Posted on: Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Tech support becoming less helpful

By Edward C. Baig
USA Today

Tech support once meant wrestling with the lingo of personal computers. These days, it may also involve grappling with a different kind of language barrier, as James R. Barr Sr. discovered.

Barr called Dell seeking help formatting, partitioning and reloading Windows XP.

"I got a tech in India who spoke British English. I am 73, speak Alabama English and use two hearing aids. We both experienced some understanding problems."

Mark Oldani, head of U.S. Consumer Tech Support at Dell, concedes things aren't always perfect.

"We certainly understand on occasions we can have hiccups like everyone else," he says.

In its annual service and reliability reader survey, PC Magazine found that fewer computers actually require repair. However, the quality of tech support has plummeted dramatically.

On a 10-point scale, the average level rated by desktop owners dropped from 7.0 in 2003 to 6.3 this year; notebooks fell from 7.2 to 6.1.

The severe outbreak of viruses, worms and spyware makes the support task more daunting, and so do user demands to get more from their systems, from wireless networking to piping music around the house.

"People have more complicated problems," says PC Magazine editor-in-chief Michael Miller.

Support isn't just about making repairs. It may include tutoring, sometimes for a fee. Indeed, many calls from home users have little to do with hardware failure but revolve around "how to" queries (such as, I can't get my broadband connection to work with this wireless router).

"We're not going to take you through a whole tutorial of how to do Excel," says John Keyser, vice president of support at Toshiba.

Provided your machine is under warranty — and warranties are shorter on cheaper PCs — hardware makers say they will stand by an ailing machine. They typically also stand by software loaded on the PC when you bought it. But if you've upgraded or mucked around in other ways, what will be covered is less certain.

"You call me, I own the problem," says Toshiba's Keyser.

Still, customers may have to pay to get a problem solved.

H-P acknowledges that its support operation has become a small profit center.

An average industry support call might cost a PC company $8 to $14, says Tom Conway, director of service for IBM Global services. Dispatching a tech to a person's home raises the tab to $80 to $110, plus the cost to ship parts. Costs are reduced to pennies if customers solve problems themselves online.

In July, Dell set up a Web site to provide how-to advice on combating spyware and other threats. For consumers who don't want to address the issue themselves, Dell is launching a more comprehensive "help desk" for $30 per incident.

Toshiba says it did away with e-mail and chat assistance because the company learns more when it actually speaks with customers.