aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[oggsmith.livejournal.com]

It's few and far between that I am on the other side of the tech support phone call. But I recently decided that I no longer needed to pay for hosted web space and I would host on-site at my house. This of no issue to me so I got it all set up and everything worked just fine. Now, I needed to get a DNS entry on my ISP's authoritive DNS server to point at my IP address.

This is where things become to get interesting. I call into my local ISP's tech support and begin to question what I need to do in order to get my DNS entry on their server.



M = Me
T = dumbass tech support

T = Hi, this is... how can i help you?

M = Yes, I am calling about getting a DNS host entry. So I can resolve my Domain name to the local IP address of my web server.

T = OK, what OS are you running?

M = Windows 2000 Server.

T = Oh, that's interesting. What is it again that you are trying to do.

M = I need to get a DNS host entry so I can resolve my Domain name to the local IP address of my web server.

T = OK, here's what you need... (lists off the IP address' of the DNS servers needed to connect to my ISP)

M = No, that's not what I need. I need a DNS host entry.

T = Why do you need that?

M = I need to get a DNS host entry so I can resolve my Domain name to my local IP address. I'm hosting my own web server.

T = Well, who manufactured your computer? They should be able to help youwith what you need.

M = How can the manufacturer of my computer help me with getting a DNS host entry on your server?

T = Um, what seems to be the problem?

M = I need to get a DNS host entry so I can resolve my Domain name to my local IP address. I'm hosting my own web server.

T = I'm sorry I can't help you with that.

M = Then can I talk to someone that knows what I'm talking about?

T = I know what you're talking about. There's just no one that can help you here.

M = What?

T = We can't help you.

M = Why?

T = We don't support that.

M = Then can you direct me to someone who does support that?

T = If I do that I'll get fired.

M = What? So you can't help me, you can't transfer me to someone else that know's what I'm talking about, and if you do either of those things you'll get fired?

T = Yes.

M = Well, thank you for all of your help.

(as I'm hangin up the phone)
T = Is there anything else I can...

Ok, so I know that salesmen lie to make the sale all of the time, but when the salesman tells me that all I need to do is call tech support and they'll get me set up with me needs to host on my own web server. That aside what does the manufacturer of my computer have to do with getting a DNS host entry on my ISP's DNS server?

I finally got a hold of a buddy who has done the same thing and he gave me the email address of the guy I needed to contact about getting a DNS host entry. By noon today my domain was resolving to my local IP address. So much for that guy's tech support abilities.

Comments

[rettiger.livejournal.com]

You should have gotten his name. Kinda hard to complain sans a name.


Not that I would have known that when I was work res tech support either.

[methedras.livejournal.com]

The problem is that they just hire any old moron to take support roles these days. The reps basically learn all their tech skills via repetition, rather than actual knowledge.

I used to be a supervisor for one of Australia's larger ISPs, and the amount on non-talent that came through the door, thanks to HR, was astounding. We hired some people who didn't even own a bloody computer!

Your description of this guy's behaviour sounds just like they did when I was call monitoring them, and someone asked them a technical question that they didn't know how to answer.

[jahbulon.livejournal.com]

Man I'm in res support and I don't really know how to do that either. Its not part of my job.

However, it is part of my job to understand what a DNS is - the guy should have at least known what you were talking about and referred you to the correct department.

What if you had an issue where you were unable to resolve domains and you called the same guy? He should have at least had a passing thought "Hmm, maybe if I put the DNS in..." Completely incompetent.

[110billion.livejournal.com]

agreed
i don't know how some of our TSRs got their job.

[110billion.livejournal.com]

btw, its got worse since you left :\

[jecook]

The DNS forward listing I did via an Email exchange with my ISP (Well, sort of- They have a Customer support Ticket interface that I used, which does the same thing)

Granted, I've never even thought of having someone else host my web content. (namely because of a pride thing, and because I was never taught to do it that way.) I am curious, though. What's it like?

