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Looking for opinions on dell gold tech support

post #1 of 9
1/17/05 at 11:46am
Thread Starter 
aside from all the normal chatter on whether to upgrade a warranty or not, is anyone familiar with an option that dell claims as part of their premium warranty (Small Bus) ... "Direct and fast (often under 2 minutes) access to advanced technicians"... which turns out to be...

... The Gold Technical Support Queue is designed to provide 2 minutes or less average speed of answer, provided the correct, toll-free Gold Technical Support number is called by the customer. Hold times in the Gold Queue may be affected by multiple variables including, but not limited to: time of day, product release cycle, product recall occurrences and total number of Gold Technical Support customers.

Is this marketing or real?
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post #2 of 9
1/17/05 at 4:27pm
It is real. After almost ditching Dell because of the terrible off-shore support, my Dell rep talked me into upgrading to gold support, on all the pc's I buy from them. It is much better. I would say that they hype it a bit, but there is a big difference in hold times, and the knowledge level of the tech you get. I will tell you this, I will always get gold support and complete care on the laptops, for as long as I do business with Dell. It is worth the extra few dollars just to get to talk to someone that you can understand. I could not understand half of what the off-shore people said to me. They also did not have a clue, and they didn't care if they got my issue resolved or not. I guess you know all that though.
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post #3 of 9
1/17/05 at 9:46pm
What was the cost of this so-called "gold" tech support? I purchased complete care thinking that was the best thing they had going (I know, I know, it's warranty vs tech support), but I had known about this "gold" I may have invested in it. I really hate those first-line tech support people. I know more about computers than it appears they do...And I know squat!

I'm not just dissing Dell tech support because they're in India. I have bad luck with all large corporations' first-line tech support. I get more help from the internet and boards like this than I do with people who get paid to help.
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post #4 of 9
1/18/05 at 1:44am

$$$$ Well,.....That will be EXTRA $$$$

You guys that buy the Gold thing are nuts. Why not post the price you paid for it. It is NOT just a few dollars! It irritates me to no end that a company that tells you have tech support at the point of sale then later tells you that if you want to talk to someone that you can actually understand that will be extra, do you want to talk to someone that actually knows wtf they are talking about? Well, that will be extra. Do you want not to be put on hold for an hour and a half and end up talking to someone you cant understand and hasn't a clue? Well, that will be extra. Yes you paid for and have tech support. Yes it is in your contract however, we never stated that the support provided would know wtf they were talking about or that you would be able to understand them.
This shit just pisses me off!!!!!!!
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post #5 of 9
1/18/05 at 2:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by volan
What was the cost of this so-called "gold" tech support? I purchased complete care thinking that was the best thing they had going (I know, I know, it's warranty vs tech support), but I had known about this "gold" I may have invested in it. I really hate those first-line tech support people. I know more about computers than it appears they do...And I know squat!

I'm not just dissing Dell tech support because they're in India. I have bad luck with all large corporations' first-line tech support. I get more help from the internet and boards like this than I do with people who get paid to help.
Sometimes I pay for it and sometimes I don't. My rep throws that in about half of the time. You see, I buy about 100 or so desktops and laptops a year from Dell, They always throw in freebies for me. But if they did not, I would still buy the gold support. As for the cost. The 2 I8600's I bought today cost an extra $89.00 for the 3 year contract. As I am the lead IT for my organization, I must purchase the best support I can get. Like you, I know much more about these systems, then the low level guys do. I do not have the time to fart around with them. When I am stumped with a problem, whether it be on a server, desktop, router, switch or laptop, I need support that can fix the problem with out reading off of a script. Take this for what it is worth, as one person has indicated here all ready. "I am a nut", because I choose to purchase the extra support. So be it!!
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post #6 of 9
1/18/05 at 3:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by shiftaltnumlock
Sometimes I pay for it and sometimes I don't. My rep throws that in about half of the time. You see, I buy about 100 or so desktops and laptops a year from Dell, They always throw in freebies for me. But if they did not, I would still buy the gold support. As for the cost. The 2 I8600's I bought today cost an extra $89.00 for the 3 year contract. As I am the lead IT for my organization, I must purchase the best support I can get. Like you, I know much more about these systems, then the low level guys do. I do not have the time to fart around with them. When I am stumped with a problem, whether it be on a server, desktop, router, switch or laptop, I need support that can fix the problem with out reading off of a script. Take this for what it is worth, as one person has indicated here all ready. "I am a nut", because I choose to purchase the extra support. So be it!!

