I deal with Dell Techs a lot. Since they are techs working for a big company they must folow guide lines, which means they will ask you to do each step on their paper in order weither you have done them arleady or not. (not unlike other compaines).
When Things are beyond tech level 1/2 support capibilites, service becomes so/so ususaly refering you to microsoft or the part manufacturer instead of knowing what to do.
But good for most people, just slow IMO.