I purchased a laptop from Costco not only because of their return policy (that I hoped not to have to use for this) but also because they offer technical support - well, that's what they call it.
This evening, I could not get an item to work, so, for the first time, I called what they call tech support. I fully expected good service. Maybe I was lulled into thinking that because the service people at Danville Costco are always helpful and pleasant. I expected more of the same, especially since the problem appeared to be something that a minor fix would take care of. Probably a small software glitch. But, from tech support, I received no support, no help and spent a long time talking to people who had no clue on how to even begin to help. It was appalling how little they know and how very little they care whether or not they are helpful.
To begin with, each time the automated voice said that I was being connected to support, the call would drop off. I called again and again and again. Finally got through to someone I could barely hear who repeated her name & badge # continuously as I told her I couldn't hear her very well. Since she wouldn't response to any of my questions or anything I was saying, and seemed robotic at best, I hung up and repeated the process until I again got through to someone. So much time went by, in addition to all the time I had tried myself to troubleshot the problem.
This next person spent a lot of time asking questions to identify me and the purchase. That went on and on. Finally, she seemed ready to help. However, she had no knowledge regarding computers, it seems. She put me on hold for almost 3 minutes while very loud music played, returned to the phone, asked me to search for one item. That got us nowhere and she told me there was nothing she could do. She was done. I asked to speak to someone with more advanced knowledge.
After a very long hold, I got Thagyma (not sure of spelling, badge #4380019) who didn't have more advance knowledge (and appears to be at the same level as the previous person I had spoken to) . We kept spinning our wheels as she said to try this and that. It was so obvious we weren't going to get anywhere. Finally she had me run a system test, which I did. This was to check the hardware even though it appeared to be a software problem. Once it was running, a message said it would take over an hour to complete. She told me to call back when it has finished running. We had already been at this so very long and it was now 9pm. They close at 10pm. Obviously I wasn't going to be able to call them back tonight. I don't think it really matters as I don't believe they are capable of fixing any problem. She should have told me this process would take an hour when she had told me to do it. She replied that she hadn't known how long it would take. I believe that because she didn't seem to know anything about computers or how they run.
So, I feel their idea of tech support is a mean joke. It seems to be nothing in reality besides a marketing ploy. I'm so disappointed. Yes, I still have time to return the laptop. But I'd rather have a laptop that works properly. Their advertisement that they provide tech support is a lie. They should be ashamed. read more