Unappreciated Customer Service Techs

Hey guys,

After reading and commenting through a couple of threads here and seeing this topic crop up twice, I feel it's begging to be explored in its own topic. Especially now that we have a Dell and IBM customer service tech onboard AO, I'm dying to hear the various viewpoints from "behind the lines".

I myself worked two years at more or less what was a tech support help desk / call center as an outsourced tech. That's 8 hours a day on the phone with just about every kind of customer imaginable. Two years later, I have recently escaped that pit and am happily working internal IT for one company now.

So what kind of experience/stories/rants do you have to share? Do you love or hate the job?

so far I enjoy my job... I get the occasional pain in the arse customer... but for the most part, people are greatful for the help I try to give them. My main problem is that we are supposed to be strictly hardware support. If someone has a software issue, we are not allowed to assist them... we have to transfer them to a billable service [which as you know AK, runs about $99 per issue.] ... this can be for things as simple as changing a wallpaper, or setting a homepage in IE. that really bothers me... I have gotten in trouble a few times for helping customers with issues 'out of our scope' ... the other problem I have, is that if it seems to be a driver issue, we are not allowed to stay on the phone with them while they install the driver to make sure that it worked. We have to tell them to install and call back if it didn't work. If they need assistance with the installation of the driver, we cannot assist them, but we have a billable service which will. once again, for $99 ... our software scope is roughly this: 'does it open?' 'does it close?' 'any errors?' ... if the answers are yes yes no, we are done. if they are anything else, uninstall the app, reinstall the app, or reinstall windows. and believe me that sucks to have to tell a customer. but I get in trouble if I go outside of that narrow scope. it is painful at times... but the customers I can help make it worth while... sometimes it is as simple as sending them a HDD, or a stick of memory... and when a customer sincerely thanks you, that is a great feeling. I am sure I will have more to say as the days progress, like I said I am pretty new with lenovo/ibm... I think this is going to turn into a really interesting thread. :D

I'm in HP tech support myself.

Its rough for me at times, as I'm a senior tech, when I get a phone call, the customer tends to be quite angry.

Quite in fact, the very first call I recieved was an angry Russian fellow. Wanted to know why his notebook was in the service center for 3 weeks for a HDD replacement.

Most of my day I basically walk around informing the floor agents that Vista boot times that are long are normal, that this pop up or that pop up is ok...

I really wish the Vista uptraining (or initial training in some cases) that the agents in my center receive was better.

I did tech support for my company and it's an interesting concept, probably very different experience to those supporting hardware environments like Dell and HP. What I think the most surprising thing was the lack of knowledge by some people. Like a network admin that didn't know what SSH or FTP was (!!!) and the critical case I got where the description was "Why are the files on my CDRom read only??" (!!!!)

There are some brilliant people out there as well and very nice ones too (I only had one or two really difficult clients -- out of 1400+ cases, that's pretty good). :)

I did level 1 and level 2 tech support for an ISP that provides internet and now VoIP service. I still continue to work for that company for almost 5 years now and finaly after 4 years I'm no longer dealing directly with customers :), not that I hate dealing with customers I do miss the escalations they added excitement to a day of answering questions from level 1 technicians that should already know the answer to the question they are asking. Now I work in the NOC helping to make sure the customers network is up and running smoothly.

As far as Unappreciating customers go, I think I got more escalations from Irate customers rather than ungreatfull customers.
I think the most Unappreciating customers were the ones that were disabled for SPAM flooding our mail servers. they didn't seem to grasp the concept of why we disabled them, and the excuse or rebuttle I got 99% of the time was "I've been a loyal customers for X number of years and this is how you repay me." And these same people that were mad they got disabled were some of the same people that would complaine of 5-10 minute mail latency on another call.

OK...I've obviously never done tech support ( obvious to those that know me around here :D ) so...to put a different perspective on this...

