pretty unhappy, but those Dell XPS support people really know their stuff and I ended the phone call feeling pretty good about the whole thing."


In short, Dell really shouldn't lock out functionality and force it's own customers to spend hours working out rediculous hacks to appease corporate groups seeking to protect their own pocketbooks. It perpetuates a culture of ownership that is far and above what is expected in a typical capitalistic society of which I am a proud member. To criple hardware at the driver level, removing useful and legitimate features despite customer protest is unconscionable.


Please see chris_b's comment
3 Comments »