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Support. Quite simply, Dell Business* divisions have the best assisted and help yourself support of any PC and server vendor. Whether I am looking for a device driver or need a part replaced, Dell never disappoints. This morning, I came into my office to find my <5 month old computer *whirring* loudly. I have seen this symptom many times and it always precedes a fan failure. A quick foray into the case revealed that the video card fan has spun a bearing.

Of late, I have used Dell chat at http://support.dell.com and the service is fantastic. There are no hold times, no bad phone connections and the time to resolution is cut dramatically. Here is how my chat went this morning:

• 8:48 am - chat client opened
• 5 seconds later - Tech Scott greets me and confirms my service tag number
• 8:52 - I have explained the problem, Scott asks if I have definitely isolated the issue to the fan. I have by unplugging the power briefly and the whirring stops. Scott begins the paperwork for a replacement part.
• 8:55 am - Scott has given me a case number and confirmation of the order. We part ways.
• 8:56 am - I instantly have a record of the entire chat in my email, along with another email confirming the shipment and instructions on returning the defective part.

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In 8 minutes, I have my issue resolved and I can bet that Monday morning the new part will be here to replace the defective one.

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In 8 minutes, I have my issue resolved and you can bet that Monday morning the new part will be here to replace the defective one. Now compare that experience to HP any time I need to find something as stupid as a device driver; I do not even use HP’s internal search but instead have to resort to Google and pray that it finds something relevant on the site. Even then, what I usually find is some insanely bloated piece of software. 150 Megabytes for a printer driver? Come on. With Dell, I could have found the driver (using Dell’s intuitive service tag based system), downloaded and installed it, had a cold beer and then maybe my HP driver would be finished downloading. There is no question why Dell dominates the market.

*Caveat emptor: Notice that I qualified my statements about Dell with the fact that I deal with Dell Business divisions. Unfortunately, Dell has chosen to outsource Dell Home support overseas and my experiences dealing with Dell Home have been horrid, as many others have relayed to me over the years as well. This is by far the number one reason there are any Dell haters out there. When I find someone does not like Dell, I question them about which division they used and the answer is always “Home”. Bar none, always buy from Dell Small Business or another Business division. Divisions at Dell are run as if they are entirely separate entities and you do not have to *have* a business to buy from the Small Business Division. You will get better support, more rugged and better tested hardware and it usually does not cost any more than Home Division. You will thank me when you need support.

Filed under: Business, Technology