Who Designed This Crap? Tech Support, Need I Say More?

[LeRoiTiti]

If you did not already read that article (more like a web page). DO IT NOW!

http/dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2004/02/23/no_support/index2.html?pn=1
































Still there? Ok.

I used to work for Sympatico (ISP in Canada).

-True, we have an internal support server where we can fin all the answers.

-True, we do have to try to sell totaly useless softwares and services (web base game distribution, why pay for games when you know where to look?)

-True, we have to make the calls shorts no matter what is the problems.

-False, all first level aer idiots. My calls where not shorts (average 17 minutes but i did manage to resolve problems).

I had to say this. Now i work a small computer shop. I not only do tech suport for the computer i sale, i do tech support for different ISP that are punters (go read the link above)......

To all of you who are in need of assistance, remember this; be nice, patient and your call should go very well.

Have a nice day.

Thanks for choosing to read this post, have a nice day.

 

[Valerarren]

I've worked in tech support but in a somewhat different situation than most of this.

I worked for a company selling a (very expensive) software product to schools. Typically we got calls from teachers wondering why their program didn't work, and from the school or district's IT guys.

There were about half a dozen people working technical support for this product.

There were several things going on of note.

1) The program we were selling was never properly tested in situations anything like the real world. If your network was not ridiculously robust, you had severe problems.
2) Half the people working for us had worked low-level technical support previously, this means that they
(a) Got a call from the customer and immediately told them to reset various things that took a long time, told the customer it would fix the problem (regardless of what symptoms the cusomter described) then ''closed the case''.
(b) Would explain networking/the program/whatever completely incorrectly to the customer. I would be in the next cubicle and I would just shake my head in dismay as the support person next to me told the customer complete nonsense.

I ended doing my very best to actually solve customers problems which means I ''closed'' a lot less cases than others (a lot of cases there was nothing I could do because their network couldn't support the product, which of course I was not allowed to admit to them). I ended up moving to development within 6 months then I quit a year after that because I was frustrated with management. Of course the company folded within 8 months of when I left.

90% of the customers I dealt with were polite, although I got in some trouble because I would be rather short with our some of our sales force which would sometimes be out in the field and then call us. (Actually, probably more than half of our sales force were decent, it was more the corporate sales-people that went out when a district or school was viewed as a must-sale that really had no idea what they were doing).

 

[Duraiden]

I saw this and just had to put my two cents in.

I've been working tech support for 7 months now, and I can tell you, customers are the most vile creatures on the planet. The loathing, and hate I have for you can not be measured.

1) Just because it installs on your system does not mean we support it.

Seriously. Just because your Sony DX936ey90474-whatever can be used on that computer doesn't mean I know how to configure the damn thing. Call sony, not me, they should know how.

Tech support are trained and specialized in one field of your computer, we resolve small issues. We are not cyberpaths who can some how mentally tell what caused corruption on your HDD, or why said program no long works anymore- could be all the porn you downloaded.

2) Bitching at me, and blaming me for what is wrong with your computer is ignorant- and just plain not nice.

How can you be so unappreciative? My sole reason for picking up the phone is to help you, yet you curse and yell at me like I had something to do with the problem.

3) I don't owe you squat.

Just because you bought a 2,000 dollar computer 4 years ago doesn't mean you are entitled to squat. You paid for the hardware, software, a years worth of warranty, however many months of support- that's it. If you don't want to pay for me to help you, gtfo.

Ask a mechanic to help you assemble a car, or figure out what's wrong with your car over the phone and watch as he laughs at you.

Asshats...

4) I want to speak to your supervisor

HAHAHA. I still don't understand why people do this, here is a trade secret, my supervisor is more of a dick than I am. If I tell you something, or deny you support till you pay, it's because my supervisor told me to tell it to you in so many words.

At least when I tell you, I will sound sympathetic and be generally nice. He's going to flat out tell you to go away, it's the truth, no doubt.

5) Don't question or argue me.

When I ask you if you have talked to your internet service provider, it's not because I am going send you back to them, it's to help figure out what you'ver already done in case you screwed up.

It's called probing, it's needed to isolate what is wrong with your computer

Also, the argument of "Well my printer was working last week...". Well, so was your computer, and here we are.


