Canadian Marketing Blog

Dell does Customer Service right!

I have owned a few Dell Computers over the years and have generally been happy with their reliability. Every now and then, unfortunately, something goes wrong with the hardware and I need to call them for help. I have to admit I have been generally unhappy with the Customer Service that Dell provides (and I'm not alone). It's not that the people answering the phones are rude. It's more that I have felt like a number to them. They seem eager to tell me to try something and call back if it doesn't work. In many cases the suggested correction has not worked and I have had to call back (and wait for 15 minutes for someone to answer the phone).

Dell received allot of slack for offshoring their Customer Service in the past decade. During this time people let their money speak and turned to other PC manufacturers. HP became the leader in PC sales in 2006 and has not looked back. Michael Dell realized that their Customer Service was slipping and has been determined to fix these mistakes over the past year.

On Saturday I realized there was no sound coming from the Dell speakers on my 11 month old Dell computer. I called Customer Support and the call was answered in 4 rings! I was caught off guard since I assumed it was an automated voice. It was a live voice, and a very friendly one at that. Keep in mind this is a Saturday and probably one of the busier times for call volumes.

The Customer Care agent proceeded to ask me a few questions and then asked me if I would like to have her take over my computer and fix the problem (the other option was for me to follow her instructions). I had seen this technology demo'd in Boston at the CCSF conference and figured I'd give it a try. I had to load up some software (3 minutes) and type in a security key to release control of my computer (I could hit escape anytime to gain back control). I leaned back on my chair and watched the agent re-install some drivers and test the machine. It worked and all was good.

The next day I noticed the same problem had happened (no sound). I was checking my e-mail and noticed an e-mail from the same agent asking to contact her if there were any other problems. I e-mailed her back stating that the same issue was happening. She called me back within 10 minutes and asked me to enter in another security pin number. She took over my computer and fixed the problem and made another suggestion which seems to have solved the problem for good.

Another e-mail was sent letting me know I could contact her anytime for assistance. She also called the next day to make sure everything was ok.

I was truly wowed by the experience. There was not frustration at all on my part. Just fascination as this Representative kindly and efficiently fixed a problem that wasn't even caused by Dell (it was a software conflict). It was like having a Dell technician visit my house. This was outstanding Customer Service and has really rejuvenated my faith in Dell. I can't remember ever being this impressed with the Customer Service from any company. I'll be sending a message of gratitude to Dell and this Representative to make sure she get's the credit she deserves.

Way to go Michael Dell, now your competitors are going to have to catch up to you!

I am glad we are able to help solve the issue and thanks so much for sharing the positive feedback. Its always rewarding for all of us at Dell to hear directly from customers.
Its also great to know that not only our team, but some of the investments, such as DellConnect, are working to deliver a better customer experience.
Appreciate the feedback

Since this is after all a blog with a Canadian writer I'm somewhat proud to say that you may have landed in one of the two Canadian Dell Technical Support Centres, one in Edmonton and the other in Kanata. Both are quite renown for the customer experience metrics within the Dell network and adding to the reputation of Canadians as customer experience kings and queens.

Hi,

This is the reason I work for DELL, DELL's vision is about Customer Experience or CE as we call it. And I'm proud to say that CE is the top of our list versus call time, or other call priorities. My hats off go to DELL leadership to FOCUS on the customer. I love helping people. With DELL's focus on CE as the number one thing, I'm able to help enjoy my job and make the customer's call a good call. The problems get resolved and I'm able to be totaly committed to the customer's needs.

I am a relatively new investor in DELL and have been commenting re that stock on the Google finance pages. I have owned Dell equipment for over 8 years---it"s good.
I did have some problems that were handled poorly a couple of years ago. The issue turned out to be a software conflict issue-it was eventually resolved.
As a former Canuck I was incensed when a Canadian posted an obviously fraudulent criticism of Dells handling of a warranty issue--another commenter corrected him before I could rebut him myself. Dell was under siege by Linux and Apple lovers and those attempting to manipulate the stock price as low as possible--despite that it went from mid 22's in March to about 25 today. Dells migration to solid state memory bodes well for the future--thanks for the upbeat post!

I have been a Dell "advocate" for years. Their customer service was very impressive... until recently. Yes, I too had them take over my computer to solve a DVD burning issue. My CSR did this on 3 consecutive nights for 1 hour each, without success. He then called me four more nights in a row -- which was impressive. However, I didn't have any more time to spend on the issue.

I googled for a few minutes and found that many posters on forums, including dell's own, were consistently reporting that this specific model of DVD burner was garbage, and a $50 replacement got them back on track.

I see a couple of posts here from Dell reps, they're obviously trying to leverage some CSM to show interest in the blogosphere... It's too bad they couldn't Google their own forums and improve their service for my issue. My DVD burner still sits useless in my otherwise useful Dell. I'm having a hard time going out and purchasing a burner, when I've already paid for one.

Hello,
I must say, after reading your post I am very jealous. Check out my blog which I have just created but feel free to visit often as I will update frequently. I guess the US is still routed to India. I have nothing against outsoursing otherwise, I would not have been able to get such a good price on my 4 Dell computers. I do have a problem when tech support makes the problem worse and they continually transfer me to India for help. I beg them not to, but off I go. The folks in India are all nice, do not get me wrong, but they cannot make a decision beyond certain parameters they are given therefore my problems go unresolved. I really wish I could post a more positive experience becuase I have always been happy with Dell's products.

Actually your right - Dell does Outsource. Here's the key.
Dell pays for what are called "Dell sites whereas Salaried technicians take calls from you up in Kanata, North America and similair regions. When every agent is on the phone in a "Dell centre" and calls still need to be answered - Only then do your calls get routed to outsourcers. Dell pays outsourcers per call. Which is alot of money. Dell would rather pay for your call to an outsourcer then have you sit on hold for a "Dell inhouse tech". Both oursourced techs and inhouse techs are trained the same and have the same technical expertise.