So I got an e-mail from Dell today stating that my laptop had been repaired and was on the way back. Yay! I still haven't seen the $160 I was quoted for the new battery come out of my account, though, so I hit the link to chat with an agent about that. I have an auditory processing defect that makes understanding foreign-to-me accents very difficult for me, so I LOVE that Dell has the live-chat option, as most of their CSRs are based in India.
Today's representative was no exception. I get the impression she didn't understand most of what I typed. I asked whether the battery was shipping with the laptop or separately, and she informed me the laptop would arrive tomorrow. I rephrased my question and she listed the parts that Dell had replaced. The battery was on the list, but the hard drive was NOT. This was counter to what the last representative had told me (they'd said the hard drive was damaged and all of my data lost, and I had a long and frustrating exchange with a different agent about whether or not I could get them to send me the bad part so a techie friend could try to recover my data). I informed today's representative of that and she said not to worry, that the computer had been tested and was now in working order. I point-blank asked if my hard drive was replaced. She said no. Okay! Great! Then I asked about the cost of the battery and she said there was no charge because it was covered by the warranty. If that is the case it's terrific news, but two different reps had previously told me that was NOT the case.
I am very confused. I don't know whether I should add that $160 back to my checkbook or not, I'm not sure if my data is lost or not, I don't understand what is going on with the battery/warranty situation (and if the battery IS covered I'm going to be annoyed because this is my third battery; when the first one died I paid for the second one out of pocket because, again, I was told batteries aren't covered by the warranty)...and after switching from live chat to telephone conversation I am unconvinced the representative really understood what I was even asking!
I think I'm just going to have to see what's in the box when the MFA Laptop gets home and go from there. Which is frustrating. I could rant about the outsourcing of call-center work, which in and of itself is a real negative when so many Americans need jobs, but my real issue here is that the reps I keep speaking with, while obviously knowledgable and almost excruciatingly polite, don't have an adequate grasp of the English language to help me. And that's bad all around; not only is it as useless to customers as no service at all, but I'm sure it's frustrating for the reps as well.
Bottom line? I'll be so glad when my laptop is home!
How are all of YOU?
Sent from The Precious
Today's representative was no exception. I get the impression she didn't understand most of what I typed. I asked whether the battery was shipping with the laptop or separately, and she informed me the laptop would arrive tomorrow. I rephrased my question and she listed the parts that Dell had replaced. The battery was on the list, but the hard drive was NOT. This was counter to what the last representative had told me (they'd said the hard drive was damaged and all of my data lost, and I had a long and frustrating exchange with a different agent about whether or not I could get them to send me the bad part so a techie friend could try to recover my data). I informed today's representative of that and she said not to worry, that the computer had been tested and was now in working order. I point-blank asked if my hard drive was replaced. She said no. Okay! Great! Then I asked about the cost of the battery and she said there was no charge because it was covered by the warranty. If that is the case it's terrific news, but two different reps had previously told me that was NOT the case.
I am very confused. I don't know whether I should add that $160 back to my checkbook or not, I'm not sure if my data is lost or not, I don't understand what is going on with the battery/warranty situation (and if the battery IS covered I'm going to be annoyed because this is my third battery; when the first one died I paid for the second one out of pocket because, again, I was told batteries aren't covered by the warranty)...and after switching from live chat to telephone conversation I am unconvinced the representative really understood what I was even asking!
I think I'm just going to have to see what's in the box when the MFA Laptop gets home and go from there. Which is frustrating. I could rant about the outsourcing of call-center work, which in and of itself is a real negative when so many Americans need jobs, but my real issue here is that the reps I keep speaking with, while obviously knowledgable and almost excruciatingly polite, don't have an adequate grasp of the English language to help me. And that's bad all around; not only is it as useless to customers as no service at all, but I'm sure it's frustrating for the reps as well.
Bottom line? I'll be so glad when my laptop is home!
How are all of YOU?
Sent from The Precious
Sigh. I try to be patient with heavily accented help desk people, especially since I have relatives by marriage with accents and I am an immigrant myself (although English is my first language). But hell, when you need help and they can't understand you, its pretty freaking frustrating.
Posted by: Becca | August 22, 2012 at 04:32 PM
Oh, me too. Frustration is no excuse for rudeness, and I used to be a call center-based CSR so I feel for them! Especially since they probably get yelled at more than average due to communication issues.
Sent from The Precious
Posted by: MFA Mama | August 22, 2012 at 05:07 PM
This is why I love that I can afford to buy an Apple. The call centre is in Ireland (who definitely need the help right now!), and when my hard drive died I spoke to a British technician who didn't treat me like an imbecile.
I ended up being without my laptop for a week, and it was an absolute nightmare, I was so glad to get it back!
Posted by: Katie | August 23, 2012 at 02:45 AM
I've been known to switch to a language that some of the people at these call centers speak, now and again. The shocked silence on the other end is almost enough to compensate for the fact that they're still reading off scripts half the time so I'm not getting any kind of real answer to whatever technical ugh is happening at the time.
Posted by: Ina | August 23, 2012 at 03:28 AM
Once again, Ina wins!
Sent from The Precious
Posted by: MFA Mama | August 23, 2012 at 05:19 AM
Since I have been living in Turkey and have frequent contact with the diplomatic community I have had tons of practice with accents. It gets easier with time, though the Scottish accent still confounds me.
Posted by: Jules | August 23, 2012 at 08:33 AM