Last message on previous page:
Don't think post went through...Anyways:

F! Damn, four digits? Shite. Life isn't fair!

I'm looking for some companies, without luck...

Yeah, outsourcing is greedy and selfish.

~Ibrahim~

Gormeroth,

I'm glad that my post has stirred up at least a little debate around here. Perhaps if you bothered to read and comprehend the story you would realize that I never said that I called in and raised my voice or used a condenscending tone.

On the contrary.

I spent "SEVERAL HOURS" on the phone with the technicians jumping through hoops. I was told that my network adapter (3C905) was unsupported...this is when I became frustrated and I tossed my credentials out there for them to chew on.

And you ask, if I'm so damn qualified with tons of certifications, why don't I fix the problem myself? Well that's the catch...I do support everything in my home to the point of demarcation...from there, it's the service providers responsibility to make it work.

usb3... lmao

yah i know man. just reading these stories drudge up old memories.

the tech was likely incompetant.. it happens.. a lot. lets be honest, how many knowledgeable individuals actually work technical support and get into as a profession? zero. the pay is AWFUL.

it's a job like any other job. new people come and go just like a normal retail job. they either do it because they can't find anything else or (like myself) they do it just to get their foot in the door to advance to another non cs related department.

and training? i doubt any place really trains a tech that well.. you shadow another rep (that may or may not be competant) for 3-5 days and then they put you out in the field. sink or swim. it's tough but that's just life.

i prided myself on doing a good job and helping people out the best i could. sometimes you can't help someone over 6 minutes but that's why i would give out my email address and would help troubleshoot their problem from there.


TIP: for all of you out there that have the unfortunate luck of getting an "uhh" machine that really doesn't know what he is talking about. politely give him a chance to troubleshoot the problem. when and if he fails, ask politely to be escalated to a more senior level technician. tier 2 possibily? don't be a dick and demand a supervisor.

i'll let you guys in on a secret, they're there to supervise.. not troubleshoot tech calls. if the guy on the phone can't help or if he tells you something, it's only going to be repeated by the supervisor. you will get NO WHERE, and fast.

on the contrary, throwing out your credentials is condescending.

and you're right from that point, it is the providers responsibility to make it work. therefore, from that point, your credentials and certifications have absolutely no baring, so why bring it up?

gormeroth,

you said it yourself:

So you're telling me:
A) there's not many knowledgeable people working tech support
B) It's basically no-experience required, entry-level position.

At the same time you seem to think that we live in some magical, mystical world...where people have an unlimited amount of time and patience to deal with some people who would be better off flipping burgers at Mcdonalds than trying to tell a CCNA that a 3C905 card is an unsupported network adapter.

So, 9+ years in the IT Field, in the Marines, specialized work for the Department of Defense as well as work in the private sector with the leader in a scientific research area...along with a bunch of certifications...means that I should wait on the phone for several hours while "tech support" feeds me a line of bullshit?

you're right man. we don't live in some kind of magical mystical world where one would bow to your whim because you have oh so many wonderful credentials.

in the real world you throw that in someones face and treat them like a moron, and in their own way they will say "fuck you, next". then you'll spend more and more hours on the phone wasting your valuable time because you feel you're above these petty morons else because you are "the (almighty) customer!"

we get it dude. you think you're big shit. you are definitely way up there on your high horse. seems that in all that time you never learned how to deal with people. treating others with respect (as hard as it may be for one with 9+ yeras in the IT field, ink the marines, specialized work for the department of defense, blah blah blah, etc) will go a long way. taht's the point i'm trying to make. maybe if you didn't treat people li ke shit you might have received better service.

