Social Media, Consumer Power, Customer Service & How They Relate to Toshiba
This entry has been written over the course of the entire day as events with Toshiba Customer Service developed. I am publishing it for the first time with two updates included. Instead of going back to edit and correct the misinformation I received as I uncovered it, I chose instead to write events as they happened chronologically. There is a lot there, and I expect most people to skip or skim (which is WAY OK), but I do want to say this before I cut:
Social media, in this case Twitter, can be a very important tool for consumers. With a public account, a mention or two, and a hashtag, a person can reach a very large consumer base. This method is so powerful that companies have representatives trolling sites like Twitter looking for customer reactions (good or bad) to their products to either promote the praise or address the problems in an effort to contain them. I am a full believer in balancing praise and criticism. I will take the time to point out good customer service just as I will take the time to write a complaint. In my case today, I had a complaint.
I purchased a Toshiba Satellite A660 laptop from Toshiba Direct's website on December 1, 2010.
After a short period of time (days? weeks? I honestly don't recall) I experienced what I thought was perhaps a flukey/quirky problem with my display: green and purple horizontal lines ranging in size from a few pixels to about an inch across on my desktop. I did the cure-all fix for computers, I rebooted. This seemed to fix the problem and I didn't think much more about it. Laptops have wonky things happen all the time. The problem reoccurred one more time shortly after the first of the year, and this time was more severe, also including bright green pixels distributed over the screen - taskbar, internet windows, etc. Again, I rebooted, changed some power settings after doing some Googling, and the problem disappeared. At this point, I was less dismissive, but as I could not 'make' the problem reappear, I could only wait and hope the power settings were the problem.
Fastforward to March. The problem began again and happened on a more regular basis. I called Toshiba Customer Service on March 29, 2011. The tech support agent walked me through deleting my graphics driver and reinstalling a new version. (Side note: I'm not sure if this indicates a known problem, but there are several updates available from over the last several months. Why so many?). Again, this seemed to correct the problem. I did not experience any problems for several more days and thought the problem resolved. I was very happy with the service I received, especially since their tech support is 24-hours. I gave full marks during the customer service satisfaction survey.
Unfortunately, the problem returned. Again, I tried to fix the problem by repeating the steps to remove/update the driver, but the problem persisted. I again called tech support and they instructed me to do a system reformat. In order to do this, I needed time to back up my files, which I did that evening and the next morning/afternoon. When I was ready to do the reformat, I called tech support once again to see which options they wanted me to use for the reformat. At that time, I again related my problems to the support agent. The tech support agent said that it sounds like a hardware problem and that I should send the laptop in to their Depot for repair. Not wanting to send in my laptop with personal information, and because I already had the system backed-up, I told him that I wanted to first reformat the system and then I would call to have the Depot order put in. I was also concerned that if I did not do the restore as instructed by the previous tech, I would not be eligible for coverage under the warranty and I would somehow be billed for service.
I performed the restore that evening (Friday, April 8th) and called tech support Saturday morning. I brought the tech support agent up to speed...yes, I updated the driver; yes, I reformatted; yes, I want to send it in to the Depot. The tech support agent tried to put in my order, but their system was down. I had to call them back an hour later to get an approval number so I could complete the request online. I called back and began the Depot process an hour later.
Now we get to the real problems. I have my choice, send the laptop to them at my expense or wait 3-4 business days for a box with a free shipping label. Despite the fact that I have two Toshiba Authorized Repair locations locally, both of whom do Toshiba warranty work, I am not allowed to utilize them. I MUST ship the laptop to the Depot for repair. When I asked why, I could not get a better answer than 'that's the way it is for your laptop model'. OK, certainly inconvenient and definitely annoying, but how it is, and it is part of the warranty terms, even if I don’t agree with them. They told me it would take 7-10 business days for repair. I have no choice at this point but to go with it so I completed the forms and requested the pre-paid box.
