POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.off-topic : Dell support Server Time
13 Oct 2026 17:42:11 EDT (-0400)
  Dell support (Message 1 to 19 of 19)  
From: Mike Raiford
Subject: Dell support
Date: 27 Aug 2009 10:24:19
Message: <4a969713$1@news.povray.org>
Looks like other customers have had the same experience with Dell's 
wonderful customer service:

http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Microsoft-Vissa,-Hey-Thats-Ours,--More-Support-Stories.aspx

:facepalm:

-- 
~Mike


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 27 Aug 2009 10:54:41
Message: <4a969e31$1@news.povray.org>
Mike Raiford wrote:
> Looks like other customers have had the same experience with Dell's 
> wonderful customer service:

The sad, sad thing is that I completely believe this is geniune...

If you buy a toaster and it won't actually toast things, you can demand 
your money back and you are legally entitled to get it. But if you 
purchase support from a company that doesn't know **** about computers, 
there is apparently nothing you can do about this.


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 27 Aug 2009 11:03:38
Message: <4a96a04a$1@news.povray.org>
The fun part is the comment stating that "these people need to be beated 
to death with a cluehammer"...


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From: Warp
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 27 Aug 2009 13:06:17
Message: <4a96bd09@news.povray.org>
Mike Raiford <"m[raiford]!at"@gmail.com> wrote:
>
http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Microsoft-Vissa,-Hey-Thats-Ours,--More-Support-Stories.aspx

  I wonder if that "Yooha" tech support guy was having a rough day...

-- 
                                                          - Warp


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From: Mike Raiford
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 27 Aug 2009 15:29:38
Message: <4a96dea2$1@news.povray.org>
Warp wrote:
> 
>   I wonder if that "Yooha" tech support guy was having a rough day...
> 

I'm guessing so, as I'm sure the downed server probably had the 
management and customers hounding him to fix the problem.

-- 
~Mike


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From: scott
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 28 Aug 2009 03:26:58
Message: <4a9786c2$1@news.povray.org>
>>
http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Microsoft-Vissa,-Hey-Thats-Ours,--More-Support-Stories.aspx
>
>  I wonder if that "Yooha" tech support guy was having a rough day...

Just a tiny bit I would imagine.  Imagine if you are trying to sort out what 
must be some huge and complex cluster of servers all over the world, only to 
get a smart-ass email from someone who doesn't know anything about it trying 
to tell you how simple it is to fix.  I would probably write the same back 
:-)


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From: David H  Burns
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 29 Aug 2009 14:41:29
Message: <4a997659$1@news.povray.org>
I would expect that this is pretty much the standard for Dell support. 
It's a
  mirror of my own experience. Part of the
problem is that the " technical support" people understand just a few 
English
phrases and their responses. I hesitate to give them too much trouble 
because
they are probably little more than slave labor. We really should not do 
business
with companies, like Dell and many others, who "outsource" their 
"technical support"
to such.

David

Mike Raiford wrote:
> Looks like other customers have had the same experience with Dell's 
> wonderful customer service:
> 
>
http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Microsoft-Vissa,-Hey-Thats-Ours,--More-Support-Stories.aspx

> 
> 
> :facepalm:
>


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From: scott
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 31 Aug 2009 03:54:58
Message: <4a9b81d2@news.povray.org>
> I would expect that this is pretty much the standard for Dell support. 
> It's a
>  mirror of my own experience. Part of the
> problem is that the " technical support" people understand just a few 
> English
> phrases and their responses. I hesitate to give them too much trouble 
> because
> they are probably little more than slave labor. We really should not do 
> business
> with companies, like Dell and many others, who "outsource" their 
> "technical support"
> to such.

Unfortunately most people aren't as thoughtful as you, and will just choose 
the cheapest product or service regardless.  This forces companies to reduce 
their costs in ways like this or risk going bankrupt.

Offer someone a laptop for $500 with very good support speaking fluently in 
your language, or one for $400 with dodgy support, and I bet most people 
will take the cheaper one.  Companies know this.


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From: Chambers
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 1 Sep 2009 02:56:42
Message: <4a9cc5aa$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:
> Offer someone a laptop for $500 with very good support speaking fluently 
> in your language, or one for $400 with dodgy support, and I bet most 
> people will take the cheaper one.  Companies know this.

I have to admit, I never even factor in support when I buy a part.  But 
that's more due to the fact that I just assume I won't get any.

...Chambers


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 1 Sep 2009 04:15:33
Message: <4a9cd825$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:

> Unfortunately most people aren't as thoughtful as you, and will just 
> choose the cheapest product or service regardless.  This forces 
> companies to reduce their costs in ways like this or risk going bankrupt.
> 
> Offer someone a laptop for $500 with very good support speaking fluently 
> in your language, or one for $400 with dodgy support, and I bet most 
> people will take the cheaper one.  Companies know this.

If I was buying a laptop for myself, then sure. What irks me is that we 
paid Dell extra $$$ specifically for the support contract. (And I'm not 
talking about small numbers here.) And yet, the support is still pittiful.


