morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs:
 ·Charter Pipeline
 ·AT&T Southwest
|  premium tech support = downgraded service
are people blind to the fact that with a "premium tech support" system in place, those not subscribing to it have actually been downgraded or lost value on their existing service? it's like not getting a raise year after year. inflation still happens so you are actually losing money/value. |
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axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
·Cox HSI
| When there is competition, tech support service level would factor into it. But, you know most people look at cost and speed, not tech support. But if you've got a choice, pick someone who has the best customer service! My first concerns are censorship, reliability, and upload speed, and fortunately I can choose one that meets my needs. I don't care about tech support, but I think it could be a good differentiator.
Nothing wrong with charging extra money for services, nobody is forcing you to buy them. Premium tech support isn't required to fix something the company did wrong... if it is, then switch to their competitor and tell everyone how crappy they are. |
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs:
·Charter Pipeline
·AT&T Southwest
| premium tech service just gives the providers an excuse to downgrade the standard tech service. why? to make more money, and to give the premium folk their value.
providers then have no reason to maintain or improve standard tech service. follow the money---they will try to get as many people as possible to pay for "better" tech service so standard service will decrease even further.
hate overseas tech support? hate waiting 30 minutes for a human to answer the phone? pay us more money! yes, we used to give you this service for free, but now pay up. we are greedy. |
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openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Navarre, FL | reply to morbo
How is it a downgrade if you are still receiving the same support as you were before? Now if a provider said that they will no longer provide support unless you pay for support, then that would be a downgrade. |
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs:
·Charter Pipeline
·AT&T Southwest
| i'm not receiving the same support as before. downgrades:
1. tech support to india (can barely understand them and they can't solve the problem, in the 3 times i've had the displeasure of dealing with them)
2. hold times have increased
how is that the same? plus, the provider now has a clear financial incentive to provide less to standard tech so that people are so disgusted they will pay for "premium" support. |
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openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Navarre, FL
·AT&T Southeast
·Mediacom
| 1. I'm guessing that tech support was already outsourced to India and was not a direct result of the creation of the "premiere support" option.
2. That is a potentially legitimate complaint. Do you have numbers to show the before and after?
The provider still has a requirement to satisfactorily provide the service for which you are paying. Anything less is default of contract. Anything additional that you may have received in the past is a bonus. I find it difficult to believe that if customers are disgusted with the level of support from a company, that they would be willing to pay more to that company...I know I wouldn't. |
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MrMoody
Liberal Capitalist
join:2002-09-03
Smithfield, NC
 ·magicjack.com
·Embarq
| reply to morbo
said by morbo  :are people blind to the fact that with a "premium tech support" system in place, those not subscribing to it have actually been downgraded or lost value on their existing service? I don't think much service has moved from "standard" to "premium", I think it's more a case of adding more services to "premium" which they would have just refused to deal with before. "We don't support third party routers" is a good example.
And personally I don't care what they do to "standard" support, because I never need or use it except as required to get past the "dummy filter" to report a service problem. The less money they spend on "free" support, the more they can put into infrastructure and network capacity.
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"It is a future in which globalization really does work ... and everybody winds up getting to be part of the third world." - William Gibson |
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