From the Depths of Dell Itself

This weekend was filled with all sorts of fun for me. After my brand new laptop developed a nice ear-piercing whine, I was able to spend a few afternoons chatting with the customer service reps at Dell.

To extinguish my negativity, I used the 15-minute hold periods to think over a few things I liked about Dell Customer Support, and a few things that could definitely be improved. So, in no particular order...

Likes:

• Out of many calls, the longest initial response time was around 3 minutes. Not bad, Dell.
• Most of the customer service representatives were understandable, and understanding. In fact, one of the "upper-level" representatives, Maria, was downright pleasant to speak with!
• All of my previous contact with support was documented well, so I didn't have to explain my situation more than once. This was a big plus, and saved a ton of time.

Dislikes:

• The very first thing I heard when I called was a blazingly loud electric guitar riff. I literally thought my cellphone speaker was blown the first time. A simple "Hi! You've reach Dell!" would have been more than sufficient. Thanks for the hearing problems in 10 years, Dell.
• Dell Support is set up in a tier system. So, in order to actually get anything done, I always had to be transferred, and thus put on hold. Why not give the first tier the ability to manage simple things like billing information? Give your customer support the authority to get the job done.
• Each time I called, the customer service representative had me spell my email address at the end of the call, regardless of the fact that I used the same case inquiry number. Would it really be that hard to attach an email address to the case inquiry? I hate having to spell my last name.

The great thing about marketing is that it allows your product to extend beyond the packaging, and into the realm of the "intangible experience". Sadly, customer support has always been the pack-mule of this experience, and though my Dell experience wasn't all terrible, the inadequacies still seemed obvious. It's time that customer support be given the same attention to design that the physical product gets.

Throw this in your development cycle: ship yourself a malfunctioning product, and see how your customer service makes YOU feel. -Garret

Comments

[Reed]

It's funny, we talk about making our customer experience memorable, but I realized I'd never even tried to leave a comment (which is how our customers/readers can interact with us)!

...rest assured, the process is easy and painless.