I am leaving on an extended trip the first of next month. Doing the calculations for when I should have my laptop back, I realized today that it would be cutting it close to my departure date. Wanting clarification for timelines, and to inquire as to the possibility of having the laptop shipped to the address where I will be staying, I called customer support once again. I was informed that once I received the box and brought it to a FedEx location it would travel to their Depot (FedEx ground shipping to CA is approximately 4 business days from my location). It will then take 7-10 business days to repair the problem. At that point, they will ship my laptop back to my location, another 4 business days or so. From the 9th (request day), I am looking at potentially 12 business days for shipping and another 7-10 for repair, which puts us at May. I'm definitely not impressed at this point. The day before my first call to Toshiba, I had to make another tech support call - this time to Amazon for my new (Christmas) Kindle. It was having a charging issue. I had a NEW Kindle delivered to my house two days later - no hassle, just replaced. While I don't necessarily expect a replacement laptop, this *is* a good example of customer service.
Since it was highly unlikely that my laptop would be delivered back to my home in time for me to leave, I asked if it were possible to have my repaired laptop shipped to an alternate address. The CSR could not do this, but transferred me to the Depot to have this taken care of, only it turns out that it was the wrong Depot my call was transferred to. My laptop is going to a Depot in California. They transferred me to a Depot in Kentucky. Upon transferring me again, I got disconnected. I called back.
This time, I had two things I wanted addressed. Why was my computer going to California (4 days shipping) instead of Kentucky (1 day shipping)? And, again please send me to the correct person to have my address updated. The CSR was unable to help me with either of these things and transferred me to a case manager.
Now, please bear in mind that I used to work in Customer Service, both in the retail environment (in management) and in industry (small manufacturing company). I have tremendous sympathy for CSRs and make it a point to treat them politely. I do not curse at them. I do not raise my voice. THEY didn't make the policy. They are just doing their jobs as laid out by upper management. Now that this is established, lets move on to my case manager.
After waiting on hold for a while, annoying but expected, the line was picked up and I explained that I was very frustrated with the process, wanted to see if shipping time could be cut down (KY over CA), and who I needed to contact about having my address changed. From the get-go she was unfriendly, curt, and extremely unhelpful.
While still not becoming profane or yelling but definitely expressing frustration, I told her how upset I was that I was sold a very expensive piece of defective equipment and that this entire process has been an absolute headache. Her 'help' was to tell me that for $24.99 she could update the system with a new address. NOT HELPFUL! I was quite flabbergasted, asking if she honestly expected me to pay to have my laptop shipped back to me. She replied that I wasn't paying to have it shipped back to me. I was paying to have it shipped to a different address. Unsure if she would be able to even make the change before they received the laptop I was put on hold while she checked. The call disconnected. I am still 'waiting' (not really) for them to call me back - they did take a callback number incase I got disconnected, after all.
I will be calling back.
I will NOT be buying a Toshiba product ever again - neither will any member of my family.
And, as a side note, it would appear I'm not the only person to have issues with Toshiba - http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/toshiba.html
***Update***
Since I typed this up (but before I posted), I took my complaints to Twitter having read that companies frequently patrol social media sites for customer complaints and wanting to get the word out about my experience. (I believe in sharing both good CSR examples as well as bad.) I posted something to the effect that Toshiba had lost a family of customers for life. I received a message from the head of US Customer service within minutes. After several DMs back and forth, he apologized for my experience (very brief info given to him regarding the problem, as 140 characters is quite limiting) and said that he's escalated the issue and I should receive a call this afternoon. He also told me that the box to return the laptop is on schedule with FedEx for delivery later today. This is better, especially if "should" actually happens. This still isn't "good" though. I'm still very troubled by the whole experience and as of 3:30 local time, am still waiting for a phone call. (I expect the call should come in some time between now and 9PM local time. I’ve not given up hope for a callback just yet.)
