Dell no longer outsources their tech support for business customers, but they still outsource it for home users.
My worst experience with tech support was with IBM and they weren't outsourced. The mouse port on a motherboard on a work computer was fried out. I call tech support and explain that the mouse port isn't recognizing the mouse in the bios or operating system, that I tried a known good mouse and it didn't recognize that one either. She said "Did you try the original mouse in a different computer?". I said "No, I tried a KNOWN GOOD mouse in this one and it behaved the same way as the original mouse". She asked which type of mouse port it was and I said "PS2". She said "Is that the round one?"
She's tech support! She's supposed to know that there is serial, PS2 or USB and what each one is! I say "Yes, it's the round one". She says "Try switching the keyboard and mouse". I tell her "The mouse port and keyboard port are not interchangeable", but she insists they are. So I do it and tell her that now it can't see the keyboard OR the mouse. This stuff went on for almost an hour when she finally said "You need a new motherboard" DUH!!! They are supposed to send a technician with a motherboard the next day, because we are supposed to have next day on site service for 3 years on this PC. Two days pass, no technician. I call IBM again to inquire on the status. "You don't have onsite tech support on this PC so we didn't dispatch anybody".. Well, then WHERE IS MY MOTHERBOARD! "Oh, we'll send that right away". Next day, I get a processor and fan from IBM via FedEx. I call IBM. "I was supposed to be sent a motherboard and got a processor and fan instead". IBM:"Did you try the new processor to see if it fixed the problem?" Me: "NO, the mouse port is bad, a new processor isn't going to fix it". IBM: "Oh, we'll have the new part out to you tomorrow, send the processor and fan back".
Next day, motherboard arrives. I go to install it and find that you can't take the old processor off without destroying it, but the new processor was already on it's way back to IBM.
Our purchasing department insists we had paid for next day on site support. IBM insisted we didn't.
We trashed that PC.
Grrrrrrrr
Dee