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Dell suddenly closes Edmonton facility after touting it as the top-performing facility globally

The Edmonton Journal reports that Dell has closed its Canadian call center located in Edmonton after only three years of a 20-year lease was fulfilled. The closing of the call center resulted in the loss of 900 jobs to employees working in the center.

Dell recently decided to change its traditional exclusive marketing approach of direct sales and now offers computers in retail outlets. With stiff competition in the computer industry Dell has had to fight hard for market share with the likes of HP, Acer and Apple, and is now attempting to cut costs in an effort to remain competitive.

The Edmonton Journal quotes Dell’s Edmonton site leader Dave Vanden Bosch as saying, “This has been a difficult decision. We have a good team of people, and will do all we can to help them and our community partners through this transition." The call center was touted by company founder Michael Dell as being the best of the Dell breed and one of the companies highest performing call centers in the world.

Sources at Dell say that the closure of the call center and cutting all the employees was partly a result of the strong Canadian dollar and the difficulty keeping employees due to the hot job market in the Edmonton area. The strong job market reportedly made it difficult for Dell to keep trained employees that could maintain the Dell expectations for customer service. The closing of the facility is expected to be done over several months and other companies are reported to be interested in the facility itself.

Dell also recently announced it was closing all of its U.S. kiosks and direct sales stores.

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There was a Canadian Call Center??
By RogueLegend on 2/1/2008 4:15:32 PM , Rating: 5
It would have been nice to talk to someone there instead of India. Not that I don't want them to have jobs, but tech support becomes so much easier when comprehension isn't an issue.




RE: There was a Canadian Call Center??
By TomZ on 2/1/2008 4:21:15 PM , Rating: 2
I'm guessing that call center was for sales, not support. Usually when I call Dell for sales, I end up talking with someone in the US. Tech support...we'll, that's another situation entirely.


RE: There was a Canadian Call Center??
By BruceLeet on 2/1/08, Rating: -1
RE: There was a Canadian Call Center??
By Grast on 2/1/2008 4:46:46 PM , Rating: 5
Nothing is wrong with Indians?

However as a paying customer for support, I would PREFER to talk to someone in which English is their primary language. I have better things to do with my time than cross the language barrier. This is not an issue of slamming people from India. It is about total customer experience. The average person calling for tech support does not have the interest or time to learn how their computer works. They simply want to call someone when it is not working and get a resolution quickly and with least amount of effort.

Calm down and understand that it is easier for someone to communicate their issue with a person which speaks the same language.


RE: There was a Canadian Call Center??
By leexgx on 2/1/08, Rating: -1
By frobizzle on 2/4/2008 8:58:51 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
...made it difficult for Dell to keep trained employees that could maintain the Dell expectations for customer service.

Uh, when expectations are low, it is easy to meet them.


By arjunp2085 on 2/4/2008 1:36:25 PM , Rating: 2
I understand...it....

I was in Dell support until very recently....

Trust me... there are a good load of English speaking people...

I have had loads of satisfied customers...( i speak Decent English Though English is not my first language)

it is That a few of them Some how get missed in the screening process and start working in here .. its not the language only the issue with the issues But the attitude with these techs also....

Trust me Guys Dell process of support Quality is the most stringent...
I am not in dell anymore but it is the most challenging process one can be in...

we have a very rigorous language training and tech training....
quote:
Nothing is wrong with Indians?
quote:
However as a paying customer for support, I would PREFER to talk to someone in which English is their primary language. I have better things to do with my time than cross the language barrier. This is not an issue of slamming people from India. It is about total customer experience. The average person calling for tech support does not have the interest or time to learn how their computer works. They simply want to call someone when it is not working and get a resolution quickly and with least amount of effort.


By TomZ on 2/1/2008 4:49:00 PM , Rating: 2
You're reading too much into my post. I don't have any issues or prejudice talking with tech support anywhere in the world, as long as (a) they are properly trained and knowlegable, and (b) we can understand each other.

In my experience, however, calling tech support at different tech companies, the odds of having both of these elements I listed above is maybe 1 in 4 at best.


RE: There was a Canadian Call Center??
By jstchilln on 2/1/08, Rating: -1
By christojojo on 2/1/2008 9:26:21 PM , Rating: 3
Here is my viewpoint:

I have mild hearing problem and when it comes to accents, be they Bostonian or Indian, they distort the line of communication. As a teacher, I know that many failures in performance are a failure of communication.

If the tech person can't communicate in that language, they shouldn't put the customer through a long tortuous time that forces them to ask for someone else. I have had the person on the other line keep calling me Mrs Stevens; not only is that not even close to my real last name but I have a deep male voice.

I don't see how it is fair to Indians, Canadians, or any foreign speaking customers. If your native tongue is Swahili why should they be forced to listen to an English person slaughter Swahili?

Companies offer Spanish tech support so why can't they offer English?


By tastyratz on 2/1/2008 10:44:02 PM , Rating: 1
Ugh people always have to turn it dont they?
Dell tech support is famous for being horrendus. You havent had any bad experiences and some people have been struck by lightning - these things happen. They are not and will probably never be... Top rate.

I agree with what other people have posted. A language barrier be it indian, spanish, or alabaman is still a language barrier. This is going to be a problem no matter what your collaborative task is. Introducing this by nature where the telephone is the main method of communication and your asking for trouble.

