Entry 129, on 2005-02-11 at 13:27:57 (Rating 4, Computers)
As a Mac consultant/programmer I often have to work with technical staff from the large corporations who make the hardware and software we use. Generally speaking I don't have a particularly high opinion of the support systems they use. The trend for many years now, has been to set up partly automated helpdesks which are staffed by semi-skilled people who seem to try to solve problems by applying a standard set of questions and answers, without necessarily understanding the underlying issues very well.
No doubt, this makes support cheaper because they don't need to hire more expensive expert staff. Most recently, the helpdesks have been moved off-shore, usually to India, which introduces the further complication of language communication issues into the mix.
Years ago, I used to work on the helpdesk our section set up and I know how hard it is to fix problems concerning many different issues without being physically in front of the computer causing the problem, so I don't criticise helpdesk staff specifically. Its the helpdesk concept itself that I don't like. We always referred to the helpdesk as the "helldesk", especially when one of our more awkward clients called us!
In case you were wondering, I was asked to give up helpdesk duty because I often wasn't politically correct enough. I would occasionally launch into tirades about the evils of Microsoft to some poor user running Office on Windows, which apparently wasn't considered helpful.
My latest experience was with the Hewlett Packard helpdesk. When you call the HP help line here in New Zealand you are transferred to an Indian helpdesk. The staff are very polite and try to help as much as possible, but it is clear they know almost nothing about the products they are supporting and are just performing their jobs according to a standard formula.
Needless to say, I wasted a lot of time talking to them and gained absolutely nothing at all. For example, I would describe the problem and suggest they need to send a new network card. They would ignore this, ask me a standard set of questions - many of which I had already answered - and make a suggestion to try something I had already done. After half an hour of this they would suggest sending a new network card. Isn't that what I suggested to start with?
Of course, the card didn't help, so I had to call them back. Even though I had a case number and they had my details already, I had to go through the standard questions again. The conclusion this time was something else I had already tried, but I tried it again anyway.
After many calls, many times describing the same problem, being told I need a new card, being told our network was at fault, and generally wasting time, I finally gave up. I said "Thank you, I'll call you back if I need any more advice", and never called them again! I tried a different model card and it worked. The helpdesk never suggested this idea, and couldn't even tell me if it was safe to swap different model cards when I asked.
So that's my experience with a once mighty and respected company. I see recently their CEO has resigned. If HP disappeared from the computer world it would be no great loss - they have forgotten their innovative roots and sold out to the commoditisation of computing, and producing the cheapest product possible.
Comment 1 by Warren, Toronto, ON Canada on 2007-09-12 at 04:18:15:
Had the same experience with the HP helpdesk in India, these idiots seem like they want to waste your time, took them 15 mins to get me a phone # for cust service, and was transferred several times, cutoff and HP has definitely gone downhill in my opinion.
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