I also just want to mention, those who read that article. Not all tech support is like that, I too work in an outsourced business but we have two weeks extra training before we are even allowed to go near a phone. Not only that but we spend another two weeks doing something called mentoring where we sit in booth with senior support, listening in on calls.

While it's true that their are time limits they would like us to adhere to, they aren't going to fire you over it. Not to mention there aren't that many issues that are going to need as long as one would think, sometimes people call in for reasons like: "Where is the power button", or "How do I copy a file?".

7) Oh yeah, Technical Support is just that. We fix problems with your computer, we don't teach you how to use it, it would take to long to do that and it's impossible for us to memorize the thousands of different features to be able to take you through all of them step by step.

Read your damn warranty, it's in there.

P.S. I don't hate all customers, I generally have a good time with the ones who are nice to me. And even those dicks, I will still fix your computer because I am a better person than you are.

 

[LeRoiTiti]

It's called probing, it's needed to isolate what is wrong with your computer

Also, the argument of "Well my printer was working last week...". Well, so was your computer, and here we are.

I usually answer: "My car was working fine yesterday, now it does not start....."

They usually falls silent and think it over.

 

[ikjadoon]

lol, yeah!

I've been trying to see if I am missing some great program in anti-whatever and tried this AOL sh!t. Trust me, it sucks as much did AOL. Huge memory hog, it eats over 30k in Processes. And that is at idle. Sure it has a lot of features, but this Centrino is having trouble. I deleted the thing the next day.

So, I now back to good 'ole AVG (AVG RULZ!). Not sure on my spyware/adware, might get AdAware.

All this for porn. Wow.

I've seen a 2.66Ghz Celeron with 1GB of ram boot up in less than 20 seconds. Yeah, freaking amazing. And it was a Dell. Scary. Turn off Fast Boot brings it under 30 seconds. But I am very consious about my task bar. I hate having more than three things there: My Network Connection, the tTime, and AVG. I even clear out the Services that I don't need. MSCONFIG is a god-send.

I agree with what most people have said. Be nice, and they will help. Be crude and what-not, you won't get sh!t. I like a Customer Rep with a little backbone and throw in some spine.

~Ibrahim~

 

[katmandude]

Troubles with third party tech services. and how packaging and transport companys can save the day!


Just had a very scary run in with a Hyundai TFTs screens, this could have happened with any firm! Our friends at hyundai have this 48 Hrs response tech service which will allow you to change/fix a faulty TFT. Mine had 2 vertical lines right accros the screen, so basically the tft's electronical systems where starting to die. So i 'tryed' to call them. I Live in Belgium and the company which Hyundai comissioned to carry out any interaction with the client is in germany. They all speak multiple languages right? well no, they don't! The first peson u get is a german national ( that's normal we're in germany right?, yeah! ) that's normal except ... that she ( cos it was a she) gets calls from belgium (where people speak either dutch or french), and that she is supposed to redirect customers to techs in thier language, which she can't... she barely could speak proper english. Now I can't get around in some sort of german, lucky for me otherwise i'd be screwed...

SO past hurdle one in 25 min of painfull but friendly germano-enlgisho-dutch ( she sis have a rather sexy voice) , still it did cost me a long international call, and i'm still stuck.

I finally get to a tech , which i should have gone directly since it was the number on the hyundai image quest support site (eeeerrrr wrong again ALL the numbers at the time where faulty and the emails go un anwsered. SOME BODY IN HYUNDIA SERVICE IS NOT DOING HIS JOB!!) . I start talking to the guy, and lol, once again... missa not speaky english not very guüd! crap, at that point u get the feeling of empending doom.. lol no wait there's much much more. This guy asks me for addresse, name, serial number, the usual blah blah, except since he can't understand ( cos he partially speaks english, had this been in german, 5 min tops ) so after about 40 min of again painfull progress, i decide to turn prussian on his hiney and tell him , politely but very germanish that : "AAACCHH TUNG! I VILL ZEND YOU AN EMAIL!! VITH DERINFORMAZIONE!!"" all of this remaining composure and dignity.

