20 Tips on calling tech support

[tiredtech]

With the holidays here and all, I am sure you will be getting some new technical gadget and end up calling tech support. You and hundreds more so be prepaired to wait a little. I work for an unnamed company and would like to post a little tech support how to.
1. Have you product model numbers ready to give the support tech.
2. Have the products turned on and batteries in if neccessary.
3. Know the basic functions of the product and read the owners manual!!! I know there not always the best but the basics can be found there will make solving you problem a whole lot easier. We are tech/customer support and are here to solve problems you encountered after you have gone through the basic set and are now having problems. We are not your private advice line here to explain every feature and function of your product.
4. The internet can be your friend but remember any one can post anything and say anything.....
5. When the support tech answers please dispense with all the `Everything Works Great`or ` I just bought this from X-Store for my brothers 54th Birthday.` Or I am an engineer electronic expert, your not an expert in the product your calling about so it makes no difference.. Or the best: I own all of your products and I can't believe this is having a problem. Tech support does not care and it will not make you service any better.... Cut the small talk and we don't care where your calling from, it does not help get you problem solved faster.
6. Tech support needs to have the model number of the product or products your having problems with before they hear the problem.
7. Don't just say it does not work.... Or another plain vanilla statement, were not in your house with you. We need to know the issue so we can fix it!
8. My favorite: I don't know anything and am really bad at doing these things, they never work for me... HIRE SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR YOU. You cannot
expect a person on the phone to do that much if you don't have a clue on what to do... We can't see what your doing and don't work miracles...
9. If you really followed all the directions in the manual, 99% of the time it will work so don't say you did...
10. When the support person gives you steps to follow, FOLLOW THEM!!!! Don't do what you think they are saying, follow instructions. If there going to fast, tell them to slow down. I can't count the times I have walked people through setting something up verbatim from the owners manual and it works... Many times I have supported products I had no clue about just from the manual.
11. You have to realize how hard it is to support someone over the phone..............
12. If you product is well out of the warranty time frame, just ask what they can do and be done with it... You can always ask for a supervisor Threats do no good and end up wasting the techs time and causing others to wait!!! Business is business and you can't expect a company to do things that are just unreasonable...
13. Electronics are Electronics and they do break. Not everything is perfect and you will sometimes have problems. Just like anything else in life deal with it.
14. If you bought a cheap entry level product, don't expect it to preform like a top of the line product!!!! If you have for example a 5000.00 dollar product
don't match it with something that is 300.00, you will not be happy.
15. Everyone BS's customer support its a fact and we all do but don't call us after you dropped or damaged the product claiming it came like that. We are not stupid (Well most of us are not.) and we can tell if your running game on us.
16. If you buy a demo or open box item don't expect us to be responsible for the contents or the condition, your the one that took the chance to save some money. We didn't force you too.
17. 'Well the salesman said' We are not the salesman and no company can control what every sales person does, it is impossible. Complain to the store manager not us!
18. Research your products! Check the manufacturer web site, Warranty policy and you can even call there support line to test them out. It is your money spend it carefully!!!!
19. Just because company 'A' does it does not mean that company 'B' & 'C' will do it.
20. Remember that the Electronics/Computer industry makes leaps and bounds, what was new today is old tomrrow, don't blame customer service for it.
Hope this helps and have a great holiday!

 

[AverageJoe]

Lot's of good points there. However, I'd like to offer a few tips of my own on answering that tech support call:

1. Speak english. If you're in an out-sourced call center, and you have an accent, be a little patient. You are going to be asked to repeat your questions once in a while, and getting rude (or worst case - hanging up and making us call back and get back in the "your call will be answered in the order it was received" limbo) won't help me understand you.

2. Try not to immediately assume that if the component I'm calling about is connected to another device, the problem MUST be in the other manufacturers unit. I already spent two hours with their tech support, and they said theirs was working fine.

3. Get together with the field staff once in a while. Invariably they tell me, "Oh, no. They shouldn't have told you that" or "That has nothing to do with it" or "They're just reading out of a manual, they don't know what they're talking about", etc. For the average Joe (yeah, me.), our confidence in your product support is shaken a bit when you can't agree on your stories.

There are a few more, but I'll get off my soapbox.

 

[Tomorrow]

This all assumes that you actually GET TO TALK TO ANOTHER HUMAN. That frequently is so not the case for the first 1/2 hour of your plea for customer service/tech support. "Listen carefully, as our menu has changed...." Etc!!

