Buy an Elite HP PC, Get Your Own Support Staffer 155
jfruh writes "HP reversed its decision to spin off its PC business, but it's still left with the question of how to make money in a commodity business selling standard-issue machines manufactured overseas. One idea they're contemplating: improved customer service. If you buy an HP 'Elite' PC and have problems, you won't have to phone into a tech support call center where an entry-level drone reads off a script and tells you to reboot the machine; you'll have access to a specific support tech who will work with you as long as you own the computer."
I already have a Indian restaurant nearby (Score:1, Funny)
Thank you...
But my local indian restaurante is good enough :)
*blink* Eh? (Score:3)
How does (Score:0, Funny) even exist? I'm calling HP tech support to find out.
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How does (Score:0, Funny) even exist? I'm calling HP tech support to find out.
-1 Overratted and +1 Underrated only change the score and not the status.
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Re:*blink* Eh? (Score:5, Informative)
You mean Dells home grade tech support. Anyone who has purchased Dell's business line of products such as workstations/servers knows you get someone in the USA on the phone that is usually very knowledgeable.
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I can 2nd that. Any server purchase, or being part of any premium account gets you access to fairly good techs within the USA. One of them speaks with an Indian accent still, but actually knows what he is talking about.
P.S - I am not insulting India, just saying what we already know. Basic tech support from India is basic tech support from people that might not actually own a computer.
Re:*blink* Eh? (Score:5, Insightful)
I've been supporting Dell business machines for about 10 years, and I concur, never had to wait with business support (even basic tier business support). Conversely, HP's business support is total shite. Even with a carepack you get phone queues and delays of days (HP's idea of "24hrs response time" is a phone call, not a visit).
I have a feeling that this will be a painful loss for HP, nothing more.
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You mean Dells home grade tech support. Anyone who has purchased Dell's business line of products such as workstations/servers knows you get someone in the USA on the phone that is usually very knowledgeable.
Better than Asus. I was dragged to a meeting with a pair of their pitchmen and got to watch a delightful scene in which someone from our sales department waited for them to mention servers and then tore them apart with a story of a client whose server went tits-up in under a month and when he called about it was told "We're sorry, the server support department isn't accepting calls right now." I quite enjoyed watching the Asus pitchmen stumbling to try pimp their warranty assistance and not understanding th
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I wish. It's gotten better recently, but I've also stopped buying Dells. I recall I would call, and be asked for a multi digit number rather than the service tag. The web site wouldn't spit out the number from the service tag. I mean, everyone else uses the serial number, but not Dell. So some number I couldn't get and wasn't on the computer got be bounced around for 45 minutes and 7 different countries / call centers where no one could help me till I finally got Canada enterprise support. Then it takes the
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well while you're getting your curry you can drop off your mac at the iStore.
If you have a Carlyfied computer, good luck.
Start with basic customer service first. (Score:5, Interesting)
If Dell can figure it out, so can you.
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If this is essentially bundling a service plan into the purchase cost, I'd buy one.
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Re:Start with basic customer service first. (Score:5, Insightful)
Market share it may gain them, but profitability it will not.
The PC market has segmented in such a way that most people accurately judge PC clones as being equivalent and simply compare specs to price.
If HP comes into the market with "elite"-priced PCs, the American consumer will do the same thing they have done with tablets that didn't offer cost savings - they'll say "For that price I can get an iphone/ipad/imac/macbook". Why pay more for technical support, which you have to spend time and frustration using, when you can just buy something that (consumer perception says) doesn't need technical support?
This strategy is DOA.
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Re:Start with basic customer service first. (Score:4, Insightful)
What if the customer service positions were filled with sales oriented people? It would be an oppurtunity to have conversations about other products. Cross selling extended warranties, insurance packages, games or pc peripherals...
CUSTOMER: My PC isn't working well.
SALES/SUPPORT DRONE: Great! Would you like to buy a new one!
Somehow, I just don't think support calls are great 'sales moments'.
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I can think of a few that might work on the average joe:
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While I of course don't shortchange folks like that I do put any new build in a flashy case simply because it makes them sell MUCH quicker if there is some bling bling so it really wouldn't be hard for HP to make an "Elite PC" line with some flash and get in the consumers.
