Treated like a moron (Long vent)

[wagegoth]

I installed the Windows Defender from Microsoft, as well as Spybot and Adaware, and also installed Norton and updated all of them, so I hope this time, he will be more careful.

Ree, two suggestions, first, remove Spybot and Adaware. There are specific viruses that are sent out to attack them. I know of two people who ended up having to wipe their hard drives and start from scratch because of attacks on Adaware. Occasionally, I will download Adaware, run it, then uninstall it. Spybot can cause performance issues.

Second suggestion, don't have the computer running Norton and Defender at the same time. You will get some serious performance issues.

The latest version of Norton has anti-spyware, limiting the need for additional programs.

[phillippbo]

...rather than actually solving the issue, tech support had me do the same silly steps every time I called. It was on their end and I still don't know what the problem was.

I can't speak as to what the issue was, and I don't doubt that eventually it was found out to be on their end, but sometimes there is a method to the madness. I will ask someone to powercycle their modem (power it down and bring it back up) so I can monitor what it does as it's starting up and decide what the best course of action would be. Don't know about DSL, but for instance, on cable sometimes a static charge builds up on the line causing the modem to stay off. I can only see the symptoms of that issue if I see it while the modem is "ranging" (what it's doing in the background while all the lights are blinking). The solution to static charge is to unscrew the cable and ground it, saving at least a day of the customer's frustration and some of my company's money. In addition, before we can send a technician we have to tell them what to look for. If my notes are "modem offline" and nothing else, I can get in trouble for not doing my job.

Sometimes, though, the person on the other end of the phone is non-technical and all they know is the "troubleshooting steps" they were given in training. Or some companies grade on how closely the script was followed and any deviation leads to trouble. In either case, keep in mind that first level tech support jobs, especially at large companies, are non-skilled (meaning no college degree required) and the companies are not willing to pay what it would take to hire people with the skills that callers think they should have. If they paid enough for that, I'm sure that the bill for the broadband would have to go up significantly to cover the costs...

[ladodger34]

Because 9 times out of 10, the customer IS lying. I don't know how many times I got into arguments with people to reboot their machines and they'd say "I tried that," but once I finally convince them to reboot it works.

"Oh a reboot didn't work before." Bullshit. You were just too dumb to try to reboot and didn't want to admit it.

On the flip side of the coin, I was having problems with my DSL (company name rhymes with Verizon) and rather than actually solving the issue, tech support had me do the same silly steps every time I called. It was on their end and I still don't know what the problem was.

On the first call they had me reboot my computer and restart the modem. On the second call they had me reboot my computer and restart the modem. On the third call they had me reboot my computer and restart the modem. And so on. I did it to humor the techs but I knew that it wasn't the problem.

The stuff I hate about the script is the questions about the OS. When I had my DSL problems, I answered the question on every stinking tech call I made.

[phillippbo]

Because 9 times out of 10, the customer IS lying. I don't know how many times I got into arguments with people to reboot their machines and they'd say "I tried that," but once I finally convince them to reboot it works.

Either that, or they're too lazy to actually do anything. My favorite is asking things like if any of the cables are loose and their answer is something along the lines of "nobody's been back there" (doesn't answer the question) or an immediate "no" (probably didn't check at all). The funny thing is that technically minded people, or at least anyone with half a brain, will take that opportunity to lay their hands upon said cabling and check. If they don't suggest it, or won't do it when I gently suggest they check, I give up and schedule the tech they want. I do make sure they know they will be charged if it's not something outside. They usually get upset at this, but I do remind them that the free support they seek is in two flavors: over the phone and on-site assuming the problem is on our end. Otherwise, they are asking us to maintain their wiring and equipment for them, something that is priced very high everywhere else, and we only expect to recover part of the cost of sending the technician. (In case anybody is wondering, the cost is 45.00 even though it costs us something on the order of 90.00 every time a truck is rolled - and that's just the regular van techs, fancy bucket-truck techs are lots more.) I think Geek Squad would laugh if you wanted them to come out for 45.00 and fix something...

[trunks2k]

Why is the rule FOLLOW THE SCRIPT DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THE SCRIPT THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS LYING! ??? .

Because 9 times out of 10, the customer IS lying. I don't know how many times I got into arguments with people to reboot their machines and they'd say "I tried that," but once I finally convince them to reboot it works.

"Oh a reboot didn't work before." Bullshit. You were just too dumb to try to reboot and didn't want to admit it.

[trunks2k]

I tried that, didn't work for me. For some reason I get those guys who can't do anything except repeat line by line.

Yeah, it doesn't always work. But sometimes it does.

[air914]

Ooh i always hate that when I get someone who reads line by line their script..... I am not a computer tech but I do know SOMETHING about computers - especially when I keep having the same problem over and over - I did get told once "wow you do know what you're doing" - which made me feel good - I'm sure it's rare..... I don't always know what I'm doing but i can remember some shortcuts & things like how to ping your IP.... I'll usually butt in w/ "you mean xyz....." to help them realize that I DO know something and I HAVE done that and we CAN skip ahead.... why can't they skip ahead anyway??? Why is the rule FOLLOW THE SCRIPT DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THE SCRIPT THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS LYING! ??? I mean you are talking to a human being and not a computer so there should be some leeway there I think for the tech to discern whether someone knows something or doesn't and they can skip ahead.....

