Getting Customer Support You Deserve

What do you expect as good customer service?  It’s no secret that everyone has more than one customer support horror story.  We’re all sick of pressing or saying something numerous times before we can talk to a live person. Our expectations for customer service has dwindled to the point some people give up and dump a faulty product instead of asking for help.

I’ve been lucky that my online presence has sometimes provided me with some special help. You really don’t have to be someone or have a Blog to carry some clout. Many times you can just post a message or leave a comment in the right place.

Case 1: Getting the Help You Deserve

Earlier this year my daughter was having a frustrating time trying get a new battery from Dell. In the process she ended up with two wrong batteries and still couldn’t use her computer. I wrote about her plight and within 24 hours I was contacted by a Dell Customer Advocate offering to help. My story made it to another blogger with “The Consumerist” and it wasn’t long before a correct battery was shipped and wrong batteries returned. It wasn’t really a complicated issue but the phone reps with their “help scripts” were incapable of helping.

Case 2: Getting  Extra Special Treatment

Long before blogs existed I created a web site called QComet.com to manage online photos. Some of the most popular photos were from various trips and vacations. I had created a nice collection of Aruba photos on a site we called Aruba.calm. When on vacation at the Renaissance Aruba Beach Resort I made our hotel manager aware of my photos and reviews. I never asked for special treatment but before I knew it, the manager told us we would be charged the Marriott employee rate and even gave us tickets to a show.

What Should Your Business Do?

Companies are slowly learning that they have to watch the internet for signs of customer satisfaction.  Many have support groups on MySpace and Facebook. On Twitter a number of companies have representatives available to catch vocal customers and make them happy.

I currently follow the company reps below
@Comcastcares, @SouthwestAir, @zappos, @hrblock,  @Dunkindonuts,
@rubbermaid,  @JetBlue, @Residio, @1800flowers, @wholefoods,
@cz -FIOS, @jeffwc – Time Warner, @lindsaylebresco – Graco,
@ScottMonty – Ford, toniahammer and molsonferg from Molson.
Dell has a number of employees online and even a devote page http://www.dell.com/twitter for Twitter users.  As long as companies use social networks to help and not as PR vehicles they’ll get my business.

Here are some real responses on Twitter

JetBlue Change fees are waived for customers traveling today to/from BOS,Upstate NY and NY metro. Additional details at http://is.gd/Pjg 12:12 PM Dec 19th fromTweetDeck

Rubbermaid 19th person to DM me wins a Rubbermaid 40" Gift Wrap Organizer -http://is.gd/6Ybx - Only 1 DM per person. Good Luck! 9:43 AM Dec 12th fromTweetDeck

Molsonferg Molson also proud to support free ride in Winnipeg Manitoba this New Year's eve http://is.gd/edfP here's to responsible choices 1:13 PM yesterday fromTweetDeck

comcastcares @BillP If you have access to the server I would flush DNS 10:24 PM Dec 12th from web in reply to BillP

To support WinPatrol customers, I make a point to use search.twitter.com to see if anyone is mentioning WinPatrol.  I will follow anyone who uses WinPatrol in case I’m needed.  I also have Google Alerts configured so any mention of WinPatrol in newsgroups or blogs will be Emailed to me. I recommend other companies do the same.

Earlier this month I created a WinPatrol specific Twitter account for news and support.  Go to http://twitter.com/WinPatrol and click follow.

 

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Dell Laptop Battery Support Problems

As a computer guy, folks frequently ask me what kind of computer they should buy.  Until recently my recommendation was to go with a Dell. I’ve changed my preference although I’m sure you can still find some good deals from Dell. 

One of the reasons I’ll stop recommending Dell is their lack of support. Earlier this year I had a problem and now daughter my Erica has been charged over $200 for batteries that don’t match her laptop. You may have read my “Dell Phone Support Disassembles My Laptop” post. Erica’s experience was more frustrating and costly.

Last month, Erica ordered a replacement battery for her Dell laptop after her original battery died. Her problem started when Dell sent her the wrong replacement battery.

Her first call to Dell was unsuccessful because she didn’t have her laptop available when she called.  On her 2^nd phone call she was told, “sorry”, she was a few days past the 21 day return policy.

After some discussion the support representative decided, as long as it was a replacement and not money back there wouldn’t be a problem. That sounded reasonable until they sent her wrong battery again.