Not 1337 PCs. Elite PCs.
"Elite" is a brand name HP already uses for desktop PCs [hp.com] and notebooks [hp.com] for businesses. They're not all that flashy.
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I think you must be talking to different PHBs than the ones at any company I ever worked for -- or visited, for that matter. I've never seen a black and red case or superfluous LEDs or any kind of "bling bling" in any business setting. And if it was my business, boring black cases sound just fine to me. (Maybe you weren't around when they were boring beige cases?)
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Re:Start with basic customer service first. (Score:4, Interesting)
This strategy is DOA.
Not entirely. It will not be as profitable, but it could get a very large chunk of a specific market share.
Senior citizens and complete and total morons.
I *know* some of these people. Very smart people otherwise (except for the real morons), but totally hopeless with computers. Even the most basic of diagnostic tasks past "is the power cord plugged in" can fluster them and take 15 minutes to get past on the phone.
Having somebody they can always talk to by name to help them out will be valuable in their eyes. It will sell in that specific market.
P.S - Anybody that reads this that thinks you know me..... no I was not talking about you. At all. I swear.
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This strategy is DOA.
Not entirely. It will not be as profitable, but it could get a very large chunk of a specific market share.
Senior citizens and complete and total morons.
So, it should offer AOL integration as well?
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Why is it so difficult to compete in the same market as Apple?
Ever since Apple became a dominant player, it is impossible to find high end non-Apple products. Every other manufacturer simply accepts that Apple owns the high end, and instead of competing they offer 9000 different models of the same low quality plastic junk.
If a company like HP (or Samsung, who actually manufactures hardware) sold a sleek aluminum unibody laptop with an SSD and a high quality screen, I have no doubt they could eat into the Ma
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Likely because the aluminum case is more expensive and less rugged than, say, the titanium roll-cage and carbon-fiber in a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop? (go check youtube for destruction comparison videos)
Sure, most mfgrs have low end stuff too... but to be honest, why bother with the flashy Apple-copying case when you have something better and cheaper?
and, um, being a machinist myself? Aluminum is actually very weak and easy to damage. Titanium on the other hand... even a little of it can be quite strong, and i
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Well perhaps aluminum isn't the best choice, but I am actually writing this on one of those titanium roll-cage carbon-fiber thinkpads (t410), and I have been less than impressed.
I have a cracked handrest (a common problem), a clicky keyboard, a broken ultra-bay, multiple screws that have worn through their threadings to become useless, and an overheating problem that renders the discrete graphics unusable. The only saving grace is the nice matte screen.
I understand that constructing something like a laptop
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Huh, that's interesting.
My T43 lasted 3 years of good use for me(that's using it as a main machine, hauling it around everywhere, jamming it into an unpadded bag every day), and even then was still in working condition; the power port died on me, though, and my cheap replacement was inadequately insulated and shorted out the charging circuit.
There were maby 2 minor cracks, but eh...
After that, I got my current T500, and I've had no trouble with the discrete graphics and overheating so long as the fan-contro
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I'm sorry, but what the hell do you do to your laptops? The only time I've seen anyone wear out a Lenovo laptop was by dropping it repeatably from 4 feet + up on the corner. And this actually only broke a bit of plastic off the back corner and killed the HD. Warranty replaced the HD and palm rest / touch-pad and it was working again.
I mean, we did have the person who spilled acetone on the keyboard and melted it - also replaced. Have you called them for replacement parts / mail in service?
We have numerous (
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At least you were allowed that option (of a hard drive RMA). Samsung insists that you send the whole machine in, despite describing to them that you put a spare hard disk into the laptop and it works fine. (Samsung RC-512-S01 here - less than a year old.) ...and so I had a choice: send in the whole damned thing and go without a laptop for a couple of weeks (and have what used to be an Ubuntu laptop returned with Windows and all the Samsung crapware put back on it), or just buy another disk in spite of the t
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I couldn;t care less if they support any of the software - I just want them to support the fucking hardware.
