Growing pains hit Dell's customer service By John G. Spooner CNET News.com February 20, 2004, 4:00 AM PT

Dell continues to win market share and turn out record quarterly profits, but two recent surveys show that the company has slipped, when it comes to a more subjective measurement: customer service.

According to two new reports that rate the satisfaction of PC buyers, Dell's scores have declined in recent months. While statistically, the results are not catastrophic for a company that prides itself on offering superior service, it's a potentially troubling trend Dell executives acknowledge and have taken steps to address.

The March issue of Consumer Reports, which came out last week, included a survey of 4,100 consumers, who gave Dell 62 points out of a possible 100 for its support on desktop PCs. Although it still managed to top competing brands Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, which scored 54 and 51, respectively, Dell's rating represented a decline from the magazine's last desktop support survey, published in June 2003, in which it received a 64.

Apple Computer led the pack, with 74 in the recent survey, while Gateway scored 61. A score of 80 would mean that respondents were very satisfied, while 60 is described as fairly well satisfied. Differences of more than four points in the survey were meaningful, the report said.

While the most recent changes appear incremental, Dell's overall tech support scores for desktop PCs have dropped substantially since 2001, said Jeff Fox, senior project editor at Consumer Reports. Dell scored a rating of 74 in December 2001 and a 65 in September 2002.

Dell's score has "stayed down and hasn't gone back up," Fox said. "We can't say why...but they haven't solved whatever problem that brought it down, whether that's increased volume (or) outsourcing. It's probably a number of different factors."

Consumer Reports' findings are echoed by data from research firm Technology Business Research (TBR). The Hampton, N.H., firm's fourth-quarter report on support satisfaction among corporate buyers, published this week, shows that Dell's satisfaction rating slipped to 80.98, down from 83.4 in the third quarter of 2003.

..complete article at: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5162141.html

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