Gadgetell Rant: Outsourced tech support, the ball is in our court
Calling for tech support today is a lot like randomly dialing a bunch of numbers and seeing who picks up. We know this going in when we buy a product. Why don’t we do something about it?
Starting today, I would like to see tech support locations used as a selling point. If your company’s call center is on US of A terra firma, tell us about it. As consumers, if domestic tech support is important to us, we should buy from the companies chiming in.
As a tech guy, I got stuck fixing a neighbor’s Dell. A call to Dell tech support was totally fruitless as I couldn’t make anything out of the accent. (Similarly, I failed calculus for the same reason). An online chat worked much better.
But it is not just about getting things fixed. Our brothers and sisters in the tech world are seeing/have seen their jobs take to the seas and it is our loss. You know of what I speak.
My economics professors will tell you we consumers benefit from outsourcing in the form of lower pricing. Great. But what I am saying is that we should value a product’s support as much as a low price. I theorize Dell is in trouble partly because of their reputation on support, which is now outsourced. If we can be informed consumers making informed decisions on what to buy, companies that keep support state-side should do better.
Leaving everything else constant, could Dell gain ground by pledging in the comments section here on Gadgetell to bring support back to the US? I am all ears.
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Dude, welcome to the present and the future. You are .. ehh lets see .. late to party. Companies, including Dell, have outsourced tech support for, say 6 years now. They have not only survived the nationalist consumers like yourself, they have actually done well! And as I said, many blogger have actually posted similar thoughts over the last so many years now. I would rather pay less for Dell and deal with occasional accent problems.
on May 26, 2007 at 02:05 AM - LINKThe accents can really be a problem, which is why whenever I need tech support, I prefer an online chat. You can’t hear accents with it, and their English is pretty decent.
on May 26, 2007 at 08:13 AM - LINKbelleric elaphomyces photostereograph stertorousness yeuk orangewoman tatterwallop dialkyl
on December 19, 2007 at 09:29 AM - LINKGSE, Inc
http://www.pnhoffman.com/