Notes from the Field | Robert X. Cringely® » TAG: Consumed by Electronics

January 16, 2008 | Comments: (0)

When customer service goes bad

TAGS: Consumed by Electronics

What do a major PC maker, a security software vendor, a charitable organization bent on bridging the world's digital divide, and the "biggest store on the planet" have in common? They all seem to believe the phrase "customer support" is some kind of oxymoron.

My inbox has been filling up with complaints about customers done wrong -- or just plain ignored -- by the companies they've chosen to do business with. Here are four stories.

Reader J. B. bought a new Vista-powered laptop from Acer, wiped the hard drive, and proceeded to install XP Pro -- or tried to. That's when he discovered that the laptop lacked the hardware and firmware drivers that would allow his new/old OS to load, and Acer had no interest in helping him. (Though other Acer-heads with this problem have found some drivers here.) As J. B. rightly opines:

Let's face it: Vista is an expensive product knowingly sold by M$ with many, many OEM defects. The implied warranty of any manufacturer is to make their new product perform as advertised... or return the customer's money!

Cringester S. M. found a bug in Norton Internet Security 2007 (no surprise there), so he endeavored to get Symantec's tech support to fix it. Three chat sessions and five technicians later, Symantec acknowledged the bug and promised a fix... that never arrived. Then he started getting e-mail from Symantec, asking him if his problem had been resolved. When he responded in the negative, he'd get the same e-mail every two days. Finally he stopped responding, so Symantec sent him a survey asking him to rate their support. You can guess how that one went. He now uses AVG, Zone Alarm, SpyBot, and AdAware to protect his family's PCs.

W. G. went for the One Laptop Per Child's Get 1, Give 1 plan: buy two XO machines for roughly $400, and donate the second to a needy child. We don't know if the needy child got an XO machine, but he definitely didn't. It was last seen at a Fed Ex depot in northern New Jersey, but Wayne can't get a live human at OLPC to respond to any of his queries about tracking the dingus. (UPDATE: After I contacted their PR folk, OLPC sent a message to W. G., saying they were checking with Fed Ex and would ship out a new laptop if the original could not be located.) He's not the only consumer who paid for an XO machine but failed to get his hands on one. Now that the G1G1 offer is over, regular civilians are unable to buy an XO box. Hasn't anybody over there heard the phrase "charity begins at home"?

Finally, longtime Cringe contributor W. P. complains that a robotic parrot he bought as a Christmas gift from Amazon has joined the choir invisible; it has ceased to be, it is pushing up daisies, it is an ex-robotic parrot. (And yes, Monty Python fans, it is a lovely Norwegian Blue [video].) He bought it on sale for $54; Amazon says his only option is to return the broken one and buy a new one at its new price: $100. Apparently Amazon believes a broken bird in the hand is worth two kicks in the tush.

Are you being served? Tell your tales of woe (or wonder) below, or e-mail them to me here. If your contribution makes the cut you'll be in line for Cringe swag.

Posted by Robert X. Cringely on January 16, 2008 06:01 AM

January 09, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Of CES, Billy G., and jumping sharks

TAGS: Consumed by Electronics

So I managed to slip away from the chains that bind me to my InfoWorld hovel and schlep out to Las Vegas for the annual gathering of the geek tribes, otherwise known as the Consumer Electronics Show.

Maybe I'm getting old (ok, that's a given -- I am getting old) but there's something decidedly yawnish about this year's CES. Having assumed the mantle of The Big Show from Comdex at the turn of the millennium, CES is still an anarchic sprawling mess, but attendance seems a little down from last year's 140K. The cab and bus lines aren't as long. Attendees are leaving town faster. Vendors are grumbling about being gouged by the Vegas tourism Mafia. Even the hookers seem more morose.

Worse, there's little new to report. Flatter flat screens, fatter wireless connections, and now you can send YouTube videos directly to your TV, isn't that special? When the most exciting news is the absence of something -- the possible extinction of the HD-DVD format -- something is clearly amiss.

Not that there weren't highlights. Bill Gate's last-ever CES keynote was a snoozer, naturally, but it was preceded by an exceedingly clever video montage of Billy G's last day at work, with cameos by Bono, Jay Z, Jon Stewart, George Clooney, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Gore, and nearly every other Big Hollywood Name who isn't currently doing time. They all pitched in to make fun of the world's second richest man. Thus disproving two cliches: money can buy friends, and Microsoft can do something well, even if it's only poking fun at the boss.

The real action in consumer electronics is in the convergence of mobile devices and groovy new web services. There's a little of that here, but it's lost amidst the booming subwoofers and the barking booth bimbos.

That's why shows like CTIA and smaller confabs like Demo and All Things D are where the really interesting stuff can be found. Steve Jobs had better hope he can pull another rabbit out of his hat at MacWorld -- or at least a 3G iPhone -- or his show may soon suffer the same malaise.

Bottom line: CES has jumped the shark. (Note: The phrase 'jumped the shark' has also jumped the shark.) That doesn't mean it's going away tomorrow. But Comdex went from its highest all-time attendance to being defunct in about four years. An increasingly irrelevant CES could suffer the same fate. And then I'd have to find somewhere else to sneak off to during the second week in January.

Got a different take on CES? Share your views below or email me here. Top contributors qualify for cool Cringely swag.

Posted by Robert X. Cringely on January 9, 2008 03:00 AM