Community weekly poll: What's your biggest gripe about tech support?
- 11/23/05 11:15 AM
I just had to laugh
by chanchan - 2/1/05 5:37 PM In reply to: Tech Support. by Stan Chambers"They read from a script. When I interupted to ask a question, I got a long pause, and then the person continued to read from the script, as if he didn't understand a word that I said"...been there, done that...some people actually do this for fun, not really that they can't speak...;)
Biggest gripe about tech support
by baker_eliz - 2/1/05 1:19 PM In reply to: What's your biggest gripe about tech support? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
i voted for "other" because my biggest grips is technicians that obviously work their way down through a "solution tree" and frequently know even less than i. This isn't really the same as bad advice.
My daughter worked tech support...
by paoconnell - 2/1/05 6:23 PM In reply to: Biggest gripe about tech support by baker_elizfor an Earthlink support contractor. She was in "first tier," where they eliminate the easy problems and corresponding fixes (Is the computer turned on and running OK? Is your computer modem connected to the telephone line?...and so forth). After that, they send customers on to a "second tier," for harder problems. She eventually got knowledgeable enough to help with second tier problems, but didn't like a job where you sit at a desk with a headphone in your ear all day.
One way to short circuit the first tier questions is to establish that you have already checked all the easy stuff, and ask for second tier as soon as you can. I've done that before on Gateway support calls and saved everyone's time.
Wow this is very helpfull thanks.
by chanchan - 2/1/05 6:42 PM In reply to: My daughter worked tech support... by paoconnellbut only when tier 2 techs are actully willing to help please read my note on the other side of the story...I get more frustrated trying to get help from tier 2 and floor support than from actual customers and it's not because I don't know my job it's because for certain issues I need clearance that I don't have being a tier 1...do you know why t2 don't want to help? because they like to talk with each other and don't want to waste time helping someone...ah from time to time they give you a clue of where to look for special issues that the sever is having with an specific secure site unable to display or unable to complete registrations....I could go on forever...Do you know what they tell me? "what's the problem? you know what we know so fix the problem" my reply...wow how professional, you've been a great help, thanks. Then I tell my subcriber waiting on the line for more than ten minutes to wait longer because know I have to do some research...I go and complain to my team leader...his "answer do your best" if you can fix it send a truck...$50 if not related to network problems or company issues...I refuse if I know I can fix the problem and I tell the person waiting on me to give me a chance in fixing it...so far about 90% of my call end with a happy ending but it could have been happier to the sub if someone who speaks english would have given a shxxx and directed me to the proper location for a simple url that needed to be entered in the dsn server...that's your tier 2 service for you.
Your daughter must be the exception
by rudolphus - 2/1/05 8:10 PM In reply to: My daughter worked tech support... by paoconnellAfter calling every form of tech support, I finally decided to learn enough to be my own tech support. That's because the last time I called tech support for a very large company, I gave the techie (and I use the term lightly) all the steps I'd taken to correct the problem. Said techie then asked me to redo all the stuff I'd done (Hello, I just told you I did that and what resulted). Then, after 1/2 hour of discussing possible solutions and rebooting my machine twice, said support person asked me if my computer was plugged in. I now am the tech support person for my office and all my friends. And, while I have had folks who haven't had it 'plugged in,' I try to listen before I assume they are an idiot.
know your stuff, PLEASE!
by divabud - 2/1/05 1:23 PM In reply to: What's your biggest gripe about tech support? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
What drives me nuts is getting a tech support person who is clueless, or who has such a limited script for how to resolve problems that when you've already done the super-obvious, they just try to run you in circles.
I've had this happen to me a lot with my high-speed ISP, whose folks are clearly trained to help the person who barely knows what a modem is. I called once because I suddenly couldn't connect to FTP servers (later diagnosed as a serious IP problem), and the tech support woman just said, "What is FTP?"
I can't imagine how people who don't have a certain amount of technical skill - and a lot of willpower - manage to get their computers fixed.
Poor knowledge and working from scripts
by Mark Donovan - 11/25/05 1:09 PM In reply to: know your stuff, PLEASE! by divabudI agree. Lack of expertise is the heart of most Tech Support problems -- aside from limited hours, elevator music while on hold, and transfers that end in limbo. The lack of expertise causes long hold times by failing to fix problems quickly and efficiently.
A limited script and a less-than-expert technician are very frustrating for the novice and advanced caller alike. This combination is all too common with outsourced support.
Scripts attempt to isolate problems in a step-by-step progression from the most common to the more obscure problems. A good script asks the right questions up front so that the solution is quickly apparent. Too much 'try this' and 'try that' give the impression that the technician really has no solution. Often this behavior is caused by a poor script. A good script leads quickly to one solution, not a infinite series of trial-balloons.
More important than a good script are knowledgeable, dare I say competent, technicians. Often, one must short-circuit a script to arrive at a solution before the caller 'dies' of fatigue. Somewhere, at the end of a script, there may be a solution. Getting there quickly is the key to good Tech Support.
Re: Poor knowledge and working from scripts
by slavergne - 11/25/05 1:44 PM In reply to: Poor knowledge and working from scripts by Mark DonovanThis is exactly the problem in the vast majority of cases. Everyone wants to gripe about outsourcing, but that is a minor irritant compared to this. Lack of support is the reason that my organization has gone away from Dell. First, we are forced to go through their script every time we call, even when it is related to the same problem that we have already called about before. Telling the tech that we have already tried all those things is a waste of time. This has even happened when I knew exactly what part I needed. I no longer call them for anything. I file a request through their web site and they send me what I need in short order.
