Qwest tech support. GRRRRRRRR........

[Russ]

I get a call yesterday from one of my customers who couldn't connect to the internet. He's using Qwest DSL, Cisco 675 modem. He tells me that last Friday he spent two hours on the phone with their tech support people.

He goes on to say that they even moved him up a couple levels trying to solve the problem. They run all their tests, his modem is training and he can ping and traceroute fine, but he gets a "page cannot be displayed" when he opens up his browser.

Finally, they tell him that a) there's obviously something wrong with his computer and b) he probably needs to format and re-install the OS. Fortunately, this is one of those customers who knows nothing about computers, and is willing to admit it.

So, I do the quick checks with him over the phone to verify connectivity. No problem there. So, I have him open IE, sure enough, no page.

Guess what the problem was? The URL he had setup for his home page was invalid. Duh. TWO HOURS with MULTIPLE people and they couldn't figure this out?

Russ, NCNE

 

[yakko]

I always have them try multiple pages just so I know the one they are going to is not down.

 

[Killbat]

I don't know Russ. Seems like a psychological trick.

Like, ask someone to find a city on a world map, with that city marked in HUGE letters. It could take them days to find it, just because they have something specific in mind (tiny letters).

 

[Rendus]

<< So, I do the quick checks with him over the phone to verify connectivity. No problem there. So, I have him open IE, sure enough, no page.

Guess what the problem was? The URL he had setup for his home page was invalid. Duh. TWO HOURS with MULTIPLE people and they couldn't figure this out?

Russ, NCNE >>



Hah. I ALWAYS have them try Yahoo, CNN, ESPN and Google. If all 4 of them are unavailable, it's safe to say something's not right

 

[mlip129]

I know that this person is computer illiterate, but he didnt try any other url's?

 

[Russ]

yakko,

Once I verified his connectivity, that's the first thing I did; have him check another page. The question is, why the hell didn't they do that?

Russ, NCNE

 

[Russ]

mlip129,

He doesn't even know what a &quot;URL&quot; is. But, frankly, that's fine with me, because he KNOWS he's clueless, so he never does anything stupidly damaging and calls when he's unsure about something.

Russ, NCNE

 

[CinderElmo]

he probably needs to format and re-install the OS

When someone says this you know they are out of ideas.

Too bad he can't charge them for the time they wasted with him. There is no excuse why they couldn't figure that one out, especially if they could ping/trace him! That is their job for crying out loud! Just common sense really.

The problem is they (dumb tech support ppl) assume the user is always stupid and OBVIOUSLY screwed up THEIR conifiguration.

 

[Russ]

<< Too bad he can't charge them for the time they wasted with him. >>



I rather like that idea. This particular guy makes a very handsome income. A few times of Qwest picking up the tab for wasting the time of people in his bracket, and maybe they'd stand up and take notice of the problems in their tech support dept.

Russ, NCNE

 

[yakko]

<< yakko,

Once I verified his connectivity, that's the first thing I did; have him check another page. The question is, why the hell didn't they do that?

Russ, NCNE >>

Because they not looking at the whole picture. They decided it was the computer and nothing was going to change there mind. Also when I have them test multiple sites I bring them up on my machine as well that way I know the customer is not BSing me.

 

[Optimus]

Russ:

Part of the problem is that Tech Support is still frowned on and a &quot;lowly&quot; position in IT - a concept that has never made sense to me really.

It appears most companies would rather pay (or outsource) 40 morons $25k a year each to flounder about reading scripts and take an average of 30 minutes a call, rather than pay 15 veteran expert Techs $50k each to solve almost anything in under 10 minutes.

AOL couldn't do this as they need the sheer volume of people on the phones answering &quot;Why won't my foot peddle work?&quot;, but larger, more high tech companies could and should. Instead, however, they remain thinking that anyone worth anything will move out of tech support within 2 years, and that Tech Support pay should be capped at $28k. While this mentality, coupled with the hiring of Tech Support managers with no technical experience, prevails most Tech Support will remain useless.

 

[Russ]

Optimus,

You know, the funny thing is that, every now and then, I'll get ahold of somebody in their tech support department that REALLY knows their stuff. Viper is a good example of that.

I was having a problem with my static IP addresses making it in to the ARIN database. I must have called a half dozen times and gotten nowhere. One day, I called yet again and got lucky; Gregg answered the phone.

A few days later, bingo! ARINs was updated.

Russ, NCNE

 

[Soybomb]

<< One day, I called yet again and got lucky; Gregg answered the phone. >>


So russ do you two know each others voices or do you start each call with &quot;IS THIS VIPER GTS FROM ANANDTECH!?!?&quot;

 

[datalink7]

QWest sucks big time.

My DSL connection slows to nothing about half the time during the day, basically making it worthless. I called them up once to fix it, and they wanted me to reinstall the drivers. I did. Same thing. They wanted me to reformat my hard drive (I think they didn't know what else to do). Guess what, I just had done that recently. So they say the line must be bad. Well, my dad and I had just installed a new line to the house, and my dad knows what he is doing. So basically I wasted about 1 1/2 hours on their tech support. The obvious answer is that their is something wrong at their end, but they won't admit it. I do fine late at night, just during peak hours I can't do anything. Hmm... what does this suggest?

But they won't admit it nor will they do anything to fix it. If I wasn't moving into a dorm soon I would get a different service pronto.

 

[Paulson]

Isn't that where viper works?

 

[Russ]

datalink7,

I've actually had so few problems with my connection that it's scary. In 14 months, I've had about 10 hours of downtime, and three of that was today. But, I could just about spit from here and hit the nearest CO.



<< Isn't that where viper works? >>



Paulson,

Is it?

Russ, NCNE

 

[Optimus]

Russ - Gregg sure does, but if he sees this thread I'd love to hear his take on the future in tech support at QWest. From what I understand he is facing much of the same politics, lousy money cap, etc I have!

The sad truth is that someone like Gregg is the exception and will quickly outgrow the tech support environment and salary range as he moves on to do anything he wants!

What do you think, Gregg?