BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : NOVEMBER 13, 2000 ISSUE
TECH BUYING GUIDE Help Is Just an E-Mail Away Computer support for hire is hit-or-miss, but it's a bargain Until recently, you didn't have much choice. If your home computer crashed, you had to call the company's hot line for help. Either that, or enlist the aid of a savvy acquaintance. But with PC makers now asking you to pony up for tech support, a new industry has emerged--independent customer service providers on the Web. I found a few by searching under ''tech support,'' and decided to try them out. I began with Expertcity.com, an auction-style site that allows free-lance propeller heads to bid on fixing your system. Within minutes of submitting my plea, a dozen techies offered to help. The idea: You have a brief text chat over the Internet, and the expert tells you how to fix the problem. I chose a woman named Sudipta, who turned out to be located in Bangalore, India's Silicon Valley. She charged a flat fee of $10; others wanted $15 to $20. I explained to her that someone else had been using my PC, and now the floppy drive was disabled (I had wrecked it myself, on purpose). She began by asking whether I knew how to remove the computer's case if I had to. Yikes. ''I've never done that before,'' I typed. She asked me a few questions about hardware. I volunteered that perhaps there was something wrong with the software. Indeed, that could be the case, she responded, if someone had fiddled with the basic input/output system settings, and she explained how to fix them. Bingo. The whole process took less than 20 minutes. I took the same problem to All.com Inc., which charges a flat $19.95 a month for unlimited help. I was assigned an agent, a fellow named James, who told me how to force Windows to ''redetect'' the floppy drive. He then told me to reboot the PC and contact him when I was running again. Big problem. After rebooting the system not only couldn't I use my floppy drive, but I couldn't launch my Web browser. That made it difficult to tell James anything. Fortunately, my computer, a Gateway Performance, has software that lets me restore my hard drive by literally turning back the hands of a clock on the screen. I reset the hands to 30 seconds 'til James, relaunched my browser, and continued my quest. I landed on EXP.com--briefly. It wouldn't accept my credit card, and when I called customer service I got only voice mail. An hour and 20 minutes later, Exp.com's customer service called to explain that they were experiencing a few problems with their Web site. By then, I was long gone. I figured it was time to give Gateway ( GTW) a shot. I connected to the company's QuickAnswers Web site and started chatting with Troy. He asked me 12 simple questions, such as: ''What was the last thing you were doing before this happened?'' He sent a troubleshooting guide to the side of my screen which, truth be known, was incomprehensible. I eventually found the solution, but then again, I knew exactly what I had changed in the first place. I figured that was pretty lame help for most people, so I chatted up the Gateway technical-support folks again. This time I explained, to Mitch, that I was still having problems. He sent me the same guide. Been there, done that, I complained, and he sent a different one. In it were four tips; one explained succinctly how to fix the problem. Elapsed time: about 25 minutes. My recommendation? Like any customer service, it's still a bit hit-or-miss. But there's no music-on-hold, less of a chance of getting contradictory advice from the new guy when you call back, and it can be a relatively cheap fix if your warranty has run out. And, with a little luck, you'll get your problem solved and a good start on a relationship with your very own nerd-for-hire. By Kevin Ferguson in Boston _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS The New Wireless Wonders Desktops What If It Breaks? TABLE: Desktops: Best of Breed TABLE: How the Warranties Stack Up Cool Tools: iFeel MouseMan Help Is Just an E-Mail Away TABLE: How to Hook Up with a Nerd If Web Surfing Is All You're Into... Artistic Apples Notebooks Take It with You TABLE: The Lowdown on the Latest Laptops Cool Tools: Computer Safe Test Drive: Cutting the Cord at Last ONLINE EXTRA: Staying Connected on the Road Handhelds Pocket Rockets TABLE: Wireless Acts Cool Tools: Slimpoint Stylus ONLINE EXTRA: Modo's Mojo Falling Web Phones A Long Way to Go TABLE: Getting on the Wireless Web Cool Tools: M130 Headset Test Drive: ``Turn Off That Coat!'' 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