First off, I realize that some of you are tech support guys, as I am indirectly. I know there are users out there who still put the mouse on the floor and step on it like a gas pedal. Or those who think if you switch out monitors all their icons will go away since they are inside the old monitor. I don't consider myself one of those users, I believe I can work my way around a computer without too many problems.

I purchased a nice Dell system for my Mother about a year ago; finally, after 62 years she decided she wanted to use a computer to balance the books for her business and to email friends. She picked up on it very quickly but then about a month ago it crashed. She was describing the problem to me over the phone and it sounded to me like the hard drive crashed. I told her to send me the case and all the software and I would diagnose it for her or fix it.

I received the computer and sure enough, the SATA drive had died horribly. I used all the tricks I knew just to get a computer to recognize it existed but in the end realized it had to be something physically wrong with the drive. Since the computer was under warranty, I decided it was time to contact Dell support.

Hitting the support site I saw that they have a chat program that the technicians use to resolve warranty issues so I loaded it up and after only about 1 minute someone named Samuhi Sumood logged on and asked what the issue was. I told him "My computer broke.", and he asked for details.

I told him that the computer came with a 160GB Maxtor SATA drive and it looked like it had a physical error. I proceeded to explain that I had attempted to recover it by booting off a WinXP disk in order to check it for errors, but the computer wouldn't recognize it. I checked all the settings in the BIOS and they were correct so I formatted a Win98 boot disk to see if it recognized any partitions using both FDISK and DELPART. I told him it didn't see any hard drive that way either. I explained that my next step was to pull the drive and try to hot plug it into another motherboard to see if it was picked up, but it wasn't. I tried to boot from a different motherboard with the drive set to Secondary, but it still didn't see the drive. I attempted this with a DFI, an MSI, and an Abit motherboard but none of them saw the drive.

There was a pause on his end then he asked if the case was open. I said Yes, it was open. He then wrote "Now look inside the case. On the right side is where the drive sits. There should be two cables connected to the back of the drive. Do you see them?" My children ran into the room and the dogs started howling at my scream of frustration. I realized that no matter what I typed I was going to have to deal with a scripted technician.

We went through an hour of "Yes" "No" conversation with me obediently following what he wanted me to do. Then we got to the Dell CD test. He asked me to boot from the CD and type some command, I forget what it was, to start testing the hard drive. I did so and got an error "No drive detected". I typed that to him and he typed back "No, you must test the drive, I will wait." I told him that it didn't detect a drive because the drive was broken. He said please wait, he would be back in a minute.

During that minute I made some lemonade, went on the deck to have a smoke, played some solitaire, and finally he came back on to ask if the test detected the hard drive. I simply typed "No". He asked me to wait a minute... I was kind of ticked off when he came back on because I was up by over $400 in solitaire. He told me that the drive was defective and that one would be sent right away and I will receive it in two days.

A full week later I received a package from Dell, opened it up, and immediately knew something was wrong even before I opened the anti-static bag. It was too thick and too heavy to be the right Maxtor drive. Sure enough, I opened it and saw I had received a nice, new Maxtor Atlas 10K Ultra320 SCSI drive. This time I decided to get someone in person to talk to.

I waited on hold for about half an hour until I heard a familiar voice and accent greet me with "May I be helping you please?" I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore, again. I gave the gentleman all the required customer and order number information and he asked me to wait. So I waited... he came back on finally and asked if I had received the drive. Yes. He asked if there was anything wrong. Yes. What is the problem, he asked. I stated that I didn't receive the correct drive. He asked me why I thought I had the wrong drive. I was being very patient and explained that the drive that broke was a SATA drive, and I had received a SCSI to replace it. He wanted to know if I was sure. Yes.

Now the tech went into his investigational mode and asked if the drive was different from the one I was supposed to receive. Yes. He asked if the connectors were compatible. No. Then he asked if there was a part number on the drive. I gave it to him, something like F0-348. He asked me to wait... so I waited... He came back on stating there is no part with that number, he needed the Dell part number. Now I was getting frustrated. I said, "Listen, I am reading you the number right behind the letters d/pn. Doesn't d/pn stand for Dell part number?" Yes, please wait...

He came back on and asked if I had the drive with me. "What? What the hell do you think I just read those numbers off of? Yes!" He then asked if it said anywhere on it that it was a SCSI drive. "Let me start from top to bottom! MAXTOR ATLAS 146GB ULTRA320 SCSI DRIVE MANUFACTURED IN SINGAPORE JUNE 2005!" Please wait....

