I recently had a computer problem that caused me to consider the nature of customer service and of business itself in a technology-driven world.  It is a story of an industry behemoth, a local shopkeeper, and my not so surprising experiences with both.

My story begins with a relatively minor problem experienced at one time or another by many PC users.  In conducting searches for information and clicking on the sought for links, I experienced occasional redirections to sometimes germane, but often completely unrelated websites.  Additionally, sometimes while browsing the Web, a new browser would suddenly pop up for no apparent reason.

Advised that some type of malware was infecting my computer, I was concerned that the privacy of my system might have been compromised and further, wondered how that might have occurred since my system was protected by Symantec Corporation’s Norton Internet Security suite.  Attempting to get to the root of the problem, I ran a full scan of my system.  The scan identified only a low threat level tracking cookie.

Determined to resolve the issue, I accessed the software’s help and support link.  Following the prompts and inputting information as necessary, I ultimately was directed to contact them via a toll-free telephone number.  Following an automated system greeting and a number of minutes on hold, I spoke with a pleasant woman with a distinct accent.  In response to my question regarding her location, she confirmed my suspicions that I was contacting a facility in India.

Now, I don’t want to suggest that I viewed this as a problem.  In fact, it was not.  All eleven people with whom I spoke during my four-day ordeal with Symantec were extremely polite and spoke perfect English.  I only mention this in light of comments I will make further on in this article.

To resume my story, my initial contact in India assured me that the problems I was experiencing were quite common and that they could be resolved in 30 to 45 minutes by a technician who would access my computer remotely, isolate the security threat, and remove it.  And, she indicated that for just $99.99, I would be connected immediately to a technician who would promptly fix my computer.

Clearly, English-speaking Indians have a distinctly different understanding of the meaning of the word “immediate” than do Americans.  After providing my credit card information and waiting on hold for 10 to 15 minutes, I was connected “immediately” to Hanif Pathukalam, the first of a number of technicians with whom I would ultimately speak.

As would all of his successors, Hanif began by asking and reiterating to me my telephone number, email address, and case number – number by number and letter by letter.  For each letter, he would provide a word beginning with that letter – “r as in “ridiculous.”  Even with all the painstaking reiteration, the first person with whom I spoke somehow input the wrong email address.  And so, I could not receive an emailed confirmation, receipt, or any other document.  Apparently the designer of their system was perfect, for any information entered into it could not be changed.

But, Hanif went right to work.  He informed me that he would place me on hold for three to five minutes to research the issue and that upon his return he would access my system and fix the problem in 30 to 45 minutes.  Ten minutes later, Hanif returned and instructed me in connecting my computer with his.  Once connected, our communication was done via messaging on the computer.  Four hours later, I received a message that he had isolated and removed a virus and that I would suffer the pop-ups and redirects no more.  In demonstrating the fix, he did searches on Google and Bing.  The computer operated flawlessly.  I sent a message suggesting that I would like to attempt a search on Yahoo.  When I did so, I was redirected and up popped a new browser.  Undeterred, Hanif informed me that the problem must be with Yahoo.  At that point, I asked for his supervisor.

Following 20 more minutes on hold, I spoke with Ghanashyam Gondhali who indicated that he would assign another technician who would fix the problem.  He did, however, indicate that it might take a couple of hours.  Placed on hold, I next spoke with Rahul Tawde who again asked for and repeated letter by letter and number by number my name, telephone number, email address, and case number.  With that critical, yet incorrect information out of the way, he took control of my computer.  After several hours when I could wait no longer, he informed me that he would call me at 10:00 AM my time the next morning.

At 10:45 AM the next day, I called the Virus Removal Department telephone number.  Following an initial ten minute wait, five minutes going over my critical case information (again, I indicated that the email address as they transcribed it was incorrect), and a 20 minute hold, I spoke again with Rahul.  Several hours later, Rahul informed me that he would be unable to repair the computer, but that he would pass me on to a supervisor.  Putting me on hold for three to five minutes, I sometime later that morning spoke with Mukesh Shivmurti Tiwara who, with an air of confidence, indicated that he would indeed fix my computer.  By this time, I had clients who were scheduled to arrive and would need my computer.  We agreed that Mukesh would call me at 5:00 PM and, since I had a meeting to attend that would take several hours, he could have uninterrupted access for the 5 hours he indicated that he would require to complete the fix.

