Customize software
About Bad Software
Computers outsold television sets
in 1994, marking them as a true consumer product. By 1996, 35% of American
households had computers. By the end of 1995, computers and software ranked #8
in the Top 10 list for complaints to the Better Business Bureau, outdoing used
car dealers. As sales increased, complaints increased. In 1996, computer-related
complaints rose to #7 on the list.
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There are a lot of
customer complaints and the cost of handling complaints and requests for help
is skyrocketing. Over the past seven years, the ratio of support to total
employees in hardware and software companies has grown from 1 in 12 to 1 in 6.
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In 1996, there were 200 million
calls for technical support. At an average of about $23 per call, the industry
spent about $4.6 billion on these calls.
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The industry left these callers
on hold for about 3 billion minutes.
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The software industry has been
one of the worst for leaving callers on hold. A small study by Service
Management International indicated that software companies leave callers on
hold longer than any other industry studied, worse than government agencies,
computer hardware companies, airlines, banks, utility companies, and others.
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Software publishers ship
products with known bugs (defects), often LOTS of known bugs. The odds are
pretty good that when you run into a serious bug, the publisher knew about it
at the time that you bought the product.
Software publishing is a
business, a large, important industry in the United States. Like other
businesses, software publishers make trade-offs between your satisfaction and
their costs. Unfortunately, software is also mysterious to the non-expert. It's
easy for a software seller or support technician to tell you that you've misused
the program, or that the problem is that there's something wrong with your
frammistan (a mythical device that unscrupulous car mechanics would charge
customers hundreds of dollars to repair.) Some people are getting badly ripped
off, and it's not doing the industry or the customers any good.
If you buy bad software, this
book will help you get the support you need for it, or a refund, or additional
money to repay you for losses that this product cost you (such as trashing your
hard disk). |