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From: scott
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 1 Sep 2009 05:33:56
Message: <4a9cea84@news.povray.org>
>> Offer someone a laptop for $500 with very good support speaking fluently 
>> in your language, or one for $400 with dodgy support, and I bet most 
>> people will take the cheaper one.  Companies know this.
>
> If I was buying a laptop for myself, then sure. What irks me is that we 
> paid Dell extra $$$ specifically for the support contract. (And I'm not 
> talking about small numbers here.) And yet, the support is still pittiful.

Hmm, Dell support has been really good for me here at work, the support 
system seems to be totally different for corporate accounts compared to 
personal orders.


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 1 Sep 2009 05:45:17
Message: <4a9ced2d$1@news.povray.org>
>> If I was buying a laptop for myself, then sure. What irks me is that 
>> we paid Dell extra $$$ specifically for the support contract. (And I'm 
>> not talking about small numbers here.) And yet, the support is still 
>> pittiful.
> 
> Hmm, Dell support has been really good for me here at work, the support 
> system seems to be totally different for corporate accounts compared to 
> personal orders.

Well, you would _expect_ the support to be different, considering the 
price, yes. ;-)

When I call BT to tell them my home broadband has stopped working, I 
have to wait 20 minutes to be connected to a call center in India 
somewhere. (In fairness, the person at the other end did fix the problem.)

When I called BT to say our fiber optic link was down, the phone rang 
*once* and then was answered. Less than 1000 ms between the phone 
ringing and a human being picking up. That's pretty ****ing fast in 
anybody's book. And an engineer was in-site within 2 hours to test the 
circuit, with replacement equipment in hand.

But then, for tens of thousands of pounds per year, that's the kind of 
service you expect.

In my experience, Dell is always very sharp about producing quotes and 
sending out invoices. What they're not very sharp at is delivering what 
we've ordered or providing any sort of support if it breaks. Basically 
once they've got our money they spectacularly lose interest. Maybe it's 
only Dell UK, but apparently the guys in the USA are unimpressed as 
well. They're talking about moving to HP instead.

[Why in the name of God we didn't start with HP in the first place I'll 
never know...]


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From: scott
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 1 Sep 2009 06:44:17
Message: <4a9cfb01@news.povray.org>
> When I called BT to say our fiber optic link was down, the phone rang 
> *once* and then was answered. Less than 1000 ms between the phone ringing 
> and a human being picking up. That's pretty ****ing fast in anybody's 
> book.

Yeh, they know who they get their money from and who not to piss off.

The best for me was phoning up the lease company to say that my car was 
making funny noises, then a few minutes later someone calls back to say 
they're on the way to my house and will be there in 10 mins.

Good service does exist, but IME you need to be a *really* good customer (ie 
a company who buys a lot) to get anything.


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From: Invisible
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 1 Sep 2009 06:57:59
Message: <4a9cfe37$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:

> Good service does exist, but IME you need to be a *really* good customer 
> (ie a company who buys a lot) to get anything.

Maybe Dell just can't be arsed with a company that only has 300 
employees and a $1 share price...


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From: scott
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 1 Sep 2009 07:47:00
Message: <4a9d09b4$1@news.povray.org>
> Maybe Dell just can't be arsed with a company that only has 300 employees 
> and a $1 share price...

I really don't imagine they know or care about that, simply about how much 
stuff you buy from them.


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From: Darren New
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 1 Sep 2009 11:49:27
Message: <4a9d4287$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:
> Hmm, Dell support has been really good for me here at work, 

We bought something like 8 or 10 fairly high-end rack-mount servers (around 
$4000 each or something). Three or four times in the first six months a 
server died, and the support came out and changed out parts to fix it and 
all pretty promptly. Their machines sucked, but their service was OK.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Understanding the structure of the universe
    via religion is like understanding the
     structure of computers via Tron.


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From: Darren New
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 1 Sep 2009 11:50:49
Message: <4a9d42d9@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:
> Good service does exist, but IME you need to be a *really* good customer 
> (ie a company who buys a lot) to get anything.

My wife flies enough that they greet her by name on the plane, and the 
captain gives her promotional gifts. Almost kind of creepy, really.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Understanding the structure of the universe
    via religion is like understanding the
     structure of computers via Tron.


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From: Eero Ahonen
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 2 Sep 2009 20:49:46
Message: <4a9f12aa$1@news.povray.org>
scott wrote:
>> Maybe Dell just can't be arsed with a company that only has 300
>> employees and a $1 share price...
> 
> I really don't imagine they know or care about that, simply about how
> much stuff you buy from them.
> 
> 

Not even that, or you'll need to buy really really much. I'd say we have
European-wise 4- or 5-numbered amount of DELL PC's with 3-5 year
lifecycles, yet still the support is crappy.

-Aero


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From: Eero Ahonen
Subject: Re: Dell support
Date: 3 Sep 2009 03:22:40
Message: <4a9f6ec0@news.povray.org>
Darren New wrote:
> 
> We bought something like 8 or 10 fairly high-end rack-mount servers
> (around $4000 each or something). Three or four times in the first six
> months a server died, and the support came out and changed out parts to
> fix it and all pretty promptly. Their machines sucked, but their service
> was OK.
> 

That might have an effect - they may have more interest or promises in
supporting 4+k$ servers than 400€ workstations.

-Aero


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