I want to share a support story. But first let me say I entered the business with a vertical app supporting Wall Street GNMA Mortgage pool traders with a program and database. It was done on the Apple II+ in 1981. I had gotten the Apple II to run a nine track tape drive and I bought GENIE 5+5 meg removable HD cartridge systems you don't even google today, but I shipped cartridges of FNMA FHLMC and GNMA historical paydown data to (eventually) 186 bond dealers. It cost $10,800 a year, but customers made that in a day. (I started in my basement at night while designing guaranteed pensions on my day job at Aetna.)

In our first years switching to the IBM PC compatibles, we bought 10 meg HDs and some like Tulin's and Micropolis drives would die in 2 months and cost $700 each. We replaced them and hoped for a buy credit.

Obviously, I had margin to work with.... the net profit contrib I built was 84%, but I paid the staff secretaries about $32k and the top guy $186K.

One morning I awoke to a CNN broadcast...May 4, 1988. THE FIRST INTERSTATE TOWER IN LA is ON FIRE! It was 6:30 in CT.

They said it was on the 12th floor. OOPS That is where our MBS bond traders are located. I called my hardware employee. Jeff: Come in early, get a new system loaded, we are going to ship it somewhere today.

During the day I discovered that the bond traders of this Primary Dealer of US Treasuries had found space in a Sanwa bank unoccupied office with working phones. We shipped a complete $4000 system to that address by FedEx without a purchase order.

The next day I got a call. "Hey we are up and running and you were the only one...nobody else on the temp trading floor is up! 8O

We were a small company.... sometimes we competed against biggies like Bloomberg. But after that, when a prospective customer needed a reference, we'd say, hmmm, just call 1st Interstate Bank. The next day, just about the whole MBS Dealer community had heard the story on the squawk box.

