Dell Support

I know that Dell must receive million + support calls each year, but does that mean that each call for help is less important? I recently purchased a color laser printer for our company, and from the day one, it had trouble with network connectivity - it would work for day or two, and then simply disappear from the network. That means nobody could print to it unless it was manually reset. This was the case even though the LCD on the unit read "Ready". My first call got me a polite and seemingly knowledgeable tech, who after consulting his database, proclaimed that this is not the first report of the problem, but there is no known fix for it yet. His advice: "Just reboot the machine every day, and check back for a fix/patch." As I was extremely busy at work, and this was not a top priority, this slipped off my radar for a month or two.

Second call was answered by another tech who sounded very authoritative, and who was willing to try some troubleshooting. After few tests he determined it was a bad network card, and he scheduled a tech to come to our office and replace it. Few days later, we had a new NIC and all was well – for about two days, when the printer disappeared from our network.

On the third call, I got a person who sounded as if this was her first call. I was patient, and told her that swapping a network cable (again) will really not solve the problem even though her script called for this step. I described the problem in detail, and after putting me on hold, she concluded that we needed to replace another part (control unit). Fine, let’s do it. Unfortunately, the part is on backorder and not available for another two or more weeks. I politely reminded her that I had “Next Business Day On-Site Service”, and that I would accept service in two or even three days, but not two or three weeks.

So, I am waiting for response, she is quiet, time goes by. I imagined that she was checking alternate sources for the part, or consulting with a more senior tech. No, she was just sitting there and waiting. Silence. Minutes go by…Silence….I finally ask: “So, what are we going to do here?”. “We can come and repair it in two to three weeks, sir”. WHAT???

No, I don’t think so. I ask for her to send me a new printer if she can’t get the part. She says “I can’t do that, sir”. I was really becoming upset, mostly because of her inability to recognize situation where she needed to make a decision to get the situation resolved. I asked for a supervisor, with a plan to threaten him/her for breach of contract. She came back minute later, and told me that I should be receiving a new unit in few days.

Don’t get me wrong, I am often on the receiving end of tech support calls for my company, so I can recognize the difficulty of solving problems without experiencing the symptoms first hand, dealing with frantic callers, and clueless users. Should one be required to fight for a service purchased? Beyond the issue of the failed printer, this last service call to Dell leaves me disappointed with their tech support. Remember, this is just one call out of thousands Dell receives every hour, but this is the one I’ll remember.