[LostMyMind]

-Rep: "Ok first I want you to do try rebooting your computer. Go to start..."
-Me: "Alright lemme interrupt you there. I really don't want to sound like an ass, but I want to save both of us time. I have a degree in computer science and have worked on tech support for over six months before.

I tried that, didn't work for me. For some reason I get those guys who can't do anything except repeat line by line.

[trunks2k]

That's what I hate about calling tech support. I have well above knowledge of their average customer, so I feel like I'm being treated like an idiot. But I can't really complain about it as from my stint in tech support I learned it's easier to just assume the customer is lying to you.

So normally when I call tech support (which is very rare), if I think the person on the other end is going to walk me through all the basic trouble shooting stuff and treat me like a simpleton (again, it is a good assumption to have for 90% of the calls) it goes something like this.

-Rep: "Ok first I want you to do try rebooting your computer. Go to start..."
-Me: "Alright lemme interrupt you there. I really don't want to sound like an ass, but I want to save both of us time. I have a degree in computer science and have worked on tech support for over six months before. So I have a good idea of what I'm talking about and how to do basic trouble shooting. Here's the things I have done to try and fix the problem <List of attempts to fix>. And I know you think I'm lying to you, and I know are supposed to follow a script, but I assure you I am not lying, so just pretend that you followed the script. So can we please skip over the stuff I already did?
-Rep: "Ok then. try X"
-Me: "Works now. How much time did we save?"
-Rep: "10 minutes at least."
-Me: "Good. Thanks for the help"

[technical.angel]

I fix the puters, one cust of mine literally says "you do it, ignore me, you fix it, dont ask me anything" and waves her hands in the air. I know better than to explain anything to her; she DOES NOT want it.

Tthat, so far, has been my biggest problem in tech support, figuring out if the person I'm explaining stuff to gets it, wants it or wants more info.

I'm starting to second my college Calc professor who thought everyone should have red and green LED lights installed in their foreheads. If you're understanding something, the green one lights, if you're confused, the red one lights. That would make part of my job much easier.

Jenni

[JuniorMintz]

I would have been so severely pissed off at that guy and his snarky "It's the thing that looks like a television" comment.

You know, if he were joking, it would be one thing. I would actually laugh at that if it were said in jest, and I think you would have too. For you to be mad, he must have been acting like a COMPLETE and TOTAL douchebag-how annoying!

Good on you for getting it to work again, though!

[Der Cute]

Ree:
Good job on fixing it!

BUT
How old is this Nephew?

At least, he owes you a dinner/ lawnmow/ car wash/backrub and foot massage!!!

For pete's darn sakes, what the heck are you fixing his puter for? He's a big boy, let him call in the fubar and explain it!

Or if you're tired: wait til morning when you're more coherent. It's not fun asking questions to users who cant answer (whether they're zonked or just uneducated.) Sitting behind the phone waiting and wondering....it stretches my brain til it pops

I fix the puters, one cust of mine literally says "you do it, ignore me, you fix it, dont ask me anything" and waves her hands in the air. I know better than to explain anything to her; she DOES NOT want it. Her checks are good tho . Personally I believe if ya use the darn thing yalls ought to know enough names/parts to ask questions.

But look at me, I called an ethernet cable a PLUGGY today.

What do I know?

Cutenoob

[CanadaGirl]

Just as an added bit of information, if he wants to download anything safely he can download this program called uTorrent and then browse on sites such as demonoid.com and mininova.org for torrents to download. He can get tv show episodes, movies, music, etc. It's a hell of a lot safer than Limewire-like P2P's since the computers only connect via the file, not the users entire computer. Myself, I have download about a dozen new releases and *ahem* movies that are still in theatre and have yet to have any problems with my computer since I have both Norton and a heavy duty firewall installed.

[technical.angel]

or to let folks know their system isnt a modem,

I had my first "modem" at this job.

We had taken a tower from an office to do an OS reinstall/memory upgrade. A person from that office called up the Helpdesk later asking if we'd taken a modem. I said quite honestly no, we hadn't. We had just taken the tower. Yeah, she said, that's what I meant.

If I wasn't close to denying that entire office tech support, I might have made an attempt to explain the difference, but I didn't. I told bossman what she said, and I think he explained it to her.

That one took the cake in my book. I'm a little surprised it's not a one time stupid person thing.

Jenni

[devlinorrus]

It's not that bad,just really takes practice.....been doing this here for 4 years, been doing tech support in some capacity for 20 years. You will get some slightly insane or inane calls. I love my job but whew......sometimes I'm glad I have the option to further my options with journalism (returning to college after many years next year). Now amatuer interviewer and reviewer of stuff for a website.

I do love most of my customers and try to be patient. The worst calls are the ones with folks who listen with their mouths not their ears. If you don't listen to me when I try to explain something, if suddenly the issue is worse, aint my fauld