FINALLY, A Positive Customer Service Experience
I’ve been fairly outspoken in the past about my disdain for the level of customer “service” provided by large companies, particularly in the computer industry. Dell’s customer service, for instance, has been lovingly nicknamed “Dell Hell” by some of its customers. The internet is full of stories from unsatisfied Dell customers, but my experience with the company today was a glimmer of hope.
Delaying the Inevitable
For a couple of months now my laptop had been warning me that my battery was slowly dying. A few weeks back it finally died, and gave me the following message:
A normal characteristic of a rechargable battery is that its operating duration decreases over time. The battery may eventually need to be replaced. Based on this characteristic, consumed batteries may not be covered under warranty.
So today I finally decided to talk to Dell, something I had been avoiding because I didn’t want the headache that generally comes with it. Needless to say I was surprised when a rep was immediately available via their online chat support. We were walking through the troubleshooting process when my internet died, because the internet only goes out when I have important things to do. Now, imagine my surprise when that same Dell rep called me on my cell phone to finish the conversation. In a few minutes’ time, he told me I’d be receiving my brand new battery free of charge within four business days. Wow, what a pleasant surprise.
Fixing Tech Support
I know Dell and many other companies have developed some terrible reputations in the customer service arena, but my experience today gave me hope that maybe they’re actually turning things around. I had made up my mind that if Tech Support screwed me today I’d never buy a Dell product again, so that simple phone call may have saved their company from thousands of dollars in lost future sales.
Others have noted that Dell is working on improving their tech support too. Many major companies like Starbucks and Dell are creating websites to give customers a place to voice their opinions freely. For instance, Dell recently launched IdeaStorm and the Direct2Dell blog to reach out to their customers and solicit ideas and feedback.
What surprised me most was a Direct2Dell blog post about the future of customer service. What I found most interesting is that the comments were in no way censored to paint Dell in a positive light. Here are a few excerpts from this post:
“North american customers want to be supported by North American techs. “
“When calling IBM for service, the entire thing is short & sweet. I’m not left on the phone on hold while the tech does ‘paperwork’. Whatever Dell techs are required to do is apparently many times that of what is required for the IBM techs.
Why is IBM so much more efficient than Dell at handling these things???”
“If the off-shore support staff is incapable of addressing a issue with a FORMER customer (I certainly won’t ever purchase another Dell product and will encourage my sons,high school and college graduates, to puchase other-than-Dell products) they should be taught to transfer the issue to someone capable of handling the small issue - instead of abruptly HANGING UP!”
Rather than censor the communication, Dell representatives posted responses to each of these complaints in an attempt to solve, or at least address, these problems.
Evidently Dell is tapping into social media even further. They now have several customer service reps searching social sites like Twitter for complaints and swiftly contacting those people and addressing the problems.
At the very least, I appreciate the fact that Dell is making an effort to listen to their customers. How do you solicit feedback from your customers? Do you have a means of measuring customer satisfaction? Leave a note and share your thoughts, and subscribe while you’re at it.
Update:
I just received my new battery from Dell, less than 24 hours after making the initial complaint. Color me impressed.
What an inspiration! Go Kyle Go! Buckets and buckets of blessings on your...
Hi Kyle
Glad the new batter is there and that you are a satisfied, indeed pleasantly pleased customer. Appreciate your feedback, as well as the work you did to check out what all we have been doing to listen, learn and engage directly with our customers online.
Hope we will see you again at Direct2dell and Ideastorm.
Again, we appreciate your l;etting us know how we are doing. Thank you.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Richard,
Thanks for stopping by. I have been extremely pleased with the service I’ve received every step of the way. I’m also impressed with the obvious commitment to interact with your customers through social media like this. I think it’s a great step toward repairing a brand name that has suffered recently in the public eye. Keep up the good work, it certainly is appreciated.
~Kyle
May 5th, 2008 at 8:25 pm