At that point i though that all my troubles had been partially solved, i had a case number, i had a contact, and so with the machine spirit watching over me, i would have ups call me one day to get the screen... EEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRR WRONG!!
u have to also imagine that having sent, 2 emails + 2 faxes to the same company (with a case number to track) some idiot on the other side would have done something. NOPE! NADA! NIET!
about 7 days after my little mails and faxes i call back. same crap again, this time i ask nicely ( always helps to ask nicely) for somebody who can speak the language, which i get!! ahhh german efficiency at last?? ( no 😛)
it's dutch guy, who tells me (thank god i had a case number) that my fax had been recieved and that it had been coded, but that it also had been 'thrown away'... thrown away??? THROWN AWAY??? hmmm, yeah so? u coded it ddin't you.... the guy says he'd personnaly get it started! two days after thatb UPS was at the door.. I was at work... my bad should have given the company address instead of home...
10 days later and after a hicup with ups ( that one is my fault, i work too much) the screen finally leaves for germany! AMEN!!

this is where it gets RATHER SCARY.

I'm supposed to get the screen 48 hrs after it departs from home right? well, u can track the thing with ups ( rather good service) and i actively follow my precious to germany and.... no it's stuck...

U wouldn't believe what happened... the german company which did the third party service with hyundai STOPPED.... the changed name, they didn't change staff cos i called them and got the same people. Now they are telling me that they have stopped working wth hyundai, and that they are very sorry for the trouble .... the hyundai site was a mess, 'under construction' they said, tel numbes where no longer valid, emails ( ha! those customer service numbers never worked)
and to make things worst, UPS LOST the pacakge when it finally was coming back ( at that point i didn't know if the screen had been fixed, well it was! phew).

I finally get the screen back after 20 days, sent the 19t got it back the 15th of the next month...

SO! what have we learnt:

a) POLITE!! no point in getting mad, just tell them nicely all the info and if they get nasty, just tell them that you'll HAVE to turn medieval on their hineys if they dont work this out. If you have a lawyer friend, just use one of his letters to makes things move. just threaten the company, not them, not the techo ( cos he's just a ant in the big ant colony), no go for the main thing which companys HATE to lose : reputation. JUST REMEBER TO BE POLITE AND GIVE OUT CLEAR AND COMPREHENSIVE INFO :
name + tel number + case number if u got one + serial of thing that needs fixing + what's the problem
If you involve the tech just that little bit more to your problem, he'll care.

b) when a shop asks you if you want to buy the all in, all exclusive, super deluxe i'mgonnafixallyour troubles insurance pack for your precious hardware : WAIT! check out who is doing the fixing, who is doing the carrying from and to your pickup point.

c) normally the shop who sells you the merchandise should be doing the Customer services, if you get the impression that they are not too keen on doing it : PROBLEM! there's bound to be some sort of twist or cock up along the customer service line. Not the fault of the shop, most of the time. SO CHECK UP FORUMS ON WHAT U ARE BUYING.
Let the shop sweat it out not you, you are the customer behave like one: polite, curtious but get what u paid for : SERVICE!

d) before u send your precious cargo out : check what the legal limits and responsibilitys of said transporter. for example UPS was only responsible for gettting the screen from my place to the factory and back. not what happens in between.

e) when talking with tech support get EVERYTHING FAXED TO YOU, NAMES, tels , case numbers, EMAIL OR FAX ALL INFO YOU GET MAKES IT EASIER FOR THEM TO CHECK AND ALSO MAKES IT EASIER FOR YOU TO USE AFTER IN CASE THE WORST SHOULD HAPPEN.

f) PACK THINGS IN THE RIGHT BOXES : they all have loads of barcodes which effectively tell the scanning machines where to send it and what type of cargo it is.

in all, most companys Will do the job correctly, most people , tech support, courriers etc will do it right, if you stay cool and calm and invoke the professional spirit in people, they will, out of pride ,get it done!

one last thing : try to buy from companys which have rivals. Ones that have no competition tend to have very very very bad customer tech services. (just like my local ADSL provider : BELGACOM), they REALLY ARE THE WORST ,U HAVE NO IDEA...


A.

