DELL support staff doesn't speak English ???

[Pinky]

It was sort of implied between the lines that if you went around trying to get one started it would be a serious CLM (career limiting move).

If you're good at what you do for the company, organize and actually get people to sign up, the union can then stand behind you in these fights (and often fight the battle for you behind the scenes). If you've already been a trouble maker or have trouble showing up to work on time, please don't be the organizer. lol

The great thing about organizing is that it doesn't take long and really doesn't have to be done at work. Simply emailing your coworkers at their home address from your home address, telling them the benefits and giving them the details for signing up is all that's required. Once you pay your first dues you are now 'unionized' as it's been explained to me. Yes, there's slightly more to it, but that's the general idea.

The reason I know all this is when I first heard I was being laid off because Bank of America/EDS outsourced my job to Canada, I contacted "Techs Unite". They're one of the few tech unions around, and growing quite fast. Because the pay was so good early on most programmers and support techs didn't think unions were necessary, but now the tech budgets are being tightened by everyone. Companies that used to treat their employees VERY well and saw them as investments now see their infrastructure as disposable.

You can learn more by contacting Techs Unite. Here's a link to their site. Good people. FYI, I never did organize. Couldn't get enough interest, and it turns out EDS/Bank of America did the right thing and paid the severence packages as promised (my main concern), so it would have been moot to organize anyway. If I had to do it again I probably WOULD organize, only because there isn't a good set of checks and balances in place to protect the worker. Without a union behind you there's little hope in being protected by the currently business-centric worker protection legislation. Depending on the employer is a lost cause IMO. Aside from a bad spell of public relations, employers don't have much reason to care anymore.

http://www.techsunite.org/

 

[Wiggles]

Dell gets an A+ for their server tech support but for home systems its another story. I believe the server support is all US and they typically don't treat you like a moron. Besides wait times home support isn't always bad. I can see how an avg joe might get confused and want to kill the Dell operator. Anyone on these forums should have a breeze getting what they want done. Here's some tips.

1. Always run the Dell diagnostic cd that came with your computer. They will ask you this 99% of the time when it has to do with a computer issue.
2. Do some testing of your own. You don't want to boot up and see the problem magically disapear while your on the phone after waiting 20 minutes.
3. Be persistant about the issue. If you have to tell them what is wrong with it five times then do it.
4. Play the expert. Sometimes telling them your in the IT field and you've seen the issue before on another Dell computer etc will help move things along.
5. Be unethical. If you have two of the same computer and one has a warantee and the other doesn't then swap parts. I've been told this by both Dell and HP contractors.
6. If your up late sometimes you can get instant help through the chat assist link. I got a DVD burner replaced at 3 am.

Home support is terrible, but I've never had a problem through the business tech support. I say what's wrong (basically tell them what they need to hear) and then it gets replaced. The part is here that day if you call first thing in the morning, or at latest, the next day.

#4 works great for the GX270 motherboard issue.