Tales From Technical Support Content
A customer brings a notebook PC into my shop.
Not charging, not turning on.
I look at the charger.
It's cube shaped, not notebook PC charger shaped.
"Did you move the PC recently?" I ask.
"Yes. I just came up from Florida", he replies.
Apparrently, all the PC stuff was dumped into a box
for the move, unlabeled.
I look at the charger: 12 VDC.
I look at the notebook: 18.5 VDC.
"Try the other adapter."
(I show a photo of one on the Internet)
"The lower voltage shouldn't have damaged it."
Consultation: $20.00
I am the family "tech support" - 50+ year old female with teenaged son & husband - but I'm the one who sets up the VCR, DVD player, router, new computers, and anything more technical than putting a new battery in the remote control..........
Son brought in his laptop - no light coming on when he presses the power button and the screen is BLACK (reflection on glossy screen is still black). I called the "tech support" line for the company as it is still under warranty.
First thing I did was unplug it, take the battery out, and try to restart it while I wait on hold........
Tech support comes on the phone line and asks me what the issue is. I reel off the make, model, serial number, purchase date, etc. of the laptop and tell the tech that the screen is black and it won't reboot.
So......I am told to restart it. I tell her that I have already tried this. She wants to know what I see on the screen. I tell her my reflection because it is a glossy screen but there is no POWER and it is not running. I get told THREE MORE TIMES to restart the computer and tell her what I see on the screen. Apparently telling her "nothing" does not compute - becausee she tries to tell me I HAVE TO RESTART IT and tell her what I see on the screen for her to help me and I am not restarting it or telling her what I see on the screen.
After some discussion - she finally hands me off to a higher level tech (or so she claims) - but he at least understands that "my reflection" in a glossy black screen and the power light not going on no matter how many times I unplug the laptop, plug it back in, and attempt to restart it means that THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LET ME SEND IT BACK FOR SOMEONE TO LOOK AT.
Two weeks later, it comes back from the shop with a new power supply and a new hard drive (per the paperwork).
DS does not have a Dell..........
I've been in the tech support business for just under 6 months now, and I've already had repeats of calls I thought really didn't happen in real life.
The ones most likely to leave you banging your head off your desk tend to do with power. I've had 2 customers swear up and down that their modem doesn't have a power cord and indeed, never did have one- or the guy whose modem was working perfectly fine when the tech left the day before but doesn't the next morning- only to find out that somehow the power cord has vanished without the customer having the slightest clue that it even existed in the first place.
I've also had at least 3 customers call saying that both their phone and internet were 'broken' only to find out that the power bar/outlet that they were both plugged into had stopped working. The fact that nothing had any lights any more wasn't a big enough clue...? Although I do feel sorry for another lady- when I had her go try the modem/power bar in a different outlet she discovered that while unplugging things to plug in her new router, she'd managed to plug the power bar into itself...
The only calls more frustrating are the ones were the customer has no idea what the modem looks like- the description of it as a box with lights doesn't always work. I've had a few customers basically call me an idiot for implying that the modem has lights because "It doesn't have lights. It never has." Apparently some of the technicians have taken to installing the modems by bolting them to the wall with the lights facing the wood and the cables towards the customer. Considering the number of times we use light patterns to troubleshoot this is not remotely useful.
Okay, a few months ago, on a Sunday, I'm ready to surf the net for a bit. At the time we had Earthlink Access Dialup.
Now, Dad always paid the bill by check. (For undisclosed reasons, he didn't want Earthlink near his account -even though he pays about half his bills online or by automatic deduction.) Thanks to the vagaries of the postal system and Earthlink's own internal corporate workings, the check did not always get entered on time. (Happened about four times in five years that I'm certain about.)
Usually, this was no biggie. Earthlink had a button marked, 'Already Been Paid'. Click on it, and you were good.
This time, clicking it booted you back to the same screen. 'Pay online', 'Already Been Paid', and another I don't really remember.
So, after getting booted back to the same screen about six times, I decide to pay the bill online myself. Still no go. I wait an hour, just in case there's a clearing period. STILL no go.
Finally, I cave, and call their helpline. Earthlink's based-in-India and manned-by-people-with-thick-accents helpline. The helpline that is hard to get any help FROM since it's so hard to understand the people. (This is based on previous experience -see some of the 4/2009 submissions.)
Joy! I can understand this woman!
Yes, the account is locked. Yes, the payment from my card has been received. No, there are no alerts showing up. (There shouldn't be; it's my card!) They can SEE the PAYMENT on their SCREEN.
But I have to wait 24 hours for service to resume.
Pardon me!? (WHAT THE ----!?!?!?!?!)
It's 'policy'.
I ask for other opinions. The ones I can understand, still no joy. 'It's policy.' I give up.
Next online time, 6 pm on Monday. Some of my online friends were seriously freaked out, imagining all kinds of problems.
So, I start shopping. Wireless appears to be our best option. Our phone company (Qwest) seems to have the best deal. So, phone call.
Give the Qwest rep the account info for the phone account. He takes one look and says, "Oh, I can get you better then this."
:):):)
Before, we were paying almost $70 for phone (including long distance) and another $20 to Earthlink. Now the combined bill's hovering at $60-67, depending on specific use, most of the phone package.
There's more: Within three weeks, the modem fritzed. Turns out the factory dinnguses sent out an old-model modem that had been discontinued, BECAUSE it had problems. Got a nice new shiny modem, top-of-the-line, out of it, and the old modem sent back. (You have to send it back, or you get charged.) Very helpful gentleman on the phone.
Apparently Qwest (and Dell!) have tried to take the stories on this site to heart, because the people I have dealt with are both knowledgeable and professional. Thanks to them all. :)
And pfffffffttttttttttt to Earthlink. Who wanted twice as much for their wireless and broadband services.
An actual email from our support staff:
Subject: Support Needs Help!
Ja*** M***** to [ General Support], staff, cs
show details 8:00 *M (** hours ago)
We're locked upstairs in the attic! Can someone please come open the door for us?
Subject: RE: Support Needs Help!
Ja*** N*** to Ja*** M**** [General Support] , staff, cs
show details 8:09 *M (** hours ago)
Crisis averted! Thankfully some strategic jiggling got the door opened.
Subject: RE: RE: Support Needs Help!
[General Support] to Ja*** N***, staff, cs
show details 8:08 *M (** hours ago)
Never mind, we got the door open.
~Ja*** M****
My son was watching a movie, and told me the screen was black, but the sound was playing. This a preteen boy who *loves* to play with settings. (I've had to restrict access on the desktop.)
Spend several minutes checking the settings on the TV and DVD player, all's fine. My dad asks what he's watching.
" 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.' " (1960's movie.)
Dad then tells us that both the intermission (4 hour movie) and the end have music with no text or pictures on the screen.
Fast-forward, past the intermission, all's good.
Moral: Know the details of what you're dealing with... it can save you a headache.
I handle computer stuff for our house. I have told my father *repeatedly* NOT to turn the power strip on/off to restart the computer. If he has to do a hard restart, he needs to use the button on the front, or pull the plug. (WORST CASE SCENARIO ONLY!)
Caught him using the power strip switch again today, and proceeded to chew him out.
Why? Besides the obvious, our *wireless modem* is plugged into the SAME STRIP! I know darn well that you *can't* just mess with those modems like that! AND the warranty wouldn't cover damage from that!
I think the $100 price tag to should we have to replace it might have thunked some sense into him...
