It seems no matter how little or big the price tag my laptops always come fully equipped with problems. The new, sexy model I purchased in September will be boxed and on its way to HP repair next Tuesday if the polite man I spent so much time on the phone with yesterday knows what he is talking about. Computers, like doctor visits, are a necessary evil that only lead to pain and frustration.
It was only after three and a half hours of listening to the lilting accent and the intermittently repeated eight bars of "on hold" music that I was instructed to take the laptop to Best Buy. There they could replace the magical part that had developed some lightening storm of misfires.
At the store I was greeted by a very nice guy with an English accent who informed me that : 1.) They couldn't work on my computer because I didn't have a Geek Squad contract and 2.) they would have to run the same diagnostics I had just spent 3 1/2 hours on the phone having done. After they personally verified the problem they would send it on to HP repair, and why did they send you here any how? The time is five to six weeks to get it back and, by the way, your hard drive will likely be empty. Hope you didn't want any of that stuff in your folders. Fortunately they can help me out by doing a back up for the neat sum of about a hundred fifty to a hundred seventy five dollars. Of course I could do the back up myself with a handy-dandy external hard drive for just sixty bucks. Just plug it in, click twice on the yellow box and all will be well. The device is idiot proof (my term, not his) and the savings will just roll in.
I paid the price for the external drive, bundled up my computer and trundled out to my car. My thought was I could do the back up there and still make this trip count by leaving the computer for repair. Opening the box for the idiot proof back up device I realized that I had been fooled for the second time today by a man with an accent. Opening the box required all my expertise....I had nothing left when the warranty guide in fourteen languages (I never did see any in English) fell out accompanied by a two inch square with the picture of a computer with the device attached to it. Now completely depressed I headed home.
At the end of my earlier call the tech told me he would call me back in two hours time to make certain Best Buy would accommodate my repairs under the warranty.
Yeah right....like that's going to happen. But surprise, he called as I was valiantly trying to decipher the on screen manual for the back up device. I explained all of my developing problems. He assured me he would send a return box to my house by Tuesday; after I drop the laptop in the mail I'm looking at seven to ten working days for return. And the back up device was not a problem...he installed it by VPN and backed up all my folders. Good humored through all my ignorant questions and my total lack of ability, he stayed on line doing the back up as my computer continued to shut down time after time. By the time we got off the phone I was sure this technician super hero should be added to my Christmas card list at the very least!
Like many of you I've complained about "calling India" and laboring to understand the tech. I've railed about sending jobs out of the country and wondered why we can't find enough geeks on our own soil to staff the repair desk phones. Now I think I understand.....
Sending the calls to phone banks in India has nothing to do with the lack of brain power in our country. We have enough 23 year old geeks eating Cheetos in their parents basements to more than fill the jobs. I imagine it has something to do with what it costs per hour, although I am not certain about that. What it's all about is customer service and attitude.
As I spoke with this young man yesterday it was just like every other plea for help I've made to one of these call centers....and believe me there have been many hours of my life I won't get back spent on the phone with these guys. Imagine multiplying the calls from a sixty something woman with the most basic of computer skills,and a complete lack of estrogen,by a gazillion. Throw in thousands of ill tempered males of all ages who demand the service they deserve RIGHT NOW!! Still, after dealing with all those crazy people these techs are polite, calming and well trained. Send those same calls to a phone bank in New York and think how the level of service, not to mention the tone, might change dramatically. It isn't the level of expertise we are lacking, but the level of customer service. We are not a patient people, let alone a polite bunch any more.
I think it speaks volumes that a man in India was more polite, more concerned about my problem, and more informed than the face to face clerk in the store from which I purchased this computer. While he wasn't rude, the store clerk made it quite clear my problem was not his to solve. Happy to sell me another piece of technology, there was no offer of assistance to make sure I could actually use it. It was obvious he wasn't trained to consider I might possibly be in the market for another computer, or a TV or appliances...the future sales that keep any company afloat.
Could it be that one of the biggest problems we face in job creation in this country has to do with attitude? No matter which side of the counter you are on, or which end of the telephone, any situation starts with your attitude. Maybe if we were better customers we'd have better service...and better service might just bolster sales and create more customers. Something to think about.
Life is Good
