Laptop's 2010 tech support showdown reveals ugly truth: you're (almost) on your own
By Darren Murph 
posted July 14th 2010 6:42PM
posted July 14th 2010 6:42PM
Dealing with warranties is one thing -- it's almost always a crap-shoot, and you're continually pressing your luck when trying to get something covered without any out-of-pocket expense. But how's about the tech support that's so whimsically promised with so many laptops these days? Our pals over at Laptop put in an inordinate amount of work in order to find out, pinging a full dozen manufacturers via phone and chat in order to measure hold time, level of support offered and overall satisfaction. Just about every major laptop maker was included (Acer, Apple, Dell, Lenovo, HP, Toshiba and Fujitsu, just to name a few), and an in-depth report of their findings was posted for each one. In general, though, they found that most companies wouldn't hang around long enough to answer those nagging questions that typically end up in forums ("How do I remove bloatware?"), oftentimes pointing the caller to a paid alternative that would actually take the time to address their issues. If you're considering a new machine, and you aren't exactly one of those nerdy go-getters who can troubleshoot everything yourself, you should certainly give the source links below a look. Just try not to get too depressed, cool?
Apple got As across the board, no other company except Sony 08 got a single A. I am not bashing apple, as their customer support is really good, but their hold times are unbearable.
Do other laptop companies have similar hold times?
@KillaChaos
Well FTFA, their first hold time was 12 minutes, and all of the rest were lower (one was
I recently spent 3.5 hours on the phone with HP trying to figure out where my wife's files went and why the OS was saying my hard drive was full capacity. I ended up installing a bootleg Win XP because the recovery disc the sent was crap. We emaile the CEO and they sent us an apology and a new netbook.
There's a lot to be said about quality and customer satisfaction when you control the hardware and software.
I can only say great things about Apple and its support for their products.
I had a hard time believing that HP went from near last to near first. Then I noticed that HP is the major sponsor on the site.
I recently spent 3.5 hours on the phone with HP trying to figure out where my wife's files went and why the OS was saying my hard drive was full capacity. I ended up installing a bootleg Win XP because the recovery disc the sent was crap. We emaile the CEO and they sent us an apology and a new netbook.
Geeksquad is worthless. They always suggest backup and reformat when running in safemode in networking and updating and running MSE and Malware Bytes usually fixes the problem. The actual tech savviness of people working their is appalling.
I think the thing to remember is support costs money, most places will sell you a year's support but it isn't cheap.
The best example would be if I buy pro-audio equipment do i phone the manufacturer and ask them to explain how to record live music and produce it ? For a very long time now the explainations by many of the questions asked are answered by buying books or paying for training classes, it isn't up to a manufacturer to teach customers how to use complex products, it's up to the customer to learn.
@fourthletter
I think when most people talk of tech support they're calling about actual hardware issues that they need someone to repair/replace. I never call about when software breaks, I always try to fix the problem myself or Google for the answer.
well stop holding it over your head as a rain hat and it'll work moar bettar
People really need to shut up about Applecare. Not everyone lives near an Apple store.
@grumbles
Sometimes they're ridiculous. They made me haul a 20+ pound iMac back and forth between the downtown Chicago Apple Store several times, while I was dealing with personal health issues. It really irritates me that they don't offer to come out to your home to repair your computer when they charge so much extra compared to competitors who will. Oh well, I've learned from my mistakes now.
@grumbles
You realize they offer other forms of support, do you not? When the screen on my 3-year-out-of-warranty G3 iBook failed, I thought it was due to a well-known G3 logic board issue (as did the phone tech). I could still use it with an external monitor (as I almost always used it), but of course wanted the video issue fixed.
Got a DHL box overnighted to me, I put the iBook in there, it went overnight from CA to Houston, was fixed and shipped back overnight THE DAY THEY RECEIVED IT, so I had it back and fixed 2 days after it shipped out.
The kicker was that the problem was not the logic board issue. The LCD itself had started to go bad. Yup, free new LCD on a 4-year-old notebook that had been out of warranty for 3 years. Now, I'm sure they only did this because they misdiagnosed the problem as a well-publicized issue that affected many G3s and prompted Apple to offer extended warranty coverage on that particular issue, but I was a happy camper either way.
@HighestRanked2
It doesn't matter to me, I don't own a laptop and I build my own PC's. It apparently does to you, though. In fact, it seems that you are really happy about people supposedly receiving poor support.
