Review: Support.com
I recently gave
Support.com’s System TuneUp service a try.
Basically, a support representative goes through your
computer using remote connection software.
They do some tune-ups and fixes to make your computer faster
and work more efficiently.
The service competes with extra services provided by
computer manufacturers and of course the services that the
Geek Squad
provides.
Support.com is strictly phone/Internet based, so they can’t
really fix hardware issues. They have technicians based in their Syracuse, NY call
center.
It
is all US based and the company (SupportSoft) started
offering consumer services in December of 2006 or so.
Before that, they made remote help support. The company is
relatively small and has about 15 technicians on the floor
at any
given time, depending on the time of the day, etc.
When you call Support.com’s 1-800 number, you are
automatically connected to the person that will be helping
you. There was
no hold time and I was surprised at the lack of menus.
After the technician collects your billing information,
etc., you download the software and get it setup.
It wasn’t complicated, but was slightly more involved. The
software doesn’t work with Firefox, which is disappointing.
The agent who helped me (Phil) was friendly and seemed to
know what he was talking about. He took a conservative
approach (as
opposed to going in and deleting a whole bunch of stuff),
which I personally prefer.
Phil did a good job at avoiding dead air during the
conversation, which is one of the biggest challenges during
technical
support calls.
My computer is running faster and the only problem I had was
with Mozilla Firefox.
When we uninstalled an older version of Mozilla Firefox, it
uninstalled both the old version and my current version.
It was really easy to get Firefox working again – I just had
to download it and reinstall it. I could have called
Support.com
to have done that, but didn’t need to.
Phil told me that Support.com’s most popular services
included Spyware Removal ($79) and their Comprehensive Problem
Resolution
Service (they fix a problem for $39, $99 or $129 depending
on the issue).
All fees are flat rate and Support.com guarantees that the
problem will be fixed.
I liked how Support.com has customer reviews and feedback
posted at
https://www.support.com/reviews.
At https://www.support.com/incidents, they also show some of the most recent problems fixed.
The transparency is a nice
touch. After the experience, I filled out a simple survey.
I’m an expert PC user so I probably wouldn't need to use this
service.
Would I recommend it to someone who doesn’t know that much
about computers?
Definitely.
Support.com is a wise choice for someone who needs help fixing their computer up from the convenience of their home.
An easy
service to recommend.