He returned with the great news that I shouldn't have been shipped a SCSI drive, I should have received a Maxtor SATA drive. Uhhh, yeah. He was sorry I received the drive and it was rare for them to make errors on shipping. He further stated that I would have a replacement shipped out and I would receive it in 5 to 7 business days. I asked "Seven business days? The last tech told me I would get a drive in two business days but it took a week." The tech stated that nobody there would ever say two days. I asked if he would like me to send him the transcript of my chat conversation and as a matter of fact hold on, here it is "Your drive is defective and one will be sent right away, you should get it in two business days." The tech stated that wasn't true, so I asked if the other guy lied to me. He said no, he didn't lie, he just didn't give me correct information. Whatever.

So now I am just hoping I get the correct drive in the mail. If not, I think I will just go buy one. The expense greatly offsets the shortened lifespan I will receive if they continue to elevate my blood pressure.

Most times I just ask to talk to higher up tech support, but I've never had to deal with Dell support myself. I do understand both sides though; the reps consider you to be the average computer "literate" idiot and you aren't obviously.

Alas, the flaw of tech support.

Its dell, and people who use dell (well most people anyway) are your average joe from the street, so of course tech support has to be that way, although in your scenario, I wonder if they acted the way they did even though you knew what your were saying for a reason

Or that Tech support is one giant super computer that can emulate human voice and follows a certain programming sequence under certain conditions..

Or the people who do tech support are required to talk so many minutes with a person on the phone in order to get a pay check..

Did they ask for the SCSI Drive back? You could probably trade it with somone (or sell it) in exchange for a SATA drive.

Quote: Originally Posted by The Big Dog no, he didn't lie, he just didn't give me correct information

That's great.

I can't tell you how often I have had similar (although maybe not quite as frustrating) interactions with Gateway Tech Support for my laptop. I don't buy the argument "well they have to assume you are a computer illiterate", either. This support person should have known from your thorough description and analysis of the problem that you knew what you were talking about. Even if you hadn't done that, they could start every support incident with the question "how familiar would you say you are with the inside of your computer case", with maybe one or two follow-up questions to get a rough estimate of your computer knowledge.

A story you hear way too often... imho... sadly... I must say, I've had better expieriences with HP
service/computers I advized my (n00b) relatives... An uncle of mine once had a similar expierience (hdd crash). since it was a "pick up and return" service, he got his computer back in 3 days... which is a lot better
service...i think.

TDR

PS; I guess your mother doesn't really need it but with the right SCSI controller that hdd rocks!

Hey BA. if you want me to double check to see if you are getting the right drive. PM some info. Like the DPS number and what not....

I may do that Zer0s, thanks.

I have to send both the dead SATA drive and the SCSI drive back, but not until I get a good replacement drive.

Man talk of incompetence...This is precisely why I build my own...and my family runs all systems I built for them...seems its much easier for them to get me to come over and take care of the problem instead....


I bet this is the last DELL you recomend to anyone isn't it...

This is what happens when we send tech jobs oversees.
ughhhh
I like your method of telling the story though. I would have exploded....you....much more patient.

Quote: Originally Posted by Digital-World Man talk of incompetence...This is precisely why I build my own...and my family runs all systems I built for them...seems its much easier for them to get me to come over and take care of the problem instead.... I bet this is the last DELL you recomend to anyone isn't it... This is what happens when we send tech jobs oversees. ughhhh I like your method of telling the story though. I would have exploded....you....much more patient.

I'll still recommend a Dell to those who are technically inexperienced. If my Mother lived closer, I would have built her a system myself and supported it, but she lives out in the middle of the grasslands of South Dakota in a little town called Faith. It's unusual for a drive to crash so quickly, that's why I had her send me the system this time.

For the future, I think I'll get Zer0s pager number and work with him.

You know, I remember back when Dell actually had "Award winning Tech Support".

Their people were knowledgable, helpful and didn't give you a lot of crap. I had them patiently walk me through troubleshooting that eventually led to be something that was my own dumb error for a networking issue (It doesn't help when you unplug the hub with the computer you're moving to another room... it really doesn't).

I knew things were getting bad when I ordered a computer they didn't want to build (I knew there was no sound-driver for the sound card I ordered, as I wanted the system loaded with Red Hat Linux, I figured I'd split partition it when it arrived...)

They screwed up my order five times (including the same mistake twice when I told them I didn't want a three year warranty, and they gave it to me... complete with a $200.00 price addition. Got it fixed, they said I couldn't buy it with that level of warranty, I told them it said I could off their web-site, they said they fixed it... a week later, they said they were having problems getting the parts, and sent me a confirmation of what I'd ordered...complete with that 3 year warranty again). I finally cancelled after they said it'd be another month before I got it.

I tried ordering that system 'cause i didn't have time to build one working the hours I was... I figured with as much time as I had wasted at that point, I could have just gone to Wal-Mart, bought a crappy HP and got the Linux box I needed...

When I worked at Fry's in Phoenix... I got a TON of Dells to work on... everybody said the same thing. They would rather pay us than having to mess with tech support. Their reload software is some of the worst around as well.

I don't think I'd even buy a Dell Laptop at this point, they're just too annoying to deal with.

