Calling this number for TCL's customer service is an odd experience, as it's listed as the phone number for appliance services but functions more as a main call center for all of TCL's products. TCL lists this number for appliances only, recommending a different number each for televisions, mobile devices and soundboards. But when you dial this number, you're offered a menu for appliances, televisions and soundboards as if the number serves all three.
This number also grossly underestimated the time I would spend on hold when I chose appliances. After a minute, I was told my call would be answered by the next available representative, and my wait time was one minute, but I ended up waiting at least 10 minutes for assistance.
When I was connected to a customer service representative, I told him I was looking for information about the TCL robot vacuum models. I had seen how some offered laser-guided navigation, and some offered standard navigation. I wanted to know the difference so I could decide which kind of vacuum was best for me and my needs.
The representative said he didn't know how they differed and asked if he could place me on hold to get information about them. I said that was fine and waited another five minutes before he came back, explaining that the laser-guided navigation provided a deeper clean, as the standard navigation vacuums would only look at the dirt that was present as opposed to looking at how much dirt showed up over time with the laser navigation system.
I didn't think his explanation made a lot of sense, and he didn't convey a strong sense of knowledge of the product. He seemed to think the same, as he added multiple times that the main difference would be a deeper clean with the laser-guided navigation system. He asked if I was ready to purchase a robot vacuum, and I said I was looking at several models to try to decide which one was my best choice.
Overall, I wasn't very impressed with the service I received. The explanation wasn't convincing, and it wasn't even a technical question. It honestly left me wondering how TCL can provide real support to its customers when its representatives don't know the product very well and need help from someone before they can answer any questions about it.
Needing to get help from a more experienced representative is fine if it's a difficult, esoteric question, but this was a basic question that required only minimal knowledge about the problem. It shouldn't have taken an extra trip to the hold menu just to get an explanation that made little sense. Overall, this customer service call greatly weakened my impression of TCL's product knowledge, and I wouldn't want to use this number to try to get assistance if it were needed.