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Survey Shows Dell Leads PC Industry in Satisfactory Customer Service

Posted on: Wednesday, 9 July 2003, 06:00 CDT

Jul. 10--Dell Computer Corp. continues to lead the PC industry in customer service, while Hewlett-Packard Co. can't seem to make up any ground, according to poll results to be released Thursday.

Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, along with Apple Computer Inc., got high marks by shipping products that work right out of the box, according to PC Magazine's annual customer satisfaction survey.

"If you don't need support as often, if you don't need repairs, then you're going to be more satisfied," said Ben Gottesman, executive editor of the magazine, which will publish its findings in the July 22 issue.

Computer industry executives consider the readers' poll an important benchmark of their work with customers.

Survey respondents blasted H-P for shipping PCs that failed to connect on first try with other devices and with software. The California-based computer maker hasn't been able to use its merger last year with Houston's Compaq Computer Corp. to improve its rankings.

PC Magazine's results don't necessarily jibe with H-P's own research, but the information is still useful, H-P spokesman Roger Frizzell said. The company is hard at work on ways to improve customer service, and has added a toll-free number, better online support and Spanish-speaking representatives in recent months, he said.

"Customer experience is a huge initiative within H-P," Mr. Frizzell said. "Both independent companies had a focus there, but never to the degree I'm seeing it now."

Even with a huge lead over its biggest rival, Dell needs to be careful, Mr. Gottesman said. Customers are complaining more about talking to service representatives who don't seem to understand their problems or can't communicate effectively.

Dell, like big companies in the banking and telecommunications industries, has sent some of its customer service jobs overseas to India, where trained representatives can take calls from around the world.

But the move to India has fueled an increasing number of complaints about customer service reps who couldn't understand American accents or be understood by callers, Mr. Gottesman said.

As the world's biggest computer seller, Dell gets the brunt of those complaints. The company rigorously screens job candidates in the United States and abroad for language skills and will continue to improve, said spokeswoman Jennifer Davis.

"We're going to train people, no matter where they're located, to be the best," she said.

Apple holds only a tiny portion of the PC market and just barely got enough responses to be included in the magazine's survey this year after missing last year's cut. The computer maker also won high marks for the functionality of its products, but its tech support service was considered average.

Toshiba's notebook computers rated highly, except among business users. Gateway Inc. and eMachines Inc. scored poorly in many categories, though both are working hard to improve their ratings, Mr. Gottesman said.

The rising desktop PC star was ABS Computer Technologies Inc., a tiny Whittier, Calif., firm whose customers squeezed in enough praise of the company to place it alongside Dell and Apple.

Dell and Apple also led the rankings for server computers.

H-P may not have fared well in PCs, but it blew away all competitors in printers, scoring high marks in nearly every category from inkjet to color laser to networked business printers.

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To see more of The Dallas Morning News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dallasnews.com.

(c) 2003, The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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