Now That's What I Call AMERICAN Customer Support

First it was a Netgear router at the office, and then my Dell laptop and now Magellan /Navteq software. When you call to order a product, you get are routed to an American who speaks English as their primary language, but once you put out the money...whammo, no more American customer service. It's called outsourcing, and I don't like it.

I am not (try not to be) prejudiced against people from India. I'll be the first to admit I cannot come close to speaking Kannada, Hindi, Gujarati or any of the other host of languages spoken in India (click on map to the right to enlarge) as well as tech support Indians speak English, but when I'm trying to get help, it frustrates me to have to ask someone to repeat what they said three times so that I can understand them. It's not the tech support person's fault...they are offering assistance in their second language, and it's their job. That's fine...what I don't like is companies like Netgear, Dell and Magellan using people who speak English as a second language to offer me help. And with Netgear and Magellan, I spent 75% of my time trying to explain what the problem was and how I knew what the problem was. They kept reading from a script instead of listening to what I was saying. "Try this. Try that. Now do this. Do steps 1-3 again." And I keep saying, "I did that and this is what happened. So I did this. And then I did that. Here is why I think this is the problem." And they repeat the script they just read. And 45 minutes later, they diagnose the problem (exactly as I had when I first called) as if they had arrived at the conclusion by themselves.

Again, I realize these people are doing their jobs as required of them by their bosses and I understand English is a second language. But I also understand that these companies KNOW that this irritates customers like myself and that is why EVERY sales department (at least the three I mentioned above) is based in the United States. When they want to sell you something, they do not want to make you repeat your question or ask to have the answer repeated. But once you put out the bucks...all subsequent phone calls are sent to India (literally).

Today, I called Magellan because the software that came bundled with my GPS was not compatible with my GPS unit. The first time I called tech support (routed to India), I did not know what the problem was, and although I gave them enough information to figure this out, I had to go through the script. "Blah blah blah blah blah. Now, uninstall the software, reinstall it, do the exact same thing you have tried the past five times and call us back if it does not magically work the sixth time." What else can you do? So I did what they said, and for some strange reason the sixth time turned out exactly like the previous five times...it did not work! So I worked on it myself and did some Googling. Lo and behold, the software I was given was not compatible with my GPS...the files the software exported could not be read on my unit.

For some dumb reason, I thought finding this out was a good thing...I would have something to help the script-reading tech support people in India. WRONG! I even read from the front of the CD case that said the software was only compatible with a different line of GPS units made by Magellan, but that was not in the script. Finally I was told to get the serial number of my GPS unit and perhaps the correct software could be sent. Oops..no, the serial number did not match up with their database. Nevermind that it matched up with the Magellan web page database when I registered it...they were working with a different database. "I will look into this and call you tomorrow" I was told. "Try to find the original receipt" even though I told them it was a gift.

So I got the receipt and waited for a phone call today. This is going to surprise you, but I did NOT get a call today. So I called...and was promptly routed back to India. Again, we went back to script reading. Everything he said, I said "Here is my case #. We did this on the phone already." Finally this last script-reader came to the conclusion that I had the wrong software and gave me another number to call where I could 'upgrade' my software to the correct version. I asked if I was going to have to purchase the software that was originally supposed to ship with my GPS unit, and he said something about getting a rebate.

Well, I was not too happy, but I called sales. I don't know why I was surprised since it was the sales department (the first people you talk to if you are considering purchasing a product), but the lady I spoke to was American speaking American English. I took less than two minutes to explain my problem (the same one I had been explaining to Indian script-readers for two hours the past three days). When she asked for my phone number and address my heart sank because I thought she was trying to check warranty information, and I was afraid that the friend who had given me the GPS may have registered it under his name. 20 seconds after taking my info, she said, "OK, I'll get that out to you." I had to clarify, "You are going to send me the correct software for my unit...at no cost? Wow, you just made my day. I've spent two hours over the last three days talking to technical support trying to explain to them that I have the wrong software, and just like that you have solved my problem." Her comment? "I'm sorry you were given the wrong software and had to take all of that time. I'm sending it UPS and you should have it within the next 7 days."

Now that's what I call AMERICAN customer support!

- Rob