Maximum PC

... from this day forward if you treat me like an idiot I will likewise treat you as one.

Whether it's knowing what video should like or whether something is unplugged or not, I think I know what I'm doing.

I understand that there are plenty of idiots out there that don't have a clue what they are doing, but if you don't want to be treated like an idiot yourself I suggest creating a second caller line for the people that do have a clue.

n0b0dykn0ws

A big hell yea to that lol!

Can't stand when they tell you do something that you've already done and told them and ruled it out as the cause!

Then there is the paying for shipping a defective part! they should pay for it if its under warranty!

unfortunately such a line would just be abused by self proclaimed experts who want to know why their new AMD CPU wont fit in their LGA775 mobo and because the last two system they built with the same parts did work and since the 1st number they called said they were not compatible the techs obviously dont know what theyre talking about so they called this second number so they could talk expert to expert...

LOL, that made my day!

I had a thought regarding that: require a test. You take one test annually, and after you pass you can have access to a higher level tier of phone support.

I am also smart enough to know that this will never happen, as most of the helpdesk people wouldn't know how to tie their shoe laces without a script.

n0b0dykn0ws

I had a similar thought: a quick 5 questions (like one minute or so total), given by machine at each call and answerable by pressing a number on the phone pad. like

TIM is:

1. senior tech at this company
2. Thermal Interface Material
3. Toking Is Mandatory

well, or something along those lines anyway.. weed out the idiots hopefully. get em mostly right and you get the good techs. too many wrong and you get hung up on and your phone number blocked for a week.

I find this thread very humorous.

<----customer service rep

I must share this: Rocket scientist called in with all sorts of degrees and certifications is having trouble connecting to the Internet. He knows Windows inside and out and wants me to not treat him like an idiot. He's done all the usual troubleshooting so the problem must be on our end.

Me: (since I know his type) Great! Since you are so experienced, this helps me out! What's your IP address?

Rocket scientist: ??

Me: Your IP Address?

RS: *pause* I'm not familiar with that

Me: *internal sigh* Click on Start....

But how many of your coworkers would know how to direct the customer without a script in front of them?

I know scripts aren't strictly about guidance for the inept, but also because companies want troubleshooting done a specific way.

When I worked as an IT helpdesk analyst for an international business that has their call center for North America located here I got to see a little bit of that.

There were the smart people that were forced to follow the script unless they were the last resort, and there were the rest that simply followed the script because they couldn't help you otherwise.

n0b0dykn0ws

I'd love to agree with you all but I cannot!!

Normally I fix cell phones and laptops but for 1 hour each day I have to cover our phone lines while others are on lunch. Literally every DAY I get the following phone call (we have rooms with projectors, computers and bluray players all hooked up)

Caller: Hi, I am unable to get a signal on the projector
Me: Is the computer or bluray player on?
Caller: Of course!
Me: And the projector?
Caller: How dare you!! Of course!! I know what I'm doing, send me a tech immediately. I'm in room ____.

*click*

So I send a tech... and the tech returns with the report "yeah... they 'power' button they were pressing was the volume button..."

9 times out of 10 they did NOT turn on the projector. The other 10% of the time the computer was not plugged in.

And again, if I get this daily by only spending 1 hour on the phone, imagine how many times a day the phone jockeys (as I like to call them) get this type of call?

Ever get into a battle of how to shut down an XP machine?

"How do I shut down?" Click start
"But I want to shut down!" Ya, click start and then...
"You're not listening. I'll talk slow: Shut down. How do I do it?" Sir, click start...
"Ok buffoon, we're going nowhere so let's skip that. How about logging off then?" Click start and...

*CLICK

that was great!

Sadly reading and listening are dying arts.

At least some companies are keeping their call centers in the country, or at least moving them back. I remember when my dad had to call customer service about ten years or so ago because something on our computer wasn't working right. That was pretty much what got me into computers.

Anyways, my dad called the number. The guy picks up, and answers in an extremely thick Indian accent. My dad asks him a question or two, and has to have the guy repeat what he said several times. After a half hour of trying to understand the guy he was talking to, my dad told him to get somebody on the damn phone who could speak English. Another fifteen minutes didn't help, so cussing, he hung up and we figured it out ourselves.

Like uhhhhhhhh 192.168.0.1...WAIT!!!! That's my local machine address. I can't connect, so therefore I don't have an IP Address!! YOU'RE suppose to run a test on my line Mr ISP support rep (g) ***Another case of BAD Tech Support!!!*** "Tech Support: Sir/Maam I cannot run that, I need a IP address so I know which line to test. Try this sir/maam hold down ctrl+alt+del 2 times, and then you will see the problem and be able to fix it. LMAO