I understand there's a script to be followed, but...

[Dave0523]

Several times in the past, a big truck has come through our neighborhood and ripped out our cable line (it was hung with a lot of slack). The cable guys finally took up all the slack into a nice little coil at the pole. Anyway, every time I called the cable company to report it, why, oh why, did they insist on having to go through their troubleshooting script?

Them: Thank you for calling <the cable company>. How may I help you?
Me: Hi, I've Dave at <address>. A truck just came down the street and ripped out my cable at the pole.
T: So, you're saying you have to picture on your TV?
M: No, I only have cable internet and the cable's been ripped out at the pole.
T: So, your internet is out? Have you rebooted your computer/reset the modem to see if that fixes the problem?
M: How is my rebooting/resetting the modem going to fix a ripped out cable?
T: Are you SURE that it's the cable ripped out?
M: Well, the lights are still on, so it's not electric. I'm standing out here at the street looking at a ripped out cable lying in the road, and my internet went out at the exact time I saw the truck rip out the cable, so odds are it really is the cable. Are you going to send out a truck to fix it or not?

I know they have to follow the script, but come on...

--Dave

[gunsage]

Yeah, that's pretty bad. I remember, working as a tier 2, that there would be people that would do that (no, I wasn't one of them). This also reminds me of an interview I had for an SQL developer position...

Me:
IT Guy who seemed skeptical of me anyway:
HR Manager who didn't really know anything technical and was actually a lot easier to talk to:

HR: *Shortly after they ran through their schpiel* "So, are there any questions you have for us?"
Me: *Remembering positive questions to ask about a position from my career development teacher* "Um, yes actually! What happened to the person that had this position previously?"

As an aside, you're looking for one of two things with a question like this...did the person die of a heart attack from all the stress or did he get promoted to a new position? Obviously you want the promoted option. Unfortunately, they took a confused look at each other, then...

IT: "Um...this is actually a new position. There...wasn't a person there previously because there was no...there."
Me: "Oh, uh, err..."
IT: "Why would you ask a question like that?"
Me: "I, well, I mean, I was just wondering why he wasn't...there anymore?"
IT: "..."

Yeah, I didn't get the job. If anything, it taught me to PAY ATTENTION! I still don't have a GREAT memory, but it is better...I think.

[BlackIronCrown]

Yeah, I didn't get the job. If anything, it taught me to PAY ATTENTION! I still don't have a GREAT memory, but it is better...I think.

Ha! I know what that was. Our recruiters at Kodak used to avoid guys who asked those sort of questions. The really real reasoning was that they'd be too smart to take on all the bullshit we provided them.

[edicius]

Eww. I hate scripts. Despite being the head of a technical department, I have to sometimes call our help desk on campus to report a problem that requires repair/service/etc. And I'm always a victim of...THE SCRIPT.

"Did you reboot your computer?"
"Yes. Three of them, in fact. With three different sets of cables. All three computers worked fine in room 102, but not in 103. There is something mechanically wrong with the projector."
"And you pressed function-F7?"
"Oh good lord..."

[Chazzie]

HR: *Shortly after they ran through their schpiel* "So, are there any questions you have for us?"
Me: *Remembering positive questions to ask about a position from my career development teacher* "Um, yes actually! What happened to the person that had this position previously?"

That seems like a perfectly logical question to me, unless they told you before that it was a brand new position you were signing up for. I'd want to know whether the person before me quit or not. x:

[gunsage]

Actually, they did, but I didn't remember it, so I Homer Simpson'd.

[sld72382]

Can't say it's all of them but in my call center they will dock you on your quality audits if you miss or skip your scripts. Even in cases where it would seem stupid to follow your script, unless it's an obvious misdirect.

My weekly bonus is dependent on passing my audits. In other words, I would rather risk sounding stupid to a person than get docked on an audit and thus risk losing my bonus.

So next time you call and you get frustrated by the agent going by a script, remember that he/she is doing it to keep his/her job or bonus.

Not trying to be an a-hole, just giving my side of the equation.

[Shabo]

You know, I was talking to a professor of mine yesterday about career opportunities for myself, and I mentioned telephone support. He said that it could be an interesting career path, but that it seemed to him that the companies offering support were less interested in offering great support and were settling for mediocre, like get customers off the phone by a certain time, following scripts, etc. How true is that? Kind of scary, too.

