Why clients with Dell computers give me the shivers

I used to admire the Dell corporation, I really did. Dell did their best to make good equipment, sell it at a fair price, and gave great support for what they sold.

The Dell corporation still does make good equipment and they sell it for a fair price, but God help you if you have to call Dell’s technical support script-readers. (A script-reader is one who reads the answers off of a computer screen - not to be confused with a real support technician.)

Case in point:

I called Dell technical support so that I could speak to one of their script-readers this morning to ask how to do a destructive recovery or PC restore (wherein the hard drive is over-written by a new blank installation of the operating system) on a client’s computer.

To start, I get an obviously Indian fellow with an American ‘name’ which is obviously a lie. I am neither for or against Dell technical support being in another country, but I do not like people who start a conversation with a lie.

The Dell technical support script-reader had to verify that I actually knew what I wanted, then started off explaining all my options to me and could not understand why I kept asking him for the information I had originally called for. Why is it so had to understand that a Dell technical support caller may actually know what he/she wants?

10 minutes later, it turns out that getting that information is a paying venture. That was wonderfull news. So I paid. And in order to be told how to do a destructive restore or PC restore of my hard drive, I also had to pay Califonia State Sales Tax for this service - highly illegal in this state as Sales Tax is for products, not services.

After I was returned to another Dell technical support script-reader, I was asked for the order number I was given - I gave that. Then I was asked for my name - I gave that as well.

He couldn’t find my record.

It took a while before he mentioned that the record was posted only on the name of the original recipient of the computer and then 3 seconds later I had my $53 worth of information.

Lovely dealing with Dell technical support script-readers. Gives me the shivers every time I think I may have to.

By the way, if you have a Dell Dimension 4700 and you need to do a destructive recovery, or PC restore, the sequence is to turn your computer on, and during the Dell logo to hold down the Ctrl key, and press the F11 key twice.