Law Office Computing
April 2005
Winton Woods
There’s Good News Tonight!
This article was supposed to be a follow up on last month’s brief survey of the new Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (pdf) and the way that it can lead you to a paperless office very quickly and inexpensively. As I was just starting to write the article I received a phone call that was the culmination of a good news story that I want a share with you. The paperless office has been a long time coming and it can wait one more month.
Bad News First—Dell Computer Corporation
But first the bad news. Contrary to what their PR people say, Dell Computer Corporation is still using offshore technical support for its new computers. Apparently you can buy upgraded support that allows you to talk to qualified people in the United States but if you take pot luck you may end up with an unqualified person offshore. Dell has always been highly regarded for the quality of its technical support but my experience with my most recent Dell purchase has been nothing short of terrible. Long story short, I bought a new high speed Dell WorkStation and had problems with it from the git-go. I spent a few hours diagnosing the problem and I came to the conclusion that the hard drive itself was defective. I called Dell support and spent 45 minutes listing to elevator music before a support person came on the phone. I told the person what I had discovered and why I believed the hard drive was defective. He refused to accept my analysis and refused to send me a new hard drive until he “diagnosed” my problem himself. I hung up and called the ABA Desk and ultimately was connected with a wonderful young woman in Texas who said she would straighten everything out after she got back from a hunting trip with her husband. She called me back in a few days and told me that she had “upgraded” my problem and that I would be able to discuss it with one of the top tech support folks. I was given an 800 number to call which I did. The fellow who answered the phone seemed to be reading computer screens to me as we talked about the problem. After four hours of discussion and literally taking apart my entire computer he arrived at the conclusion that I did not have a hardware problem. Instead, he assured me, I had a software problem and he could fix it. At that point I was tired and wasn’t prepared to argue. At his direction, I went through the process of restoring the boot information on the hard drive. It seemed to work that day but the next morning the hard drive died again. I called my friend at the ABA desk and pleaded with her to please have somebody send me a new hard drive. She said she would and she did and the hard drive worked fine and continues to do so. The good news is that the people at Customer Support are located in Texas and have access to the inner workings of the Dell Computer Corporation. The bad news is that much of the initial technical support now offered by Dell comes from people like the fellow who made me take my computer apart and put back together . He appeared to have very little technical training and a limited capacity to even read what was on his computer screen. I finally was so frustrated that I asked the tech guy where he was. He told me he was in Manila. Suddenly the vision of low paid and low skilled offshore tech support raised its ugly head. This is not the first time that this has happened with Dell and I have made a decision that I will no longer purchase Dell equipment when I can find comparable equipment from a company that offers skilled tech support based in the United States. Of course that decision is an individual one that is fraught with political and moral implications. I don’t intend to preach to you about it. I just offer to inform you of the facts I know.
The Good News—Newegg.com
Now for the good news. A few months ago I purchased a wonderful Samsung 21in. LCD monitor from Newegg.com, which has become in a very short time the most highly regarded vendor of computer equipment over the Internet. Unfortunately, after a few days my monitor began to exhibit some defects in the screen and I wrote to Newegg about a replacement. I have to say that my initial e-mail inquiries were not very effective but when I finally was able to reach a human being on the phone in Newegg customer service I got results in a hurry. The new monitor arrived in a couple of days and it worked beautifully.
But wait there’s more. Between the time that I bought my first monitor and the time my replacement was shipped there was a $75.00 price drop that Newegg credited back to me. I didn’t even have to ask. It just happened! What a deal I thought and then I found a $100.00 rebate program on the Internet! My lucky week, I thought. I filled out the rebate form and send it on to Samsung. When my check didn’t arrive I contacted Newegg and they said they would take care of it. The next day I received a phone call from the Newegg customer service desk telling me that in fact the rebate program was for a different model than the one that I had purchased. However, said William Lazaro, the man from Newegg, “I’m sure you bought this monitor in part because of the rebate and even though Samsung won’t give you the rebate Newegg will give you a credit.” To say I was impressed is an understatement. I felt like I was dealing with my local Farmall tractor dealer back in Indiana, but I had to tell William that finding the rebate program was pure serendipity and had nothing to do with my decision to buy the monitor. I thanked him and went back to my work.
I wanted to tell you this story because it has become such a rare experience in the online world. I have found Newegg to be completely deserving of its very high ranking both in terms of the quality of its products and its aggressive competitive pricing. But most important is its integrity and concern for its customers. William Lazaro didn’t sound like a Hoosier but he sure is one in his heart!
You can’t go wrong with Newegg but the list of companies I can say that about seems to be getting very short. I believe that companies like Newegg deserve our support and the companies like Dell that shortchange us and cut corners by using rude, incompetent offshore support ought to be condemned. I can’t do much except just stop buying from those companies.
Next month I will continue to tell you about my uplifting journey toward my paperless office. It has been a very long trip, lasting 15 years or more, but it is finally coming to a successful end. I have talked to a couple of other lawyers in Arizona who have been able to accomplish the same thing using a variety of tools. I would love to hear from you before I finish the article. If you have any experience to share please let me know at wintonwoods@mail.com.