Dell moving some support back to US

[aroma]

I was just reading an article about Dell moving it's business support from India back to Texas (and other US States). Their home support will remain in India, for now. They are doing this in response to the poor customer satisfaction. This is definately a trend that I would like to see more of.

- Aaron

[bdegroodt]

This is actually a growing trend (in spite of what the unions would have us believe). I study recruiting (specifically software automation around it) and this is a topic we're covering fairly extensively. The big surprise to some is that the cost savings are rarely what most expect when you tell them you can get somebody to do the job in another place for a 10th of the cost. Most people stop doing the calculation right there and rush into these contracts. The savings are minimal when you add in a host of additional costs and then you couple that with the risk of getting a customer upset due to poor service. It's hardly a "no brainer" that most execs hope for in the end.

I suspect we'll actually see much more from both sides as the election arrives. It's certain to be a topic the candidates take on to try and win the union vote.

[Pat Logsdon]

I heard this on the news yesterday as well. Apparently Dell's stock went up as a result. :)

Interestingly, Dell India has denied that anything is changing (http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_471153,0003.htm)... :roll:

I've had OK experiences with the India-based tech support, but I had to be really patient, especially when they wanted me to hard reset my Axim when I told them that my fold-up keyboard wouldn't fold up anymore. :mrgreen:

[toxostoma]

I had a bad experience with HPs support and I think I was talking to somebody in Canada.

The support person that I was talking to had a very thick Indian accent, and it was almost impossible for me to understand him. Now, I consider myself patient, and I'm especially sensitive because I know that English isn't everybody's first language, nor do I expect it to be. But, when I'm calling in and waiting 30 minutes on hold before I get to talk to somebody, and then I can hardly understand what he's saying, it gets very frustrating. I feel bad too because there were times when I had to ask three, four times for him to keep repeating what he was saying. Now I feel like I'm being inconsiderate, but I can't help it if I don't understand! It didn't help matters at all that he was belligerant and very rude. I had to ask to speak to his manager (another 15 or 20 minute wait) and I finally got to speek with someone who I could both understand and who was very curteous and helpful.

I often wonder if these companies use their own support just to see what customer experiences are like!

[bdegroodt]

I've had my share of experiences that aren't so hot...but I've also had some pretty pleasant ones as well.

One thing that happened the other day that really caused me to be a little concerned. I received a voice mail on my cell phone that was from a healthcare/insurance company giving a referral to a dad for a doctor to take his sick son. Now I'm assuming it wasn't life threatening, but I couldn't understand a word this guy was saying on the voicemail. I had to replay it 7 times before I got a decent idea that a- it wasn't for me and b- that it was a referral for a sick child in need of medical care. I was really bothered by that because it's a clear crossing of the line. If I can't get a good tech support rep for my PPC that's one issue. Getting that same person at a time of medical need is an entirely different one.

[lonesniper]

I hate dealing with companies that outsourse their support to India. I had terrible experience with Netgear and Linksys. If I buy an American product I expect American support. Now I am back in the UK I see it happening here too, companies looking for a quick saving and moving support desks to India.

This is a big threat to the blue-collar tech support roles. I started my career at the bottom on a helpdesk, if they are all now in India how do other people in the UK and US start?

Consumers have the largest voice in this. If I have a choice between a product that is UK/US supported or Indian supported, my money (even if more expensive) is with the UK/US one.

Colin

[bdegroodt]

I started my career at the bottom on a helpdesk, if they are all now in India how do other people in the UK and US start?

Colin

This simply isn't true. Not "all" (or even anywhere near a majority) the jobs are outsourced to India at this time. Nor are they likely to be. There are a variety of reasons why not. This includes reduced support delivery, a minimal cost savings, and one of the stronger reasons at this time, is the fact that a customer that's satisfied with a good level of service from a company is a prime target for upselling and that's a skill not commonly mapped to the typical outsourced support operation.

It's a common IT hype right now to make this puffer argument. Personally, I don't blame them. If I was already in an industry that's difficult to gain employment in, as it is now, and I caught wind of thousands of jobs heading someplace I can't go, I'd scream too. But that doesn't mean the facts are in their favor.

[Roosterman]

bdegroodt, I hope you are right. A friend somehow has gotten a subscription to CIO magazine which had a lead story about outsourcing. The title was something like "Outsourcing, It's your Destiny" or some such tripe. Another contrator that I was working with also talked about all the articles saying outsourcing is the wave of the future. Personally, I am a programmer, I can't imagine the logistical nightmare of trying to co-ordinate a large software project over in India or Asia.

[bdegroodt]

Well, I don't hold the cards personally, but I'm very confident in the research we've done. It will, of course, make headlines when companies do outsource. It makes shareholders happy because they think it's a cost reduction strategy. Just like when you hear about a company laying off...but you don't hear the rest of the story about how the company is hiring hundreds more than they laid off.

Finally, remember, no company ever made their way to profits and longevity by reducing costs. Sooner or later the attention turns back to revenue and that's not going to happen by outsourcing jobs that could produce that revenue.