All I want is a working laptop. I gave them (lots of) money. I want a product that works. That is *not* too much to ask! I understand (and actually expect) problems to happen, especially with electronics. It sucks when they do, but what is ultimately important is how a company handles itself when a problem arises. Toshiba, at first passing with flying colors (24-hour phone support), is now utterly failing with long turn around times and poor customer service communication.
***Update 2***
The box did indeed arrive today. And, much to my surprise, and probably to the surprise of the support agent who told me it would be shipped ground, there was a pre-paid 2-Day FedEx Express label inside. This may just have reduced my logistical headache. At 5:30 local time, I received a phone call from a Media Relations Rep. She was incredibly polite and started off the conversation (after introducing herself) by saying that she heard I had a twitter conversation earlier today. She immediately offered to waive the fee for redirecting the laptop and explained that the fee is because the label was already printed and a new one would need to be created. (Apparently labels are REALLY expensive in California.) I thanked her and asked if she could clear up a few things for me because the redirection might not be necessary. In the conversation I discovered that the 2-day shipping was standard for both coming and going, essentially cutting down my shipping time by about 1/2. It also made the point moot about Kentucky vs. California. I explained all of the run-around - misinformation, misdirected calls, disconnects with no return calls, and my overall struggle to get answers to my questions - and thanked her for giving me accurate information and taking care of my repair order. She promised to keep tabs on the order through the Depot and will redirect the order to KC (which is where the laptop was actually delivered back in December, so the address was already on my account) if it will not be delivered to me by April 29th.
So much trouble could have been saved if this information was provided to me accurately the first time. Since my tech problem is intermittent, I'm not completely confident that they will fix my laptop at all, if they can't duplicate the problem, or in a timely manner. But, I do feel more confident in the process now that I have solid information (I think) and two people that I can contact should any additional problems arise. Some of the stories on the above link are truly horrifying, so I'm not completely convinced everything will work out to my satisfaction. I guess only time will tell. The two individuals who helped me today deserve to be thanked, which I have done, both over the phone (Media Relations Rep.) and on Twitter (complete with mention and hashtag).
In the mean time, I am pleased that the system worked for me. Social media is a powerful tool, and one that can be put to work for groups of people, or for an individual person.
Social media, in this case Twitter, can be a very important tool for consumers. With a public account, a mention or two, and a hashtag, a person can reach a very large consumer base. This method is so powerful that companies have representatives trolling sites like Twitter looking for customer reactions (good or bad) to their products to either promote the praise or address the problems in an effort to contain them. I am a full believer in balancing praise and criticism. I will take the time to point out good customer service just as I will take the time to write a complaint. In my case today, I had a complaint.
I purchased a Toshiba Satellite A660 laptop from Toshiba Direct's website on December 1, 2010.
After a short period of time (days? weeks? I honestly don't recall) I experienced what I thought was perhaps a flukey/quirky problem with my display: green and purple horizontal lines ranging in size from a few pixels to about an inch across on my desktop. I did the cure-all fix for computers, I rebooted. This seemed to fix the problem and I didn't think much more about it. Laptops have wonky things happen all the time. The problem reoccurred one more time shortly after the first of the year, and this time was more severe, also including bright green pixels distributed over the screen - taskbar, internet windows, etc. Again, I rebooted, changed some power settings after doing some Googling, and the problem disappeared. At this point, I was less dismissive, but as I could not 'make' the problem reappear, I could only wait and hope the power settings were the problem.
Fastforward to March. The problem began again and happened on a more regular basis. I called Toshiba Customer Service on March 29, 2011. The tech support agent walked me through deleting my graphics driver and reinstalling a new version. (Side note: I'm not sure if this indicates a known problem, but there are several updates available from over the last several months. Why so many?). Again, this seemed to correct the problem. I did not experience any problems for several more days and thought the problem resolved. I was very happy with the service I received, especially since their tech support is 24-hours. I gave full marks during the customer service satisfaction survey.