At 5:25 PM, I called the Virus Removal Department and, after providing and listening to my repeated case information, finally made contact with Mukesh at 5:45 PM.  After quizzing Mukesh on his concept of time, I established contact with his system and left my office.  Unable to answer my phone during the meeting, I received a voicemail from Mukesh at about 9:00 PM indicating that he had done what he could but was unable to resolve the issue.  He promised to call me in the morning at 10:00 AM.

10:15 AM the following morning again found me contacting the Virus Removal Department, going over my case information in detail, and waiting on hold to speak with Mukesh.  I subsequently spoke (following holds of five to ten minutes each) with Gavrav Kumar, Madhu (whose last name I did not take down), and Jenny Jay.  At this point, it was decided that my case would be resolved by a member of their “elite team.”

Enter Irubayaraj John.  John, as he preferred to be called, was perhaps the only person with whom I interacted whom I actually had the inclination could be of assistance.  So much for gut reactions!  John worked on my computer for a number of hours on that day.  When I messaged him that I had to leave, he indicated that he would call me at 10:00 AM on the succeeding morning.  At 10:15, as I was on hold for John, I found out that he actually did call me, but not on the number upon which we had agreed.

When we finally connected, John informed me that we would need to repair MS Windows in order to fix my computer.  He instructed me put the Windows CD into the appropriate drive and provided me step-by-step instructions.  Once the process was underway, John would hang up and call me back to check the progress.  On his second callback, he advised me to start the process again as it had appeared to stall.  On his third callback, he instructed me to terminate that process and restart my computer.  Hearing a tinge of panic and resignation in his voice, I realized that we now had a much more significant issue than that with which we started.  In fact, my computer would no longer boot up.

At this point, I asked him if there was anything more that he or anyone at Symantec could do for me, a query to which he responded in the negative.  Following a relatively short hold, I spoke with an extremely apologetic customer relations manager, Jay Miranda.  Four days after beginning the process, my situation had deteriorated from bad to much worse.  Informing Jay that we could discuss this later, I determined to seek out the local computer technician who had actually built this system to assess damage and suggest a solution.  The only reason I had engaged Symantec in the first place was that their service promised a quick fix for which I would not have to leave my office.  Live and learn!

I called Pritek Technologies, a small computer shop, on Somerset Street in North Plainfield, New Jersey.  Pleasantly surprised that the owner Richie was there, I explained my problem and indicated that it would only take a few minutes for me to traverse the short distance from my office to his shop.

When I got there at about 2:30 PM, Richie immediately dropped what he was doing and began work on my computer.  He indicated that the solution was to recover my data (or as much as he could), do a low-level reformat that would eradicate any infection along with everything else on the drive, and then reinstall Windows, my programs, and the recovered data.  The process, he indicated, would consume a minimum of five to six hours.  Regardless of the time, however, he committed to providing same-day service so that I would have the use of my computer the following business day.

When I called him at about 8:45 PM that evening, he informed me that he had recovered my data, reformatted the drive, and was in the process of reinstalling Windows.  I arrived at his store about an hour later and waited as he completed the “true” fix on the machine.

Leaving with my restored system at 11:45 PM, I reflected on the poor quality of the service that I had received from Symantec, the world’s largest maker of personal computer security software, and the outstanding response of a small, one-plus person business establishment.  David had once again outgunned Goliath.

And, the bottom line is that my business is clearly more meaningful to Richie than to Symantec.  At Pritek, I have personal contact with the owner of the establishment.  At Symantec, I am just a case number and email address (incorrectly entered) to the presumably overworked technical staff.

Additionally, I believe that something is lost when a company like Cupertino, California-based Symantec outsources its technical and customer services to another country.  Would Americans have been more caring, respectful of my time, or resourceful in resolving my technical problems than the Indians with whom I dealt?  Perhaps not.  Yet, whether the difference be cultural or language based, I believe that Americans would have been more fastidious in keeping their callback commitments at the very least.

In the final analysis, the level of customer service received depends upon the knowledge, training, and integrity of the person providing it.  As technology further isolates the customer from those providing the services, the quality of customer service, I believe, will continue to decline, particularly in the case of large corporations for which each customer represents an increasingly insignificant proportion of revenue.  In my future dealings, I will seek out, whenever possible, a small local business with whose owners and representatives I can connect on a personal level and in whom I can have a sense of trust.