 

[LeeMaple]

I worked for a small software company that makes reservation systems for Campgrounds, hotels and motels, I did tech for my first couple of years there. For the most part lets just say the campground owners and there employees are not the most computer savvy bunch. Here are a couple examples...

My Favorite one, a lady had called with a computer that was down, after 15 minutes of trying to figure out why the machine wouldn't boot I assumed the power supply had failed. It turns out the lady had used the PC as a piggy bank, sliding coins in the space under the CD rom drive and the blanks in the face plate. I can't remember the exact total of coin she ended up with but I seem to remember being told by the owner that there had been around $68 in pennies in the unit, I guess enough copper touched and caused a short.

Another caller with a thick southern drawl about him reported that our software was broken and that "he had done nothing to the computer to cause it" (my favorite saying, if it's broke and you didn't touch it how did it break...) after having him look through the registry and the files I couldn't find our application, turns out he had had an issue with another piece of software and their support person had asked him to format and rebuild his machine. To top it all off he didn't have a backup of his database so he lost about 10,000 reservations. Yeah, I didn't do anything it just stopped working.

Got a call from a lady trying to install our software and she was having trouble inserting the CD in the drive, I assumed the drive had failed and pressing the button didn't bring out the tray, as she kept saying the CD was stuck. The problem turned out to be much more interesting than that, apparently she was more familiar with the CD interface in her car and assumed that you fed the CD into the slots without having to set the disk in a tray. She had jammed the CD in between the two CD drives in the case and wedged the CD 3/4 of the way in. Pliers were required to remove the CD from the computer. Needless to say she didn't get her install done that day.

I've also experienced the old I broke my cup holder bit, more than once, people using the CD tray as a beverage tray.

Just regurgitating this makes me want to go grab a scotch...

 

[DarkPheonix]

OK, heres a problem I'm currently having with Dell. I have an Inspiron 8600 that I bought 3 years ago that has a 60 GB 5400 RPM HDD. 2 weeks ago I was in San Jose when I get a BSOD on bootup saying that I had an "unmountable boot volume". I went to Microsoft's web site where it said that the file system got corrupted so I had to run the Recovery Console off an XP install CD. Luckily I was at a tech convention so I found a CD really quick and I was able to solve the problem overnight (I used a public computer to find the support article). 2 days later, I get ANOTHER BSOD on bootup saying I had a Registry error. Now, I had TWO fatal errors in LESS THAN A WEEK. Thats obviously hard drive failure, as I hadn't touched my registry in a couple months. So, I called Dell when I got back last week asking for a new HDD, telling them everything I just said. They gave me all this "OK, lets do this first before I can authorize a shipment" bullcrap. But I'm not going to get anything done until I go through with this, right? So I play along, running diagnostics off the freaking HDD even though that runs the risk of making all my data unrecoverable, but thankfully the tech acknowledged the fact that I needed a new HDD pretty fast. Now, I've been running out of space on my 60 GB for a while so I decided to ask Dell if I could pay them a little bit of money so I could upgrade my HDD to one of those new 160 GB perpendicular recording drives. The tech (who has a very thick Indian accent) and I had this little conversation in a nutshell:

Me: So I want to upgrade my hard drive to a 160 GB HDD, can I do that?
Tech: Uhh.... please elaborate.
Me: I'll pay you a bit of money, say $180, and Dell pays a little money, say $60 which comes from Dell's obligation for the broken 60 GB HDD, and alltogether that gives Dell enough money to send the technician over with a 160 GB HDD instead of a 60 GB HDD (Note: I have at home service).
Tech: Im afraid I can't do that.
Me: Why not?
Tech: Because I can only authorize a "dispatch" according to what the warranty provides. If you want an upgrade, maybe contact Dell Spare Parts for an 80 GB HDD (Note: the biggest on the market 3 years ago when I bought it)....... here, let me give you this analogy:

The contract is the officer and we are the soldiers, right? Well the soldiers have to follow what the officer tells them to do just like we have to do what the contract tells us to do.