So, with that in mind, here is a link to help each and every one of you get to a real human and bypass the computer links to many companies. Very cool research, IMHO. Check it out.

http://www.paulenglish.com/ivr/

 

[aspaceintime]

Very nice. Thanks for the info-it's been bookmarked!

 

[BMXTRIX]

In the last month I have had to call tech support on two products.

EXAMPLE 1:
Zenith Electronics in regard to their 42" plasma.
My problem: Their instruction manual doesn't talk about how to wall mount the unit. They say 'The plasma can be wall mounted' and shows an image, but that's it. I have a $5,000 plasma lift it is going into, and no information.

More specifically, most plasmas use 4 large (1/4"?) bolts on the back. I believe many follow VESA standards. The Zenith appears to have a location for SIX much smaller bolts along the back. This is non-industry standard, so I have no clue whether to use these holes or not, and what size bolts I would need to fit them properly.

TECH SUPPORT: We can't advise you on hanging the plasma.
ME: I don't want advice, I want to know what holes I am supposed to use with my mount and what size bolts I need.
TECH SUPPORT: We don't have that information, follow the instructions with the mount.
ME: It's a universal mount and came with four large bolts... that don't fit anywhere on your plasma. So, which holes do I use and what bolts do I need?
TECH SUPPORT: We don't have that information and can't direct you in wall mounting your plasma.
ME: It's NOT my design, it's your design - otherwise I would have designed it using VESA standards, not something I made up. WHO has this information for me so I can hang this plasma?
TECH SUPPORT: We don't have that infor....

Yes, that was a very poor call and typical of MANY electronics phone calls I make. Basic information, that should have been in the owners manual for the plasma and the guy at tech support didn't have an answer and didn't care to get one. Nice.

MORE RECENT:
I had to wireless routers (Belkin Pre-N) and needed one setup as a wireless access point/switch. The router had a setup feature that said 'MAKE ACCESS POINT' only it didn't work.
Called tech support and got cut off twice (my bad cel phone).
Third call, they had a reference to my case and pulled up the info. In about 2 minutes the guy knew what I wanted to do, then walked me through every step on my XP machine and tested all connectivity between both routers. What I wanted to do was definitely NOT in the instruction manual (no idea why) and I have no clue what the button "make wireless access point" actually does since I couldn't access the router wrelessly when I clicked that button. Took about 20 minutes, but my problem got totally resolved and it wasn't a simple "What size screws do I need?" question.

 

[Alt+F4]

I got some for customer service/tech support in general:

1. BE PATIENT
If you're calling multiple times on an issue, you're going to get a different rep 98% of the time. It's a fact of life. We're jumping head first going off of any half assed notes that the previous person left, and your "customer" story. The "customer" story up front is usually a summation of what you believe the issue is, but leaving out very important details (for us) to understand what's going on.

2. Talking to a supervisor every time you call dosen't always resolve your issue. Stop doing this if you do, please! Understandably it'll be necessary when someone's made a mistake on your account, but not getting what you want (credit, earlier install time, etc.) remember this: tis the season... so everyone is doing their best and stuff is booked solid

3. If you use foul language or are personally attacking to the rep on the line, expect to get hung up on (see #1). Again, you as a person wouldn't like it if we answered the phone "What do you want FXXXER!!!" In addition, such offenses toward customer service reps are actually against FCC policies, so if you are really bad you might be reported and have some nice men in suits (and not red ones) come to your door. Seriously.

4. See #1 again, it's the busiest time of the year, period.

5. If it comes to a service you are getting, remember that at that moment in time that person can be your friend or your God. Check your attitude at the door. We are truly here to help, but as far as cell phones, cable, satellite, and other subscriber services it takes litterally 10 seconds to turn off your service (and thy God shall smite thee!! lol), so again, see #1 and be friendly. Now compare that 10 seconds to how long you waited on hold, and you can see how an offended rep might not care. If the other person is not being friendly, ask them about it. Don't take them not giving you what you want (and I mean want, not deserve) as being uncaring or not providing "good customer service".

6. Customer service is NOT customer SERVITUDE.

7. The customer is not always right. Sorry, but that's just how it is. If you're calling in for help, when the rep gives you their answer based off of the information they have don't tell them they're wrong. You're assumingly calling in because you don't know the answer.