The biggest problem with reaching india for tech support istn india. The problem roots to the fact that they are sending support overseas to save money. They save money on labor, and on Telecom costs.
India is capable of housing like any other country... but they dont save any money hiring the smart ones though do they?
Put someone unqualified in front of a script and your gonna have the same imbecile no matter where they come from.

Hire a bunch of idiots in india and now when you hear the indian accent your going to assume its just another idiot. Tech support in india has become a very negative concept for this reason. Ive talked to some smart people in india before but they rarely work at a call center...


RE: There was a Canadian Call Center??
By SiliconAddict on 2/2/2008 5:33:43 AM , Rating: 2
While it’s gotten easier to deal with Dell's Bangalore support branch I can tell you right now that there ARE under trained people at that location. I've dealt with them...painfully dealt with them might I add.

Look. I'm a Dell field tech. In the last 2 years of this job I’ve run over 300 Dell calls both Desktop\Laptop\Server\and Printer. So I can say this as a person with interment knowledge of Dell.
Language isn't so much the problem. Its accent and culture. The simple fact is that their accent is so bad from a communication standpoint that being in the field it’s the single biggest complaint that I've gotten from customers and from me. The accent isn’t the only problem. The tone and inflection is different and also reflects the cultural differences between East vs. West. Having dealt with India now for a couple years I know this isn’t the case, but the tone can sometimes come off as hostile and it does impact the relationship with the customer. This isn’t something that Dell can simply fix and is the primary reason Dell implemented IM chatting with Dell on support.dell.com
Beyond that these people are NOT trained to troubleshoot. Event their DCSE support reps aren't trained to troubleshoot. All they do is flowchart a problem...that is all. So when someone who really knows what they are doing gets on the phone with India they are butting heads with a script...This is where culture comes into play. We had a Dell rep at our location recently and they talked about how from a cultural standpoint that job performance doesn't just effect them but it’s a reflection of their family itself. Deviating from their job to get the job done simply isn't done. So they do X or Y to the letter. Which can cause issues. Dell knows this all too well. Now there are times when my call doesn’t go to Bangalore but instead gets transferred to Round Rock. When I get an American not only can I understand them perfectly, but the communication between myself and the person on the other end of the phone isn’t as . . . I guess the best word would be intense. Its much more laid back. They get words and phrases….things like yep. . . nope. Etc. There really is a cultural aspect to all this. Its not just accent.
Now I don’t have anything against the people in India other then those who are so under trained that I want to beat them senseless. I had to deal with an IT outsourcer a couple months ago on a backup issue. The person kept kicking off the backup job when we hadn’t scratched the tapes yet. I had to get on the phone and tell him outright to stop fucking running the damn job until we get the tapes prepped. And that isn’t his fault. I don’t blame the tech for lack of training. I blame Dell or any IT outsourcer for hiring someone who is woefully under trained to do a job. The cost savings for hiring Indians isn’t just because they can get away with paying for less over there. . . They are hiring people who are under trained which saves companies money on paper. But JUST on paper.
Sorry if the above was poorly worded. Its 2:30 in the morning and I’m at a convention hitting the jello shots harder then I should be. :-P


By xti on 2/2/2008 11:54:47 AM , Rating: 2
they'll hire 'comprehensive sounding people' if you take the same wage they do working here.

exactly.


By arjunp2085 on 2/4/2008 1:56:32 PM , Rating: 2


Dude i am a guy who works with computers....there are a lot of good techs who are understanding...

the post of what u were referring to is about 40%...

But i have got calls from customers who call their CPU Cabinet as "modem"

also i have spoken with multiple customers who when Told to "restart the computer SWITCH OFF THE MONITOR AND TURN IT BACK ON" and People just scream on the phone and say nothing is happening to the computer.....

we work under various pressures.... If the cust is open to what we are saying things Go DAMN Smooth .... and those are the Best calls i have taken.....

of all the calls that originate most calls Do not require Techs to handle it....i would say (30%)

these will compose off calls

monitor screen is upside Down...(it is a setting of rotate screen with "Intel graphics adapter")

small loose connections in the cables causing comp not to turn on

and soo on....

We are also people Who work here ... "And there are some bad apples also",,, I have build rapport with Ever customer i Could...

quote:
While it’s gotten easier to deal with Dell's Bangalore support branch I can tell you right now that there ARE under trained people at that location. I've dealt with them...painfully dealt with them might I add.


By Alpha4 on 2/1/2008 4:42:26 PM , Rating: 2
I knew someone who worked for the Call Center and they did a lot of tech support and sales. True to Dave Vanden Bosch's statement my buddy did have his sights set higher and didn't stay longer than 6 months.


By dirtypants on 2/1/2008 4:45:14 PM , Rating: 2
That call center was for business customers in the US and Canada,and it used to be XPS and Canada home users.


RE: There was a Canadian Call Center??
By Orbs on 2/1/08, Rating: -1
RE: There was a Canadian Call Center??
By TomZ on 2/1/2008 4:53:37 PM , Rating: 2
Obviously you're not aware of our secret plan to annex Canada... Soon your entire country will be ours, ha ha ha ha ha (evil laugh)... :o)