I didn't what to take the time to take out my last name, so u can use it if u want. Chk out this chat session from Dell going a few months back:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an automated email sent from the Dell Chat. The following information is a log of your session. Please save the log for your records.
Your session ID for this incident is xxxxxx (I deleted this # for security purposes.
Time Details
12/23/2005 10:11:49PM Session Started with Agent (Monika_01110046)
12/23/2005 10:11:49PM Ryan Burton: "mic probs"
12/23/2005 10:11:57PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Thank you for contacting Dell Consumer Hardware Warranty Support Chat. Please allow me a moment to review your question. While I review your question, let me inform you that you might get an invitation to participate in a survey at the end of this sessi"
12/23/2005 10:12:03PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Also please provide us with your name,phone number and e-mail Id as on our records."
12/23/2005 10:13:39PM Ryan Burton: "sup"
12/23/2005 10:14:19PM Ryan Burton: "which jack do i connect heaphones with a microphone 2 on the soundcard"
12/23/2005 10:14:23PM Ryan Burton: "it has 2 plugs"
12/23/2005 10:14:29PM Ryan Burton: "pink for mic"
12/23/2005 10:14:37PM Ryan Burton: "and black for headphones"
12/23/2005 10:14:46PM Ryan Burton: "it's an all in 1 unit"
12/23/2005 10:15:00PM Ryan Burton: "?"
12/23/2005 10:15:07PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Before we go ahead with troubleshooting,May I know your name and phone number as per our records?"
12/23/2005 10:15:07PM Ryan Burton: "?"
12/23/2005 10:15:10PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "May I have your email address to update in our records?"
12/23/2005 10:15:17PM Ryan Burton: "ryan burton"
12/23/2005 10:15:35PM Ryan Burton: "I GAVE MY PHN # HERE, DELETED IN THIS POST"
12/23/2005 10:15:50PM Ryan Burton: "no"
12/23/2005 10:16:19PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Thank you for the information."
12/23/2005 10:17:24PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Could you please stay online for 2 minutes while I research the issue"
12/23/2005 10:17:55PM Ryan Burton: "ok"
12/23/2005 10:20:21PM Ryan Burton: "any day now"
12/23/2005 10:20:41PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Thanks for your patience."
12/23/2005 10:20:58PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Please connect it to pink port."
12/23/2005 10:20:58PM Ryan Burton: "gotta love those canned responses"
12/23/2005 10:23:30PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I am sorry I didn't get you."
12/23/2005 10:26:34PM Ryan Burton: "lol"
12/23/2005 10:26:36PM Ryan Burton: "nvm"
12/23/2005 10:26:58PM Ryan Burton: "well it's been at least 10 mins now"
12/23/2005 10:27:05PM Ryan Burton: "can u help me or not?"
12/23/2005 10:27:17PM Ryan Burton: "it's been at least 10 mins"
12/23/2005 10:27:26PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I am sorry I told you to connect it to pink port."
12/23/2005 10:27:44PM Ryan Burton: "no u didn't"
12/23/2005 10:27:51PM Ryan Burton: "ok"
12/23/2005 10:28:05PM Ryan Burton: "so which jack do i connect the hedphones 2 now?"
12/23/2005 10:28:28PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Pink one is more mike."
12/23/2005 10:28:57PM Ryan Burton: "what is "more mike"?"
12/23/2005 10:29:12PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Sorry for typo."
12/23/2005 10:29:28PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I mean for mike."
12/23/2005 10:29:42PM Ryan Burton: "so which jack do i connect the hedphones 2 now?"
12/23/2005 10:30:05PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Pink port."
12/23/2005 10:30:20PM Ryan Burton: "no"
12/23/2005 10:30:23PM Ryan Burton: "so which jack do i connect the hedphones 2 now?"
12/23/2005 10:30:32PM Ryan Burton: "HEADPHONES"
12/23/2005 10:30:38PM Ryan Burton: "there r 2 plugs"
12/23/2005 10:30:58PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Are you seeing pink port?"
12/23/2005 10:31:05PM Ryan Burton: "yes"
12/23/2005 10:31:16PM Ryan Burton: "the mic is connected 2 the pink port already"
12/23/2005 10:31:18PM Ryan Burton: "agin"
12/23/2005 10:32:03PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Give a try with black port."
12/23/2005 10:33:27PM Ryan Burton: "will it stil work if i have the speakers and other headphones connected also?"
12/23/2005 10:34:07PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Yes."
12/23/2005 10:34:11PM Ryan Burton: "?"
12/23/2005 10:34:17PM Ryan Burton: "not working"
12/23/2005 10:34:50PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Have you tried mike on other source?"
12/23/2005 10:35:57PM Ryan Burton: "the mike works fine now i think"
12/23/2005 10:36:00PM Ryan Burton: "AGAIN"