Reminds me of what brought me to this site.

My Fony Vaio would BSOD halfway through the startup procedure, so I called Sony Tech Support. Know what the guy told me after I patiently explained that it gets halfway through the bootup sequence before crashing?

"O.K., go to the upper left hand corner of the screen and double-click on My Computer."

"Uh....the computer won't boot to the desktop, that's what I've been trying to tell you."

"Well, let us try this. Click on the Start button in the lower left hand side of the screen."

It was about this time that I screamed into the phone receiver.

Rob

Agreed on the reloading of drivers. Its a pain in the ass to do. There is a minumum on 5 drivers to load. On every machine. it doesnt make much sense. I can see loading the chipset and restarting. But they could atleast make the video, audio, NIC, and sometimes the PCMCIA, and touchpad drivers a One Click install. Its sucks when you get that moron that doesnt even know that his mouse HAS a right click and trying to get him to reload the drivers.

I may just make the One Click install, and get it passed up through the ranks to see how the devolepers like the idea. Not to mention it would save me ALOT of time and headaches.

Ok, miss, if you look at your mouse. You see two buttons, correct.
-No
You have a black Dell mouse with two silver buttons, one on the left and one on the right.
-OHHHH those buttons. i thought your were talking about the mice in my computer.

IMO, i honestlly think that 75% of the people hired to do tech support have NO business doing the job and have very little knowledge in computer diag/repair. There are those that DO know thier job and are good at it but for the most part i think its just a person reading from a manual of cause and effect senerio's.

When i was **just a week or so ago** asking how to UNdo a raid 0 set-up , i went in to Comp USA , picking up some cd's, and figured i'd just ask one of the tech's there. Iwent and asked if they knew off hand how to do the prosess and i was floored by the answer, and i qoute "none of the tech's here have expeirence with raid set-ups, but if you would like to bring in your tower, we can diagnose the problem and fix it for you. or starting fee is $100 for ...blah blah". you get the idea

Now tell me , is it just me or is that just crazy. Tell me you dont know anything about a certain thing but if i pay you you'll fix it Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i dont think so SCOOTER!!!

Hey BA, I believe my 3rd SCSI card will support that drive, if you want to keep the SCSI drive, I can check. I only need 2 of them anyway.

It really strikes me as strange that there are so much incompetence in the commercial tech support, yet I cannot get a job there just because I lack certain papers and certificates (that does not even seem to be a measure of a persons skills).

Anyway back to Dell. Their service has always been fast for me, so no problems there, but there is one occasion where I wanted beat them with a stick.

I ordered a computer with a flatscreen monitor via work as a home PC about 7 years ago. Sweet. It was a P3 with a Geforce 256 and it ran Everquest sweet. Good i thought, until the monitor refused to start.

So I got a replacement. It was not flatscreen it was regular. So i called them back and asked "what the hell" and got the reply that my monitor was no longer in their catalogue and the only replacement used in this case was a regular monitor. So much for paying extra for flatscreen.

Anyway I had to return the machine to work when I quit and after a while i got myself some real machines.

BA....you bought a dell? How do you feel man do you need to sit down? Can I get you a drink?

Sounds like a similar fate to the dude who ran up an entire blog on the series of faults and 5 motherboard RMAs he did with his Inspiron 8*** series laptop. It makes me shake in my boots the number of people in the UK now that will buy Dell PCs following the recent mass TV advert campaign they've just done...oh narly.

PR is the only tech support I need.

You think Dell tech support is bad? Try Microsoft Tech Support. Holy sheepsh*t.

Back when Dell had 'Award winning service', they were paying award winning money for award winning techs. Now to keep prices down, (I'm guessing here) they overseas their first level support who have nothing more than the FAQ sheet written out like a script kiddie, and the people who they hire are chosen more for their ability to speak English than any technical skill. It's only when things have to be escalated that it comes back to the mainland to 2nd-3rd level support, who are the remainants of the original Dell Award winning service techs.

At work, I'm supposed to follow a script from everything from the greeting to basic troubleshooting steps. They get so mad when they monitor me because I answer the phone "Help Desk, (my name)" instead of the speech that I can't say with one complete breath. Plus, I believe that I'm talking to someone who can follow basic directions, and doesn't like to be talked down to -- unless they prove me otherwise.

I consistantly get 100% on my customer surveys -- and just a shade above 70% from my internal call monitoring. Go figure.

Sounds like Dell needs to pull their head out of their ass and do something about their high hard drive failure rate I've been seeing.

I've had my mom's Dell and 2 of my friend's Dell systems eat their hard drives within a month of eachother.

Rediculous.

With reference to Dell's customer support, I'm just glad I get the American XPS support. I was on to their indian sales line to buy my machine, and I had to repeat my postcode, no jokes, 10 times.

Hooray for outsourcing I say...