Who Designed This Crap? Tech Support, Need I Say More? - Page 3
Forum Laptops & Notebooks : General Laptops & Notebooks - Who Designed This Crap? Tech Support, Need I Say More?
WARNING: this post is long. go find something more interesting to do than read my babbling.
i bought a 2gb memory stick on ebay a while ago cuz it was soooo cheap (the paypal record dates to 6th of april). it doesn't work. when i put some files on it, eventually it will start corrupting them and i will get either "the device has been removed from the system" or "file not found" while writing. when this happens the memory stick seems like it has been ejected (in software) so i take it out and put it back in only to find a bunch of random filenames in the root directory. i blamed it on my cheap card reader and waited til i got my new phone. it didn't work in that either. so then i tried it in another computer, a camera, even different software... no fun.
i gave up on the bugger for a while and then i felt the need for a 2gb memory stick again. rather than go buy another one, i decided to find out how to get a replacement from sony. i didn't know where to start. i went to an official authorised sony dealer and asked how to get this memory stick, in japanese packaging by the way, for which i have no proof of purchase ("it was a gift" >_> ) replaced or repaired under the warranty. i was sure there was a warranty somewhere in the packaging, but i couldn't find it cuz thats the only part that isn't in english. anyway the guy at the counter said there should be a website address on the packaging, he had a look and pointed out "http://www.sony.net/memorystick/support/". luckily, when a picture tells a thousand words, its easier to understand than japanese. after a while i found a memory stick formatting tool. i downloaded it. it was in english. it told me that the file management area on the disk was corrupt or something and i should format it with my memory stick compatible device. i had already done that, but did it again because thats what i was told to do by a piece of useless software. my phone formatted the memory stick "sucessfully" but it made no diference.
some time in june i started snooping around sony's uk support website (thanks google!) and found too many phone numbers. on friday the 23rd of june i called sony memory stick support and explained the problem. the guy on the phone said that he will arrange for a courier to pick up my memory stick, but since i have no warranty sheet to enclose, he will have to discuss the issue with a superior first. unfortunately, everyone in a suitable position to fulfill this role had... gone home. ok. he arranged to call me back first thing monday morning 9:20am after having a chance to talk to a superior and getting it all sorted. he dint call 
i called sony a few days later but didn't have my case number with me so decided to open a new case for the same problem. it was all sorted out in like 5 minutes. he explained that i would receive an envelope containing a piece of paper to sign and a padded envelope to put the paper and memory stick in. i was to expect a courier a few days later.
on monday the 10th of july i recieve a call from sony saying that my case has been discussed with a superior and can go ahead... wait a minute, this is the first guy i spoke to, the one who was left alone in france on friday afternoon answering phone calls from strange english people. he explained the procedure with the envelope within an envelope (for some reason, both support guys said that part really slow as if its really confusing). i told him i already have the envelope. "you already have the envelope!?" i'm sure at that point he was thinking the french equivalent of "omgwtf!?". i told him i called again and got a different case number. he asked for the new case number and noticed that the telephone number he called was different to the number on file; it was missing the last digit. this explains why i was still waiting to be contacted by dhl or sony. so he arranged a pickup with dhl. he said they should be here the next day and i should expect a phone call.
the next day i was called by dhl and they apologised that i would have to wait a few days before someone is available. he asked if friday 21st is ok. i said its fine... later that day i struggled so hard to try to remember the date we agreed on but just couldnt
today, friday 21st of july, i received a call (yay reminders r good) at 10:53am from an unknown number (as usual -_-) and the lady on the phone asked what time i'll be home. i said i'll be home all day...
a few hours later it was 12:20 and i JUST remembered i had to be somewhere at 12:45. i ran like the wind. on my way home i got another phone call, this time from the courier himself. he asked if i'm home and i said "yeah i'm looking at you right now" cuz i was like 5 meters away from him and i could see his face from where i was walking 
so i went inside and gave him the package... he had a look and said "do you have the delivery address?"
"ummm no. the lady on the phone asked me that too, and when i said no she said its fine and she'll give the address to the courier"
"... so you don't know where you're sending it? theres no way from them to tell me the address. whoever told you that doesn't know what they were talking about"
he got his mobile out and dialed a number that he knew off the top of his head. he asked to speak to someone. he even named names. no one was there to talk to him, so he couldn't resolve the situation. he apologised to me and tried his best to explain that the person who gives him the address is the sender, so if he doesn't have the address and i don't have the address then he cant take the package. he told me to call the number written on the side of his van.