Unfortunately, the problem returned. Again, I tried to fix the problem by repeating the steps to remove/update the driver, but the problem persisted. I again called tech support and they instructed me to do a system reformat. In order to do this, I needed time to back up my files, which I did that evening and the next morning/afternoon. When I was ready to do the reformat, I called tech support once again to see which options they wanted me to use for the reformat. At that time, I again related my problems to the support agent. The tech support agent said that it sounds like a hardware problem and that I should send the laptop in to their Depot for repair. Not wanting to send in my laptop with personal information, and because I already had the system backed-up, I told him that I wanted to first reformat the system and then I would call to have the Depot order put in. I was also concerned that if I did not do the restore as instructed by the previous tech, I would not be eligible for coverage under the warranty and I would somehow be billed for service.
I performed the restore that evening (Friday, April 8th) and called tech support Saturday morning. I brought the tech support agent up to speed...yes, I updated the driver; yes, I reformatted; yes, I want to send it in to the Depot. The tech support agent tried to put in my order, but their system was down. I had to call them back an hour later to get an approval number so I could complete the request online. I called back and began the Depot process an hour later.
Now we get to the real problems. I have my choice, send the laptop to them at my expense or wait 3-4 business days for a box with a free shipping label. Despite the fact that I have two Toshiba Authorized Repair locations locally, both of whom do Toshiba warranty work, I am not allowed to utilize them. I MUST ship the laptop to the Depot for repair. When I asked why, I could not get a better answer than 'that's the way it is for your laptop model'. OK, certainly inconvenient and definitely annoying, but how it is, and it is part of the warranty terms, even if I don’t agree with them. They told me it would take 7-10 business days for repair. I have no choice at this point but to go with it so I completed the forms and requested the pre-paid box.
I am leaving on an extended trip the first of next month. Doing the calculations for when I should have my laptop back, I realized today that it would be cutting it close to my departure date. Wanting clarification for timelines, and to inquire as to the possibility of having the laptop shipped to the address where I will be staying, I called customer support once again. I was informed that once I received the box and brought it to a FedEx location it would travel to their Depot (FedEx ground shipping to CA is approximately 4 business days from my location). It will then take 7-10 business days to repair the problem. At that point, they will ship my laptop back to my location, another 4 business days or so. From the 9th (request day), I am looking at potentially 12 business days for shipping and another 7-10 for repair, which puts us at May. I'm definitely not impressed at this point. The day before my first call to Toshiba, I had to make another tech support call - this time to Amazon for my new (Christmas) Kindle. It was having a charging issue. I had a NEW Kindle delivered to my house two days later - no hassle, just replaced. While I don't necessarily expect a replacement laptop, this *is* a good example of customer service.
Since it was highly unlikely that my laptop would be delivered back to my home in time for me to leave, I asked if it were possible to have my repaired laptop shipped to an alternate address. The CSR could not do this, but transferred me to the Depot to have this taken care of, only it turns out that it was the wrong Depot my call was transferred to. My laptop is going to a Depot in California. They transferred me to a Depot in Kentucky. Upon transferring me again, I got disconnected. I called back.
This time, I had two things I wanted addressed. Why was my computer going to California (4 days shipping) instead of Kentucky (1 day shipping)? And, again please send me to the correct person to have my address updated. The CSR was unable to help me with either of these things and transferred me to a case manager.
Now, please bear in mind that I used to work in Customer Service, both in the retail environment (in management) and in industry (small manufacturing company). I have tremendous sympathy for CSRs and make it a point to treat them politely. I do not curse at them. I do not raise my voice. THEY didn't make the policy. They are just doing their jobs as laid out by upper management. Now that this is established, lets move on to my case manager.
After waiting on hold for a while, annoying but expected, the line was picked up and I explained that I was very frustrated with the process, wanted to see if shipping time could be cut down (KY over CA), and who I needed to contact about having my address changed. From the get-go she was unfriendly, curt, and extremely unhelpful.
