I realize i dont have much room to talk about "the old days", but it seems to me tech support has taken a huge dive into the ****ter. I Need a cooling fan for my toshiba laptop, which is less than a year old and currently covered under 2(TWO!!!) warranties. Both best buy, and toshiba claim i need to send the laptop out to them(for over a month downtime), to replace a stupid little noisy cooling fan thats held in by two screws. I thought that was rediculous, so i was trying to figure out a way where i even payed for half the part, or shipping etc to get the fan here since my computer cannot be down for over a month(!?!?!??!). All toshiba can do is send me back and forth between two companies(they dont' even do their own warranty work), and give me bull**** run around stories. All this over a cooling fan, now, because of this i won't ever buy a laptop from them again. A 2 dollar part(which they want 35 plus shipping for)just lost them a customer. Its not just this laptop that i've noticed having terrible tech support lately, am i the only one who is finding it rare to get off the phone HAPPY with tech support? Isn't that their job to help the customer be HAPPY with their purchase??? I know it isn't as big of a deal as i'm making it but its just frusterating....thanks for letting me vent,
Ryan

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83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.

toshiba sucks. go dell next time. 48 hr turn around from us TX boys.

Tech support does suck. Uber-corps are eroding customer support bit by bit. It just isn't profitable to them.

Dell is better than most it seems, but even they have their disgruntled legions.

My solution is to never buy from those giants - BestBuy, FutureShop, Dell, etc.

I build my own PCs and buy OEM. If something fails, I just replace it. A fan costs $10. $25 if you want one with neon lights. Easiest and most painless route.

For other entertainment needs, I shop at the same local electronics retailer I always have. Bleeker Stereo and TV. My family has an account there dating back to 1970s.

I do my little bit to fight these giants. Not much maybe, but I try. A regular Don Quioxte, me.

P.S. Don't get me started on ISPs or cable companies...I'm in the bloody industry and even I can't get adequate - or more importantly - INFORMED tech support...

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Consider that tech support has been going off-shore in recent years...

...so not ONLY do you experience unfavorable warranty support, you now have to put up with translating your problem to a tech on the other end of the world who can only solve problems he/she has been trained for...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car