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Yep - their own website compatibility matrix said a particular Proliant server was certified for Microsoft SBS2011 (yeah, I know, but what the customer wants, and pays for - that's what the customer gets). After numerous failed installation attempts, a HP tech finally admits that the on-board RAID controller isn't certified for SBS2011, and I was on my own until they got around to updatating the driver. In the meantime, I could try a rollback to the MS Server 2008 driver........
Or.. (Score:2, Insightful)
until they leave the company. Or go on holiday. Or Maternity leave. Or sick. Or get promoted.
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until they leave the company. Or go on holiday. Or Maternity leave. Or sick. Or get promoted.
Or go home for the night and you have trouble while they're eating dinner with their family.
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That was my first thought. First line tech support has serious churn.
Dear HP (Score:5, Funny)
Look HP I get it, Chinese labor is cheap, and there are a lot of Chinese people to spare but I just don't see how this is feasible. Plus just imagine the shipping and handling? Plus where is it going to sleep?
I get it you don't want to seem behind on the times with apple using cheap drones to assemble all it's products but including one with each PC bought might be pushing it.
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Who cares if it is a hot/cute Chinese gal. ;)
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Who cares if it is a hot/cute Chinese gal. ;)
Your wife.... The computer wouldn't be the only thing rebooted.
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OK assuming married, but most of us don't even have a gal. :P
Silence of the Support Guy (Score:5, Funny)
"It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it cleans the registry again".
*Shudder*
One Question (Score:2, Interesting)
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A term long accepted by the street to mean a personal computer running some variant of the Windows operating system.
Now and then someone will think it is clever to ask "Derp, are they not all personal computers? Derp!" in an attempt to sound like, I don't know, some sort of hipster or cool kid something... who the fuck can tell?
Anyway, I hope this helps.
Re:One Question (Score:4, Insightful)
Now and then someone will think it is clever to ask "Derp, are they not all personal computers? Derp!" in an attempt to sound like, I don't know, some sort of hipster or cool kid something... who the fuck can tell?
[applause] That line has long been one of the most irritating bits of pseudo-cleverness found in tech discussions, and it should be met with mockery and scorn at every opportunity.
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And no one I know has. I mean, for reading e-books, watching video while out and about and the like the tablets are pretty good. Though For video or e-mail when out and about I actually prefer my phone as the tablet (7" android 2.3 one that I have) is still too big to carry around most of the time.
For doing work? I know people with iPads too, and they still use their desktops (PC or Mac depending on the person) for most work. Keyboards are key. I have seen one person replace a laptop or pad of paper in meet
Re:One Question (Score:5, Funny)
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What the hell is a PC?
it is a micro computer running MSDOS or Windows with a keyboard designed for 9 to 5 clerical work and a large, legible, display.
It's a usage that took hold among the masses about 30 years back now.
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Re:One Question (Score:4, Interesting)
For me, most are interchangeable except for one thing: Business level machines will have an onboard TPM chipset. With Windows, this is important because I can enable that, flip on BitLocker (saving off the recovery key somewhere safe but secure), and the machine is decently secure. Someone yanking out the HDD will not be able to access data, nor would a MBR compromise yield access to an attacker next boot. Add a PIN to that, and that provides brute force resistance (TPMs add an exponentially increasing delay after 3-4 wrong guesses.)
For some, this wouldn't matter at all, but if one has to run Windows, BitLocker + TPM is probably the easiest set/forget encryption there is for the platform.
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I know a lot of people who do like Laptops over PCs, but I know as many people who like PCs over Laptops due to larger monitors, better keyboards, better mouse movements, and lower price potential.
I haven't seen tablets take off yet though because most people either don't know they exist (who aren't geeks or hipsters) or don't see what the heck they'd do with them. Tablets may have a better chance than netbooks with Apple backing them, but I think it's still a bit soon to tell.
One thing I think many posters
24/7 and for at least 1-2 years soun job security (Score:2)
24/7 and for at least 1-2 years sounds like good job security
I wonder... (Score:1)
What happens when said support person quits?
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Which they will, when you have to deal with the same annoying bitchy customer day after day.
What is so good about this? (Score:2, Insightful)
What happens if the person quits? Or is on vacation/sick when you need support? Or is just plain incompetent?
This seems to be a promise to provide less reliable support then what we have now.
Re:What is so good about this? (Score:4, Informative)
They assign you someone else?
