Dell’s New Support Plan: Pay to Speak to an American

The Wall Street Journal (excerpt) ^ | June 3, 2008 | Ben Worthen

[My hearts in London - Everett]

I don't know if I'd trust something about which the creator states, "USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! If this script totally hoses your machine, it’s not my fault!"

[JerseyHighlander]

Sometimes the "solution" is worse than the problem.

[samtheman]

I use it all the time. Every new Dell workstation my company buys, I decrapify it right away. The servers don’t need it. They come pretty much decrapified already.

I haven’t had any problems with the decrapification process and I recommend it.

Remember, you’re using it on a machine right out of the box and if you don’t like the result it’s an easy enough matter to ctrl-F11 the thing back to factory preloaded condition.

[samtheman]

I think if you buy on the Small Business side, you get a little bit better service.

My experience is servers get better support than workstations.

Server support is in the US (or seems to be) and they are qualified techs. Workstation support is in India and they are reading a script. I worked with one of the workstation people and I tried to advance them a few pages on their script because I knew where they were headed but it was like trying to teach a turtle to hop like a frog. It just wasn't happening.

[RJL]

The kicker: The service will be provided by “an advanced support team in North America.”

Indians living in Mexico?

[politicket]

PING

[neb52]

“Friends don;t let friends buy HP.”

The support is the same with all the big name companies. At least on HP’s business side(that I deal with) I get an American from time to time right off the bat. But then I only call to RMA parts under warranty.

[Kozak]

North American could be Canadian.

Or Mexican

[neb52]

Assuming they did bring the support centers back to the US, I would be fine if they raised the prices on their products. Cheaper isn’t always better.