Bad support

I have been a PC tech for over 15 years. This is the second time recently that this has happened to me with Dell Tech Support.

 

On Friday I went to a customers house to check a modem in a Dell Inspiron 2650. The modem, whenever plugged into the phone line would take the whole phone system down. It was as if the modem constantly had the hook open. Unplug the modem and the phones were fine. I have seen this before and it has ALWAYS been a hardware problem (bad modem).

 

I called tech support. After being on hold for over 40 minutes I finally get a so-called tech on the line. I go through all the troubleshooting steps with the tech. After running the modem helper app it came back with an error code 70, no dial tone. He then puts me back on hold for a few. When he comes back he tells me that it is a software setting problem and that I need to talk to software support, which is a pay service.

 

I then proceed to tell him that this is NOT a software problem but a hardware problem as the modem responds correctly to a Windows diagnostic query. It also would knock the phones down when the computer is first turned on with no OS loaded. They still insisted that it was software. I asked to speak to the tech's manager. The manager gave me the same run around and refused to pass me to his superior. I then went ahead and agreed to talk to software support.

 

Software support gave me the same line. Error 70 is a software problem. I had finally had enough of this and told the lady that I would replace the modem with a PCM/CIA Modem and when the laptop gets replaced that I would recommend anything but a Dell. She said that would be fine.

 

I have now replaced the modem with a new one and everything works fine.

 

As for my first experience with support I was on another call where the integrated NIC would disconnect every once in a while. The laptop had just returned from Dell for a bad hard drive. Dell support again said that this is a software problem. I installed a PCM/CIA NIC and have been running for 2 months with no problems.

 

What is it? Is this standard practice to send people to software support when it is an obvious hardware problem? Is this to recover some of the cost of having to replace warranty parts?

 

The only decent support from Dell is for people who shell out extra for on site repair. I feel sorry for that average home user who calls. They get shaked down for extra support costs and probably never get their system repaired.

 

The people whose PC I worked on Friday thanked me because they could see that if they had called they would have gotten the same run around as I did but would have probably had to spend more money and still not have their system fixed.