I've had to call tech support various times...regarding various issues...and sometimes I do get irate...but...I usually say something along the lines of ' I realize this isn't your fault personally but...'

now...having said that I think the reasons people get irate is because of a variety of factors...

as an example:

the first thing you deal with is the problem you're having...then...you call tech support and wait on hold for almost an hour...then...they transfer your call to someone else and you wait on hold for another 30 minutes...only to be told the guy transfered you to the wrong dept...then you get transfered again, another 20 minutes on hold...finally you're in the right dept, but now you're dealing with someone who has a heavy accent and you have a bad connection...so you have to repeat yourself and ask for him/her to repeat everything that's said...
finally, after about another 40 minutes of taking information, talking and testing stuff you know hasn't got anything to do with your problem, you're eventually told how to fix the problem...

or...the problem was never at your end...and they're ' working on it '

this would make anyone irate. ;)

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the first thing you deal with is the problem you're having...then...you call tech support and wait on hold for almost an hour...then...they transfer your call to someone else and you wait on hold for another 30 minutes...only to be told the guy transfered you to the wrong dept...then you get transfered again, another 20 minutes on hold...finally you're in the right dept, but now you're dealing with someone who has a heavy accent and you have a bad connection...so you have to repeat yourself and ask for him/her to repeat everything that's said...
finally, after about another 40 minutes of taking information, talking and testing stuff you know hasn't got anything to do with your problem, you're eventually told how to fix the problem...

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That tends to make me irate too. I have never treated my callers like that. I expect others to at least put forth as much quality care as I do when I'm in that seat. When I have had to bounce someone around a little bit, I have always tried to at least make clear to them why and what's going on. I don't have a problem saying "look, this other guy is better at this than I am, hold on a sec".

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or...the problem was never at your end...and they're ' working on it '

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I've used that line a lot, but every time it was legitimate. I can't post my problems here on AO while keeping them on the phone ya know. ;)

I have worked tech support since about 1982. Now, mostly that was applications software support, and wasn't a problem in the days before thick client PC environments. If it was hardware you just swapped out the keyboard or dumb terminal.

Anything else and the sysops would call in an IBM CE or SE :D

When it changed to a PC desktop environment, things became more difficult because we (development) still supported applications but we now had an infrastructure support team who were responsible for hardware and the OS and applications installations.

That is where it gets difficult, as most users have no idea about how to report faults.

I am sure that you are familiar with:

It gave an error message
What did it say?
Don't remember, I just clicked OK

Or the numerous variations on that theme :rolleyes:

It makes it very difficult to determine at first contact whether you are dealing with:

1. A hardware error
2. A software error
3. A user education error

That is a nightmare for external support staff who have to determine between chargeable and non-chargeable incidents. Also where does hardware end and software begin?

OK, I would say that applications are certainly software, and should be supported by their vendors.

Firmware is a part of the system, and is the responsibility of the hardware vendor. They generally have their own versions anyway?

But what about Windows?.............. if you buy an OEM version then Microsoft will tell you to talk to the computer manufacturer, but will they support it without charge under their general warranty?

I wonder if anyone will answer?............remember that here in the UK, there are three interesting statutory, or statutorily empowered bodies:

1. The Office of Fair Trading.
2. The Advertising Standards Council.
3. The Trading Standards Commission.And we have a government that is under siege due to electoral corruption, incompetence, and even a senior guy arrested for "indecent acts" (I didn't know that he was a George Michael fan :lildevil: )

They would dearly love a smokescreen to hide behind?

Food for thought?

I used to work tech support at Bell Sympatico here in Canada. My Level 2 senior techs treated my like a number. I remember when I had a problem I couldn't solve, I would ask for the advice of my seniors. The first thing they would ask is "What's your number?" I don't think I was ever asked for my name (in which I would have replied "I AM...THE WOLFMAN! :) ).

The problem with working for this ISP was they didn't treat me well. And in turn I didn't treat the company well. You see, the forced a 10 minute call policy on us. We couldn't be on the phone with a customer greater then 10 minutes. Since I didn't care about the company, I focused my attention on the customer. When an irate customer called me with a problem, I was able to calm them down. If the problem took 30 minutes on the phone to solve, I didn't care. The customer was greatful, which made me happy.

