Problems with Telephone Tech Support
Telephone tech support — or lack thereof — is something about which I hear lots of complaints nowadays (aside from trying to understand an Euro/Asian variation of English). Most complaints have one common theme: after spending a fruitless hour on the phone, you are told it's not their problem — it's a Microsoft/Dell/Windows/modem/you-name-it problem — ie: "I can't figure it out so I'll blame the problem on someone else."
Oddly, very few are willing to say, "I don't know the answer, but will connect you with someone who has more experience in this area."
Where Does the Buck Stop?
Just ask for another technician or for a supervisor. If this results in another sluff-off, hang up and call again — you rarely get the same person twice. I've had to make as many as a dozen calls before reaching someone who had the solution to a problem.
When all else fails you tell them that you are going to return the product or discontinue their service, as the case may be, and then they will get busy real fast at solving your problem.
The core problem is that technology is escalating faster than qualified phone support people can be found to keep up with it. Furthermore, "an expert who knows everything about computers" does not exist. The field is way too broad and too fragmented for anyone to be proficient in anything but certain select areas.
My main thrust of my newspaper and webpage columnss has always been toward helping novices learn the fundamentals of using popular a computer. Mary and I get many calls a day, most regarding questions we can answer quickly and efficiently. When we get a query for which we don't have an answer, we usually say we'll try to find one and send it via email. Some questions are so far beyond our sphere of knowledge, that all we can say is, "We don't know," and try to steer the caller to a person, company, or web site that might have a solution.
Put the Search Engines to Work for You
When I began writing these articles in the 1980s ago there was no Google or much of anything in the way of free online help. Now there are hundreds — perhaps thousands — of sites with free help areas. How can they be free? Advertising, naturally. Yes, some ads are devious bait-and-switch schemes, but they are generally easy to spot and avoid.
There are also zillions of online blogs, forums, and message boards where people exchange information by posting questions and answers and sharing their experiences with one another, usually on a particular subject
When Mary and I get questions we can't immediately answer we go to a search engine and type in key words regarding the query. This often leads to a Q&A forum or a technical Web site with the answer.
Of course, the fact that something appears on the Internet doesn't necessarily make it true. However, with so many different information sources available, there are plenty of opportunities for cross-referencing your data.
© Donald Ray Edrington - All Rights Reserved
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I Must Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
Having described some tech support hell scenarios in the left hand column, It's only right that I mention some tech support situations that were very gratifying and completely successful.
Over the years I have had some very good telephone tech support regarding Dell Computers, Epson Printers, and various ISPs (Internet Service Providers) such as Comcast, AT&T, & Time Warner Road Runner, and even Microsoft.
However, when I tried AT&T's "CallVantage" VoIP (Voice over Intenet Protocol) service, the product itself was a completely disaster, which ended up costing me a lot of time and money.
The tech support people I talked to (many of them) tried very hard to be helpful, but there's not much help you can give with a defective product.
There's much more to this story but, not surprisingly, I cancelled AT&T's VoIP so-called service.
The worst so-called tech support service I ever got was from Alienware Computers (a subsidiary of Dell Computers). When I bought one of their over-priced machines — after reading some glowing reviews about what super computers they were — I also bought an at-your-home warranty to go with it.
However, when a power supply died three months after I bought the computer they told me their "at-your-home" service policy meant that a technician would try to explain via telephone what you should do to try to fix the problem at-your-home.
There's also much more to this story, but the bottom line is that I sent the Alienware monster back for a refund.
All the above occurred back in the days when phone tech support centers were located in the USA or in Canada, where you would talk to somebody whose English you could understand. Now one of the biggest complaints I hear is that computer owners can't understand the dialects spoken by people in India and other parts of Asia.
Nonetheless, my most recent two experiences with talking to Microsoft reps based in India was that their English was impeccable, and that they were very good technicians indeed.
However, despite the exceptional service of the fellows in India, Microsoft ended up charging me for two copies of Vista that I did not download — and, believe it or not, refused to give me a refund on the two failed downloads.
I got repaid by my credit card company (Advanta) who I hope finally collected from Microsoft.
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