so i called sony and explained what happened. i think it was the same guy who called me back before. he said it was very strange that the pickup didn't proceed as planned because they have a contract with dhl and therefore dhl should know their address very well. i asked him for the address so that i can call dhl as the courier suggested and ask them to try again. he gave me the french address and i wrote it down, but im still not confident that i wrote it down perfectly. he said that he has escalated the issue because "this really should never happen with dhl, its not what we're paying them for"
so i called dhl again and explained what happened and the support guy said "oh crikey" lol. he said he would get in contact with sony and ask them to arrange another pickup. he also suggested that i call sony and ask them to email a copy of the address they will use when dealing with dhl.
so i called sony again this time the person who answered the phone wasn't french. i explained what happened up to this point and made it clear that all i need is for him to get that postal address emailed to me. he said he would go get the address and he put me on hold. i've been on hold so many times today but the music gets worse and worse... and for some reason this time i the longest... so long in fact that the bastard hung up on me!!... a few minutes later my phone rang and he apologised for keeping me on hold for so long. apparently he was unaware that the line had disconnected. anyway he said he has asked for the address and someone will call me in the next few... "wait could you email it to me instead?"
"ok, i'll let them know you want it emailed to you" and then he checked that he has the correct email "you should receive the email in no more than a few hours" and all is fine so far.
i hope.
we can assume everything will be fine for now but i still haven't received the email, even after taking the time to write so much junk. so far the customer service has been good, but the communication between the two companies doesn't seem to be adequate. if only they wrote the address on the padded envelope :\
i'll keep you updated if something else goes wrong.
Troubles with third party tech services. and how packaging and transport companys can save the day!
Just had a very scary run in with a Hyundai TFTs screens, this could have happened with any firm! Our friends at hyundai have this 48 Hrs response tech service which will allow you to change/fix a faulty TFT. Mine had 2 vertical lines right accros the screen, so basically the tft's electronical systems where starting to die. So i 'tryed' to call them. I Live in Belgium and the company which Hyundai comissioned to carry out any interaction with the client is in germany. They all speak multiple languages right? well no, they don't! The first peson u get is a german national ( that's normal we're in germany right?, yeah! ) that's normal except ... that she ( cos it was a she) gets calls from belgium (where people speak either dutch or french), and that she is supposed to redirect customers to techs in thier language, which she can't... she barely could speak proper english. Now I can't get around in some sort of german, lucky for me otherwise i'd be screwed...
SO past hurdle one in 25 min of painfull but friendly germano-enlgisho-dutch ( she sis have a rather sexy voice) , still it did cost me a long international call, and i'm still stuck.
I finally get to a tech , which i should have gone directly since it was the number on the hyundai image quest support site (eeeerrrr wrong again ALL the numbers at the time where faulty and the emails go un anwsered. SOME BODY IN HYUNDIA SERVICE IS NOT DOING HIS JOB!!) . I start talking to the guy, and lol, once again... missa not speaky english not very guüd! crap, at that point u get the feeling of empending doom.. lol no wait there's much much more. This guy asks me for addresse, name, serial number, the usual blah blah, except since he can't understand ( cos he partially speaks english, had this been in german, 5 min tops ) so after about 40 min of again painfull progress, i decide to turn prussian on his hiney and tell him , politely but very germanish that : "AAACCHH TUNG! I VILL ZEND YOU AN EMAIL!! VITH DERINFORMAZIONE!!"" all of this remaining composure and dignity.
At that point i though that all my troubles had been partially solved, i had a case number, i had a contact, and so with the machine spirit watching over me, i would have ups call me one day to get the screen... EEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRR WRONG!!
u have to also imagine that having sent, 2 emails + 2 faxes to the same company (with a case number to track) some idiot on the other side would have done something. NOPE! NADA! NIET!
about 7 days after my little mails and faxes i call back. same crap again, this time i ask nicely ( always helps to ask nicely) for somebody who can speak the language, which i get!! ahhh german efficiency at last?? ( no 
)
it's dutch guy, who tells me (thank god i had a case number) that my fax had been recieved and that it had been coded, but that it also had been 'thrown away'... thrown away??? THROWN AWAY??? hmmm, yeah so? u coded it ddin't you.... the guy says he'd personnaly get it started! two days after thatb UPS was at the door.. I was at work... my bad should have given the company address instead of home...
10 days later and after a hicup with ups ( that one is my fault, i work too much) the screen finally leaves for germany! AMEN!!
this is where it gets RATHER SCARY.
I'm supposed to get the screen 48 hrs after it departs from home right? well, u can track the thing with ups ( rather good service) and i actively follow my precious to germany and.... no it's stuck...