If anyone wants to know how to calm the ungreatful customer, read this book!!! It applies to everything in life, from social engineering to dealing with the irate individual.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friend.../dp/0671723650

Btw, for any of you who are working tech support over the phone. If you don't like your job, I suggest you spend as much of your spare time in between calls as possible looking for other jobs. that's what I did, and within months, I was off the phone and instead working computer security for a major company here in Canada.

- Wolfman

Interesting input there Wolfie~

I guess they weren't what you would call "Sympatetic" to you (it sort of works if you use a New York accent :D)


I see what you mean though. Just look at the support threads we get on here, some sort out easily, others take ages because we are not given relevant information, and the medium isn't that friendly for a rapid response support function.

OK, I am not attempting to hijack this thread, but might it not be relevant to discuss support methodologies? My favourites, in order of merit (ease of use) are:

1. Face to face human contact with the person with the problem.
2. Telephone with remote support functionality.
3. Telephone.
4. Website.
5. E-mail.

To be honest with you, in the last 10 years I have never consulted a help desk.

I have never had any problem in contacting people at a proper technical level, mostly to report bugs and work-arounds as it happens.

I do not expect support techs at level 1 or even 2 to know. Hey, do those guys get to see the design documentation? or the source code? so why waste their time?

It all depends upon who you call?

:lildevil:

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But what about Windows?.............. if you buy an OEM version then Microsoft will tell you to talk to the computer manufacturer, but will they support it without charge under their general warranty?

I wonder if anyone will answer?............remember that here in the UK, there are three interesting statutory, or statutorily empowered bodies:

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At lenovo/IBM thinkpad support, we will not support windows without a fee, or most software for that matter... as I posted earlier, we provide very very basic support for the thinkvantage technology [TVT] suite, but nothing beyond where to download, how to uninstall, reinstall, and if that fails, we are supposed to tell the customer to reload windows... I hate that. absolutely hate that policy... we are supposed to be done with calls in 11.5 minutes, but if it goes longer, they understand... as long as simple calls aren't lasting 45 minutes... and as long as you follow the correct menu prompts: 1, 1, [four digit] machine type, 1 ... your hold time will generally be less than 60 seconds... in fact, that is contractual... we have to have an avg hold time of <60s ... pretty good for tech support in my opinion...

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At lenovo/IBM thinkpad support, we will not support windows without a fee, or most software for that matter... as I posted earlier, we provide very very basic support for the thinkvantage technology [TVT] suite, but nothing beyond where to download, how to uninstall, reinstall, and if that fails, we are supposed to tell the customer to reload windows... I hate that. absolutely hate that policy...

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I totally agree. Take my case for instance (my T60 thread) -- you couldn't determine if it was a hardware problem without testing for potential software issues first, but in the end we were able to determine it WAS hardware. So what, I pay $99 to check software when software isn't even the problem? That policy DOES suck.

But what can ya do?

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Originally Posted by westin

At lenovo/IBM thinkpad support, we will not support windows without a fee, or most software for that matter... as I posted earlier, we provide very very basic support for the thinkvantage technology [TVT] suite, but nothing beyond where to download, how to uninstall, reinstall, and if that fails, we are supposed to tell the customer to reload windows... I hate that. absolutely hate that policy... we are supposed to be done with calls in 11.5 minutes, but if it goes longer, they understand... as long as simple calls aren't lasting 45 minutes... and as long as you follow the correct menu prompts: 1, 1, [four digit] machine type, 1 ... your hold time will generally be less than 60 seconds... in fact, that is contractual... we have to have an avg hold time of <60s ... pretty good for tech support in my opinion...

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We just purchased a couple of thinkpads with vista ultimate. To my surprise, the install media didn't come with the thinkpad.

I called support to find out how to get a hold of the vista install cd. They told me that they don't provide the media and that if I had any problems, I could restore using their repair partition.

I told them that I wanted a boot.wim file on the vista media for windows distribution services. They told me that if I wanted the media, I had to go to the store and buy vista! WTF?! I downloaded it via bittorrent...