[UK] Evesham Technology slapped on wrist by ASA for spamming

Tony Bryer wrote in news:VA.0000277e.0038cc66
@delme.sda.co.uk:

Personally I'd be interested to know why when someone asks
whether they should buy from Evesham or Dell the advice is to go
Dell:

[snip dell's shoddy service]

http://www0.mh.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/re...onsumer2.shtml

You want a list of people having SOGA problems with Evesham?

Don't forget Evesham recently made people redundant; were they support
staff or were they sales staff?

Tony Bryer wrote in message


In article
47, Morely
Dotes wrote:
Now, please explain to the class why you would prefer to buy
a comptuer from a company who will be gone when you need
servcie, versus a company who is in good standing and will
probably be around for another decade or more.

Personally I'd be interested to know why when someone asks
whether they should buy from Evesham or Dell the advice is to go
Dell:

"Kevin Greenwood ordered a home computer from Dell last year,
but had to wait 4 and a half weeks for a delivery date. He
waited in all day for the courier but nothing ever arrived. He
made arrangements with Dell for another delivery date but again,
nothing arrived. ...


Tony van der Hoff ordered a server from Dell early last year. It was a
slightly unusual configuration, and he had to wait two weeks for it to be
built. He was advised by e-mail of the shipping date, and the courier
telephoned to make delivery arrangements, which were punctually met...

"He then ordered a laptop from Dell later that year, for which the delivery
time was quoted as 10 days; once again this was punctually met, with the
courier making an appointment before attempting delivery."

Dell have decided to save some money by relocating their call
centres from the UK to India, but it's also brought them
problems. Dylan Armbrust, Editor, Computer Active Magazine said,
'It seems that the Indian call centres aren't giving the right
information to the people who have to solve the problems here in
the UK'"


When the server developed a keyboard fault, one telephone call to the
support centre (In Ireland) resulted in a replacement keyboard being
delivered *the following day.

I have been buying Dell computers, on average wvery two years, for the last
ten; I have nothing but praise for their quality of service. However, even
in the best run organisations, things will occasionally go wrong.

http://www0.mh.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/re...onsumer2.shtml

Of course, you chose not to quote Dell's response to the criticism, because
that would have diluted your point :-(

Which can only lead to the question: What axe does Watchdog have to grind?
We wouldn't like to think that their reporting is biased, or aimed at
sensationalism, would we? Maybe using the BBC as a reference is ill-advised
at present ;-)


--
Tony van der Hoff |
Buckinghamshire England

In article
,
Tony van der Hoff {nospam} wrote:

Maybe using the BBC as a reference is ill-advised
at present ;-)

Seems to me that judges come out worst in that case.

--
Peter

In article , alanb+google4
@digistar.com says...

The way I read the EU disposal laws, soon you'll be able to ring AOL and
tell them to come collect their CDs.

Can we still keep the free DVD case, though ?

--
Contact Address matchstick a t oofg d o t com
"The wages of sin are death... but the hours are good and the perks are
fantastic."

Tony Bryer wrote in message ...
In article
47, Morely
Dotes wrote:
Now, please explain to the class why you would prefer to buy
a comptuer from a company who will be gone when you need
servcie, versus a company who is in good standing and will
probably be around for another decade or more.

Personally I'd be interested to know why when someone asks
whether they should buy from Evesham or Dell the advice is to go
Dell:

"Kevin Greenwood ordered a home computer from Dell last year,
but had to wait 4 and a half weeks for a delivery date. He
waited in all day for the courier but nothing ever arrived. He
made arrangements with Dell for another delivery date but again,
nothing arrived. ...

Dell have decided to save some money by relocating their call
centres from the UK to India, but it's also brought them
problems. Dylan Armbrust, Editor, Computer Active Magazine said,
'It seems that the Indian call centres aren't giving the right
information to the people who have to solve the problems here in
the UK'"

http://www0.mh.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/re...onsumer2.shtml

Dell are also spammers - I used to get mainsleaze from Dell(USA) at my
work e-mail address. Rolling your own may be the only solution.

Stupid Spam wrote in news:401991f9$0$9383
:

I wouldn't call mainsleaze spam theft and tresspass

US Federal judges would (and have) disagree(d) with you.

UK dialup users (who are still paying for connect time by-the-minute I
believe) should disagree with you.

Spam *is* theft. Spam *is* trespass. Proxy spam is theft, trespass, and
"unauthorized access to a computer system," which is a felony crime in the
USA.

