WebProNews

The world's biggest PC maker has shuttered online message support forums that were once the core of a high-quality customer service offering.

Jeff Jarvis, a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner, has been a frequent critic of Dell's customer service, in regards to a laptop he received that has allegedly turned out to be a "lemon."

The issues Mr. Jarvis and many other users encountered were once a type that could be sorted out via Dell's online message forums. These forums were populated by users and received heavy interaction from an assortment of US-based Dell Customer Care personnel.

Dell shut down those popular boards last week, but maintains it still focuses on quality customer service. "One negative experience with Dell is one too many for us," says Dell spokesperson Jennifer Davis. "We are the world's number one PC company. Every customer issue is important to us."

Ms. Davis further reiterated that Mr. Jarvis' issue was submitted to Dell's advanced support care team, but a refund offer to him only came in the wake of his contacting a high-level executive on Dell's marketing team.

Though Mr. Jarvis was not a Customer Care board user according to PC World, he has been a voluminous blogger on what he sees as shortfalls in Dell's care. One oft-repeated frustration of other Dell domestic customers has been working with outsourced customer care personnel in non-native English countries.

While outsourcers in India and other low-wage countries coveted by the high-tech industry may be committed to providing the best service they can, the spoken English language can be a considerable barrier, with multitudes of idioms and idiosyncrasies that a foreign worker simply can't process.

Dell's claims of concerns about personal questions like "What is my rebate status?" being asked and answered in a public forum ring hollow. There are no HIPAA or financial privacy regulations being placed at risk here. The only thing at risk is Dell's once-decent customer service reputation.

But it appears they've outsourced that as well.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.