12/23/2005 10:36:05PM Ryan Burton: "for the 3rd time"
12/23/2005 10:36:19PM Ryan Burton: "the mike and headphones have 2 plugs"
12/23/2005 10:36:42PM Ryan Burton: "i also have other headpones connected in the front and speakers connected in the rear"
12/23/2005 10:37:05PM Ryan Burton: "and the black plug for the headpones with the mic plugged in 2 the black jack in the back"
12/23/2005 10:37:19PM Ryan Burton: "the headpones with the mic aren't working"
12/23/2005 10:37:38PM Ryan Burton: "the speakers only work if u unplug the headphones from the front of the pc"
12/23/2005 10:38:11PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Give a right click on volume icon on right bottom corner."
12/23/2005 10:38:26PM Ryan Burton: "also pvr video card connected 2 the blue jack"
12/23/2005 10:38:35PM Ryan Burton: "ok"
12/23/2005 10:38:56PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Click on volume control."
12/23/2005 10:39:15PM Ryan Burton: "ok"
12/23/2005 10:39:47PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "You must be seeing volume control for CD player,headphones."
12/23/2005 10:40:04PM Ryan Burton: "i have cd audio"
12/23/2005 10:40:17PM Ryan Burton: "but neither headpones r plugged n 2 the cd player"
12/23/2005 10:40:24PM Ryan Burton: "nothing on mute"
12/23/2005 10:40:26PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Do you see microphones column?."
12/23/2005 10:40:51PM Ryan Burton: "no"
12/23/2005 10:40:57PM Ryan Burton: "none listed"
12/23/2005 10:41:13PM Ryan Burton: "doesn't matter"
12/23/2005 10:41:19PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Which column are listed there?"
12/23/2005 10:41:23PM Ryan Burton: "THE MIC WORKS"
12/23/2005 10:41:34PM Ryan Burton: "the HEADPHONES don't"
12/23/2005 10:41:55PM Ryan Burton: "this is exactly the type of info u should b able 2 tell me"
12/23/2005 10:42:09PM Ryan Burton: "u should have the exact configuration of my pc"
12/23/2005 10:42:15PM Ryan Burton: "right in front of u"
12/23/2005 10:42:20PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I am sorry for the inconvenience"
12/23/2005 10:42:36PM Ryan Burton: "playback"
12/23/2005 10:42:38PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I have all the information."
12/23/2005 10:42:40PM Ryan Burton: "wave/mp3"
12/23/2005 10:42:43PM Ryan Burton: "d audio"
12/23/2005 10:42:46PM Ryan Burton: "ine in"
12/23/2005 10:42:50PM Ryan Burton: "line in"
12/23/2005 10:42:55PM Ryan Burton: "cd audio"
12/23/2005 10:43:17PM Ryan Burton: "5 columns"
12/23/2005 10:43:22PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Ok."
12/23/2005 10:44:08PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Do you see properties option in that window?"
12/23/2005 10:44:30PM Ryan Burton: "no"
12/23/2005 10:44:56PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Do you see options?"
12/23/2005 10:45:22PM Ryan Burton: "ok"
12/23/2005 10:45:24PM Ryan Burton: "got it"
12/23/2005 10:45:52PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Click on it and go to properties."
12/23/2005 10:46:02PM Ryan Burton: "ok"
12/23/2005 10:46:18PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Then check all the options there."
12/23/2005 10:47:21PM Ryan Burton: "under playback or recording?"
12/23/2005 10:48:06PM Ryan Burton: "?"
12/23/2005 10:48:27PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Under show the volume control :"
12/23/2005 10:48:39PM Ryan Burton: "ok"
12/23/2005 10:48:54PM Ryan Burton: "there r also 2 radio buttons for playback and recording"
12/23/2005 10:49:03PM Ryan Burton: "which 1?"
12/23/2005 10:50:23PM Ryan Burton: "?"
12/23/2005 10:50:23PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "You can check microphone in both playback and recording"
12/23/2005 10:50:31PM Ryan Burton: "ok"
12/23/2005 10:50:49PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Now give a try."
12/23/2005 10:51:07PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "First check mute button in volume control."
12/23/2005 10:52:21PM Ryan Burton: "ok"
12/23/2005 10:52:28PM Ryan Burton: "why would i want 2 put it on mute?"
12/23/2005 10:52:46PM Ryan Burton: "i disconnected the pvr card cable"
12/23/2005 10:53:08PM Ryan Burton: "so now we have the speakers, headpones, and mic plugged into the back"
12/23/2005 10:53:15PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Yes."
12/23/2005 10:53:34PM Ryan Burton: "and a diffrent set of headphones only plugged into the green jack on the lower front"
12/23/2005 10:54:10PM Ryan Burton: "not working"
12/23/2005 10:54:18PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Yes."
12/23/2005 10:54:32PM Ryan Burton: "sound from other set of headphones only"
12/23/2005 10:54:38PM Ryan Burton: "not working"
12/23/2005 10:54:53PM Ryan Burton: "?"
12/23/2005 10:54:58PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Do you mean mic not working?"