Most of us don't buy 8.33 computer systems a month from Dell. I'm not sure but I don't think the op does either. Very few of the average consumers here have "Premium Support" thrown in for free. For me and Joe forum member here the cost for "Premium Support" for one I8600 at Dell SB is as quoted from their site; "3 Years On-site Business Premium Plan ($140 Mail in Rebate) [add $507 or $14/month1 . Thats a far cry from the $44.50 you say you pay for the same. Would you pay $734.00 more for those 2 I8600's? Also I am guessing from your reply that you are not spending your money for the computers. Someone else is springing and making your job easier. I probably would go for it under those circumstances as well. All I am trying to say is that the "Premium Support" for most of us here is a true rip off. If Dell would just sell their computers without the implication that you will receive support with your purchase and tell you up front that if you want support you will have to pay X amount, I would not have such a stick up my ass. But they do not. They try and deceive you. They tell you that you will receive support with your purchase and instead just give you a poor english speaking employee to talk to that quite probably knows less about your system than you do and you waste many hours of your time in the process.
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post #7 of 9
1/18/05 at 4:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Odarby
Most of us don't buy 8.33 computer systems a month from Dell. I'm not sure but I don't think the op does either. Very few of the average consumers here have "Premium Support" thrown in for free. For me and Joe forum member here the cost for "Premium Support" for one I8600 at Dell SB is as quoted from their site; "3 Years On-site Business Premium Plan ($140 Mail in Rebate) [add $507 or $14/month1 . Thats a far cry from the $44.50 you say you pay for the same. Would you pay $734.00 more for those 2 I8600's? Also I am guessing from your reply that you are not spending your money for the computers. Someone else is springing and making your job easier. I probably would go for it under those circumstances as well. All I am trying to say is that the "Premium Support" for most of us here is a true rip off. If Dell would just sell their computers without the implication that you will receive support with your purchase and tell you up front that if you want support you will have to pay X amount, I would not have such a stick up my ass. But they do not. They try and deceive you. They tell you that you will receive support with your purchase and instead just give you a poor english speaking employee to talk to that quite probably knows less about your system than you do and you waste many hours of your time in the process.

well said. my thoughts exactly

cheese
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post #8 of 9
1/18/05 at 5:22am
actually i paid allot less for gold and i don't buy multiple units per month. my cost was around $266 or $300 and i get 3 years of onsite 4hour response(which by the way works because i used it). You tell me if this is not worth it.But take this with a grain of salt. My support is for a desktop not a laptop and i have multiple accounts. This one i purchased under a business account. I would never buy dell if i didn't also purchase the service. The service makes the whole package worth the price. The units themselves are crap let no one tell you otherwise. Dell probably makes the worst and ugliest computers in the industry(this doesn't mean all the other places like hp are any better).
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post #9 of 9
1/18/05 at 6:45am
The epp site sold me my 9200 for 12% off the entire price of the laptop plus $200 rebate for doing complete care. The rebates are gone (but could easily return) but the 12% off is still there.

With Dell Member savings on top of most generally advertised Dell Home Sales prices and promotions, the best home PC deals at Dell just got even better.1

* Receive a 2-6% discount based on the level of system you choose
* Double your discount and save up to 12% by extending your protection plan to 3 or 4 Yr At-Home Service2
* Valid on all Dimension Desktops and Inspiron Notebooks
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