Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

I love my HP Pavilion notebook, but the other day Vista decided it didn’t feel like booting.  Reboots, the Windows Repair Console and even the Recovery DVD didn’t help.  So, I called HP tech support.  My warranty ended in July, so I was prepared for the worst; instead, I was pleasantly surprised.  Other companies take note: this is how tech support is supposed to be!

1. No waiting. I got a LIVE PERSON within minutes. No long hold times or endless menus. This alone makes HP shine.
2. No language barrier. I could understand her. She spoke clear and perfect English, something sorely lacking in many tech support call centers these days.
3. No canned responses/scripts. She actually listened to my issue and worked with me, instead of simply reading from a script. This saved a lot of time because I didn’t have to repeat myself.
4. No problems when the called was disconnected. She called back! In the middle of the call it was disconnected. I don’t know if it was her phone or mine, but she called me back right away! How many tech support lines do this? Most of the time you have to call back and start all over again with someone new.
5. No broken promises. At one point she had me go into the BIOS and test the hard drive. If you’ve ever done this you know it takes about an hour. She told me she would call back in an hour and we’d go from there-and she did!
6. Patience! We finally got the Repair Console working and it decided a System Restore was necessary. This also tends to take a bit of time. This time she stayed on hold and at one point told me if I needed a break from the phone for any reason to go ahead and she’d wait. I actually did need a bathroom break and a glass of water, and sure enough she was there when I returned.
7. No selling. We got my baby up and running again (and it’s been fine ever since), and I’m sure her screen told her my warranty period was up but not once did she ever try and sell me an extended warranty of any kind.
8. Politeness. She was friendly and polite the whole time and did not talk down to me or get annoyed if I asked her to repeat something.

I can not say enough about HP’s tech support. I’ve dealt with them twice before. Once when my HD died (totally my fault—I dropped my cell phone on to my computer in just the right spot) and once for a warranty repair of a known issue. Both times it was quick and easy-and I mean QUICK. The hard drive was at my door 48 hours later and when I had to send the whole computer in they overnighted me a shipping container and prepaid label for FedEx overnight, got my system, fixed it, and had it back to me within 3 days. Amazing.

I hope other companies are listening here. Over the past few years tech support (and customer service too) have become less and less of a priority. Foreign call centers, undertrained (and most likely underpaid) reps, and endless automated menus leave customers feeling frustrated, angry, and undervalued. Kudos to HP for bucking that trend!