Laptop Mag revisits tech support showdown
By Paul Miller 
posted Jun 19th 2007 3:35PM
posted Jun 19th 2007 3:35PM
After some success with last year's undercover excursion, Laptop Magazine is once again taking one for the team and testing out laptop manufacturer tech support. This year their faux-problems were system tray icon clutter and hard drive defragment. Last year Apple and Lenovo took the top prize, and while Apple continued to shine with stellar web support and speedy phone techs, Lenovo dropped to a B+ overall grade, and was replaced by Gateway at the top of the PC heap. Toshiba was the biggest gainer, with a solid B+ after a horrible D- showing last year. HP sunk to a C+, while Acer continued to stink it up with a C-, particularly impacted by the company's worst-by-far D rated web support. Hit up the read link for a full breakdown of scores and the heroic tales of Laptop Mag's tech support adventures.
Tech support is usually just call centre workers who only know about the product because they have had 2 weeks training, I should know I used to be one!!
With this in mind, surely it only depends on if you get a tech savvy person on the other end who already knows how to fix the problem and can talk you through it instead of just reading from a script shown on their screen. (I was one of those ;) )
Laptop/Desktop/Printer manufacturers fall into one of two groups when it comes to tech support.
Group A sells cheapo stuff. Doesn't have good tech support, doesn't need good tech support and has never worried about the fact.
Group B (HP/Dell/Apple/Toshiba/Gateway/etc) occasionally scores an A, then within a few years slips back to a C before "overhauling" their tech support back up to an A. Nice little cycle. Make sure you catch it on the up swell.
Is there ANY company that ALWAYS scores high for ALL of their products - and backs them up when they fall short of expectations? Don't think so. (Well, I do favor LLBean. But inkjet quality drops when covered in flannel.) Is that simply too much to ask? Imagine a company whose products maybe cost a little more, but who would ALWAYS stand behind their product and be there when you needed them. Ahhhh.
Well, enough daydrea#@$kj 23KLU)# damn keyboard
"Imagine a company whose products maybe cost a little more, but who would ALWAYS stand behind their product"
Sounds like you're describing Apple. Pay more, get more. I'll admit, Apple tech support isn't always perfect, but it's better than everyone else's.
When I started buying Pavilions, I loved HP support. Then they started outsourcing and I've experienced the sink to C+. Must be this cycle you're talking about.
"Is there ANY company that ALWAYS scores high for ALL of their products - and backs them up when they fall short of expectations?"
There used to be, and the name of that company was IBM.
IBM was *always* at or near the top of lists like this (PC Mag has been doing them for a lot longer). They would have never settled for a "B+". I really don't like what I'm seeing from Lenovo lately... they're delaying Thinkpad launches and now this. The slippage has begun; I give them two years before they're a rung below Dell in quality and support.
Of course, IBM makes other products, and they have never been anything but top quality.
(And no, I don't work for them or anything; but I miss my old ThinkPad.)
It also matters if the tech can speak understandable English. If I can't understand what they are saying, its doesn't matter if they actually know what they are doing.
Not true. I have seen some tech support (Dell?) where remote control is enabled, so they can go in and troubleshoot/correct the problem with your supervision. You don't have to be able to understand all of what they say.
Not true. I have seen some tech support (Dell?) where remote control
is enabled, so they can go in and troubleshoot/correct the problem
with your supervision. You don't have to be able to understand all of
what they say
Not that I'm against free enterprise, but yeah, the tech needs to speak and understand english well. American companies need to have some QC over their international tech support. My last couple calls to Microsoft/Xbox were trials in patience - I couldn't understand him, he couldn't understand me, and in the end he had to get a supervisor because my problems fell "outside the script."
I can understand that, I recently ordered a Dell PC, I told the guy who I was ordering it with that I wanted an Intel C2D E6420 CPU(at least 3 times), and he was from India or something like that and I couldn't understand him. When I got the computer, I used DirectX Diagnostics and I had an E4300 processor. When I called them to have them replace the CPU, they told me that I had to send the bad one back and order a new one.
Sorry for double post.
i believe most of us here dont really call tech suppport. what we rely on is more on warranties.
and apple is 1 of the worst.. here in singapore, my friend's ibook HDD had 128kb bad cluster. and apple refuse to change the harddisk.
to quote them "I'm sorry, but the harddisk is still working, i cant change it for you."
I don't want to sound like a naysayer, but Apple didn't seem to be nice to me. I bought a MBP 5 months ago, and for the first 3 months, it went quite smooth. Then programs started crashing real bad, and it just couldn't work. I sent it to AppleCare, and it returned a week later fixed. I was happy for awhile. Until the same problem came again a week and 1/2 later. I sent it to them again, and it returns back unfixed, with a note saying that they could'nt fix it, my coverage didn't work for some bizarre reason, and that they could offer some type of discount if I wanted to buy a new one. I was quite angry by what they did. I had to look all over the city for a Mac fixer, and he fixed it quite right. It still works after that, but I only use it now for menial use (just some media software is it).
I just bought a new laptop (Sony Vaio SZ) and it works very nice. I hope in the meantime though, that Apple could improve their care here. I thought they could have done more than offer me a new MBP at a small discount.
Dude, I know how you feel. Apple kind of treated me that way too. I had always thought they were great, until I met their tech services. Yikes.
I still use my iMac of course, just not so happily anymore.
I have had a very positive experience with Apple. I used to have the low-end configuration of the white Macbook. Then, I got the discoloration issue, and they replaced the palm rests and screen bezel. No problem. Then, the logic board died and the discoloration returned. I had to send it in again. Two weeks later, I was still waiting for a part. I called Apple to speak to a rep, and when I told them of the palm rests discoloring again, the rep upgraded me to a black 2ghz model, about 300$ more then the one I originally had. The plan was to send me a new stock black Macbook, and then the extra ram I had a few days later. Well, I got the Macbook the next day, but the ram was late. I was a little upset with the lateness, but it turns out Apple gave me an extra gig of ram for my trouble.
So, because of the whole ordeal, I got an extra $400+ from Apple. Needless to say I am satisfied.
The Genius Bar at Apple stores can be a bit annoying. They won't talk to you if you don't have an appointment, even if there is nobody else in the store. I understand not wanting walk-ins to interfere with scheduled appointments, but sending people with quick questions away because they have no appointment, only to go back to talking to other Geniuses (none busy) about weekend plans fits into my "just plain rude" category. Even a helpful, "our next open time for your question is X date" would suffice.
Note: I still like Apple products, and some of their people can be nice too.
This is exactly the experience I had. Worse, I couldn't make an appointment without buying a $100 Apple Care Card or getting up super early a.m. to beat the rush for same-day appointments. You can't walk in and you can't make future appointments in the Apple Store, even if your computer hardware is busted.
I've had the worst experience with Apple, on two different occasions. (I happily own a Mac Pro.) They have the worst policy about giving you the crappiest hardware support unless you pay extra to subsidize people who don't know anything about software. Lenovo and IBM get the best scores in my book, and Dell is somewhere in the middle. Of course, my sample size is like 2 incidents with each company.
The question I have is : If the 2 tech support questions are about system tray icons, and defragmenting, what did they ask the apple tech support?
Macs automatically defrag themselves, and the closest thing to a system tray is the right hand menu bar, which rarely gets cluttered and is very easy to control through any application that utilises it.
So what did they ask Apple?
i have got a HP laptop. I remember once in the field where my battery refuses to charge. I called HP and they brought to battery to where I was in 3hrs with a fully charged battery.