A friend of mine (Certified Technician) recomended I buy a DELL a few years ago. He configured the system (online) to my needs and I ended up with a high end Dimension. I was very happy with his selection. I also took out a 3 year onsite service warranty. When I ran into a problem with a Floppy Drive I called DELL's tech support. I was routed to India!!

After hours on the phone I gave up due to the Language barrier. Nothing against the Indian techs I am sure they are qualified but the English they spoke was so hard to understand and I had to repeat myself so often I gave up.

Now you are offering premium paid support for North America - does this include Canada? The pilot in New York for XPS customers was a success (from what I hear) and the support team for that Pilot was run out of Ottawa Canada. I follow the IT industry and am extremely disappointed with DELL pulling out of Canada. The Edmonton call centre was Closed - 700 tech support gone.

The Ottawa site is next. Most likely closed by the end of June - 1500 techs gone.

As the new service you propose is fee based you will make more than enough money to reopen the Edmonton site and keep the Ottawa site open and fully staffed.

 Outsourcing to India and other offshore countries saves Dell money for sure but the downside is Customer Satisfaction. If we cannot understand the offshore techs Customer Service will hit bottom. That will send existing and future consumers to your competitors such as HP who are investing in the US by building 3 new customer support centres in the US. North american customers want to be supported by North American techs. 

On my latest call to Dell service (Gold, server), the initial answerer did not subject me to a long 'menu' (script) of questions to answer, possibly because of a wrong answer I gave to one of the questions?

However, I still have the same comparison to make between Dell and IBM.

When calling IBM for service, the entire thing is short & sweet. I'm not left on the phone on hold while the tech does 'paperwork'. Whatever Dell techs are required to do is apparently many times that of what is required for the IBM techs.

Why is IBM so much more efficient than Dell at handling these things???
 

Paul: Sorry for the delay in getting back to you... just wanted to check if you got the issue you called in for resolved. If not, I'm glad to help.

I think that Customer Service can be GREATLY enhanced by not having the Dell Support Center hang up on people as they did to me.  I'm sure my phone call was dismissed by citing my "rude" or "abusive" behavior.  That certainly closes the book on an issue, not subjecting it to review, even though the accusations are patently untrue.  If the off-shore support staff is incapable of addressing a issue with a FORMER customer (I certainly won't ever purchase another Dell product and will encourage my sons,high school and college graduates, to puchase other-than-Dell products) they should be taught to transfer the issue to someone capable of handling the small issue - instead of abruptly HANGING UP! As you can tell, I am wholly unimpressed with a promise by Dell to imprve customer service.  I would be impressed with ACTUAL customer service and actual monitoring of off-shore support facilities.   

Mike: I'm sorry that happened to you. It's definitely not representative of the kind of service we should be providing.

Did you get that issue resolved? If not, feel free to submit another comment with more details about your system. I won't publish it, but instead will get you to someone who can help.

I regret too be so stupid and buy a Dell. Your laptops are the worst in world. Your service is a joke, and i can't wait for my XPS to blow and your company to go down

I have just read a copy of an e-mail my father has just received from Dell customer services. He ordered a Dell laptop on my advice as a my department within Ford Motor Company utilise them with no concerns operationally. The laptop has never been delivered and he has spent the last month helping with the investigation only to be told today that the item was signed for and he will not be receiving the laptop and to contact the police if he wants to. I am fuming that an 80 year old man can be accused of fraud in this way. I might also point out that the signature was signed "GREEN" only according to Dell customer services. Who ever signs their surname only! This is obviously theft from the delivery company so why should my father lose out in this way.

As of tomorrow I will be getting involved in this issue personally and I will either get it resolved or communicate the facts of the matter to my colleagues within Ford via our Global intranet. This is highly embarassing to me and as a company you send me monthly invites to purchase your products for my wifes business.

Good products but disgraceful customer service.

Dave: I apologize for not responding until now, and that we are casuing some problems with your father's system.

 If you still need help feel free to e-mail me directly here. I will be happy to connect you with someone who can help.

To reduce customer frustrations caused by long wait time on the phone, do what Costco does. 

When you call Costco's customer service line you are told by an automated line that the approximate wait time is 20 minutes. Then you are asked by an automated message "Do you want someone to call you back?" If you say yes, you punch in your phone number and record your name, and someone from Costco will call you back in 20 minutes. When you pick up the phone, an automated message says "Hello this is Costco, this phone call is for" and plays back your name that you recorded. If you accept the call you immediately get connected to a customer service rep. I tried the system twice and in exactly 20 minutes or less Costco calls me back! So instead of waiting on the phone feeling frustrated, I can eat my lunch, do computer work etc. Awesome idea Costco.

I will tell you what is next for Dell customer service, no customer service or wait we are already there.  Dell's so called customer service is a joke.  Their CR's dont care, can't answer questions, and think you are at fault for being mad because you are buying a product and not receiving the service you deserve.   That is not customer service.  How can you continually make fools of your customers and expect them to come back and say that you have great customer service.  Has anyone read the comments in this blog alone almost everyone of them is negative.  Take a hint you customer service is non-existent.  Stop outsourcing your phone centers overseas to save a few dollars and start spending some more money on the quality of person you are putting behind the phone, because you are obviously not spending the money on your battery technology because that is a scam in itself.  From what I hear your laptop batteries die 1 year after purchase conviniently right after the warranty runs out and then the batteries cos $200-$300.  Yes that is completely fine and you should proud of yourselfs for providing a product like that.  Give me a break Dell restructure your organization, it is not working.

This has been bothering me.  It amazes me how almost every week these Dell forums throw out another happy go lucky story about how well Dell is doing something.  Why are you all not addressing the comments that show up under these happy go lucky stories negating everything you are saying above.  The vast majority of comments are negative and down right embarassing to you Dell.  I believe it his high time that they are addressed and not just sugar coated by other more happy stories.

Dell Customer: I see your point. Some of these comments are not customers who are seeking help, I have tried to follow up with each of those customers.

To Lionel: 

Hello Lionel I saw you were answering posts in this forum and wanted to see if there was anyway you could address my problem below, because it is very frustrating to me and many others.