My Take on Third Party Tech Support.

We've all had issues with software or hardware at one point in time, there is an argument that some software is even designed to fail at some point. But when we need help, who do we turn to? Tech Support can be offered in house for free, it can offer representatives who are quite knowledgeable and can help you with your issue. If you are not satisfied, you cancel or return the product or service. This translates to less money on the bottom line for the company offering the support, so they offer support for free, knowing that doing so is cheaper then trying to get a paying customer back.

However, some companies outsource Tech Support to a third party service. Those that work for these third parties often work on commission from service packages sold. Some even go as far as to refuse service unless you buy a support package even when you have already bought and paid for the software. Some claim that if you do not buy the support package, your product or service will stop working altogether. In the case of a computer: "Your hard drive will be physically damaged and you will lose all your data if you do not pay." Those who work for third party support have a "I do not care about your issue, now get off the line" mentality.

Sound shady to you? Well, some third party support companies and organizations are not like this. They do not use deceptive business practices in order to get a sale. What I have said to discredit third party support is not true for all third parties, but I will be honest: There are just too many bad apples in the bin. I am not trying to discredit any one company or organization, and this is only an opinion of someone who has gotten the runaround with tech support several times in the past. If you do not agree, that is fine by me.

I would like to call upon companies that outsource Tech Support to do it in house. I ask this because of two things.

1. Ultimately, outsourcing a service does not relieve a company of accountability for the results produced, no matter if positive or negative.

2. You make and maintain the product or service, you should know how to use it and fix it better then a third party.