An interesting byproduct of the GripeLog being open to anonymous posts is that I seem to have accumulated a pretty healthy collection of comments from posters purporting to be Dell employees in India and elsewhere around the world. Of course, I can't verify that they all actually were from Dell employees, but following the tone over time shows a trend that lends some verisimilitude to their statements.
Back about eighteen months ago, the comments started off pretty apologetic about the Dell support gripes readers were airing. A poster who said he or she had just resigned after six months with Dell support in Hyderabad said that Dell technicians would sometimes know right off that a problem required a replacement component, "but we are bound by company policy which prohibits us from dispatching components until we finish the script given us by Dell management," the poster wrote. "I basically felt really bad in situations wherein I had to make really old people open up their computers, and I did in fact meet people on the phone who would be in tears if we told them that they need to open their machines. But I want you people to know the level of pressure and stress a tech support guy has ... from the top management. You cannot even imagine our plight."
By less than a year ago, though, the tone had definitely changed a bit. "You have problems with page-cannot-be-displayed, cannot-connect-to-Internet, and blue screen errors?" a Panama-based Dell tech responded to a reader's description of support woes. "They are all Windows-related problems, and guess what? Dell is a hardware company. If you have problems with Windows not running properly, blame Microsoft and call them to fix it. But most users don't like to do that, because they charge money. Instead, they prefer to call Dell and blame Dell tech support and sales and customer service because they have problems with Windows."
Shortly thereafter another poster took an even more decidedly plague-on-all-your-houses approach. "I too am working in Dell tech support," the poster said, saying his job had been to route calls to the proper support group. "The great thing is that tomorrow is my last day here. Great because this by far has been one of the least gratifying and frustrating positions I have ever held. Yes, there are extensive and considerable problems with Dell tech support. Their outsourcing to India is not even the least of them. Every day is a continuous assault by absolutely clueless and irate customers and an ineffective phone-based support system that is enough to make anyone crack. I'm saying that it all sucks: Dell's systems and their support and the morons who purchase them ... So many times I've had to restrain myself from telling customers who are whining about what a piece their Dell is that, hey, guess you should've bought a Mac. Goodbye, Dell!"
More recently, a Dell support tech in Mumbai, India had his own gripes for people who gripe about offshore support. "Honestly, I don't like Dell as a company, at least most of the time, because of their policies and other stuff that affects my job," the tech wrote. "But when it comes to computers, you are the worst people to deal with. I don't blame other people whom I've spoken with who don't know much about computers, especially your old folks, they're cool and sweet people. And they admit that they don't know hell about computers, which is my pleasure to educate them with some basics. They are not stupid; the REAL stupid people are like the ones who posted comments here. Hey, don't get mad at Dell because of your ignorance, c'mon ... And as for Dell and other companies outsourcing to Asia and costing you jobs, well you know what, Michael Dell and the rest would rather pay an Indian or a Panama guy 20 cents per hour that the guy will spend on feeding his family every day than an 18-year-old American intern 20 dollars per hour that he will spend on Budweiser in one night. Any company that wants to survive is doing the exact same thing. That is how it is and it will not change, so shut up and live with it."
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12:47:29 AM 
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