What's wrong with you, exactly?
@grumbles
If you find out please let me know. Only then will we be able to get the correct help that he needs so badly.
I build my own computers and service them myself with nothing but personal training and google. Honestly they build the tools to fix it into the computer and they have for years. If there is a problem i system restore first then run virus scans.
@KrazyCalvin forgot to mention that i buy solid parts from the get go... when you buy a computer from the store you are buying last years technology... A year and a half if its an apple.
Looks like it's time for a new highschool graduating req. Bloatware removal 101
Apple definitely has the best customer service. We had a bad lightning storm near my house and it fried my iMac's logic board. They replaced and fixed everything at no cost even though my computer was a year outside of its warranty.
ASUS for the win
The most ridiculous thing? 15 pages for this "story". Thank goodness for Safari Reader!
@Samurai Jack
I wouldn't say it is rediculous. Finding honest, ethical, fair tech support nowadays is hard. Apple support is supposed to be great, as people here have told me, and it must be nice to have a place to go to specifically in person for your computer. For the many PC people out there, who will always exist though, it is a major hassle for mainstream, general PC users, like my 60 year old parents, who constantly screw things up and need me to fix their stuff. We are just trying to get recommendations of good and bad tech support experiences as giving someone your computer and personal data to repair can be a bit stressing and expensive, sometimes even flat out wrong. Charging $250 for data backup and reinstall is unacceptable!
@VAVA Mk 2 I agree on the support front. My complaint was about spreading the story across 15 pages to generate additional ad revenue. Safari Reader collapsed the story to about 3 pages. I found that much more manageable to deal with.
I've rarely had to use Apple support but when I have I've been very satisfied. On the other hand Dell support was like a trip through the ninth circle of Hell. Or whichever one it was that was full of ice.
That website recommends Geek squad for Third party support.......
So far my experience with Apple has been wonderful and Im not new to it. I've been using Apple for 10 years and tech support is been phenomenal.
Heavy weight laptop lifting. That must be one of those 200kg desktop replacement laptops.
Sony saved my ass with my VAIO, in fact, the guy even told me how to set up a recovery partition myself, and restore from a hidden memory lock! It was fantastic.
Now if only I could say the same about their console support...
I own a Sony laptop, I live in Korea, and Sony's support is just great. The drivers suck though, they haven't been updated to Windows 7 spec :(
As a former tech support rep of many years for one of the big 3, I can tell you it is not Tech Supports job to teach you how to send a email, burn a cd, set up outlook, or your wireless network. Your warranty is to make sure your hardware works on the computer (does it turn on, does all hardware pass diags, and do drivers load properly) and thats all. It is the consumers job to learn how to use the PC and the software. Windows and just about all other software have a help menu for a reason, type in your issue and it will show you how to use it. Dont get me wrong, XP and Vista can make your life hell when they start conflicting with the manufactures software and tech support can steer you in the right path. But people need to realize now adays tech support is outsourced to a another company so thats why they only care about getting you off the phone in 10 minutes rather than helping you because the other company gets paid by the call and the more you call the more they get paid. Call Lenovo and you will see what im talking about, they will apologize all day and tell you to run diags and download the driver and call back, but wont stay on the phone to make sure your problem is fixed.
@HighestRanked2 Tech support to hire every 18 year old is also good.
not like every grandma will understand the genius talk either...
Consumer is consumer...
@HighestRanked2
"It's so incredibly funny reading the comments of people desperately trying to suggest Googling for tech support answers is equal or better than professional tech support. Yeah imagine somebody's grandma having computer problems, like she'll be able to even know what the problem is in order to Google it. Some mental cripples here think its her fault for not being technically inclined. Wow. "
What the hell, man? Why on earth would you have to come up with the most idiotic defense in the world? I'm not advocating that EVERY friggin person should attempt their own diagnosis.
That's like me saying "Man, you say Macs are so easy to use, but my DOG can't use it. Hahaha I'm so clever."
It's so incredibly funny to read morons like you coming up with the most inane of examples in order to show someone up. Who's the mental cripple?
"In the real world, people have lives, families and all kinds of jobs. Very few involve fixing computers. People just want to use a computer and get on with their lives."
