Yesterday, Dell introduced a new service they’ve dubbed Dell Consumer Premium Support (or some similar arrangement of those words).
If you visit Dell Premium Consumer Support—at least so far—you’ll see the very corporate-looking page above, which suggests either that there’s nothing consumer-focused about Dell Consumer Premium Support, or that you’ll be receiving customer service atypical to consumers.
Let’s hope it’s the latter; everything we do here is based on variants of the great customer service ideal. In fact, our parent company was founded specifically to deliver amazing support to a channel that doesn’t typically receive it. At Answer Guy Central customer service is something we take seriously.
We take customer service so seriously here we established the 1and1 Internet Customer Service Wall of Shame some years back. And while we’re sad that the idea of bad customer service is far more prevalent that that of great customer service, stories like this one from the folks at Acer and this story detailing how 1and1 Internet became our Customer Service Wall of Shame namesake illustrate the problem: customer service doesn’t work unless you make it a priority.
Will Dell Premium Customer Support Be a Priority at Dell?
We’re betting not, but I hope we’re wrong. Sure, the idea of paying for support on items you should get supported for free items you’ve come to believe should be supported for free is weird, but that isn’t the issue. The likeliest problem boils down to this: Dell has a long history of acting like a corporate behemoth, and treating customer service like a cost center rather than a way to maintain customer loyalty. that doesn’t work in consumer or small business markets.
How can you be sure you’re calculating the customer service equation from the best angle? Contact The Answer Guy.