12/23/2005 10:55:54PM Ryan Burton: "NO"
12/23/2005 10:56:00PM Ryan Burton: "again for the 4th time"
12/23/2005 10:56:13PM Ryan Burton: "the HEADPHONES with the mic"
12/23/2005 10:56:16PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Have you connect it pink port?"
12/23/2005 10:56:16PM Ryan Burton: "not the mic"
12/23/2005 10:56:25PM Ryan Burton: "yes"
12/23/2005 10:56:39PM Ryan Burton: "that is for the MICROPHONE"
12/23/2005 10:56:52PM Ryan Burton: "the MICROPHONE works JUST FINE"
12/23/2005 10:57:01PM Ryan Burton: "the HEADPHONES dont"
12/23/2005 10:57:14PM Ryan Burton: "is there a SUPERVISOR there i can talk 2?"
12/23/2005 10:57:38PM Ryan Burton: "this service is EXTREMELY POOR!"
12/23/2005 10:57:54PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I am sorry."
12/23/2005 10:58:10PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I am not clear what is not working?"
12/23/2005 10:58:30PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Are the headphones,microphone or mike?"
12/23/2005 10:58:46PM Ryan Burton: "THE HEADPONES!"
12/23/2005 10:59:03PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Mike is working now."
12/23/2005 10:59:05PM Ryan Burton: "i have TWO sets of headphones connected to the pc"
12/23/2005 10:59:10PM Ryan Burton: "and 1 set of speaks"
12/23/2005 10:59:19PM Ryan Burton: "speakers*"
12/23/2005 10:59:55PM Ryan Burton: "the headpones that r headphones only w/o a mic and that r connected to the lower front of the pc WORK JUST FINE"
12/23/2005 11:00:09PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I am sorry two seta of headphones cannot work at a time."
12/23/2005 11:00:15PM Ryan Burton: "the other set of headphones = no sound at all"
12/23/2005 11:00:28PM Ryan Burton: "1 set of headphones is headphones only"
12/23/2005 11:00:32PM Ryan Burton: "es work just fine"
12/23/2005 11:00:41PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "As there is one headphone port ."
12/23/2005 11:01:07PM Ryan Burton: "the other set of headphones is PHYSICALLY connected to the MICROPHONE"
12/23/2005 11:01:14PM Ryan Burton: "it is a headset"
12/23/2005 11:01:20PM Ryan Burton: "like u would use in a callcenter"
12/23/2005 11:01:30PM Ryan Burton: "this unit has 2 plugs"
12/23/2005 11:01:50PM Ryan Burton: "1 pink for mic is plugged into the pink jack into the soundcard in the back"
12/23/2005 11:02:05PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I am sorry but had said earlier that you have 2 sets of headphones."
12/23/2005 11:02:07PM Ryan Burton: "the other plug is black and is plugged into the black jack in the back in the soundcard"
12/23/2005 11:02:38PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Which port is not working>"
12/23/2005 11:02:41PM Ryan Burton: "this plug is for the HEADPHONES that r CONNECTED to the MIC as a HEADSET"
12/23/2005 11:02:44PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Sorry for typo."
12/23/2005 11:02:59PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Which port is not working?"
12/23/2005 11:03:00PM Ryan Burton: "IT IS 1 PHYSICAL PIECE OF HARD WARE"
12/23/2005 11:03:09PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Is it black or pink?"
12/23/2005 11:03:30PM Ryan Burton: "i already told u which port is not working"
12/23/2005 11:03:45PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Pink port."
12/23/2005 11:03:46PM Ryan Burton: "READ WHAT I TYPE!"
12/23/2005 11:04:34PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Is it pink port?"
12/23/2005 11:05:35PM Ryan Burton: "the headpones that r headphones only w/o a mic and that r connected to the lower front of the pc WORK JUST FINE"
12/23/2005 11:05:47PM Ryan Burton: "NO"
12/23/2005 11:05:52PM Ryan Burton: "that is for the mic"
12/23/2005 11:05:57PM Ryan Burton: "AGAIN FOR THE 5TH TIME"
12/23/2005 11:06:06PM Ryan Burton: "the MICROPHONE WORKS!"
12/23/2005 11:06:28PM Ryan Burton: "I NEED TO TALK 2 A SUPERVISOR NOW!"
12/23/2005 11:06:35PM Ryan Burton: "u do not know what u r doing"
12/23/2005 11:06:38PM Ryan Burton: "!"
12/23/2005 11:06:53PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Are you plugging headphones to green port?"
12/23/2005 11:07:11PM Ryan Burton: "no"
12/23/2005 11:07:18PM Ryan Burton: "black port"
12/23/2005 11:07:26PM Ryan Burton: "like u told me to "try" earlier"
12/23/2005 11:07:35PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Please plug headphones in green port."
12/23/2005 11:07:45PM Ryan Burton: "where at?"
12/23/2005 11:08:04PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Do you green colour port?"
12/23/2005 11:08:18PM Ryan Burton: "i don't understand?"
12/23/2005 11:08:52PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "There are 3 ports Pink,Green,Blue on the back of system tower."
12/23/2005 11:09:08PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Plug headphones in green port."