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If they DO go this route, you could expect the positions to be filled with sales/customer service oriented mindsets as well as basic computer skills. You could have a personable rep who is genuinely interested in you, because its
Nightmare (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Nightmare (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyone who has had a little experience with a small company can already imagine the horrors of having to deal with a specific annoying support rep every fucking time they call for help.
Works both ways.
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Working help desk (Score:2)
as logn as it's not call time based as no people s (Score:2)
as logn as it's not call time based as no people skills in dump people off of the phone to get a good call time.
Meet the new drone, same as the old drone. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Meet the new drone, same as the old drone. (Score:5, Interesting)
> Given the turnover in tech support, even an "assigned" drone will likely be
> some random person by the time you need help.
Call centers already assign their employees with fictional names and locations. All they need to do is slap that information in a database for the next representative to use. Unless there's a major difference in accent or sex, it's not like most people would even notice a difference.
HP International support never existed. (Score:2)
I am surprised HP has 'support' at all. Some years ago family member bought a hp laptop. He used the online help im feature once, and since he was not an american was told no help was available via the oem of windows that hp 'insist' on providing and not customising for the eu.
His next pc wont be from HP for some reason
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PCs aren't going away (Score:1)
Tables and phones supplement PCs, not replace them.
HP was foolish to suggest their PC business had no value publicly while at the same time trying to sell it off. They bungled the Palm/WebOS purchase. They dropped billions simply to show up late to market with nothing new to offer. If they used it as a base but came up with a clever innovation, they might have made an in road into the market.
They've been poorly run basically since the Compaq merger, which is a shame because I prefer HP over Dell, especially
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Because you represent all computer users in the world, right?
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There are other server vendors than HP or Dell... IBM for starters.
The one thing they're good at (Score:1)
When I was working in IT, I greatly preferred dealing with HP's support over Microsoft, Autodesk, etc. I'd call them up, read off the serial number, tell them the CD drive was dead, and they'd send a replacement with a shipping label to send the dead one back. With Microsoft or Autodesk, I had to jump through a million hoops to get any real support. Then I went to work for HP as a software developer and learned to loathe them. The company is good at taking care of its customers, but when it comes to its
Wow, so much hate! (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm surprised at all the negativity. This sounds like basically the same thing as when I worked IT and I had my own rep at the mail-order houses like CDW and PC Warehouse. In practice, did it make a damn bit of difference to me whether my official rep took my order or somebody else did? Nope, not really. All my info, including discounts, etc., was in the computer. But it was nice to have a number to call and a specific person with whom I could leave a message if need be, and to be able to say stuff like, "I need more of those things I got on Friday, but listen, one of them already broke" -- without having to walk through some script with an anonymous sales rep. It was just that slight bit more of a human interaction that made the whole transaction a little bit more pleasant, even though I was intellectually aware that it probably wasn't making what I needed to do much easier by any measurable amount.
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In practice, did it make a damn bit of difference to me whether my official rep took my order or somebody else did? Nope, not really.
Alienware built its reputation on having a specific support group (the "Roswell Team") assigned to each machine it sold, and the techs were both responsive and competent. That level of support created a following of fanatically loyal customers. Then, of course, they were bought by Dell, which proceeded to take a great thing and screw it up in every possible way.
So yeah, it's possible to do it so it does make a difference; it's just that the giant manufacturers don't get why you should.
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Don't forget that Alienware was also fanatically priced.
...something tells me that you won't find an HP Elite notebook selling for $699 on Black Friday, either.
You'll just get a contractor, which is no better. (Score:2)
The only thing that will change is that you're getting a dedicated person. You'll still get someone that's likely to be hired on a disposable basis as opposed to someone that is treated like a long-term investment.
Seen it with the folks that have repaired my Thinkpads, and the contractors had very little respect for the equipment that they were repairing. The only worse fate is to send the machine in for depot service, where things are likely to be broken as much as they are fixed.
Then again, I shouldn't
I can see it now... (Score:2, Funny)
[ 100th call that day, only a few moment from the last one... ]
Customer: "yeah, hi again, so errm, the computer still doesn't seem happy. I don't think it liked the way you said goodbye to it last time. Say it again, but this time with feeling - it is listening..."