Me: OK then heres my analogy. Suppose we are soldiers and the warranty is the officer, right? OK so the officer tells us to go recover some of the hostages from some terrorists that have been released. But when we get there, the terrorists are drunk and they say that they will release to us ALL of the hostages if we sing them a song. Now according to you we can only rescue the hostages that were arranged for which is counter intuitive to our goal. Dell can charge whatever profit margin they wish on the upgrade and I will pay it because I have no idea how much the HDD actually costs Dell. When I order the upgrade from Dell, Dell makes money off of that profit margin. When Dell says that I can't order an upgrade, they are denying themselves money which ends up in YOUR OWN POCKET, which once again is extremely illogical since the whole damned point of a business is to make money, just like the whole point of the soldiers is to rescue as many hostages as they can. Do you understand?

Tech: You make a very good point sir. Lemme ask my superior and (in a thick Indian accent) I'll holla back after I ask, OK?

Yes the Indian tech actually said "holla back". WTF?! Does any of that make sense to you? Dell gave very good service in the past but this was unacceptable, especially since it took another 3 calls to finally just get a tech over tomorrow with a 60 GB hard drive.

 

[frenchman2]

i worked for a security company tech support...We were doing level 2 support for Firewall 1 products (The customer was paying 5o to 200K for that support).

one day (not a busy one) one of the guy was talking to his girlfriend on the phone ... (we were already with clients at that time)
The phone rang , he put his down and answer the phone...it is one of the mid size client.he talks with the guy for 2 or 3 minutes and then look at his watch and put the guy on hold..He picks his phone and continue talking to his girlfriend for 25 minutes.

after finishing he hangs and take back the customer still on hold after 25 minutes.

 

[Booster]

Hi,

I saw this thread and had to chime in! Sorry in advance for length of rant!

I do tech support for a small computer supplier. We specialise in Music and Audio related computers. I am the only one who does tech support for the company, so no 'faceless' corporation or the like. No timed calls, we spend as long as it takes to fix the problem. We offer lifetime technical support at no extra charge. Of course the hardware warranty is one year. We will help you set new software up, install new hardware, even give you general advice on how to run your rig and help in learning the software. (Not too in depth, but some good help). Send us your cards and peripherals and we install it. We also have a facility to dial into your computer and fix software related problems. Our turn around times for repairs are usually within a week and we pay for courier both ways whilst in the first year. So for me personally, I have over 10 years of computer experience and specifically audio/computer related troubleshooting. I have been with this company since the beginning and consequently know everything about our sysem intimately.
So you would think that people would see what a great service we offer right? No way! I have come up against every customer that has been described here. It is so true that if you are patient and nice, you will get the best service. People who are rude and arrogant get the bare minimum. However I will still sort them out as it just means more grief and time later. I can't punt it to anyone else!
Troubleshooting has a procedure. There is a reason for it. You need to cover all bases in order to get to a reasonable conclusion. For 70% of problems, I know what the problem is within the first 30 seconds of the phone call. I can skip the usual questions and tell them immediately how to fix the problem, or get the machine in for repair. More complex problems require the procedure. It is essential. What most people don't realise, is that it is for their benefit. If the wrong diagnosis is made, it just costs you more time. I have shortcutted my own procedure many times and have wound up with the wrong end of the stick. You can actually be a victim of your own experience. You think 'oh it's definately this' and spend days trying to fix the problem. Only to find that if you had been more systematic in your approach you would have found out the problem sooner. (One customer had no sound out of the computer. I spent a good half hour going through re-install, checking IRQ's, the works. Only to find out that she actually had no speakers attached to the computer. So those boring seeminlgy pointless 'is it plugged in?' questions are also vital.) Trobleshooting in its' most purest form is a droll, logical process of elimination. It isn't magic.
If you have done some troubleshooting yourself, I will happily listen and will be glad you have at least tried to sort it out yourself. But just because you think the hard drive is faulty, doesn't make it so. I need to be sure for myself before I will authorise anything. I can't tell you how many times someone has called up and said 'it is definately this' only for me to spend 1 minute on the phone and prove it is something else. Of course, if the investigation reveals what you thought it was, great! Job done. People won't even let me spend 10 mins going through my procdure to help them. 'Time is money'. You may be right, I am not saying different, just let me do my job.
When people utter those immortal words 'I'm a professional,' my experience has shown that they rarely are. I almost never hear from the real professionals. They guy on the end of the phone is usually just starting to make money out of music and thinks he has now made it! If I need to get the computer back for repair, they always ask 'how long?' I quote 5-10 working days but usually inside a week. (often it is 3 days). You then brace yourself. 'WHAT?' I have Madonna (insert relavent celebrity here) recording tomorrow, I need that machine. I run a professional studio and this will costs us money!' ..pause..
Ok, so, you are making a living out of your computer. It is vital to the running of your business. What is the first rule? HAVE A F*&%$£* backup system! By the very fact people kick up a stink about the very short repair time, instantly reveals their amatuer status. Then there is all the down talking to me and co-workers.
As to people who wave their credentials at me...Sorry pal, doesn't impress me in the slightest. MCSE's are as common as grass these days. Any muppet can do it and even if you are slightly adept, I still don't care. Don't tell me you are a network admin, even less impressive. (Or worse, a consultant) And when your 'mate' in 'IT' said that the motherboard needs to be replaced, won't make me work any faster or change my procedure. I have never, ever met a network admin or someone involved in IT for companies or the like, to be very good at troubleshooting computers. They know their area, but as to hardware problems or even installing Windows and associated issues, forget it. I was truly stunned by this realisation. I certainly don't know everything, (Not very good with networking and can't program) and readily admit when I don't know something. But often these guys just can't let go that someone just may know something they don't. (Why are you calling?)
I like first timers and people with no experience. Especially if they are in a receptive mood and willing to let you guide them. If they are there ready to fight, then there is nothing I can do. If someone calls and has no clue about computers, but are nice, I will happliy tell them that they can't use the CD tray for drinks without a trace of condescension. I'll spend a long time explaining things that I am not required to. But when some twat rings up who 'knows enough to be dangerous' and proceeds to talk down to me, then f.u., you deserve all the bad support/attitude in the west. If you want to 'talk techie' great, it means I can skip a lot of boring small details. Just treat me with respect.