Second, the techs most places employ don't know anything beyond the script. In one case, I had a Dell rep tell me that my video problem (which was a mobo as I repeatedly tried to tell him) was caused because...
I wasn't using a Dell monitor.
To get past this huge dose of stupidity, I lied to the guy and told him that I would switch to a Dell monitor. He was then happy and sent me the mobo.
In another case, I was having problems with my DSL connection at home. The tech was making me jump through a bunch of unnecessary hoops. I kept trying to explain that it wasn't all those things. I asked him to please just see if he could reach my modem from his end. He had no idea how to do that. Eventually, he made me hang up the call and make some changes. When I called back, I got a different tech. Again, before I did anything else, I asked him to connect to my modem. He said he would try. He discovered that they had a switch down on the network. The first guy could have done it, but he was clueless and wasted my time and his.
Just today, I was helping a lady with some problems. When she had called me, she mentioned something about getting hooked back up to her network but she wasn't clear about exactly what she needed. When I got to her house, I discovered that she had three PCs networked onto a broadband connection. Recently, she had switched from DSL to cable for her connection to the internet. When the cable tech had come out, he told her he could only set up one of her computers that she would have to do the rest. She didn't know that there was no actual setup that needed to be done on the other computers, so she hadn't used two of the computers (including a brand new laptop) because she thought she couldn't. I don't think that the tech knew that she was OK. I think he only knew how to do one thing.
I think vendors believe that the average person is stupid and has simply screwed something up themselves. They don't really troubleshoot anything, they just try to make the customer feel stupid. This ensures that the customer will keep calling because he doesn't feel like he knows anything.
tech service from hell
by intexa2 - 2/1/05 1:25 PM In reply to: What's your biggest gripe about tech support? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I absolutely abhor trying to get help from aol. Two major problems:
1) I have a hard time understanding the person -- often with heavy accents. When I keep asking them to repeat, they get frustrated and sometimes hostile. It's not worth it.
2) The advice is most often "boiler plate" and doesn't solve the problem. I have two issues unresolved with AOL that I have given up on.
More often than not they will tell me how to solve the problem and tell me to hang up and try it and then call back if it doesn't work. Many times it does not. Then, time to call back and go through the wait all over again. Similar occurrences with support via online chat.
I've also had problems with Gateway. Used to be they'd work to solve a problem, maybe even bouncing it to a higher level of competance, and maybe even send a part to replace. Now when they can't get it resolved, they say send it to us for repair. I gave up on getting a warranty claim due to this. No way!
Tech service is a joke in many companies.
intexa2
Howdy Cowboy
by chanchan - 2/1/05 5:54 PM In reply to: tech service from hell by intexa2Well, I thought I was the only one that didn't understand...You see, I lived in Austin Texas for a few years and when I learned English it was in Texas, so when I moved to Canada, thank God, I met a British lady that I could not understand at all...I felt like shxx because everything that I learn did help me understand until I rolled my tongue and got involved with the lady that I actually dropped the Texan accent for the British...love it ever since.
Tech support
by craiga - 2/1/05 1:45 PM In reply to: What's your biggest gripe about tech support? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The teck support people do not lisen so they give the wrong informationI spent three days with HP teck suport on my HP 300c dvd writer/cd-writer combo. I told them that after upgrading windows XP to SP2 my combo driver only worked as a CD reader/writer the DVD part did not work.After runing go downer loading new drivers and telling me to restore the system back to the manufature orginal setup. losing everything I installed after I received the syster the combo drive still did not work. The thrid teck I spoke to said that the combo drive had to be replaced. He said I could buy one from HP for $130. For a $130 I can go to Best Buys or on the internet and buy a combo with twice as good. So ther teck support was NG they spend a lot of time with you but have no clue to what I told them in the first place that the DVD player was NG just like The system test said before I called them
Craig Lindquist
who's to blame?
by pomojoe - 2/1/05 2:03 PM In reply to: Tech support by craigaA somewhat different saga about tech support.Having installed my 13 floppy win95 upgrade the fun began.
Nothing but blue screens and hangups.I spend hours on the phone with Microsofts finest(they still talked to for free at that time)Eventually they sent me a 21 disk full version,Wunderful,still no go.I just happened to spot a article about bad memory bars,well i never told MS but that solved my problem after rotating a few bars (8megs)every thing fell into place and my win95 run well.
But not one of the techs thought of that possibilty
Joe
What was the final resule
by rdonald - 6/21/05 3:37 PM In reply to: Tech support by craigaI've had the same problem. There is no way that it is the drive. It must be a driver problem. Did you get your fixed? what was the resolution.
My e-mail is rdonald@uniserve.com
Thanks,
Rob
Tech Support Gripe
by 19Gerrit37 - 2/1/05 1:59 PM In reply to: What's your biggest gripe about tech support? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If you opt for the "per minute" charge, they'll tell you the first two minutes are FREE! The first two minutes are usually spent looking for "something" he/she was not briefed on yatetyyatety. Then they start addressing your problem. NOTHING is FREE friends.
Tech Support Gripe
by 19Gerrit37 - 2/1/05 2:08 PM In reply to: Tech Support Gripe by 19Gerrit37Sorry! I neglected to add "except help from the CNET Community. Without CNET I would still be looking for the Defrag Solution. Have a great day.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
