Can Their Tech Support Save Us? - $1500 PC Secret Shopper 2 Part 3

[jakkuh_t]

Thanks to dbrand for sponsoring Secret Shopper 2! Check out the new limited edition LinusTechTips skin drop at https://dbrand.com/LinusDropTips

 

It's finally time again for PC Secret Shopper - where we document the entire experience of ordering a gaming system from your favourite PC system integrators. In this part, we trial their tech support with a routine memory issue.

 

 

[DildorTheDecent]

Sarah pls be gentle.

[mariushm]

I'm curious, didn't Dell sell you guys Premier warranty for some extra money, with on site service ?

Looks like they  just sent her to some Indian datacenter where they're reading answers to questions and they probably have a guide with wrong pictures (maybe another G5 build with motherboard that also had video outputs).

 

edit ... just finished watching... Good job for Maingear and the HP chick , looks like they know their stuff.  The other guy that finally helped here seemed knowledgeable as well.

 

 

[samcool55]

15 minutes ago, mariushm said:

I'm curious, didn't Dell sell you guys Premier warranty for some extra money, with on site service ?

Looks like they  just sent her to some Indian datacenter where they're reading answers to questions and they probably have a guide with wrong pictures (maybe another G5 build with motherboard that also had video outputs).

 

 

 

Yes! Dell should have send someone on-site if remote support failed to fix the issue. Which was the case here. But for some reason they didn't...

Probably because that would mean the remote support guy failed which is probably a penalty or something...

[Yebi]

Maingear was amazing, but I wouldn't give an A++ grade without instructions to enable XMP

[WereCatf]

That last guy definitely earned his pay.

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

damn that was a quick release, usually you guys take like an episode a week, but we're already up 3 episodes in 8 days ? not complaining though 

is it me or there's too much room reverb/echo?

[Dissitesuxba11s]

36 minutes ago, Rohith_Kumar_Sp said:

is it me or there's too much room reverb/echo?

Not just you. It looks like they are in a paint booth which doesn't have the best sound dampening which isn't necessary for a paint booth.

[firemarsh]

1 hour ago, mariushm said:

I'm curious, didn't Dell sell you guys Premier warranty for some extra money, with on site service ?

Looks like they  just sent her to some Indian datacenter where they're reading answers to questions and they probably have a guide with wrong pictures (maybe another G5 build with motherboard that also had video outputs).

 

edit ... just finished watching... Good job for Maingear and the HP chick , looks like they know their stuff.  The other guy that finally helped here seemed knowledgeable as well.

 

 

Same thought here, Dell freaking force a 4 year premium ON-SITE support down their throat and is still asking Sarah to send the PC back?

 

Bad sales rep, overpriced PC, and poor tech support that probably cost hundreds of dollars (which client had explicitly turned down multiple times), what else?

[Rohith_Kumar_Sp]

@LinusTechHow do you guyz call hp for support if you didn't order the pc from HP? becasue in the last video you told you bought it from best buy?

[Kevanness]

WTF Dell, overpriced computer, didn't receive the computer they were supposed to, and bad service.

 

They didn't mention it in parts 2 or 3, but the Dell system is configured with 555-BFQK and 555-BGCK which is WiFi 6 AX1650i, but the computer didn't include wireless as shown in part 2. It also included 803-1341 and 803-1344, so 4 years of "Onsite Service After Remote Diagnosis" and they still have to send it in. It's definitely possible that the onsite service isn't available in Canada but if that was the case they shouldn't have included it in the itemized configuration.

[BaidDSB]

Im never buying anything from Dell.

[FakeNSA]

1 hour ago, mariushm said:

I'm curious, didn't Dell sell you guys Premier warranty for some extra money, with on site service ?

Looks like they  just sent her to some Indian datacenter where they're reading answers to questions and they probably have a guide with wrong pictures (maybe another G5 build with motherboard that also had video outputs).

 

edit ... just finished watching... Good job for Maingear and the HP chick , looks like they know their stuff.  The other guy that finally helped here seemed knowledgeable as well.

 

 

That surprised me too.... Their prosupport level (not a shill, I just deal with them at work) is far more competent than that, and also US based.

I guess they got the extended, but not higher service level warranty? What a rip-off....

[Thievian]

This has been an interesting video seriesvto watch. I hate to be that person but did the ltt group say what they were going to do with the computers they bought? Like are they just going to continue to keep them, or do a giveaway, or something else?

[Slottr]

Is that cowboy bebop I hear in the background

[SolarNova]

And we're back for part 3.

 

1)

Dell.

