[PLUG] Re: Consumer Choice

[guy1656]

: Most people don't care enough to complain about crap tech support, nor buy
: products from a competitor who has better tech support - and since
: companies want to save money . . . it isn't like this is going to change.

I am looking for a networking card of the sort that will allow me to 'hit' my 
ISP's new tower, about 4 miles away.

But one thing I do first is take each product box to a pay phone bank.

I select two boxes and dial two 800 numbers from the boxes. Whoever answers 
first 'wins' the first round (I still call the second number back,) and I 
evaluate the company based on:

- Can I get out of v-mail jail and talk to a live person?
- What is the hold time for 'prospective customers' versus tech support once 
you've already bought the product ...
- Is the 'live' person intelligible, friendy, and knowlegable?

I then let the companies know I am testing their customer service AS A 
CONDITION of buying one brand in favor of another.

On Topic: I also let them know that I am a Linux user and expect them to have 
Linux drivers on their support disk. No, not on the website only, because if 
I'm trying to CONNECT to the Internet and something doesn't work, I CAN'T 
read the fix & download the driver off the website ... !

- GLL