People just want to use a TV and get on with life, but when that TV suddenly breaks down, they're gonna at least have to be able to articulate what's wrong to the repair guy. I always Google a problem, even if it's impossible for me to fix myself. Black line down the center of the screen? See if the model/unit has had a history of this issue. Then you can more accurately describe the problem to the person who can fix it. There's no need to say "Hey, I'm too busy and important to take 2 seconds out of my day to do a little research." That's called willful ignorance, and that's something I cannot stand.
"The attitude of some people in these comments are as if your car broke down and car buffs making fun of you for not having a clue how to diagnose and fix your car."
Oh, right. Because working with heavy machinery is SOOOO much like troubleshooting a computer. Rofl. Most of the parts in a computer are snap-in or screwed in, and most can be poked around in without any special tools or experience necessary. There are color-coded online guides of how to open up the case, which wire goes where, etc.
And regarding the car? If my car makes any noise or does anything unexpected, you can bet your ass I'm Googling it to see if anyone else has had the issue. It's ALWAYS a huge help to repairmen when you can come in saying "It's making a noise that I think might be coming from the drive train" vs. "Well sometimes it goes Wum Wum Wum and uhhhhh I donno much more". If you care about your personal items one iota, you would at least take a minute to research if something goes wrong.
@HighestRanked2
Woo! My wallet-raping team won over YOUR wallet-raping team! I'm therefore the superior person because....well.....I chose them! Yeah! I'm obviously better than you for that reason alone!
/s
If you want your HP or Dell or Sony or whatever to have no bloatware, buy it at a Microsoft store. They proudly tell everyone that all their systems are completely clean with only Windows 7. No other apps are installed.
I'm tired of people not taking responsiblility for themselves. If you own a car, you keep it maintained. If you run it without oil, it dies. If you own a PC, keep it maintained. If you run it without cleaning out the 3'' dust bunnies inside, IT DIES.
People need to start learning more about their products and stop relying on the manufacture to TEACH THEM how to do stuff.
@joshsc
THANK YOU!!!!!! Some basic knowledge and know how wont kill the average user. I used to get calls wanting to know where the power button is and the favorite WHAT IS WINDOWS. Calling india for tech support is not worth the 39 mins to + of time it takes compared to the 10-20 mins U.S. tech support takes, but since thats not changing anytime soon, so people need to learn some basics to cut down on the amount of time waiting on a phone.
Take these basic steps and owning a PC is a breeze
-When did it last work and what have you done differently since then
-Are your drivers and firmware up to date
-Is your windows updates up to date
-Did your PC pass hardware diagnostics or virus scans
after you have done these steps, you have done your part as the user and then it is tech support job to see whats going wrong.
FTR: the questions they asked were: 1) "How can I make my notebook boot faster?" 2) "I want to share files with another laptop in my house, and I understand Windows 7 can do that. How do I set that up?" 3) "How can I make changes to my notebook's power settings?"
- None of the above are hardware issues, which is what tech support is *really* meant to cover. Also, a simple Google search returns the answer for each. Useless study IMO.
@HighestRanked2
"Mike the cat, #1 fan/comment stalker of Highest Ranked, comes back for more. And specially with your trademark essay response answers(tm)!"
Well obviously you feel honored/priviledged enough to hear from me. I mean, you don't respond to the people above when they completely school your ass. So I guess they're not good enough. Glad you love me enough to respond. :) I guess writing is a skill you have yet to develop. Don't worry. They teach you that in 6th grade.
"Oh brother, your brain is so wired into trying to be a techie that everything you've said shows your innocence at not comprehending that everyone is not you. And not everyone can do the very basic things you claim you can do either."
They can't TYPE? They can't LEARN? They can't ASK QUESTIONS???? Holy crap! We're living in Idiocracy already! Well, at least, by the nature of your comments we are.
"There is still much for you to learn and understand young padawan. At this rate when you grow up and get a tech support job, you'll be even more bitter than now."
You seriously need to be banned again. Permanently.You impede discussion, make fun of people, and are extremely annoying.
For people saying how good Apple Support is call them for a ipod/iphone/ipad problem an you will be getting the same results as listed with the other companies here and a person from India.
Ha! "hey wasn't to remove crap from your computer, just install more shit!"
Bought an Asus laptop in January. The RAM started to fail and the screen's backlight flickers, occasionally turning off all together. E-mailed ASUS about it and it's surprisingly still under warranty. They even sent me a paid shipping label! Love it.