Anguish and Anxiety over Computer Technical Support: Report

Nearly two thirds of consumers say that their computer has caused them anxiety in large part as a result of frequent slowdowns and prolonged boot-up times, and over 40 percent who use an outside computer support service also said they are not happy according to a new report.

The CMO Council's Customer Experience Board, in partnership with iYogi recently released a set of findings that show the disconnect between consumer's perceptions of their ability to fix computer problems and the realities of unresolved issues.

The report, "Combating Computer Stress Syndrome: Barriers and Best Practices in Computer Tech Support," analyzes the results of a poll of more than 1,000 consumers in North America on the forces and factors at work with the different approaches to solve the set of computer complexities, viruses, and bugs as the devices grow to a wider, less computer educated audience.

The report captures valued data on the consumer's experiences and attitudes, a snapshot of conversations on challenges, best practices with support-related executives at popular communications service providers, and computer device manufacturers.

The report shows that Computer Stress Syndrome is widespread and caused by the factors such as top sources of frustration with the tech support experience are long wait times, inability to fix problems and the cost of the service.

Seventy-five percent of respondents said they are experiencing hours or more of downtime per year and 40 percent are experiencing days or more while top five impacts of computer failure include increased stress levels, interrupted work or play time, valuable lost data, dropped connections, and difficult online purchasing.

Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the Customer Experience Board and CMO Council said that the results of their quantitative and qualitative research clearly point to the fact that people are fed up and frustrated with the current ability of traditional tech support mechanisms to solve problems.

According to Donovan, what is needed is a resolution revolution in which the various parties offering support alternatives are rethinking their approach and offering innovative models that address the growing production and complexities of multiple service and device types in the market.