Tech Support Frustrations

[Player0]

We all need to contact tech support from time to time. Even if you're the smartest computer scientist in the world, you still need to rely on the knowledge of others. The more I deal in computers, the more I realize that relyign on the knowledge of anyone but yourself is often a big mistake.

I must admit, I wouldn't even know how to begin making a motherboard or cpu or videocard driver. There is a lot to computer networking and hardware protocols that I just don't understand yet. I certainly don't have the best testing tools available for diagnosing problems. But one has to assume that someone ELSE out there does.

Im sure that 90% of the people coming to this site are professional grade pc techs by default. And there is a pretty good number of people like us out there in the world. So why is it that every damn tech support contact I end up chatting with sound like they haven't even turned on a PC?

Case in point? LiquidNinjas.com's router is having issues. It seems to go down every day or two. So I do a little homework, and sure enough, there are dozens of other people with this router with the same issue. Conclusion? Firmware bug. There are some beta firmware revisions floating around which correct, or make the issue better. So, I figgure, I'll contact the manufacturer and see if they will send me the BIOS. I even gave them some of the URLs where other people are talking about the same issue.

So I get an email back telling me to reset my router and cable modem (I have DSL btw). So, it's quite clear that a.) this guys is probably a email robot, human or otherwise, and b.) he didn't actually READ my email. I bet it's safe at this point to assume c.) he doesn't have a clue. So now I have to play that game of round-robin, I'm sure you've all been there. You have to deal with supid-guy for a few days, until he realizes that 'hey, i cant handle this problem, so i'll pass it on to a higher tech'. Then you spend another couple days with tech-guy #2 (he actually knows what an IP address is, but little else). Then you get on with tech guy #3, and he thinks he knows something, but doesnt, and will probably tell you to go reformat your HD. If your lucky, you might get to talk to an actual, experienced, intellegent homosapien for about 5 minutes. Yeah, he's probably just as smart as you, and will have an answer to your problem in a matter of seconds (plus the week of dealing with idiots to get to this point). Unfortunately, if something else goes wrong, youll need to go through the whole sequence again to talk to a decent tech guy.

So now, I'll wait a day, pretend I actually did what this router guy told me to do, and then say it didnt work, and then maybe he'll do what I ask. I tend to humor these people as much as possible, since you arent going to talk to a senior tech no matter how much you beg. It took me...4 months is it...to get ATI to admit that (oh yeah, there must be a compatibility bug with the 9700 pro, we'll get our techs to work on it). It will probably be another 4 months before i hear back.

Yeah, I know. 90% of the calls going in to tech support centers are stupid questions, where resetting the router is probably the safe answer 9 times out of 10. Certainly, it's difficult for any tech support person to know your level of expertise. Some people who sound smart, sometimes really arent. (and vice versa on that one).

Yeah, Im just ranting in a non-general direction. I wish there was some test or liscence or something that I could get, so when I talk to these companies, they can verify that yes, he has an id, so he's not an idiot, lets give him to a REAL tech. How much wasted time goes on with these companies before they realize that they need to hire more qualified individuals for the first level of tech support? Theres gotta be a better way.

[spldart]

Flashbacks!....AAAAGHHHHHH THE FLASHBACKS!!!!!!!!!

[WesM63]

Hey tom,
I know how it goes with stupid tech, 1,2,3 &4. I've been dealing with them on this hole router thing for the past week and a half. I might get it sorted out sometime this century.

[Kill-Switch]

I get the strange feeling that I've had that experience once or twice (or 3 or 4 or ....). Just weeks ago I had to go through all that when my download speeds suddenly dropped below dial-up speeds (I'm on broadband).

What tech support tends to be is a bunch of out of school/college kids with a bunch of scripts in front of them. When a person calls/emails they find out what the problem is and pick the relavant script and work through the billion steps laid out before them REGARDLESS of the fact the person told them that they'd been through the billion steps before calling and they're not so dumb as to not have plugged in said device they're having problems with.

[Kabooka]

The one part you left out is that the techs more than likely are halfway around the world, and have no command of the english language....:mad:

[Player0]

My Mandarin is getting much better :)

[Kabooka]

As is my Hindi - " I will come to know your problem and help as I may"

:confused: :confused: Wha??? :confused: :confused:

[Farabomb]

I've noticed a lot of indians while calling. Sometimes I get one I can't even come close to understanding. It makes it quite tough but I try and work with them.

