Who do readers think provides the best support? Although that's not exactly the question I asked, some readers decided recently to provide the answer: IBM.
When I asked in a recent poll which hardware vendors provide the worst warranty support, several readers decided instead to tell me which one provides the best. "IBM's warranty support is the best I've dealt with in the last three or four years," wrote one reader. "They have an 800 number posted clearly on their web site, and it's easy to find. When I call them it usually takes me less than ten minutes to speak to a technician. Last month the technician who I talked to helped me fix a problem despite the fact that the computer was four months out of warranty!"
In another poll where I asked readers which software company provides the best support, a number of readers scolded me for not including IBM among the candidates. But even those who don't think of IBM primarily as a software company had their own pitch to make for Big Blue. "Without question, the best hardware and software support I have ever received is from IBM," wrote one reader. "Time and time again when I call with a specific issue, it is resolved promptly. If it is a hardware call, they either send a service rep or mail a replacement part without making me 'update all the drivers,' etc. I guess they figure if I called to say that a hard disk crashed and won't boot, it is in fact broken, and highly unlikely that I did something to the drive. If I am calling about an OS problem, I am directed to the correct department, and have even been followed up! A few days later the tech calls to see if I am still having the problem! When was the last time Dell or Microsoft called you to find out if you were still having an issue?"
Although IBM's complex plan to sell its PC division to a Chinese company might give customers reason to ponder the future course of its support offerings, its bigger-iron platforms should be unaffected. "Thankfully, I don't have to make support calls very often, but I recently had to call IBM support as our AS/400 (now eServer iSeries) was not accepting a new digital certificate," wrote another reader. "I dialed the 800 number, the call was opened and immediately transferred to a tech even though it wasn't a high sev issue. The tech stayed with me the entire time it took us to diagnose the problem, download the update, apply it, and then successfully apply the certificate. At that point the problem was fixed but he stayed with me and walked me through adding the cert to the web server config and ensured it was working before we hung up. Exceptionally thorough, always polite and professional, and best of all the problem got fixed quickly with a minimum amount of fuss. With iSeries support at least, the support techs can work with the developers when they need to if a problem can't be easily fixed. I think this makes a huge difference not only in problem resolution but in support staff education."
Do you think IBM is the best in the business at providing support? If not, who is? Write me at Foster@gripe2ed.com and tell me your answer.
11:53:42 AM 
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