8. Pay attention. Nothing pisses people (anyone) off more than when you're talking to them they're ignoring you. If you're calling in, make that the only thing you're doing at that time. Don't watch tv and make the person on the phone repeat everything to you 5 times. If you're just not getting it, that's one thing, but if you're goofing around, stop!

9. If you're paying for a subscriber service, it's a business not a charity. You will be shut off for not paying your bill. All billing systems now are all automated, so the computer dosen't care if you've been a customer for 8 months or 8 years. If you're past due you're past due. Pay your bill if you want uninterrupted service.

10. See #1 and spread the joy!

 

[AverageJoe]

I got some for customer service/tech support in general:

1. BE PATIENT
If you're calling multiple times on an issue, you're going to get a different rep 98% of the time. It's a fact of life. We're jumping head first going off of any half assed notes that the previous person left, and your "customer" story....

...5. If it comes to a service you are getting, remember that at that moment in time that person can be your friend or your God. Check your attitude at the door. We are truly here to help, but as far as cell phones, cable, satellite, and other subscriber services it takes litterally 10 seconds to turn off your service (and thy God shall smite thee!! lol), so again, see #1 and be friendly....

Lest I seem too harsh in my first post... :

Customer Service Reps in large call centers have a tough job. I wouldn't want to do what they do day after day. It doesn't pay well, and they usually deal with people at their worst. Customers do not treat Field tech's that they see face-to-face with the same acrimony that they unleash over the phone.

Call centers (at least in my experience) have a very high employee turn-over rate. This means there is a fair chance we'll get a rookie with varied degrees of training when we finally connect with a human voice. The comment in point #1 above regarding "any half assed notes that the previous person left" will also depend on the level of training and experience they had. That may add to the next CSR's frustration, but don't blame the caller if the notes are useless.

The point #5 above is interesting. 10 seconds to turn off an angry subscribers service? One of the reasons the turn-over at call centers is high is that some people would take the verbal abuse personally, and were more interested in retaliation than resolution (which only created another call). If that's the case, you're in the wrong line of work.

 

[mustang_steve]

For BMXtrix's bit about the plasma, I would have started out a bit different:

Always state the entire issue first.

"Hello, I have your plasma display, model foobar. When it came time to mount it to a VESA standard mounting device, I noticed that instead of having a VESA compliant mounting scheme, it was obviously diesigned for something else. This mount has six holes and uses smaller bolts. I looked at the manual and it doesn't show what parts are needed or how this mount system is to be used. So is there some special bracket or instructions?"

if they said they did not have this information, I would immediately ask for either an escalation or a manager. Once it hits the manager, I would state my displeasure at the lack of information to reach an answer, and restate my dilemma. I would be merely looking for an asnwer, not pissed off or anything.

I fully agree patience is paramount when dealing with support. There are too many screen-readers out there, and there are also sometimes WAY too many products for any one person to keep track of, or you may just have gotten hold of a "newbie" support agent. Pretty much, near every problem with a product has an answer, and that answer can be obtained somehow. However, I would rather be put on hold than hear an "I don't know" or "I have no information on that"....to me being told either of those amounts to "I don't care to answer this".

I've done my share with helping field support guys over the phone back in the day, and it's often not hard to find a solution....the key is knowing the product. This was part of why I am against "screen jockies"...yes it may be cheap to get some high school dropout with a charming phone voice and drop him in front of a headset and a computer, but it's not a good value for a support dept. The best value is a person with a good commuincation skills who actually can take some time to learn the products, and is a specialist of sorts in their product line. VCR guys for VCRs, etc. Yes it might make hold times on some products longer, but it will also increase customer satisfaction, which is FAR more important, since that is a good way to increase repeat business.

 

[mike c]

since we have some CSR's here ... share your funny caller situations!
my gf used to be one at a card company, boy ... were those stories funny!

 

[Alt+F4]

I work for a cable company as internet tech support (Tier 2). If the cable light on your modem is blinking or off, it means there's no sync to your modem thus no internet. I ask this guy what the cable light is doing on his modem. He says:

It's off
no, it's on
it's off
it's on
it's off again
it's on


.....um, yes sir, that's refered to as blinking. I got a billion of 'em but they just make my head hurt thinking about them.

Oh yeah,

The point #5 above is interesting. 10 seconds to turn off an angry subscribers service? One of the reasons the turn-over at call centers is high is that some people would take the verbal abuse personally, and were more interested in retaliation than resolution (which only created another call). If that's the case, you're in the wrong line of work.

