Vision Computers Product Review

Vision Computers Beats Dell Computer At Its Own Game

Consumer advocate and all-around nice guy Clark Howard has a saying that I very much agree with: "The bigger a company gets, the smaller it's brains get."

Sadly, large companies often forget or forsake the thing that made them successful in the first place: a customer-centric business model. They lose focus on the customer and start focusing on the bottom line. They look for ways to cut costs or increase revenues, often at the expense of the customer. They forget that satisfying customer needs is the only long term path to profitable growth.

This creates opportunities for new, smaller companies to emulate and improve upon what made their bigger competitors successful in the first place.

Such is the case with Dell Computer, who seems to have lost their vision, and, appropriately enough, Atlanta-based Vision Computers, who is beating Dell at their own game.

Prior to switching to Vision Computers, I had been a loyal customer of Dell Computer for over ten years, having purchased and assisted others in purchasing hundreds of Dell computers for either personal or corporate use. I even recommended Dell in my recent book, PC Fear Factor: The Ultimate PC Disaster Prevention Guide. But my recent experiences with Dell have convinced me that Dell has lost its way. Dell's own actions forced me, in effect, to search for other alternatives.

My decision to leave Dell after ten years resulted in dissatisfaction in three major areas.

Customer Service. For me, one of the attractions of Dell Computer is that you can purchase next day, on-site service for your computer. In the good old days, I could call Dell and tell them which component was broken. Someone would show up the next day and replace the defective component. Not anymore. These days, Dell wants to turn you into a PC technician. They want you to pull your computer apart and run test after test before they send somebody out, even if you are knowledgeable enough to have already properly diagnosed the problem. So when you buy Dell's on-site service, you are essentially paying Dell for the privilege of allowing them to waste your valuable time proving to them what you already know to be true. This effectively negates the value of having this service.

Custom Configuration. But customer service isn't the only place where Dell's has faltered. Dell's business model was originally based on the make-to-order concept. Essentially, Dell was the Burger King of the computer industry: Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce. Not so anymore. If you go to Dell's web site to place an order, you will find that Dell now forces buyers to buy many extras they may not want. For example, it is impossible to order a Dell Computer without speakers, a modem, or a Belkin SurgeMaster Gold Series surge protector:

(You can select a more expensive surge protector if you wish, but you cannot purchase a system without a surge protector.)

In fact, Dell doesn't even show you the cost of these items - it is just built into the base system price. However, I performed some research and found that these three items add about $75 to the cost of the system. This inflates Dell's revenue stream at the expense of the customer, who may not need these items.

Dell also requires you to buy a keyboard and mouse (built into the base system price), which you may not need if you are replacing an old computer.

Nor does Dell offer a great deal of flexibility when it comes to custom configuring your computer:

Oh sure, Dell still lets you select how much memory you want and how big a hard drive you want, but beyond this and a few other basics, you really can't have it your way.

"The Dell salesperson was the antithesis of the Dell Dude you see on television."

Pre-sales support. The final straw came when I called Dell recently to ask some pre-sales questions about a system I was configuring on the web. The salesperson was the antithesis of the Dell Dude you see on television. He was, in a word, obnoxious. He didn't want to answer any of my questions, and kept coming back to his how-can-we-put-you-in-a-computer-today attitude. Worse, he lacked any real knowledge about Dell's products - he was an order taker, pure and simple. At one point, he said, "Gee people don't usually ask us those questions. We're Dell, you know," as if that was supposed to eliminate the need for any questions. It was like dealing with the stereotypical car salesman. From his perspective, the most important piece of information I should have was his phone extension, so that I could call him back when I was ready to place the order. (He didn't want to miss his commission and his shift was over in fifteen minutes.)

It makes me wonder how the heck Dell is selling to corporations if they don't even have the skills to answer relatively simple technical questions from home office customers.

Vision Computers has been in business since 1991 and sells computers nationwide.

When I first called Vision, I told salesman Ritesh Patel that I was considering changing suppliers and wanted to know more about Vision Computers. He told me that Vision Computers had been in business for more than ten years, and that they make computers using only standard, name brand components such as Intel motherboards and processors, Seagate and Western Digital hard drives, Sony optical drives, Sound Blaster sound cards, and ATI or eVGA video cards. This was important to me because a computer made from standard components is likely to be more stable and reliable than one made from off brand components.

Ritesh explained that Vision Computers provides 7 x 24 technical phone support, and that that technical support was performed in house by Vision Computer employees. I was glad to hear this because Dell Computer now farms out much of its phone support offshore, and I often have difficulty finding someone who can speak English well enough to communicate efficiently and effectively.

I told Ritesh that my biggest concern when buying a computer was getting it configured to satisfy my disaster prevention and recovery requirements. Specifically, I needed to be absolutely certain that Vision Computer installed CD writers that were compatible with Norton Ghost, an application I use to back up my hard drive directly to CDs for off-site storage. He assured me that I would be able to come in and test my computer before taking delivery.

We spoke for thirty minutes, and he never once tried to sell me a computer. Clearly, Ritesh was more interested in building a relationship than in closing a deal in fifteen minutes. I would soon learn that Ritesh's professionalism was typical of all Vision Computer employees.

I was so impressed with Ritesh that I called him back a few days later and asked him to configure a system so that I could see how Vision's pricing compared to Dell. Once again, we spent a lot of time on the phone. I had several technical questions, and he was able to answer most of them - he wasn't just an order taker. If he couldn't answer a question, he brought one of Vision's tech support specialists into the conversation. We discussed a number of disaster prevention strategies as they pertained to the system configuration and selected a strategy / configuration that made sense for me.

Read our review of Cyberscrub and learn
how to protect your valuable information
when you sell your computer or take it in
for repair.

I decided that it was time to meet these people in person. A few days later, I drove over to the company, located in Norcross, Georgia, a northern suburb of Atlanta. I had some more technical questions about the quote, and I wanted to get a first hand look at the finished product. I spent an hour going over the quote with Ritesh, asking him questions about why he quoted a particular type of memory or particular brand of hard disk or video card. He had solid answers for every question, and they were always about saving me money based on how I used my computer. For example, he quoted a less expensive type of memory because the tasks I performed did not warrant the fastest, most expensive memory.

I looked inside a computer and it had a nice, clean design and offered plenty of room for expansion.

Vision Computers' midsize case has plenty of expansion room. Vision also offers a smaller case and a larger case, available in beige or black.

Throughout the sales cycle, I received frequent communications from Ritesh and from Nick Spitzer, the technician who was going to build my computer. We resolved a number of technical questions and evolved to a final configuration. I can't tell you how refreshing it was to get an email that said:

"The people at Vision Computers understood that if you solve the customer's problem, you don't have to sell a computer - the customer will buy one."

Once I ordered my computer, the technician assigned to build it, Nick Spitzer, kept in contact with me during the assembly process, which took a couple of days. We went over the configuration again to ensure that the computer would be built to my specifications.

When my computer was complete, I was allowed to test it thoroughly at Vision’s shop. I used Norton Ghost to do backups and restores without any problems. I had my solution!.

What I found most unusual about the entire process is that it centered around solving my business problem, rather than selling me a computer. The people at Vision Computers understood that if you solve the customer's problem, you don't have to sell a computer - the customer will buy one. Now there's a business model that could revolutionize and re-energize the personal computer industry.

From beginning to end, this was the best customer service experience I have had in many years - perhaps the best of my entire professional life. Decades ago, customer-centric companies like Vision Computers were the rule in all industries. Today, they are the rare exception, to be treasured and exalted.