More on Paying For Customer Service

My last blog entry was about how Air Canada was charging extra if you wanted better service. Well, they are not the only ones charging more to get better customer service.

According to Vito Pilieci, writing in The Ottawa Citizen, Dell recently announced that they are dividing their support into two groups; India support versus North American support. If the customer is willing to pay a little more, they can be guaranteed to reach a North American tech support person instead of their Indian counterparts. It appears that Dell is promising you won’t get the “accent” if you pay more. Pilieci, writing in The Ottawa Citizen, Dell is calling this a “premium support” service plan.

Now, a quick disclaimer. I don’t want this to sound like I’m slamming Dell. I like Dell computers. All of our desktops and servers are Dell Computers. I’ve had good luck with them and find their support to be very good. However, I’m concerned for them. This could be a PR blunder. Similar to my take on Air Canada, I don’t think that Dell is admitting to giving bad service. They just want to give their customers an option to a better/different level of service. However, that is not the way it is coming across.

General comments from consumers buying across many different industries have complained about hard to understand accents from call center customer service reps. Opinion Research Corp. reported February 2008 that 20% of US customers polled cited “hard to understand representatives with thick accents” as their biggest frustration in dealing with customer service departments.

So, it appears that if I want a Dell computer, and I want “premium” service, I’ll have to pay more. It’s one thing to pay for an extended service warranty. It is another to pay to be able to understand the customer service representative giving me support. (Is that what they are communicating?)

Years ago I remember a salesman telling I can choose two out of three options: low price, a quality product and great service.

He thought that he was making a joke. Apparently not!

Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, tapes and learning programs please contact (314) 692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web: www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs (www.TheCustomerFocus.com).