Posted Jan 02, 2007 in consumer watch, tech
I called the sales team at Linksys today to ask for help in picking which one of their products Summersault wanted to purchase. I saw this notice on their “contact us” web page:
Due to a major earthquake in the South-Pacific area, telephone, internet circuits, and services from the United States have interrupted our call center operations. We apologize for any inconvenience or delay and appreciate your patience.
I felt bad for them, but carried on and called them anyway, assuming that they would prioritize sales calls in their time of rebuilding. The guy who answered the phone made it very clear, before letting me say anything, that he would ONLY help me with PRE-SALES questions. (I suppose it’s a universal problem that people call the sales extension when they really need technical support, assuming they’ll get someone faster.) I said “okay, I need help deciding which one of your products to buy.” I explained our requirements and which product I thought we needed, and his response was…
“Okay, let me get you over to…” and then I hear a click, and all of the sudden I’m back in their automated voicemail menu, with options that were completely unrelated to my question. No “can I transfer you?” or “Can you hold?,” just an end to our sales conversation. Wow.
Now I know which Linksys product I need to buy: none of them.
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Posted January 7, 2007 at 2:47 am
Linksys is owned by Cisco now, right? It's amazing it's this bad...
Posted January 20, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Linksys support is horrible. I have been on the phone with them for5 and 1/2 hours!! They suck
Posted May 22, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Linksys really needs to come home to reality!! Our last two encounters with the customer service department has been quite unsatisfactory. When talking to the reps, it feels like you are talking to a rock or some being that is totally unable to think, understand or make any sort of rational decisions. I just bought a Linksys printserver and since I still have the receipt, I will most certainly return it for another brand. I have gone through two wireless plugs in about a year. The last time we spent 6 hours on the phone for tech support and tonight it was only 3 and a half...amazing speed, huh...
I’m an entrepreneur, blogger, technology consultant and community builder living in Richmond, Indiana. 
Posted January 3, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Linksys was a pain before the earthquake, believe me. But this kind of telephone tomfoolery is one of my pet peeves, too. Sends me right over the edge.