Customer service reps are interested in resolution, and 1 call resolution at that. But if you act like a jerk, have the nerve to interrupt people when they're trying to answer questions you asked, yell and scream at them, or even further have the nerve to call a female rep the "C" word or a b!tch, or call a male rep with an accent the "N" bomb, you (by some company's policies) don't deserve to be helped over the phone. People with a pattern of rep abuse will actually be suspended from calling customer service, and any inquiries or concerns they have need to be submitted by mail or e-mail. Seriously. Further abuse is legal correspondence only (this is usually only with repeated threats of legal action and/or physical threats, etc.) where you can only talk through your lawyer. So the request goes from you to your lawyer, to the company's lawyer, to an offline rep, back to the company's lawyers, then to your lawyer, then back to you. Further action, since it is a business, is they can just flat out refuse you service and terminate any and all services you may have with them. That's why it's important to remain professional on the phone. Don't use language that you wouldn't use toward your mother is a pretty good rule of thumb.

It's not about taking the abuse personally, it's about not being abused as a person. No customer should be abusing reps plain and simple.

 

[AverageJoe]

Hey Alt, I understand completely and actually am in pretty fair agreement with your posts. I was just a bit amused by your "God shall smite thee" comment - It sounded like a not so subtle reminder that if we don't play nice, you have the power to take the toys away ... In 10 seconds.

I was sitting in with a CSR at our call center ('bout 80 miles from where I work. In fact - Alt, do you happen to work in Vancouver?), and she was getting an earfull from a customer that happened to live in my area. She was doing fine, but after a while I got pretty fed up and I asked her if I could talk to him. I asked if he knew the Plant Manager of the cable system, and he said yes (our brief history: He was building a house and wanted service, but was quite a ways from our facilities. I agreed to provide conduit when his trench was ready, and all the materials and labor for the install. We also gave him temporary service to his trailer during his construction, but said the picture quality on higher channels would be marginal due to the distance. The higher channels were what he was complaining about on this call - in fact, he was quoting FCC regs that stated the minimal signal requirement to his set).

I reminded him about our agreement, but that he was absolutely right about the signal specs. I said we would be out in the morning to remove the temporary service. Also, there was no FCC requirement to provice conduit or to even provide service at that distance from our plant at no charge, so we would not be doing that, either. We hung up.

I would not make a good CSR or TSR. I'm afraid I would be way to eager to "smite".

 

[philh]

Be prepared to waste hours reading the site

http://rinkworks.com/stupid/

 

[Mr. Lamb Fries]

The title of the first post should be "five tips on calling tech support and fifteen gripes on people who call for support." If you dont like your job...QUIT! You are in the service industry (as am I), and your paid to put up with people of all intelligences.
Suck it up and relax...or move on.
Dont make people feel inferior about calling the "all mighty POO BAH of tech support"

The five VALID tips were read and noted. Thank you for making YOUR job easier.
I know, I know...if you waste our time we cant service other people properly and/or waste their time!!! BLAH...BLAH...BLAH. If you hate your job, QUIT! Like I said...The five VALID tips were read and noted! MOVE ON!!

(boy, did I wake up on the wrong side of the subwoofer)

 

[tiredtech]

I figured that this statement would come up and your correct there are some rants but if you really think about it there valid. We are paid to deal with all levels of intelligence and I have never claimed to be the "All mighty POO BAH of tech support". Yes if people did that my job would be easier but it works both ways... I wrote this post because over the last 6 years if doing this type of work it has gotten progressively worse. So if a few people gain from it then us guys in the service industry will be able to do what were supposed to do: Solve peoples problems and make our product experience a good one. I do not believe in making people feel inferior and do not hate my job, if I did this post would have been really negative! If I am at a resturant I expect good service and should get it but I don't expect the waiter to explain how to use a fork and knife or how do drink from a wine glass. You should already know that.... That is not his job and the Service industry is turning that direction.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

What I don't understand is why do people both sides of the fence get so cranked up over a/v tech. I can see if its business related and your not making money but more patients is requiered on both sides if its recreational.

I have worked as inside sales / tech support for both an aftermarket dragrace chassis manufacturer and currently an industrial hydraulic seal and gasket distributor. When a piece of equipment is down at a factory and it is costing tens of thousands of dollars a shift I have to jump thru hoops and be nice no matter what because if I can't help the person on the other side of the phone not only might (s)he not buy from us again but (s)he could get fired over it. I don't like the idea of someone going home and telling their family that they don't have a job any more. In big business today it happens alot and it doesn't even have to be their fault. Someone needs to be blamed to cover someone elses butt.

