Items tagged with Tech Support
When services are provided for free, it's important to evaluate whether or not there's a major caveat that comes along with it. According to an investigation by CBS News, the free "PC Health" checkup provided by Office Depot carries a big one: you could be encouraged to shell out money to fix a nonexistent problem. If this sounds like a shady mechanic or cars salesman, it's essentially the same thing. Office Depot is accused of telling customers that there are serious issues on their PCs, such as installed malware, even when that's not the case, and can charge them upwards of $180 for the privilege of "removing" it. To test the ploy, CBS purchased a handful of computers and brought them into...
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Microsoft is giving us a lot to be excited about with the release of Windows 10 -- it's a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users, it will introduce a brand new browser (Project Spartan), the return of the Start menu, universal apps, and a whole bunch more. Go ahead and add to the growing list built-in tech support.Now before you go and pshaw this latest amenity, consider that even though you may know your way around Windows and are adept at troubleshooting issues as they arrive, your folks probably fall on the other end of the spectrum. Or your friends. Heck, be excited for anyone that often calls you at bizarre hours because they're having a "computer emergency" and require your pro...
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is bringing the legal hammer down on tech support scammers who trick people into thinking there's something wrong with their computer that they're able to fix, or otherwise offering to speed up your PC. What they're really doing is charging for services that aren't necessary, though sometimes their motives are even more nefarious. Depending on where your web travels take you, the FTC says the newest trick involves scammers luring victims to their websites with pop-ads or web searches. Once there, a bogus program appears to detect several errors with your PC. The people running the scam will ask the victim to call on the phone or grant remote access to their...
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Time will tell, but we might look back one day and talk about how Amazon reinvented tech support. How so? The company's Mayday button that connects Kindle Fire HDX owners to a live tech support agent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. There were no shortage of concerns when Amazon first announced its Mayday feature, such as long wait times and the potential to abuse the service. However, it's been working surprisingly well. According to Amazon, three out of four Kindle Fire HDX customer questions now come via the Mayday button. And despite servicing the vast majority of customer inquiries, the average wait time when pressing the Mayday button is under 10 seconds (9.75 second,...
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Apple may have found another source of revenue, one that would stem from customers who own out-of-warranty products and are in need of technical assistance. Rumor has it Apple will soon start charging these users for online chat support using a brand new web payment system it recently developed. It could be introduced as early as this week. That's according to 9to5Mac, which says the new payment system will also allow users to schedule repairs and replacements. Out-of-warranty support will require a "pay per incident" fee, or users can opt to purchase an extended warranty through AppleCare. Either way, these users will no longer be able to access online chat support for free as they've been able...
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Sprint announced a new tech support service that is designed to bring 24/7 IT support to small businesses so they can have the same "quality IT help as their big business brethren." Sprint's IT Helpdesk can help troubleshoot and resolve issues with small businesses’ computers, PDAs and peripherals on both Sprint and non-Sprint devices. Sprint offers two IT Helpdesk options which can include 24x7 remote technical support, onsite support, online data backup, and other services depending on the plan selected. Sprint Announces IT Helpdesk for Small Businesses 24/7 IT support gives small businesses the same quality IT help as their big business brethren OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), March...
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Assuming this is all true, it's not the first time an outsourced worker in India has resorted to blackmail. It makes you wonder, however, why we continue to outsource our work to such other regions of the world, as well as about the naivete of the woman involved. In this case, Tara Fitzgerald, 48 and a mother of a 14-year-old of Sacramento, CA apparently was having trouble finding the nude pictures she'd taken for her boyfriend on her PC. Not too familiar with PCs (and obviously not wanting to ask her daughter for help), she turned to Dell Tech Support for help. As we all know, a lot of technical support (and not just by Dell) has been outsourced. In this case, Fitzgerald was connected to Riyaz...
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AT&T and Lenovo are bundling AT&T Tech Support 360 with select Lenovo PCs and offering a discount to small and midsize businesses that take advantage of the offer. With the new bundles, businesses can purchase Lenovo ThinkPad SL510 laptops, T400 laptops, and ThinkCentre A58 small form factor desktops and save up to $200 through February 2010 compared to purchasing the PC and service separately. AT&T's Tech Support 360 provides users with 24/7 online IT support. The service includes assistance with wireless network setup, software installation and training, setup of security software, and configuration of peripherals. AT&T Tech Support 360 technicians can also provide training...
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The MacBook Air is sort of an "edgy" laptop, but in this case an owner frustrated with Apple's handling of the much-publicized Rev. A MacBook Air hinge problems, has decided to take a knife to the beast. According to "Haurum," who posted the video on YouTube, the MacBook Air sucks ... so don't buy one. In the video he indicates that he and six of this friends who also own the slim, highly desired laptop (although he calls it a piece of crap, instead), all have had the broken hinge problem noted above. The biggest problem, apparently, is that Apple isn't calling it a problem covered by warranty, which is definitely frustrating owners, and particularly "Haurum," who takes a large kitchen knife...
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Anyone ever had a tech support issue, not just with Dell, but with any company, and ended up with a TS rep who was obviously based in India or Manila, or some country with cut-rate employee pay? of course you have. It doesn't even have to be a tech company for that to happen. And have you ever wished you could speak to someone in the U.S.? Probably. Dell says they can guarantee you a support person in North America, but only for a price ... It's called Your Tech Team. Thing is, although the Washington Post first brought it to light on Thursday, it doesn't appear to be new, at least me. It seems that it was first unveiled in July on the Direct2Dell blog. Your Tech Team costs $12.95 / month for...
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If Vista's got you stumped, Microsoft offers a tech support chainsaw to help you down. Bring money. As of Jan. 30, customers who buy full retail copies of Vista and Office 2007 will get unlimited calls, e-mails and Web chats with Microsoft technical support during the first 90 days after activating the software. But after that period, customers contacting Microsoft for help with Vista will pay $59 per incident, up from $35, according to Matt Fingerhut, general manager of consumer support for platforms and business applications. For technical assistance with Office, customers will pay $49 per incident, also up from $35. People have been complaining loudly about the quality of tech support...
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Dell made a reputation for themselves as a result of their high quality products but more importantly perhaps, their top-notch customer service. Unfortunately that may be changing, which might explain their slip in market share as well... "When the CD drive on Peter Ulyatt's Dell desktop computer failed this summer, he called the support crew at Dell (DELL ), where he'd bought the $1,600 machine nine months prior. Armed with an extended warranty that cost him an extra $300, the Pasadena (Calif.) retiree got on the phone and waited. After sitting on hold for 45 minutes, a technician whom Ulyatt could barely understand came on the line and diagnosed a "software problem." Ulyatt's call, transferred...
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