Wow sorry about that essay! I guess its' nice to see other people out there who have shared the experience!

 

[LeeMaple]

Great rant, I agree whole heartedly, and don't roll your eyes at me but I am an IT admin and am good with networks and OSs but I would never ever refer to myself as an expert. This business changes too fast for anyone to be an expert at anything. I know a lot of people that call themselves IT admins, but they were IT admins 10 years ago and they have no idea how to do the job properly today.

On MCSEs, I've talked to knot heads during my support days that called themselves MCSEs and said they were billing $120 / hr and didn't know how to map drives or edit the registry. That's the biggest reason I've never taken the tests, if a gas station attendant or a burger flipper can be an MCSE why would I pay anyone for those 4 letters. It's valueless.

You're bang on with the people who know nothing and are willing to listen to instruction are the support persons best friend. I remember one "self titled expert" knot head I delt with having network problems and I actually ferreted out of him over the course of several calls that his network cables were run right over top of his florescent ballasts and causing interference. After several more calls he finally changed some cables and conceded the point.

 

[ikjadoon]

I like first timers and people with no experience.

Me, too. Easy to impress, lol. But they are usually very receptive and actually want this problem fixed. Oh yeah, the back-up idea is a good one. If you depend on something working night and day, why do you only have one? (No, I am not talking about your wife) Back-Up is essential to anything important.

It must be hard to work alone as the Tech Support consultant...No way to pass a bad caller to another rep or anything, but at least the problem is easier to resolve because you've talked to this rep before and you know them a little better.

~Ibrahim~

 

[LeRoiTiti]

Someone said in the first or second page to "Call sober".

I had one customer called when i was at Sympatico who first told me that my service was pure shit.
Started the troubleshooting;
DSL modem was out of synch. Ask the cust how many lights he can see on his modem. There was a brief silence and i could hear a faint CLICK. I waited 25 seconds and did a test on his modem. Got synch back, asked the cust if he could connect. He said yes and hung up.


I also had that kind of call with a network admin with 15 years of experience on field.

Yeah! Right! 15 years and can't figure out that the modem is off?

Anyway, i speak as if i hate my job. It is very far from the truth. I love building computers, I love repairing them. But don't ask me to help you repair your pc on the phone.

