I spent over one hour yesterday trying to figure out how to talk to someone at Dell about replacing my 11 month old flat panel monitor because the power button is broken - nearly falling off.
Even though Dell has many venues for support (live chat, email, phone) they all require a Service Tag. Live chat requires the service tag before you can even begin the chat. Automated support asks for it. With no options. However when you purchase peripherals, there is no service tag - that is something that you get with a system. I had an order #, a customer # and a serial #, but no service tag #.
During the course of the hour (at dinner time and my blood sugar was low so I lost patience after the first 1/2 hour) I was frustrated nearly to the point of tears. (I think for men, this translates as “nearly to the point of punching a hole in the wall” - it's just a biological thing.)
Finally after my third attempt at contact them by phone and surviving the repeated recorded instructions for battery replacement, I finally got through to someone who was able to get me started on the road to recovery. (Ha, you're thinking it was a therapist, right?). I still had to go to yet another tech support person, but he was also very helpful, even opting to call me back a few times, rather than keeping me on hold while he orchestarted the due diligence for a warranty replacement. Once I knew someone was there to help me, my sanity returned immediately.
In the long run, after 2 1/2 hours, the solution sounds perfect to me. Someone will call me, make an appointment, come to my house (home/office) with a new monitor and take the old one away.
But there is definitely something wrong with a support scenario that requires you to supply information that does not exist.