Community poll forum: What's your biggest gripe about tech support?

Don't get me wrong - some of the most brilliant computer minds I know are from India (and are close, family friends). But I tell you, apparently some of my hardware and software vendors are routing service calls to some place in India and are getting what they pay for. Several times (NO, make that "ALWAYS") it happened where I ask one question, I get a "canned answer" to a different question! And you clarify, and you get another "off target" response. It's like you get any answer regardless of your question. One time I asked if there was a way to get my HP printer to print borderless (which the particular model can NOT do). They had me reloading wrong drivers, they told me to send it in for repair (imagine? Sending in a printer for repair because it doesn't make borderless prints and never will!). They told me to clean it! It was a horror! I went back and forth like a dozen times. And I'm sure the company is marking it "resolved". I hope the corporations realize they're not getting a bargain - they're not getting tech support, either.

Well I thought it only happened in Australia...here, I call Telstra for support and get sweet little Pakistani voices saying Hello to you Madam. I recently encountered a problem where my ADSL password had reset itself back to the original that came with the setup. I rang and after having time to knit a pair of socks I was connected to a tech. With great aplomb the tech said no worries Madam I will reset, you turn your computer off and wait an hour and it will be okay. Huh!....Rang again, got an Aussie was talked through uninstalling and reinstalling my ADSL connection. Told to wait an hour after turning off computer and all would be well. Huh! Huh!....Got smart. Rang at 2 a.m. Got a uni student moonlighting as a tech. Was told, oh this is a wide spread problem in your state. I will give you a new password...just turn off the computer, give me 10 mins and reconnect...voila!! give me a 15 year old high school student any time......

Do these companies like HP/Compac/Dell care about us?Their reputations are at stake.

As a tech professional in our local school system, I often encounter teachers and staff members who are frustrated with various tech issues at home and the responses they receive from ISPs. One of the most common problems is that these so-called tech support people often overlook the easiest solution first. Just last weekend, a staff member upgraded her Internet service from dial-up to DSL only to discover she could not get online. She had been on the phone several times with tech support staff who repeatedly walked her through the setup and configuration process and after each unsuccessful attempt she was advised that the problem was resulting from her OS, firewall, virus protection, etc... ANYONE but the ISP. Finally, she called me at home to see if I could offer any advice - after about 2 minutes of troubleshooting I determined that she had two problems - a filtering device that was not needed and a bad network cable. Both of these items had been provided and installed by the ISP. Customer experiences such as this are becoming commonplace as companies hire unprepared and experienced personnel in an attempt to cut costs and raise company profit. Customer satisfaction seems to be buried at the bottom of many company's priorities.

I've had a couple issues with my brand new Dell....but this time around, I did research BEFORE I bought a computer. I made sure I wouldnt be speaking to a foreigner. If you buy a Dell Business type computer, you will get ENGLISH SPEAKING support. I bought a Precision Workstation 370. I made sure I would never be transfered to India if I had issues. Knowing that, I purchased their 3 year Gold Technical support package which includes not only hardware but operating system support, and immediate phone support. No being put on HOLD. So far, all contacts have been answered within 2 minutes, with English speaking techs and all knowledgeable. On the other hand, my folks have a Dell Inspiron notebook. When I called tech support on their home computer, I got India and could not understand them.
I have a 1999 Gateway which, when purchased came with LIFETIME technical support ( not offered anymore) and as of 2 months ago, have yet to speak to anyone from India. Maybe I'm calling at the right time.....I dont know, but I do know they have always been very helpful. I didnt go back to Gateway because they do not supply system recovery disc's with their systems anymore. You have to make your own. I told then If I was spending in the neighborhood of $2700 on a computer, I expected it to come with recovery and restore discs...and not to have to make them myself. They could not accommodate me, so my $$$$$ went to Dell.
So, if you want English speaking support, consider a small business system for home use.

My last call to Dell was for my wife's computer. They told me I needed a new power supply. They didn't tell me that Dell uses a special nonstandard (looks just like but isn't) ATX connector.
When I called back I got the "oh did we forget to tell you that"?

What turned out to be the problem was the latest bios they had posted for that model.

I have a similar problem with Quicken & tech support. I'm running Windows ME with 512 MB of memory. After 1/2 hr to an hr of activity, get system message that says not enough memory to continue. Sometimes system just freezes. Going out of & back into Quicken solves the problem. Non-tech support insists it's a Windows problem, but everything worked fine when I was running Quicken 2001. I've been fighting this since Aug. & have even done a reinstall of ME with no luck. How did you fare?