Sometimes I have to ask if they can transfer me to someone I can understand but I feel really bad about doing it. I mean they're really trying to learn a language that isn't easy but I give them an A for effort (better than the some of the guys I work with that have been here for 10 years and know 3 words of english) but it's like listening to Yoda sometimes. :D

[Synthohol]

i can go into detail if you want, but fwiw, get a phone cord that the polarity is opposite of what you have. ie: if looking at the ends the red and green switch places facing the same way, the cord is unreliable. i deal with faxes on a regular basis that have polarity switched phone cords and the damn fax intermittanly sends but wont receive. i install the phone cord that CAME with the fax and the problem dissapears like magic. i hope thats all it is for you, other thing to check is steady power in to the router. and no more than .05v neutral to ground at the outlet. much office machinery (fax, copier, printers) rely on a good ground to ensure all the internal voltage is correct within tolerence.
does your router keep a log? is there a setting for keep connection alive? lemme know!
talk to ya later!! :)

[Kabooka]

Wowser all that said ... without even one marble in the mouth.... Hope it works.

[amdrules770]

the tech support we give at my work is kick azz, since we are a small biz with only 4 techs. and all 4 techs know quite a bit (I'm one of them).

[Kill-Switch]

The thing with tech support for large companies is exactly the same as for large manufacturers ... they do it all over in 3rd world countries where labour is cheap. So when you call their tech support line they actually transfer your call to somewhere like Africa. I think recently there was a big fuss about a large company in England closing down their tech support in favour of having it located in some strange location in Malaysia or somewhere like that. The company simply stated it as cheaper over there and they wanted to save money!! Why pay 100 staff X amount a week when you can pay 100 staff X amount a YEAR in some run down country.

[Think]

I know exactly what you are talking about Player0. The only time I actually recieved some descent tech support was when I called Microsoft for some software related issue.

Calling my cable company for internet problems? hahahahahaha, it's like calling the local chinese eatery and ordering SPECIAL #1!

One of the most helpful sights I have ever encountered for tech support has been this place called LiquidNinjas.com...not sure if you heard of them;)

The best tech site that I have encountered for internet related problems has been speedguide.net.

[Kabooka]

Originally posted by Kill-Switch
Why pay 100 staff X amount a week when you can pay 100 staff X amount a YEAR in some run down country.


See first post in thread LOL

[evilmatt]

tech support

sometimes I pity the guys but they can be quite annoying.

we had a dell monitor that turned up doa took weeks to get them to replace it. Loads of calls to india consisting of scripted trouble shooting.

"have you switched the monitor on"
yes it doesnt turn on
"is it pluged in"
yes it doesnt turn on
"is it connected to the PC"
yes, but it doesnt turn on
"press start in windows"
we can't the monitor doesn't turn on

and so on

also had dealings with microsoft tech support, mainly to get answers on bits of their os or ddk's that are very poorly documented. Their problem is always all the info is there but unless you know exactly where to look you will never find it.

personally and I'm sure you guys are the same I only call tech support when I've tried everything I can think of to fix any problem myself. All the usual, is it pluged in it turned on try it with another machine with different this that and the other.
It annoys me when I've done all this and told them what I've done, when the first thing out of their mouth is "is it pluged in".

[Think]

I only call tech support when I've tried everything I can think of to fix any problem myself.

Same here.

[darksaint]

I hate most tecs support people.
My first compuyter was having major issues. (this was before i figured out how to use a computer)

I take it back to the small company that i got it from. They have a LIFETIME free tech support minus parts. The tech (asshole) tells me windows me will fix the problem, so i should go buy it.

So i do. I go back 2 weeks later with the same problem. After looking at it they then bill me because Windows Me is not covered on the warenty.

Mind you after this i just about shot the asshole that had told me to do it. It took 3 months to resolve and the threat of an attorny.

After all that i got my a+ and went and put together my second system. I am now on my forth.

I feel your pain. I wish the people who have no clue what the problem is or how to fix it would just say hey i don't know let me get my supervisor or some one who can better handle your call.