More Amused then annoyed.

[kalidor.livejournal.com]

Lately I've been more annoyed at some "techs" that have been "supporting" users, then the inexperinced users themselves.

Today I got a call from a lady who couldn't get her dialup program working. Turns out she had been on tech support with my boss. He suggested that she take the wire between her fax and the wall; unplug it from the wall; and plug it into her modem to dialout. He then described the modem being the one with the port and the lights on the back. Ya know the one with LNK and ACT. We quickly figured out where her problems lay.

Not the first time either. I had to go onsite to fix a computer my boss diagnosed as having intermittent IE crashes due to viral issues. Computer just didn't like Service Pack 4. Good job boss.

Comments

[tjernobyl.livejournal.com]

Every modem that's sent out to a customer should have a big, bright tag on it that says MODEM in letters they can't miss. Much like those sofa tags, should be illegal to remove except by the knowledgable customer. Make our jobs much easier, not always having to figure out and explain to the customer what every electrical device anywhere near the computer is...

..Mind you, I can imagine that even if the modem was explicitly labelled so, there'd still be a significant percentage of customers who wouldn't clue in...

[kalidor.livejournal.com]

That said, it still wouldn't mean a blessed thing if mr big boss said, derr ignore the label, the one with the lan lights is the right port.

Which I bet is what he'd say.

[snoopyh42.livejournal.com]

Actually I think that it should be more specific than that, as MODEM can be for dial-up or for DSL. Something like a label that states clearly "This device is for DSL purposes only. Any attempts to use it to dial-up will result in being drug out to the street and shot." Well, maybe not that harsh...

And,

"This is a dial-up modem. If you are using this, you must live in the boonies where DSL service is only a dream."

more amused THAN annoyed

[cksample3.livejournal.com]

sorry, but this drives me nuts. 'then' is used in talking about time. ex: I did this and then I did that.

"than" is used for comparison. ex: I'd rather fix myself lunch than fix your computer.

i wasn't going to say anything, but then I noticed that you repeated the error in the post.

Re: more amused THAN annoyed

[kalidor.livejournal.com]

No worries, and thanks. Sleep deprivation can tend to mess things up. I've been working on a laptop for about 36 hours straight ... but that is another post ;)

[tjernobyl.livejournal.com]

For some reason, I don't think I've ever had a caller with an external modem. Had a couple people who tried to plug the phoneline into their NIC, though...

[daerlyn.livejournal.com]

Thankfully this did not happen to me, but:

The company I (fortunately no longer) work for does dial up and DSL. We do not offer tech support for home networks. But some dumbass tech in our call centre tried to troubleshoot a customer's home network and (of course) FUCKED IT UP. So client calls back, and gets a different tech, who knows jack-shit about networks because WE DON'T SUPPORT THEM, and customer has a temper tantrum at her. Which I can't blame him for.

When you're not supposed to support shit, DON'T. It will save you a lot of stress.