12/23/2005 11:10:12PM Ryan Burton: "not working"
12/23/2005 11:10:39PM Ryan Burton: "I NEED TO TALK 2 A SUPERVISOR NOW!"
12/23/2005 11:11:13PM Ryan Burton: "we're going on almost an hr here"
12/23/2005 11:11:55PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I am really sorry for your experience with me."
12/23/2005 11:12:12PM Ryan Burton: "u bet"
12/23/2005 11:12:23PM Ryan Burton: "I NEED TO TALK 2 A SUPERVISOR NOW! 10:06:35 PM You u do not know what u r doing"
12/23/2005 11:12:30PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "My supervisor is in meeting ,he will call you within 1/2 hour."
12/23/2005 11:13:01PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "would it be with you?"
12/23/2005 11:13:14PM Ryan Burton: "i won't b up then"
12/23/2005 11:13:14PM Ryan Burton: "i won't b up then"
12/23/2005 11:13:14PM Ryan Burton: "i won't b up then"
12/23/2005 11:13:34PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I am sorry I didn't get you."
12/23/2005 11:13:44PM Ryan Burton: "i'm going 2 bed"
12/23/2005 11:13:47PM Ryan Burton: "too late now"
12/23/2005 11:13:59PM Ryan Burton: "WE NEED 2 GET THIS RESOLVED NOW"
12/23/2005 11:14:19PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Would it be fine if we will call you tomorrow?"
12/23/2005 11:14:23PM Ryan Burton: "UR technical support is so poor it's less than 0"
12/23/2005 11:14:30PM Ryan Burton: "NO"
12/23/2005 11:14:39PM Ryan Burton: "WE NEED 2 GET THIS RESOLVED NOW"
12/23/2005 11:14:42PM Ryan Burton: "!"
12/23/2005 11:14:43PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "He will take only 10 minutes."
12/23/2005 11:15:21PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I am going to call him from meeting."
12/23/2005 11:15:25PM Ryan Burton: "so i can talk 2 somebody in 10 mins?"
12/23/2005 11:15:32PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "sure."
12/23/2005 11:15:42PM Ryan Burton: "i hope so"
12/23/2005 11:15:45PM Ryan Burton: "for ur sake"
12/23/2005 11:15:51PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Thank you."
12/23/2005 11:15:58PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Is there anything else with the system i can assist you with?"
12/23/2005 11:16:15PM Ryan Burton: "OMG"
12/23/2005 11:16:20PM Ryan Burton: "lmao"
12/23/2005 11:16:29PM Ryan Burton: "i will wait for 10 mins"
12/23/2005 11:16:33PM Ryan Burton: "starting now"
12/23/2005 11:16:38PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Sure."
12/23/2005 11:16:40PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Could you please stay online for two minutes while I generate a case number for today’s interaction?"
12/23/2005 11:19:08PM Ryan Burton: "that would b good"
12/23/2005 11:20:58PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Your case number is XXXXXX (I TOOK THIS OUT FOR SECURITY REASONS)"
12/23/2005 11:21:06PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I am going to my manager now."
12/23/2005 11:21:09PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Thank you."
12/23/2005 11:22:43PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Could you please confirm your telephone number?"
12/23/2005 11:24:12PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Are we connected ?"
12/23/2005 11:25:26PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "I have not received a response in over a minute. To ensure that we are connected, please respond within the next minute to allow me to continue our chat"
12/23/2005 11:26:56PM Ryan Burton: "XXXXXX (I TOOK THIS OUT FOR SECURITY REASONS)"
12/23/2005 11:27:19PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Thank you."
12/23/2005 11:27:47PM Ryan Burton: "ay"
12/23/2005 11:27:50PM Ryan Burton: "ya"
12/23/2005 11:28:52PM Agent (Monika_01110046): "Thank you for visiting Dell Hardware Warranty Support online chat and giving me the opportunity to assist you. Please feel free to visit us at http://support.dell.com or call 1-800-624-9896. You can contact us anytime 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."
12/23/2005 11:28:55PM Session Ended
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Believe it or not, the supervisor did actually call me back like 15 mins later and came up w/ the right ans. If want both sets of headphones and the speakers to all work at the same time u need buy a spliter and run it out of the souncard in the back first. Funny how Dell used 2 b #1 in tech support. Since then they've fired all the Americans and moved all the jobs to india. I didn't capitalize that because they're not worthy of it. They can't speak English w/o a heavy accent and in most cases they don't kno wtf they're talking about anyway. I would rate this experience as being about a 1.5 out of 10 w/ 10 being what it should b and 1.5 being what it is. I have 18 years experience w/ computers.