You sure have mirrored my problem. I was almost convinced that I was suffering from hearing loss. Just recently I spent hours trobuleshooting a promlem only to be told that it was was a problem with their software and would be fixed in about a month's time.

At the risk of being labeled a traitor, since returning to Macs after a few years of using Windows, I have had very little need for tech support and for the few times I have, there is been little wait and the problem was usually resolved immediately (usually it was because I was trying a Windows way of doing something instead of the very intuitative Mac way). My blood pressure has gone down, I don't woryy about viruses or hacking and Apple has proved that they make an almost idiot-proof machine - I'm the idiot that had tested it!

I started on a Mac and only added PC's to my network to accomodate client PC users. And after years of comparing one to the other it's a no-brainer: it's Mac, Jack! (PC is whack!) Too bad for the poor end-user that PC's could be punched out faster and cheaper, 'cause they are a sloppy(!) second. If you're starting out, buy a Mac. Start your kids on it and you'll be adding years to their lives down the line. Bill Gates made a ton of money, but he didn't do it clean. And billions of junk PC's later he's still doing it on the cheap. I don't know about you but I'm tired of being an unpaid beta tester for Microsoft. Retroactively Mr. Gates has a big debt to pay. But he won't--we will. Ho hum(bug). jb

I hate endless switchs. If you are having this problem, press 1, or this, press 2. This goes on ad infinitem, and when you finally get someone, you have to tell them all that information that you just got done pressing 1.2.3 to get to them, because they don't have access to it......

What a Drag
Mike Sartor

Since I had this computer built by a local technician with XP and sp1 I have had no need for tech support, not even for my all in one printer, scanner, copier and another scanner. No problems with my router or USB hubs and devices. I have stayed away from "department store" computers - Dell, Compact, etc. with the exception of a couple of years and then I did have to call tech support and for the most part was satisfied with the service I got.
John

A few years ago, I purchased my first Dell Computer. At the time I considered purchasing the 3 year support contract. I thank God that I didn't spend money for that.
Tech Support offered by Dell, and most others, is one big ripoff. After they have your money, they could care less about any problems that you have. I called one time and got someone in India. They read from a script. When I interupted to ask a question, I got a long pause, and then the person continued to read from the script, as if he didn't understand a word that I said. What a joke. I hung up and haven't called since.
Any thing that I've purchased since, I have repaired without any help from tech support. (thanks to Cnet forums)
My advice, don't pay extra for tech support.
Also, don't call them for any reason.
If we all do this, it will either cease to exist, or improvements will be made.
In either case, we will all be better off.
Quality matters.

I have been a Dell owner for the last 5+ years. I do have more good things to say about the support, than bad. However, when you are in need of help, it is a given, that you do have to understand the directions, and that the techs, need to understand me. My lastest tradgey with Dell, is when I tried to load XP2 service pack, with the cd-rom, and it wouldn't load. I called Microsoft XP2 problem phone #, and was on the phone, with an English speaking woman for Nova Scotia for 5 hours. She took me as far as she could at the time, and asked for me to call Dell, to see if needed any updates for my bios, for it to load. The tech at Dell didn't even ask me what I was running, just sent me a link for bios update for Pro, I am running home. I gave him two files that keeep popping up, that there was a problem with loading the update to, and he said that he didin't have anything on file for what the problem may be. I explained to him that one of them had to do with my ISP, but he insisted that he couldn't help me. This was a out sourced call to India. I concluded that he didn't want to help me. I thought about this after hanging up, and decided that the update couldn't attach itself to my dial up connection. I checked and after a complete cleaning of my partition, and re-installing XP1, then XP 2 right over it, it lost my modem driver. I re-installed the driver, and then tried again in safemode again, with XP2, and it worked like a charm. I then sent off an e-mail to the Microsoft tech,with lots of thanks. Then fired one off to Dell CTS Team, and it wasn't nice. This wasn't the first time I had a problem like this, but then as I said in the beginning. I have had as many as 3 Dell tech supports in one day, lasting 8 hours, to get the pc up and running again,so I am getting the good with the bad. I knew that they were bringing back the tech support over a year ago, after another complaint that I got through to the CTS team, when I was told that all of the yellow question marks in my device manager, would allow my media center play like it is supposed to. I almost got a hernia, from laughing so loud. This was another India tech that told me that. I am sticking with my Dell's, and I am glad that my complaint so long ago, hit home, and perhaps started someone thinking that they had better move back to Americia, to save the company.