[sld72382]

You know, I was talking to a professor of mine yesterday about career opportunities for myself, and I mentioned telephone support. He said that it could be an interesting career path, but that it seemed to him that the companies offering support were less interested in offering great support and were settling for mediocre, like get customers off the phone by a certain time, following scripts, etc. How true is that? Kind of scary, too.

That is actually very true, many times they don't really care if you're technical or care about a customer's problem, they are just looking for people who sound pleasant on the phone and can show empathy when a client describes the issue.

[drunkenwildmage]

You know, I was talking to a professor of mine yesterday about career opportunities for myself, and I mentioned telephone support. He said that it could be an interesting career path, but that it seemed to him that the companies offering support were less interested in offering great support and were settling for mediocre, like get customers off the phone by a certain time, following scripts, etc. How true is that? Kind of scary, too.

In most cases..yes.. A typical call center is allot like a factory environment but instead of making cars, or paper plates, the production is "calls answered". In the call center I worked out, they had someone with a a job title of "production manager"

They should give you a couple weeks of "training" and let you lose, but they don't care how well you do the support. All they care is the number of calls you take per shift, the time of call, the time spend after the call and you followed the script. The typically outsourcer is paid by the call, or on some kind of sliding scale that means the longer someone is on a call, the less they get paid. The script is the agreement between the outsource company and company that they are providing support, for the SLA (service level agreement) If they can't do anything to help the subsribier then it's either a service call, or "tier 2" eslcation, which can be either in house or another outsourcer depending on the company. Also, when calling a "supervisor, those calls are normally taking by another call center agent, and not a real supervisor. The supervsiors at a call center are normally just pencil pushers



I worked for an outsouce company for 3 months before I quit. I then went to a local cable company, that did all support and custumer service duty's in house, and saw a world of differences. the Local company was 100% better with how they treating their customers. With the local company, for internet support their big number is "first call resultion" meaning the custumer didn't need a service call, or a follow up call. In our case for the longest time ours was at 98%.


They best place to get into is a smaller ISP, or something local, but those tend to be real hard to get into.

[gunsage]

Here's how I view tier 2 work...and yes, this includes then, when I worked as a tier 2, and now, where I work as a tier 3...

Me: *Cheery, sunny, inhuman* "Thank you for calling X Company! How may I help you today?"
Cust: "Uh, yes, I can't seem to get on the Internet."
Me: *Cutesy, babytalk, strangle-prone* "Awwwwww, that's too bad."
Cust: "Yes, well, anyway, so I've already powercycled-"
Me: *Second personality kicks in* "AGH, GET THE HELL OFFA MY LINE!"
*Click, possibly to a transfer*

[Cyphr]

Very long and badly written (sorry I'm not good at writing)

Yah i agree any local place I've called is actually competent and will help you, but if you call big business (dell comes to mind since i deal with them alot) you end up getting crap for technical skills. The funniest had to be when I called after a lightning storm fried my sound card (and nothing else ) Explain it a lightning storm killed it but everything else works. THE INDIAN LADY WENT THROUGH THE SCRIPT 9 TIMES! get elevated to Tier 2 and explain what happens he asks me to reseat it so I do it since its the first good idea I've heard this whole call. Doesn't work so he sends a new card problem solved .

Total time to get a new sound card shipped: 4 hours

[technical.angel]

Cyphr, that's why I only deal with Dell Gold. Best money you can spend. I got my own Dell tech. I just email him when I have a problem and he sends parts. Or, if it's something I don't have time or energy to deal with, like a mobo replacement when I'm 30 miles away in training, he sends a tech to do it for me... for free.

[Cyphr]

meh we just took whatever support came with my dell XPS least i got the sound card for free I just kinda started eating after the first loop. yes yes yes no okay done rebooting no it didnt work until it was elevated

[JustADude]

Cyphr, that's why I only deal with Dell Gold. Best money you can spend. I got my own Dell tech. I just email him when I have a problem and he sends parts. Or, if it's something I don't have time or energy to deal with, like a mobo replacement when I'm 30 miles away in training, he sends a tech to do it for me... for free.

How much? That might actually make it worth dealing with The Dell-vil...