Tech support woes

**Cojiro** · 04-30-08, 07:08 PM

Originally Posted by Gumby

get used to it.
I have worked at every level of IT and it never gets better. I do not have to deal with it as much these days. At my current job, the help desk team is actually helpful for the customers so very few calls get escalated to me so I can focus on big picture problems. When I used to do help desk at a small local ISP, we would get some dandys though.
My favorite were the many, many people who would call during the day and say they could not connect. A typical exchange follows:
Me: ok, click start
Customer: I can't
Me: Why not
Customer: because my computer is at home and I am at work
Me: Sir, I cannot assist you with your connection issue unless you are at your computer so we can troubleshoot this.
Customer: Well thats just stupid, why am I paying for your service if it does not work.
Me: Sir, just call when you get home and are at your computer, we have 24/7 support
Customer: I dont want to do that, when I get home, I do not want to mess around with that. That is why I called you from work, now fix it already.[me=Gumby]bangs head into wall. [/me]

I get that same thing all of the time.

it sucks so much not being able to be rude back to them. but sometimes i just lose my temper and you can hear it in the way i talk, but im still saying polite things just in a very aggravated way.

**Toker** · 04-30-08, 07:15 PM

When setting up my Linksys 'N' setup I had some difficulties. Called tech support because the router was locked up and I was being dumb about it. They told me that the product I purchased was faulty and that I should exchange it? All I really needed to do was some simple resets, but I guess they thought that would be easier to exchange it. What you get when you outsource to idiots I guess..

**SmokenScion** · 04-30-08, 09:15 PM

If you people don't know the difference between 12oz and 16oz, without looking at it then you Fricken deserve everyone of these mofo-in bad customers..........I'm talkin to you CSR's/CustServTech/Rep. Duh oiY?

**hadji** · 05-02-08, 12:02 AM

Quit. Leave the field. Do not do tech support. At MOST, be a bench tech who brings a computer back to a lab, fixes it, and returns it. If you cannot find that position, LEAVE TECH SUPPORT. You will hate your job for life if you stay.

It was one of the smartest things I ever did.

**WorstPE** · 05-02-08, 10:09 AM

Outsourcing is the death of Customer Support.

Last week we were having problems with our internet. The "line" LED was not blinking even though it was hooked to the computer. So my wife calls TWC and appartenly the got rid of their local support and went over seas. My wife and I are pretty computer savvey so when he starts talking us through reseting the modem, even after we told him we did it, he continues to tell us the steps. We knew we were in for a long phone call.

I hate it when companies do this. If the person just reads directions of a computer and has never seen the said hardware. There are going to be a lot of problems.

**Cojiro** · 05-02-08, 11:49 AM

Originally Posted by hadji

Quit. Leave the field. Do not do tech support. At MOST, be a bench tech who brings a computer back to a lab, fixes it, and returns it. If you cannot find that position, LEAVE TECH SUPPORT. You will hate your job for life if you stay.

It was one of the smartest things I ever did.

unfortunately that isnt exactly an option for me at this stage of my life. trust me if I had other choices there is no way i would be doing this.

**Cojiro** · 05-02-08, 12:11 PM

[13:15:48] Daniel : {LPVAR!identifier}, is there anything else I may assist you with today?
[13:16:37] geoff -----: i may be back ...this is not over yet..

spooooky

**Cojiro** · 05-09-08, 11:56 AM

i just wanna let you all know something that ive been dying to say to my customers for months. for those that complain about a $3 cancellation fee within 30 days, which is clearly stated in the licensing agreement which you must agree to before you make the purchase (even though no1 reads those things).

I would like the complainers of this fee to go to best buy, buy norton 360, walk outside, open the box, walk back inside, and try to get a refund.

lets see how much money you get back.

[/rant]

**IronStomach** · 05-09-08, 11:58 AM

I still cry inside every time people call in saying that they're having problems setting up their VPN connection, and they're clicking on the screenshot of the start bar and wondering why it's not working.

**Gumby** · 05-09-08, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by hadji

Quit. Leave the field. Do not do tech support. At MOST, be a bench tech who brings a computer back to a lab, fixes it, and returns it. If you cannot find that position, LEAVE TECH SUPPORT. You will hate your job for life if you stay.

It was one of the smartest things I ever did.

Well, when I used to do it, I was working as a network engineer at a small ISP with about 20 employees and we did not have a help desk. Everyone there was the help desk. Now, I am a small cog in an absolutely huge IT department and we have a very good help desk team. Now I have a much narrower list of job functions and only have to talk to customers if the problem is really, really serious. I am much happier with that arrangement.

But you are right. I do not see how people who are lifetimers at the help desk do it without going postal.