Comments on: HP responds to 'Why I love public transportation and hate HP'

By: David Spark

David Spark — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:32:54 +0000

So many customer service operations give you a wait time estimation. That information is an amazingly powerful tool in customer service. Once I have that information, there are so may decisions I can make. By withholding that information, I'm lost, confused, and get increasingly angry. And where am I directing that information?...HP. That's why it's so bad to put people on hold for that long without giving them a true time estimation.

With that said, a personal contact I made at HP has been very helpful getting my wife's computer fixed and I'm grateful for that.

By: How Dell handles customer service and sales through social media | Socialmedia.biz

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:55:56 +0000

[...] I had that I published here before (“Why I love public transportation and hate HP” and HP’s response). Granted, I caught him off guard and didn’t tell him the full story, but I was looking for a [...]

By: @MightyCasey

@MightyCasey — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:05:15 +0000

This sounds very similar to Dell's behavior after they achieved desktop/laptop market dominance. Their customer service eroded to the point that "Dell sucks" became a meme. Dell's fall led to HP's rise, when HP realized there was a huge market void - they filled it, and now HP sucks. I see it as a failure to build an environment and process(es) that recognize that the folks on the other end of the phone - be they single purchasers, or corporate procurement officers - are the money train.

I know that I feel less, um, fornicated when someone talks to me quickly about a tech support issue, even if I have to make a few calls over a few days. Asking someone to wait two hours, and then giving them the non-answer answers HP's Schilling gave you, is stupid. Particularly stupid, since you're what I call a "message amplifier" - don't piss off a storyteller. We never quit...

By: @MightyCasey

@MightyCasey — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:05:15 +0000

By: HPInsider

HPInsider — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:34:26 +0000

Mark Hurds HP is all about smoke and mirrors. The companies PR guys are trying to give you a positive spin, but from the inside I see the customer service culture crumbling.

The reason - this all comes down from Mr Hurd. He disrespects his employees and his customers; the only thing that matters to him is his bonus.

If you want better service from HP then help us get rid of Mark Hurd.

By: David Spark

David Spark — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:44:04 +0000

JD:

Thanks. What I feel that happens when people are kept in the dark about when they're going to receive customer service, is they start creating their own story. Of course the company is trying to get them to a customer support person, but without information as to what's happening, we inevitably start trying to figure things out, get frustrated, and get angry. You have to think about the situation the person is on the other line. If you can't deliver the service to the person right away, what can you do for that person in terms of information, so they don't let their imagination and frustration run wild? In fact, I would sacrifice speed of service for information as to when I was going to receive service.

By: JD Lasica

JD Lasica — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:52:44 +0000

David, good post.

I'm a big fan of HP, know a number of people on the executive team there and suspect they're dedicated to providing the best customer support possible. At the same time, I think HP could benefit from some additional authenticity and transparency into their internal processes, as this episode suggests.

In this era of cost-cutting, adequate customer support has been one of the first things to go, and we should remind companies that if they don't stand behind their products, they shouldn't expect us to do so, either.