While still not becoming profane or yelling but definitely expressing frustration, I told her how upset I was that I was sold a very expensive piece of defective equipment and that this entire process has been an absolute headache. Her 'help' was to tell me that for $24.99 she could update the system with a new address. NOT HELPFUL! I was quite flabbergasted, asking if she honestly expected me to pay to have my laptop shipped back to me. She replied that I wasn't paying to have it shipped back to me. I was paying to have it shipped to a different address. Unsure if she would be able to even make the change before they received the laptop I was put on hold while she checked. The call disconnected. I am still 'waiting' (not really) for them to call me back - they did take a callback number incase I got disconnected, after all.
I will be calling back.
I will NOT be buying a Toshiba product ever again - neither will any member of my family.
And, as a side note, it would appear I'm not the only person to have issues with Toshiba - http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/toshiba.html
***Update***
Since I typed this up (but before I posted), I took my complaints to Twitter having read that companies frequently patrol social media sites for customer complaints and wanting to get the word out about my experience. (I believe in sharing both good CSR examples as well as bad.) I posted something to the effect that Toshiba had lost a family of customers for life. I received a message from the head of US Customer service within minutes. After several DMs back and forth, he apologized for my experience (very brief info given to him regarding the problem, as 140 characters is quite limiting) and said that he's escalated the issue and I should receive a call this afternoon. He also told me that the box to return the laptop is on schedule with FedEx for delivery later today. This is better, especially if "should" actually happens. This still isn't "good" though. I'm still very troubled by the whole experience and as of 3:30 local time, am still waiting for a phone call. (I expect the call should come in some time between now and 9PM local time. I’ve not given up hope for a callback just yet.)
All I want is a working laptop. I gave them (lots of) money. I want a product that works. That is *not* too much to ask! I understand (and actually expect) problems to happen, especially with electronics. It sucks when they do, but what is ultimately important is how a company handles itself when a problem arises. Toshiba, at first passing with flying colors (24-hour phone support), is now utterly failing with long turn around times and poor customer service communication.
***Update 2***
The box did indeed arrive today. And, much to my surprise, and probably to the surprise of the support agent who told me it would be shipped ground, there was a pre-paid 2-Day FedEx Express label inside. This may just have reduced my logistical headache. At 5:30 local time, I received a phone call from a Media Relations Rep. She was incredibly polite and started off the conversation (after introducing herself) by saying that she heard I had a twitter conversation earlier today. She immediately offered to waive the fee for redirecting the laptop and explained that the fee is because the label was already printed and a new one would need to be created. (Apparently labels are REALLY expensive in California.) I thanked her and asked if she could clear up a few things for me because the redirection might not be necessary. In the conversation I discovered that the 2-day shipping was standard for both coming and going, essentially cutting down my shipping time by about 1/2. It also made the point moot about Kentucky vs. California. I explained all of the run-around - misinformation, misdirected calls, disconnects with no return calls, and my overall struggle to get answers to my questions - and thanked her for giving me accurate information and taking care of my repair order. She promised to keep tabs on the order through the Depot and will redirect the order to KC (which is where the laptop was actually delivered back in December, so the address was already on my account) if it will not be delivered to me by April 29th.
So much trouble could have been saved if this information was provided to me accurately the first time. Since my tech problem is intermittent, I'm not completely confident that they will fix my laptop at all, if they can't duplicate the problem, or in a timely manner. But, I do feel more confident in the process now that I have solid information (I think) and two people that I can contact should any additional problems arise. Some of the stories on the above link are truly horrifying, so I'm not completely convinced everything will work out to my satisfaction. I guess only time will tell. The two individuals who helped me today deserve to be thanked, which I have done, both over the phone (Media Relations Rep.) and on Twitter (complete with mention and hashtag).
In the mean time, I am pleased that the system worked for me. Social media is a powerful tool, and one that can be put to work for groups of people, or for an individual person.