How much would you pay for US customer service ?

A bunch of peopple have complained about outsorcing of dell CSRs, their accents, and them not being knowledgeable etc.
You can possibly get US CSRs, but u hav to buy in business section.

1)
Say tomorrow Dell was offering US CSR service as default.
And there was an option to "downgrade" service to Indian CSRs, and some price would get knocked off for you off the system price.
How much price would they have to knock off for you to "downgrade" to the Indian CSR Option ?

I do not want this thread to be a discussion on customer service.
Reply with just a number, like this :
1. $88


2)
Anyone know whats the cost of servicing per $1000 laptop to dell (excluding hardware)? Broken down by category ?
For example, say there are 100 laptops, worth total $100,000. Say 10 of them develop some problems over the lifetime of the warranty, and owners call dell. Dell needs CSRs and service structure to take care of these problems. Say Dell spends $100,000 on two CSRs, whose only job is to take care of these 10 complaints. Then dell spends $100/1k laptop on servicing.
(Thus, fhis does not include the cost of hardware that will be replaced)

 

I have not really had a problem with Dell CSR's.

First of all never call them. Waiting on hold for 7 hours just makes you feel like a tool. Use that Chat service in the Dell Support section.

The accent thing, that's just lame. It's 2006. To be baggin' on accents is just small minded.

Google your issue beforehand. "My computer does not work" is a poor place to start negotiations.

Know more about computers. They are complicated devices. You need to know how to do basic troubleshooting, driver installations, virus eradicating and that sort of thing. I only call them over specific hardware failures. It's not fair to sit around the house all day in your underwear, surfing pr0n, and then when your computer gets hosed with viruses, complain that Dell service blows.

Buy an XPS. It's pretty much the same computer, with maybe $200 going to better hardware and $500 going to the better customer support of XPS. SO, they already offer better customer support and it's already rolled into the price of the XPS line.

 

I agree with the Count. I've have no problem with Dell CSRs and I am on my 3rd machine.

The phone help is always there for assistance, but I agree that it should be your last resort. There are so many resources/forums/advice websites on computers that many problems can be fixed with a little determination.

And on the US CSR thing, I would not pay a cent more. The use of foreign tech support lowers the cost of purchasing a laptop, so we would all have paid a little more for our notebooks if Dell used US CSRs.

 

I have had a few communication difficulties with DSR's. The one time I was put through to a native English speaker was the best experience I've had with them.

It's not the accent so much as the lack of understanding, and generally I now have low confidence on my system issues being sorted on the first initial contact. It normally takes a couple of DSR's before you encounter one that you feel has a sufficient grasp on what you are trying to explain to them, and then I must say they are quite efficient.

 

And you bought a Dell because.... It was a good cheap computer. You think a company can make good cheap computers and remain competetive using over priced hardware, manufactoring, fluent CSRs, etc.
Everyone complains about outsourced labor, yet how many people are willing to pay extra for it?

 

I personally didn't have any trouble with Dell's Indian TSRs. Good command of English, good technical knowledge... I would not pay any more for such support. I use it very rarely though so this might be different for less experienced users.

On another point, many of "US CSRs" might actually be canadian. There's a Dell call center here in Ottawa 10 min away from where I live where they have recently hired around 1000ppl.

 

Interesting....nobody is willing to pay extra for US CSRs

 

probably because it is Dell's responsibility to provide a decent experience, regardless of the location of the CSRs. just my view.

 

I'm not defending Dell, I have had my share of issues, but...

They sell cheap hardware.

The whole virus issue directly affects their ability to provide good service.

You buy a laptop, it works fine, you browse pr0n all day, you get a virus, and then that's Dell's problem?

Now, there are other factors at work. For instance, with the rise of forums and Google, one could argue the companies like Dell get a free ride by people like us giving out FREE advice all day long, but, there is also the continual problem on people buying a Hyundai and expecting Mercedes Benz service.

 

I would definetly pay for the US service. I have had many difficulties with the indian representatives. Most of the time I just hang up because I cannot understand them. I think we should have people that speak english with no accent if were from America. I understand its much cheaper labor but after a while it gets ridiculous.

