February 28, 2004

Oh how much fun it is to try to get some consistency in the computer field so we can make intelligent, informed recommendations.  Right now, it seems the one thing consistent with all the PC manufacturers is the lack of support for customers who are having problems.

Dell has decided to farm out their technical support to technicians in India and people are having language problems even trying to do the most trivial troubleshooting.  All the companies play leap frog in the ratings of who is the best and who is the worst. 

The thing I am having problems with is the fact that most of the techs you end up talking to today don't have any field troubleshooting experience and they therefore lack the expertise to logically troubleshoot problems which are not specifically outlined in their troubleshooting database.  The end result is an overabundance of people formatting their hard drives and doing a system restore in order to get their computers working again.  The drawback is most people don't end up backing up everything they need to and this results in lost data when the computer is restored.

Computers today put files all over the disk and you must make sure to include all of them when you do your backups.  I always recommend getting the 3 year parts, lifetime telephone support since you can still call them for support after the initial warrantee is up. 

Dell has done away with the lifetime support, and I believe Gateway is the only hold out with this option.  Trouble is, if support doesn't do anything except have people format their computers, the value of having the support is diminishing.  I don't know what to recommend at this stage of the game. 

In times past, Dell and Gateway have gone back and forth as far as customer satisfaction is concerned. It appears not that all the manufacturers seem to have one thing in common, people are not happy with the support they are getting.  Whether or not they do anything to correct the problem remains to be seen.  With such small profit margins, look for the poor service, and non-English speaking support problems to increase.

Even the local consultants need to fall back on the manufacturer at times, so we also have to live with the support, or lack thereof, for the purchases our customers make.  I still recommend you consult with a computer professional BEFORE making a purchase. Sometimes it is worth a short discussion before placing your order or buying at the store.

If you have any questions or comments, click