[katyism.livejournal.com]

*headdesk* I have to admit if you called me up at my helpdesk and were able to clearly state what youwanted, I'd do a double take and, due to my usual "waiting for stupid user to elucidate their thoughts" attitude, it'd take me a repetition or two to realize what the hell you were talking about AND that you actually know what the hell you were talking about.

That said, I wish more techs were allowed or knew how to smoothly say they don't know what the user is talking about, rather than running down the dark alley known as "treat the user who knows more than you do like they're fucking dumbfucks because that's what my script says to do."

I get a call every day from someone trying to do some special thing that I don't personally have much expertise in. Before I just go and tell them to ask someone else, I try to find out the basics of the issue from the user so that I can understand, I consult with 2nd tier who might know a little more about it, then I do some research to see what helpful sites are out there/what department they can get help from/if any of my co-workers know enough to help the user so I can transfer them.

[methedras.livejournal.com]

Not surprising... it's been on a steady decline for a long time. Pretty much since we moved to the Forum it got worse.

[oggsmith.livejournal.com]

oh i have his name and id. i always write that deown first thing when i have to call in to support. mostly in case i get someone good then when i call again if need be i can request that person so i think i might get halfway decent support.

[oggsmith.livejournal.com]

Well i was on dial-up for way too long where i live i had no access to a DSL line so i was stuck. pretty much it's a waste of money if you can do it yourself. the service i was using was moderately priced and let me do what i wanted when i originally got it. but i soon out grew it. But since now i have all the pieces that i need in place i hosted my own. works better that way i think.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Heh heh heh. This is why I didn't talk to my ISP when I set up my own domain. My LAN gateway does dynamic DNS to a server on the other side of the planet, and via some jiggery-pokery my local country-based domain gets linked to the same IP, and updated whenever I bounce my ISP connection.

End result: A domain name which points to the webserver sitting above my desk, auto-synched to its external IP automatically if it ever changes, and all without having to endure the ISP's flailing about.

Of course, I wouldn't use it for a business domain or something requiring five-nines reliability, but for a low-traffic personal domain it works quite well.

[oggsmith.livejournal.com]

yeah atleast you try to figure out the problem and do your job which is to provide support. this guy just claimed that he would get fired. he made no attempt to even deviate from his script. it's not like i was asking him how to support a dvd burner or something not related to his service.

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

Not to mention some of them washed over to us.

How did that rep get a job doing tech support if he didn't know the difference between a USB and an ethernet cable?

[methedras.livejournal.com]

Haha yeah, you guys suffered a bunch of the dopey ones from us.

Got any in particular you wanna bitch about? I'd know who they are. Haha.

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

Alas, my ISP is a residential one and doesn't allow for domain name hosting, server support, etc. So I wouldn't have been able to help you, but would have pointed you to our business side who are part of all that.

Myself, I have a good friend who runs his own business and server and who has sweetly offered to host any domain we wish for.

But oh god, teaching the clueless among the techs to say brightly "I don't have those details right in front of me - would you hold on a second while I talk to my senior tech staff?" instead of futzling around and pretending to cover the issue with gobblespeak. *sigh*

[jacobine.livejournal.com]

This is why I'm so glad I'm internal support. I tell my users I don't know all the time, and it's no big deal. I'll try to guess my way through things -- and a lot of time it works, especially if the user has some knowledge of the thing they need help with.

[geekgrrl-ca.livejournal.com]

I just get my domain registar (usually joker.com) to provide dns services. granted my rdns doesn't nessessarily match but i'm not worried about that.

[linkslut.livejournal.com]

But has it got better since I arrived?

Man, this fucken job sucks. I think [parent company] should have closed your office, then moved people with clue to my old office.

I don't think there are words for how much I have come to hate my job since being moved in to your callcentre.

Someone with my skillset doing level one monkey work is fucking wasteful.

Man, the only thing that doesn't piss me off about this place is you and a handfull of other (mainly other ex Liverpool) staff.

[klytus.livejournal.com]

The same way some "A+ Certified" techinicians I once worked with could not find the VGA card in a Pentium computer.