U wouldn't believe what happened... the german company which did the third party service with hyundai STOPPED.... the changed name, they didn't change staff cos i called them and got the same people. Now they are telling me that they have stopped working wth hyundai, and that they are very sorry for the trouble .... the hyundai site was a mess, 'under construction' they said, tel numbes where no longer valid, emails ( ha! those customer service numbers never worked)
and to make things worst, UPS LOST the pacakge when it finally was coming back ( at that point i didn't know if the screen had been fixed, well it was! phew).
I finally get the screen back after 20 days, sent the 19t got it back the 15th of the next month...
SO! what have we learnt:
a) POLITE!! no point in getting mad, just tell them nicely all the info and if they get nasty, just tell them that you'll HAVE to turn medieval on their hineys if they dont work this out. If you have a lawyer friend, just use one of his letters to makes things move. just threaten the company, not them, not the techo ( cos he's just a ant in the big ant colony), no go for the main thing which companys HATE to lose : reputation. JUST REMEBER TO BE POLITE AND GIVE OUT CLEAR AND COMPREHENSIVE INFO :
name + tel number + case number if u got one + serial of thing that needs fixing + what's the problem
If you involve the tech just that little bit more to your problem, he'll care.
b) when a shop asks you if you want to buy the all in, all exclusive, super deluxe i'mgonnafixallyour troubles insurance pack for your precious hardware : WAIT! check out who is doing the fixing, who is doing the carrying from and to your pickup point.
c) normally the shop who sells you the merchandise should be doing the Customer services, if you get the impression that they are not too keen on doing it : PROBLEM! there's bound to be some sort of twist or cock up along the customer service line. Not the fault of the shop, most of the time. SO CHECK UP FORUMS ON WHAT U ARE BUYING.
Let the shop sweat it out not you, you are the customer behave like one: polite, curtious but get what u paid for : SERVICE!
d) before u send your precious cargo out : check what the legal limits and responsibilitys of said transporter. for example UPS was only responsible for gettting the screen from my place to the factory and back. not what happens in between.
e) when talking with tech support get EVERYTHING FAXED TO YOU, NAMES, tels , case numbers, EMAIL OR FAX ALL INFO YOU GET MAKES IT EASIER FOR THEM TO CHECK AND ALSO MAKES IT EASIER FOR YOU TO USE AFTER IN CASE THE WORST SHOULD HAPPEN.
f) PACK THINGS IN THE RIGHT BOXES : they all have loads of barcodes which effectively tell the scanning machines where to send it and what type of cargo it is.
in all, most companys Will do the job correctly, most people , tech support, courriers etc will do it right, if you stay cool and calm and invoke the professional spirit in people, they will, out of pride ,get it done!
one last thing : try to buy from companys which have rivals. Ones that have no competition tend to have very very very bad customer tech services. (just like my local ADSL provider : BELGACOM), they REALLY ARE THE WORST ,U HAVE NO IDEA...
A.
Hi,
I saw this thread and had to chime in! Sorry in advance for length of rant!
I do tech support for a small computer supplier. We specialise in Music and Audio related computers. I am the only one who does tech support for the company, so no 'faceless' corporation or the like. No timed calls, we spend as long as it takes to fix the problem. We offer lifetime technical support at no extra charge. Of course the hardware warranty is one year. We will help you set new software up, install new hardware, even give you general advice on how to run your rig and help in learning the software. (Not too in depth, but some good help). Send us your cards and peripherals and we install it. We also have a facility to dial into your computer and fix software related problems. Our turn around times for repairs are usually within a week and we pay for courier both ways whilst in the first year. So for me personally, I have over 10 years of computer experience and specifically audio/computer related troubleshooting. I have been with this company since the beginning and consequently know everything about our sysem intimately.
So you would think that people would see what a great service we offer right? No way! I have come up against every customer that has been described here. It is so true that if you are patient and nice, you will get the best service. People who are rude and arrogant get the bare minimum. However I will still sort them out as it just means more grief and time later. I can't punt it to anyone else!
Troubleshooting has a procedure. There is a reason for it. You need to cover all bases in order to get to a reasonable conclusion. For 70% of problems, I know what the problem is within the first 30 seconds of the phone call. I can skip the usual questions and tell them immediately how to fix the problem, or get the machine in for repair. More complex problems require the procedure. It is essential. What most people don't realise, is that it is for their benefit. If the wrong diagnosis is made, it just costs you more time. I have shortcutted my own procedure many times and have wound up with the wrong end of the stick. You can actually be a victim of your own experience. You think 'oh it's definately this' and spend days trying to fix the problem. Only to find that if you had been more systematic in your approach you would have found out the problem sooner. (One customer had no sound out of the computer. I spent a good half hour going through re-install, checking IRQ's, the works. Only to find out that she actually had no speakers attached to the computer. 