Ha, you have 18 years experience and you can't plug in headphones/mic???

You might also consider using actual english words and sentences if you want someone to be able to help you with your problem. If I were a support person who probably speaks English as a second language, I would probably have trouble understanding what you were trying to get across. (Granted, "Monika" sounds like she knows very little, but it might have helped.)

P.S. Considering how poor your English is, I don't think you have the authority to decapitalise "India".

I did tech support about 15 years ago for a company that manufactured a specialty card that consumers could drop into their PC and increase the resolution of their HP laserjet printers. It was a great product for the time. The story I'm about to tell you happened just before I was hired.

This event happened early in the launch of this project, and the company was very concerned about reputation of the product and working out bugs for future releases. One woman continued to have failures of the card and some really strange behavior with the computer while on the phone with our tech support. We sent several replacement cards, all of which died eventually.

We had to know why. What if this started happening when we were in full mass production? So, we flew a technician to her house.

When the tech opened her PC, the problem was immediately clear. She had taped multiple metal crucifixes to the motherboard. Apparently, she was convinced that her techical problems were from the devil, and this would ward off the evil.

The tech removed the crosses and the problem resoved.

But we have all been there.
I recall one time spending almost an hour trying to get a USB hard drive to work on one of my systems.

I gave up and asked a co-worker.
In about 15 seconds he said,
"You plugged it into the Wrong PC".
(I have 5 stacked on my desk.)

All I could do was chuckle.

But this was not a "Dell" issue.
Your PC was operational.
You bought 3rd party hardware and you should have contacted that hardware vendor on how to connect it to a standard system.

Trust me, there is nothing proprietary about the Dell System.

Every PC has a MIC port and a Speaker port.
Your combined unit should have stated how to do that or better yet split the connectors so you did not need to buy more parts to do it.

No offense, but even I'm confused what you were trying to say. I think you were plugging a mic/headset combo and you were only plugging in the mic. Then, of course, you would need a spiltter...I still might be getting it wrong.

Even if it wasn't Dell's product, they should've helped.

~Ibrahim~

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