Gadget Users Hardly Use Tech Support

I was kind of surprised by the numbers from this recent survey.

However, for all the talk about online communities, the Pew survey showed only about 2 percent of people solved their technology problem online.

About 38 percent of respondents called customer service, 28 percent fixed the problem themselves and 15 percent got help from friends or relatives.

The rest — about 15 percent — gave up.

15% is a pretty high percentage that just threw the thing in a box and forgot about the problem. I would be willing to bet you that those people might never use a product from a company that they gave up on again.

I can also tell you that the 38% that called customer service probably dreaded the experience. I think the outsourcing of tech help has gone a long way toward making these numbers so low. Most gadget owners figure that they could fix the problem themselves or get a tech savvy person to do it rather then talk to some guy named "James" from Mumbai.