Tech: places noose around neck, loads into office paper shredder and presses go...
great idea (Score:2)
Having a single person take care of support issues is a great idea. There are lots of reasons I'd find that appealing, as a business customer (who are the majority of buyers getting HP Elite products).
The most appealing reason, though, would be that I'd communicate with one single person through a given service interaction -- which can often span multiple calls or emails. One of the most frustrating aspects of lowest-cost CS is that every interaction is handled by a different drone, so you end up answerin
How about some competent users? (Score:1)
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When you physically take your car into your German Authorized Dealer, you will get one of a small number of service advisors who will talk with you and perhaps remember you. You can call up and make an appointment with Mr Blow for 9AM as well.
Or.... (Score:2)
Or I could spend a Saturday learning damn near everything there is to know about how to setup computers and their hardware for basic home use, build my own high quality computer out of parts I ordered and put together, and have no one to answer to but myself (and warranty holders) if something breaks. I'm at my own availability 24/7 and don't have to risk getting a "Well what did you think you could do with the low end model? Play flash games? No, you need a high end PC for that."
Note: I'm an experience
Re:Or.... (Score:4, Interesting)
Laptops.
When it becomes possible to pick and choose laptop parts the way you do desktops / servers, PC manufacturers are doomed.
Why? Because the ability for a local IT guy to build you exactly what you need / want greatly supersedes the powers of the market research guys at the big corps.
Warranty and tech support is the only hold-up at that point.
If the people who make laptop motherboards / cases / video cards would standardize on a layout / form factor, we'd be doing it already.
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Why do you think they haven't done just that?
Can't sell you a replacement battery at $139 + S&H when its the same model for every 14" laptop on the market...
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Because the manufacturers for various laptop components haven't discovered yet how profitable it might be to sell directly to techs. Cutting out the middle man is almost always more profitable for the people on either side. The manufacturers get a higher profit per board, and techs get lower prices.
And it's not like it would be difficult to design a form factor for laptops. Create two, maybe three board sizes, LaptopTX-XL (Desktop Replacement, as XL = Extra Large), LaptopTX (Standard), and MicroLaptopTX (Sm
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Do a Siri type app (Score:2)
Good god man... (Score:2)
I can't even commit to paper or plastic and now you want me to deal with *this?*
Let Me Fix That For You (Score:2)
"You'll have a specific entry-level drone in Argentina who reads off a script and tells you to reboot the machine."
It will be so much more satisfying that way.
but isn't rebooting actually a good solution (Score:2)
for a large number of computer problems?
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Yes, the problem is rebooting is something you should try before you call tech support, and the person staffing the support number should known now to fix issues beyond doing this (or reformatting the machine) and they generally do not.
They need to find a way to bring it back to the US (Score:2)
Part of the issue with outsourcing the manufacturing is that they won't innovate in manufacturing anymore. many companies have gotten a leg up on the competition by figuring out a new way to make the same thing. You don't do that unless you actually make it and are familiar at a visceral level with how it is built.
I'm not saying have a huge factory. Just something large enough that they're still doing a little manufacturing. Enough to understand it. enough to play with it. enough to innovate with the materi
HP heard about the new-fangled company OriginPC! (Score:2)
I'm not employed by them, but I am fiercely loyal to the brand and they pretty much have me as a customer for life...because of the very thing that HP is trying to sell here.
When I first got Tiny, my 11.5lb beast of a laptop that plays Crysis maxed out without flinching, it was having an issue where it would randomly BSOD. "ZoMg ItS wInDoEs!!!!111"...no it's not - my Dell XPS M1730 BSOD'd once in two years of running Win7. Having Tiny BSOD several times in a single sitting...not the same thing. So I called
This would get me as a customer (Score:2)
Depending on how it is implemented, this would get me as a customer.
I am very, very pragmatic when it comes to large purchases. I usually buy cheap refurbed, last-gen computers because of the huge cost savings. I expect to get what I pay for, therefore I put up with a lot of crap from my hardware.
For support like that, I am willing to move to the full priced high end. I need to be confident that my stuff will last longer.
This would also be great for my parents/grandparents.
-d