 

[ikjadoon]

Anyway, i speak as if i hate my job. It is very far from the truth. I love building computers, I love repairing them. But don't ask me to help you repair your pc on the phone.

haha, 2 true.

~Ibrahim~

 

[Booster]

Hi,

Yeah I don't have anything against IT admin or anything! Just when they want to cross swords. It is interesting how segmented computer knowledge is. You can be a wicked programmer, but have almost no idea how to fix hardware problems and vica versa. I am thinking of doing the MCSE myself and getting a bit more into the corporate IT thing. I don't want to, but companies want this kind of qualification. More money, half the work!
Running the tech for our company alone can be very demanding and get right on top of you sometimes. I really need a new job. However, I do have complete control over how things are done, which repairs to get in etc. I don't let anyone authorise anything without me having a say! So in that sense it is good, as you don't feel as impotent as the guy in that article about the call centre. I do have limitations, but in general run the dept. how I see fit. Although often, you see that they have made a decision about how to build the computers and you know it is wrong, but despite your objections,(and others), they do it. Then you can see your future workload appear as the builders are building it! That really gets my goat! When management can avoid problems but go ahead with it anyway to save a few bucks. :roll:

 

[killernotebooks]

ikjadoon:

I find this topic so funny as after being told by TH/MG they were reviewing my Killer Notebooks Executioner I can't get an email to them (it is bounced for 4 days and my server said, "Forget it". Then I am told to contact through Tom's forms page, and... nothing, no reply... just a tumbleweed rolling by.

Maybe this article should have been called, "We rate end user interaction... and we're the pot calling the kettle black."

 

[ikjadoon]

lol, you are right. Where is the support here, THG? Still no response? Where are they???? Bounced for 4 days? Ouch, undeliverable?

Yeah, I'm not sure anyone is at the other end of the form, I've sent in numerous requests, all to no avail..

lol, pot calling the kettle black, how true.

~Ibrahim~

 

[Booster]

Slightly different though isn't it? They haven't sold you anything, they are in fact going to give you exposure. Or have you paid money for the privilege?

 

[unstable]

Troubleshooting has a procedure. There is a reason for it. You need to cover all bases in order to get to a reasonable conclusion. Trobleshooting in its' most purest form is a droll, logical process of elimination. It isn't magic.
If you have done some troubleshooting yourself, I will happily listen and will be glad you have at least tried to sort it out yourself. But just because you think the hard drive is faulty, doesn't make it so. I need to be sure for myself before I will authorise anything.

This is key and I think you put into terms what I was trying to say far better than I was able to in many earlier posts.

I also do not claim to be an "expert". I don't think that an MCSE or a CCNA or any other certification or degree is more valuable than experience and the knowledge and ability to troubleshoot.

The big thing I was trying to get acrossed is...if I know that I have a hard drive problem. I've stepped through the logical process to determine this. I've checked the jumpers, checked the interconnects, checked the motherboard, checked the other attached devices...perhaps even put in a known-good hard drive...

Then I call you...If you're a tech that is willing to adapt and talk tech-to-tech, I'd say "Hey bro, I think I have a bad disk...here's what I did." No lies, no bullshit, just trying to save us both some time and effort...after all, I may have already spent a good 30+ minutes to come to this conclusion.

It's awesome when the tech responds and agrees...rather than asking to step through the exact same process...that's all I'm trying to say.

It's when and ONLY WHEN, I'm confident of the problem or at least I have ruled out a particular region of the possible problem...and I feel I'm spending a ridiculous amount of time with a tech that seems inept...that I get pissy. Again, I don't think this is unreasonable.

I don't feel it's unreasonable to let the tech know that he's not dealing with someone who knows jack-shit about computers. He can talk candidly with me...he can tell me to go to command prompt and execute a command...he doesn't need to walk me to that point....saves us both time.

 

[killernotebooks]

Booster.

I don't find it different as I am a OLD SCHOOL American, and when I say something... I do it.

Since I was told TWICE, right on this posting that they were going to review it, I take a man at his word.

Pretty rare these days, but that's how I roll.

I wouldn't have built a $3,000 machine to sit here if not for someone's word given.