After calling Dell support back expecting them to chuckle at their mistake, she was told it was her problem, not theirs. She could only get a replacement on the wrong battery. A supervisor repeatedly told her “ I don't know ma'am, that's not my problem."  Even, the tech support who forwarded her call told the supervisor that Dell wasn’t being “customer centric”.

I should point out that each phone call included a 20–40 minute wait time which is also unacceptable. The real irony is my youngest daughter Amy also replaced her Dell Laptop battery but ordered a 3^rd party battery on Amazon. Her experience was a positive one and Amazon’s 30 return policy was clear.

My own recent laptop purchase was a Lenovo ThinkPad and I couldn't be happier. Looks like Lenovo will be my new recommendation.

Thanks to Ben Popkin at The Consumerist 
   Dell: We Can Only Send You the Wrong Kind Of Battery

Update: Thanks to Dell Customer Outreach Liasison, Larry I'm pleased to report that Erica finally has the proper battery and refund.   Snaps to Dell, their customer advocates and the folk(s) who let Dell know of our problem.

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Dell Phone Support Disassembles My Laptop

Dell made the news recently after my friends at New York’s Attorney Generals office sued for “false advertising, failure to provide services and deceptive business practices”. I recently purchased a new Dell laptop and while I didn’t submit a complaint I was a victim of one of the charges.

Most news organizations and bloggers are focusing on misleading finance offers and long waits on the phone but my experience was a first of its kind for me. According to the list of complaints my experience falls in the following category…

• pressuring consumers, including those who purchased service contracts promising “next day onsite” repair, to remove the external cover of their computer and remove, reinstall, and manipulate hardware components;

My new Inspiron 1520 had a problem with bad memory. As a technical person it wasn’t hard for me to run the appropriate tests and confirm my own diagnosis. After removing the external memory chip, the problem still existed so it appeared the laptop would need internal servicing.

So I called Dell to arrange my repairs. Imagine my surprise when the phone rep wanted me to remove the keyboard and unscrew internal components so I could access the internal memory chip. I was stunned. I just couldn’t imagine them telling somebody’s mother how to do this over the phone.

Even I didn’t feel comfortable snapping off my keyboard so I pleaded with the rep to just let me pack up my laptop and ship it to Dell. Nope, if I wanted it repaired, my only option was to work with the phone rep. I finally agreed and sure enough it turned out I had a bad memory chip inside my laptop.

Now for the good news. Dell still didn’t want me to send back my laptop. Instead, they shipped the required hardware to a local repair rep who came out to my home and completed my repairs. Kudos to Dell for in-home repairs but please stop the over-the-phone surgery.

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Dell Wants Me to Plant A Tree

I was looking at new laptops on the Dell website today and noticed something interesting. Perhaps Al Gore and the Live Earth Concerts are having an impact. When you select Customize you’re taken through many pages of options including the two below.

It will be interesting to see how long Dell continues this effort. I really hope they eventually publish the results of this promotion.

And guess what? No purchase necessary!

"Dell now makes it easy to help protect the Earth’s climate
by offering anyone in the U.S. and Europe the opportunity to
offset the CO2 emissions related to the use of an extended
selection of IT products. Participants can also help offset
the total one-year carbon impact of the average citizen.
Click here to make a donation and plant a tree today. "

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Top Ten Blogs April 2007

I’m ending the month with a list of the most popular posts. This is mainly to aid people who get here by searching for topics included in this months archive web page.

So, here’s the top ten for April in no particular order…

1. File Restoration, a new Revenue for Microsoft


2. Multiple Languages for WinPatrol


3. Not All Computers are Updated Equally


4. Female Journalists in the Media


5. Connection Not a Vista of Dell Problem


6. Dell Offers Windows XP As Choice


7. Apple Ad Could Improve New Windows PC’s


8. Microsoft Patches & BlackBerry Updates


9. Do I Need a Registry Cleaner?


10. AntiSpyware Advertising Gets Nasty

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Apple Ad Could Improve New Windows PC's

In their latest Ad campaign Apple Computer has finally pointed out one of the biggest flaw in new PC's.

Computer OEM's have a decision to make. While they can make more profit by including third party applications, is it worth the cost of the support calls from new PC owners?

When someone purchases a new PC you want them to be happy. The only reason you ever want them contacting you again is to make another purchase. I suspect support costs are high enough due to the new Vista Operating System. They don't need complicated support issues caused by third party applications or what Walt Mossberg calls "Craplets".

Perhaps this new Apple Ad will wake some folks up. Meanwhile, we'll continue to recommend WinPatrol as the best crapware cleaner you can get for any new system.

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