--
Want SPEWS-filtered and SBL-filtered email?
http://www.spamblocked.com/index.html
"Mammals are far more intellectually advanced than most people think.
A gopher gave me the finger once." - Cynthia of Syracuse

Tony Bryer wrote in news:VA.0000277e.0038cc66
@delme.sda.co.uk:

Dell have decided to save some money by relocating their call
centres from the UK to India,

That's old news, and no longer completely accurate.

--
Want SPEWS-filtered and SBL-filtered email?
http://www.spamblocked.com/index.html
"Mammals are far more intellectually advanced than most people think.
A gopher gave me the finger once." - Cynthia of Syracuse

In message , Tony Bryer
writes

Dell have decided to save some money by relocating their call
centres from the UK to India, but it's also brought them
problems. Dylan Armbrust, Editor, Computer Active Magazine said,
'It seems that the Indian call centres aren't giving the right
information to the people who have to solve the problems here in
the UK'"

By and large I have been very satisfied with Dell - on the one occasion
I experienced a serious problem (failed hard disk on the last day of
guarantee) they sent a replacement by courier within a matter of hours.

But I did have to speak with the Indian call centre, and it was painful
in the extreme since the guy's accent was so thick and his grasp of
English so limited that communication would have tried the patience of a
saint.

I subsequently received a follow-up from Dell enquiring on the quality
of service I received, and I had to say that I hardly understand a word
that their representative said (even when I asked him to try and spell
each word he was trying to say!). The outcome was eventually fine, but I
can hardly believe that spending two hours on the phone to India to ask
for a replacement hard disk is either in Dell's interests or their
customers.

I have seen it said in the press recently that a number of companies
have failed to appreciate these "hidden costs" when so blithely
derogating their obligations to areas of the world in which employment
is cheaper but successful customer relations very much more expensive.

--
Paul Terry

In demon.service Alan wrote:
In message , Uncle
StoatWarbler writes
On Thu, 29 Jan 2004 12:24:38 +0000, Tony Bryer wrote:


Evesham are quite likely to not exist in 6 months. That is the tendency
for established companies which spam (as opposed to spamhouses, somehow
they keep going like cockroaches).

On those grounds alone, Evesham would be dropped from consideration.

As I see it, Evesham might not be around by the end of this FY. I just
hope I get to have "my day in court" before they go under - and of

I keep hearing about new EU distance selling regulations.
Does this give you the right if you have ordered a system from evesham
to return it within 7 days, for a full refund?

In message , Paul Terry
writes

But I did have to speak with the Indian call centre, and it was painful
in the extreme since the guy's accent was so thick and his grasp of
English so limited that communication would have tried the patience of
a saint.

I subsequently received a follow-up from Dell enquiring on the quality
of service I received, and I had to say that I hardly understand a word
that their representative said (even when I asked him to try and spell
each word he was trying to say!). The outcome was eventually fine, but
I can hardly believe that spending two hours on the phone to India to
ask for a replacement hard disk is either in Dell's interests or their
customers.

I have seen it said in the press recently that a number of companies
have failed to appreciate these "hidden costs" when so blithely
derogating their obligations to areas of the world in which employment
is cheaper but successful customer relations very much more expensive.

Such decisions are driven by accountants who - surprise surprise - deal
with what can be counted. They are no good at making decisions in which
the uncountable elements are more important.

An accountant would work out the hourly cost X of paying a person in
England and the hourly cost Y of paying a person in India. They would
then say X-Y is the 'saving' per hour per person by moving the call
centre to India. Given enough 'saving', the call centre would be moved
by short-sighted managers under pressure to make impressive noises to
stockbrokers. What the accountants cannot count is the future change in
sales (up or down) because of the way the Indian call centre deals with
customers. Therefore to an accountant the sales are not part of the
decision-making. They have zero weight.

Yet future sales are the existence of the company. If lost, the company
ceases to exist and doesn't need a call centre. Or an accountant.

The problem is finding managers in A Ltd, .... Dell. Demon, ....Z plc
who can set unquantifiable customer goodwill and the long-term in proper
relationship to quantifiable short-term profits. If there are no profits
in the short run, there is no long run. If there is too much screwing of
every penny in the short run, there also is no long run.

Finding the space in the middle, where there is both short- and
long-term survival, is precisely what 'customer service' is intended to
achieve. If, and only if, we customers perceive that we get 'service'
will we have the goodwill that leads us to buy again.

Don
--
Dr D P Moody, Ashwood, Exeter Cross, Liverton, Newton Abbot, Devon,
England TQ12 6EY
Tel: +44(0) 1626 821725 Fax: +44(0) 1626 824912