Ah yes more classic Dell failure. Gotta love that India call center tech support ...not.

Seriously, just stay away from Dell prebuilds lol.

 

2)

HP.

Ok better, sounded like another call center ..possibly same one as Dell ? ...no matter at least it was sorted.

 

3)

iBuyPower

Hold time was waaay to long, 10 minutes MAX, after that its unacceptable.

So this guy obviously knows all the trouble shooting steps ..but he's blasting them all off expecting her to know what to do. Understandable ..but ..not best practice. This is a case of the tech guy really overestimating the abilities of the customer.

 

4)

CyberPower

1st guy ..sounded good ..but then she DC'ed him.

2nd guy ..not so great..but was lead on by her.

3rd guy, sounded much better, more descriptive and headed straight for the RAM. Getting a picture sent for the cables was another nice measure taken, And finally offered replacement panels. So yea. .good show.

 

5)

Origin.

Lol great support ...went straight to the RAM , very descriptive. Good communication, and fast.

But so it should be for the premium price they charge

 

6)

Maingear.

Only one thats actually checked the particular system, which is good. Go through step by step very clearly , even QOL techniques like laying the PC down on its side. Even how to quickly navigate the BIOS.. Solid support. well done.

but again, they do charge more. So this is obviously were some of the cost is.

 

 

 

In the end, Origin and  Maingear ..best support ..followed by CyberPower.

ibuypower not as great but got it sorted.

Hp was ..ok but it really sounded like a generic call center so i'd expect ymmv.

and ofc as ever. Dell is utter trash as expected.

[Dissitesuxba11s]

57 minutes ago, Slottr said:

Is that cowboy bebop I hear in the background

They also had it in part 2. I wonder what license you need to play that in a monetized YouTube video.

[eeeee1]

no customer support can save you from a single stick of RAM

[Luscious]

Michael Dell has left the chat LOL

 

Seriously, they should be ashamed of themselves treating their customers that way. Their pushy sales people are already a turn off forcing you to buy shit you don't need or want. Here you have a service rep that cannot even determine what the issue is, let alone provide a fix other than "send it back".

 

Service and support should be local to where the product is sold. The days of outsourcing are over. The penny pinching mentality of companies to place broken English speakers on their phones with little to zero technical knowledge are only going to hurt the ownership experience. You can NEVER get back a lost sale!!! Likewise, horror stories like these tend to stick around, and people don't forget.

 

I have been fortunate - the two Dell XPS laptops I own have never had an issue. I did once buy a very expensive Alienware laptop, but that thing was PLAGUED with such weird hardware issues I ended up returning it pretty quickly, despite the fact that I was thrilled with it's looks, build quality and performance.

 

BTW: When are you guys going to "buy Canadian"??? You've never once even mentioned Eurocom on LTT. I'd like to see you configure and buy a Eurocom laptop and go through the same customer support scenario. I want to know what a company that charges $20,000 for a top end laptop has to offer.

[Spotty]

There's such a big divide between the call centre drones reading off a script and the support staff who actually understand computers.

 

I guess episode 4 will be performance tests and conclusion?

 

3 hours ago, Thievian said:

This has been an interesting video seriesvto watch. I hate to be that person but did the ltt group say what they were going to do with the computers they bought? Like are they just going to continue to keep them, or do a giveaway, or something else?

Hopefully they send the Dell PC back for a full refund.

[TempestCatto]

One thing none of the techs did that surprised me (something I would have done) is to check in Windows to make sure  the full amount of RAM is there.

[Egg-Roll]

This looks safe

 

I must have had 6 heart attacks watching this video.

 

6 hours ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

I wonder what license you need to play that in a monetized YouTube video.

That depends, was it community created or original sound track?(haven't seen the show in years) If community it likely falls under fair use for the person who made it, and they would then own the rights to their recordings (similar to how you can sing or play instruments to your favorite music and post it on YouTube for money) If original some times licensing is cheap for one song or even free so long you have written consent on using it.

[Tamesh16]

6 hours ago, BaidDSB said:

Im never buying anything from Dell.

i am still holding out for alienware, i think their machines are much better than dell and i have had good support for my laptop, but i can see they are slowly taking some of dell practices 

[ageekhere]

Anyone else see the comment from the CEO of maingear in the youtube comments?

 

Wallace Santos

This makes me very proud of my staff! This video highlights the culture that we’ve built within MAINGEAR. It’s of the reasons we only hire true enthusiasts. Thank you again for the opportunity LTT! Now let me go take care of of my guy before you hire him. - MAINGEAR CEO

[Jayraven]

The tech support from Dell was real rough.