So those boring seeminlgy pointless 'is it plugged in?' questions are also vital.) Trobleshooting in its' most purest form is a droll, logical process of elimination. It isn't magic.
If you have done some troubleshooting yourself, I will happily listen and will be glad you have at least tried to sort it out yourself. But just because you think the hard drive is faulty, doesn't make it so. I need to be sure for myself before I will authorise anything. I can't tell you how many times someone has called up and said 'it is definately this' only for me to spend 1 minute on the phone and prove it is something else. Of course, if the investigation reveals what you thought it was, great! Job done. People won't even let me spend 10 mins going through my procdure to help them. 'Time is money'. You may be right, I am not saying different, just let me do my job.
When people utter those immortal words 'I'm a professional,' my experience has shown that they rarely are. I almost never hear from the real professionals. They guy on the end of the phone is usually just starting to make money out of music and thinks he has now made it! If I need to get the computer back for repair, they always ask 'how long?' I quote 5-10 working days but usually inside a week. (often it is 3 days). You then brace yourself. 'WHAT?' I have Madonna (insert relavent celebrity here) recording tomorrow, I need that machine. I run a professional studio and this will costs us money!' ..pause..
Ok, so, you are making a living out of your computer. It is vital to the running of your business. What is the first rule? HAVE A F*&%$£* backup system! By the very fact people kick up a stink about the very short repair time, instantly reveals their amatuer status. Then there is all the down talking to me and co-workers.
As to people who wave their credentials at me...Sorry pal, doesn't impress me in the slightest. MCSE's are as common as grass these days. Any muppet can do it and even if you are slightly adept, I still don't care. Don't tell me you are a network admin, even less impressive. (Or worse, a consultant) And when your 'mate' in 'IT' said that the motherboard needs to be replaced, won't make me work any faster or change my procedure. I have never, ever met a network admin or someone involved in IT for companies or the like, to be very good at troubleshooting computers. They know their area, but as to hardware problems or even installing Windows and associated issues, forget it. I was truly stunned by this realisation. I certainly don't know everything, (Not very good with networking and can't program) and readily admit when I don't know something. But often these guys just can't let go that someone just may know something they don't. (Why are you calling?)
I like first timers and people with no experience. Especially if they are in a receptive mood and willing to let you guide them. If they are there ready to fight, then there is nothing I can do. If someone calls and has no clue about computers, but are nice, I will happliy tell them that they can't use the CD tray for drinks without a trace of condescension. I'll spend a long time explaining things that I am not required to. But when some twat rings up who 'knows enough to be dangerous' and proceeds to talk down to me, then f.u., you deserve all the bad support/attitude in the west. 
If you want to 'talk techie' great, it means I can skip a lot of boring small details. Just treat me with respect.
Wow sorry about that essay! I guess its' nice to see other people out there who have shared the experience!
Hi,
Yeah I don't have anything against IT admin or anything! Just when they want to cross swords. It is interesting how segmented computer knowledge is. You can be a wicked programmer, but have almost no idea how to fix hardware problems and vica versa. I am thinking of doing the MCSE myself and getting a bit more into the corporate IT thing. I don't want to, but companies want this kind of qualification. More money, half the work!
Running the tech for our company alone can be very demanding and get right on top of you sometimes. I really need a new job. However, I do have complete control over how things are done, which repairs to get in etc. I don't let anyone authorise anything without me having a say! So in that sense it is good, as you don't feel as impotent as the guy in that article about the call centre. I do have limitations, but in general run the dept. how I see fit. Although often, you see that they have made a decision about how to build the computers and you know it is wrong, but despite your objections,(and others), they do it. Then you can see your future workload appear as the builders are building it! That really gets my goat! When management can avoid problems but go ahead with it anyway to save a few bucks. 
ikjadoon:
I find this topic so funny as after being told by TH/MG they were reviewing my Killer Notebooks Executioner I can't get an email to them (it is bounced for 4 days and my server said, "Forget it". Then I am told to contact through Tom's forms page, and... nothing, no reply... just a tumbleweed rolling by.
Maybe this article should have been called, "We rate end user interaction... and we're the pot calling the kettle black."
Booster.
I don't find it different as I am a OLD SCHOOL American, and when I say something... I do it.
Since I was told TWICE, right on this posting that they were going to review it, I take a man at his word.
Pretty rare these days, but that's how I roll.
I wouldn't have built a $3,000 machine to sit here if not for someone's word given.
Hey, Killer. If THG never gets around to it, I'm a real good reviewer, 
I see what you guys mean. A tech should know that the other guy on the line knows how to go to Event Viewer or knows how to reseat a mem. stick.
~Ibrahim~
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