 

i wont pay extra for US CSR, besides if u live in canada and really want to speak to a North American, just dial 2 for french once they pick up u can talk to them in english or french.
ive had one bad experience when i called dell to get the powerdvd cd. the indian CSR folks just kept transferrin me around till i finally hung up and went with the french option.

 

How much extra ?

 

Whether or not the service is in the US or outsourced, were going to have the same issues. People in Upper Michigan (where I live) have a very Canadian accent. People in Texas have a very "southern" accent. I have an uncle that lives in Texas, and when he visits I have a hard time understanding him. Also, there are many people from other countries that Live in the US. What makes you think that bringing the service over here will make things any better? When I call, I sometimes get a great english speaker. Other times, I can barely understand. I just hang up and try again, or just use chat.

 

I would pay $50-$100 extra for americans. I think it will make things better because were an english speaking nation and our people would be understood alot better. I think they would be alot better than the indian representatives who learned english as a secondary language.

 

Would you still pay the xtra $$ for an english speaking CSR that doesnt help you, rather than someone who speaks broken english yet is maybe halfway effective with your problem? just curious. Me, personally, have never used a CSR whether from India, US, Canada, Mexico, wherever. I have this Google thing and a free forum like this to help me out.

 

Sorry, but English is not secondary language for Indians. It is the only language that all Indians speak.

 

The only thing I could tell, is that speaking with the Indians is very straightforward. Due to cultural differences, they don't even come close to getting slang or fractured sentences like you tend to use casually in day to day conversation over here.

You need to make it a point to speak a more complete, more proper English.

I don't think that's asking too much.

Like I said earlier, you want Mercedes Benz service for Hyundai price.

US Service reps would be expensive. Would you do the job for $12/hour? Would you quit eventually and create a turnover problem which hurts the overall system?

You want better service, pony up for the XPS.

 

No, most Indians do not speak english.

 

India's national language is Hindi but a good majority of Indians DO speak English.

 

fact: English is an officially recognized language in India and is used in official govermental communications. This is due to former British rule (see also HK where all signage has both English and Chinese text and most of the population has some level of competancy in English).

if this thread stays off topic for much longer, it's getting closed or moved to Off Topic

 

I actually do speak proper english and am insulted that you would assume that I dont speak proper english because of my customer service problems.

 

I think you guys are equating indians with college educated indians. I agree that the majority of college educated population knows english. I *strongly* disagree that the majority of the general population speaks english. 35% of the population cannot even read. Anything.

 

Back to topic, I think I framed the question incorrectly.
Say Dell was offering US CSR service as default.
And there was an option to "downgrade" service to Indian CSRs, and some price would get knocked off for you off the system price.
How much price would they have to knock off for you to "downgrade" to the Indian CSR Option ?

 

Pipe down.

I was speaking generally, not to you specifically.

It's not a slam in any case. Americans speak a pretty sloppy brand of English full of slang and fragmented sentences. It's not a big deal, it's just how we talk over here.

 

It's called Inspiron. And the prices are pretty cheap.

You want better service, pony up $$$ for the XPS.

 

I said assume all laptops were offerinng US CSRs as default.

 

The question assumes that support from India is inferior to support from the US. This assumption is plain wrong. The quality of support depends on the training people receive, not on their national origin or place of residence. This thread should be locked because of trolling and implicit xenophobia ("Americans are the greatest, Indians are ignorant fools who cannot read and don't speak English").

 

I am not assuming anything(note the use of quotes in "downgrade"). There are many who prefer US CSRs. I just want to know *how much* they want US CSRs.
I'm just exploring a business model. I dont want this thread to be a discussion of support. I just want to know much people are willing to pay.

 

Of course you want to be patriotic, but your still such a cheapo you are going to buy the product with the best overall value. This forces the company into a cost cutting measure that forces it to outsource to companies that utilize poorly trained service reps. Since we now have a global market cheaper labor is being located in developing countries. On the one hand, your mad cause you lost your job to a cheaper workforce, but your happy when your 401k performance reflects that company's overall gains during the last quarter. I still opt for the free online help provided by the many growing number of forums. Self Help. ITS FREE

 

Thanks, that helps a lot with regard to my orignal question

 

So, is your experimental business model to provide 3 years of high quality US customer service to laptop users for $88?

Good luck with that.