Dell DIDN’T Screw Me Over - $1500 PC Secret Shopper 3 Part 1

I work for Dell and can tell you that "we can't be this bad the next time Linus makes a secret shopper video" was a point raised in at least one meeting

I'm pleasantly surprised, everyone did so much better than last time. Also that HP rep was so sweet I almost got diabetes hahahah.

That HP rep was genuinely over the moon happy to not have another demanding jerk on the line. I don't even think the discount she offered is something they'd offer to anyone, Shea just made her day and it was a beautiful human interaction.

Salesperson: “hi how are you doing today?” Linus: “that’s a REALLY good question”

Never in a million years would I ever expect not just a Monk reference, but an entire Monk-themed episode. One of the best shows of all time.

I personally like that they did not try to close the deal on the phone. I often feel pressured when interacting with a sales person and kind of feel a bit obligated to make the transaction. I prefer to have a bit of time off the phone to think about everything and do the final step with a clear mind. I would feel more at ease buying a computer from those companies.

The interpersonal skills and customer service instincts from that HP rep are some of the best I've seen in this series. She's so sincere and a pleasure to talk to. It's a shame that HP is doing such a disservice to her in terms of training about the technical aspect. Hope she can eventually land somewhere that better leverages her talents!

I did my internship with Bosch in the UK, I did a stint in their tech support department. Part of that involved giving advice on what model of boiler is best for the customer. I never realised how good their training & support structure is until seeing you do secret shopper for PCs. Even as someone with no interest in boilers or heating I was able to get support and use their systems to give advice or get someone to call back if needed.

Regarding "Closing the deal", I think this comes down to the vibe the customer gives the rep as well. I think that subtle hints can influence whether or not they will stay on line with the customer and Notalie often ended the call in a way that suggested she wants to do the checkout on her own, so the reps did that. I don't think they did anything wrong by not staying on the line and making sure the deal is closed.

21:17 As someone who's worked in call centers for several years if you hear a agent breathing or can hear background noise, please advise them in a friendly way as generally we don't often have a way of telling if our mics or other hardware need to be adjusted. Call centers often use budget gear vs whats used in studios broadcast, so it makes things worse. Nothings worse than going through a whole call or even several and then being told about it, often breathing issues are just the mouth piece being too close so easy to fix by moving it away unless its a crappy af headset

NZXT guy recommending the CPU upgrade actually makes a lot of sense for Minecraft. Java Edition is extremely CPU-bound, especially with mods. Every little bit helps.

The HP girl is a good employee. She sounded like she was excited to help the person on the phone. Need more people like her.

I felt like Shea implied she did not want them on the phone with her while she did the credit card stuff to "close the deal", and that's why they didn't try to keep her on the phone. I think it's good that they respected that.

In my experience, customers hate when businesses close the deal like he suggested. People feel as though they're being rushed which brings feelings of being taken advantage of and only cared about for a commission. Personally I think a lot of the reps did really well in that manner.

When they say “you’re the nicest person to call today” and is grateful for that call…. It just kinda hits you that they’re just a regular person going about the grind 😭 I hope that lady will have a great year tbh.

I love how the reps have different problems this time around! Compared to the up-charges in past Secret Shopper rounds, "Close the sale!" is a good problem to have.

That HP sales rep was so nice. It's the highlight of the video. She is so friendly and nice you can't help but smile. Love that

It's crazy how much better all these companies have gotten. The difference between Secret Shopper 1 and 2 and this one is massive. I hope you guys continue this series and continues to raise the bar

The Starforge upsell is particularly egregious because they have a SKU between the Prime and the Ultra (Horizon II Super) for ~$1700 that they didn't even mention. Went for the crazy upsell!

A little surprised that Origin didn't at least mention about the financing options as an possible way to consider to help with the budget. A horrible flash back from when I worked in sales was to always ensure the customer was aware of montly payment options as a way to try to get their budget up a little more to something suitable for thier needs