Now as far as racecars go if a racer needs your help and you don't get it right he might not get to the points race or lose first round and you know what happens then...bad news travels faster then the speed of light in the racing world and people are fickle. You can lose alot of sales over bad tech service. People wont put up with it. They have ungodly amounts of dollars wrapped up in race equipment and have sponsers to take care of. Even the weekend worriors at the local track have tens of thousands of dollars in their setup and run for points...

Anyway car guys are nuts and factory managers are under alot of pressure...

And boy do I have stories!!!

SBF1

 

[Mr. Lamb Fries]

I figured that this statement would come up and your correct there are some rants but if you really think about it there valid. We are paid to deal with all levels of intelligence and I have never claimed to be the "All mighty POO BAH of tech support". Yes if people did that my job would be easier but it works both ways... I wrote this post because over the last 6 years if doing this type of work it has gotten progressively worse. So if a few people gain from it then us guys in the service industry will be able to do what were supposed to do: Solve peoples problems and make our product experience a good one. I do not believe in making people feel inferior and do not hate my job, if I did this post would have been really negative! If I am at a resturant I expect good service and should get it but I don't expect the waiter to explain how to use a fork and knife or how do drink from a wine glass. You should already know that.... That is not his job and the Service industry is turning that direction.

I understand your frustration...But besides the few good tips (ones I considered common sence), I got the impression your attempt to educate the fine people who reguarlly brows this forum, turned into a frustrated worker trying to make a point. POINT TAKEN...JUST DONT KILL IT!

It is obserd to compare dealing with electronics (or whatever industry your in) to someone using a knife and a fork. Were you born with the knowledge and understanding on how to use such complex utensils? Even as a kid you were walked through using utensils and drinking from wine glasses (I was tought young!) It took time. New experiences can be difficult for anyone...EVER BEEN TO ASIA or "Chinese Food" (asian restaurant in every city)??? the first time using chopstick is quite amusing! Some need to be shown how. That is where you wonderful people come in!

The service department is there,amongst other things, to walk an inexperienced person through something he/she is not familiar with. Some people dont know how to trouble shoot, and the manuals are usually confusing. Expecting people to know how to call a service teck and and handle themselves appropriately is just a wet dream. Like i said there are some good points, but you lost me when it turned into a rant and in one of your statements said "deal with it". AND it doesnt work both ways...Who pays the customer for knowing how to call the tech support??? It would be helpful to work both ways but the reality is, your side is the only side that should be expected to work professional and hassle free. The customer calling and being professional is a luxury that is not presumed...just a bonus! So...Quit acting like the POO!!!

I just got my Mother a laptop for x-mas and i can see her calling the service department 10 times a day (if I am not available). It cost me $170 for a two year service agreement and she WILL get her moneys worth. Not that over using the service department is the goal but I expect it to be the outcome. I understand that Teck support is there as a last resort . It chapped my AZZ to think she would be talking to someone who might rather belittle and condesend, than to PATIENTLY fix the problem...even if it is for the 78th time!

I undersand there are a few steps that should be taken prior to calling the service department, as I noted earlier.THOSE were good and valid points and should be stated (product sensitive) in the manual by the tech suport service number!!! But the attitude from there is uncalled for. I also understand people would rather speak to somone rather than reading the manual. It is just lazyness that leads these people to you...and for that, your rant is just. but beyond that you have to take it for what its worth...With technology advancing at this pace, people are being left in the dust. For some, YOU are the first contact they have in trying to solve a problem that may seem common sence to most, but all greek to them.

Bottom line is you have to field ALL kinds of questions...from how do I plug it in? to... my friends daughter just hit the language setting on my phone to arabic (that happened to me once), how do I get it back to English? Just be patient or move on with your life. Thats why you get the big bucks! Attitudes will just lose brand loyalty!

 

[tiredtech]

You make some good points, I am moving on now. LOL
Have a good holiday.

 

[Mr. Lamb Fries]

tech support is needed and much appreciated!

Good debate...happy holidays

Now, a tread entitled "Service call, or Tech Support nightmares" would be hillarious!

 

[BMXTRIX]

For BMXtrix's bit about the plasma, I would have started out a bit different:

Always state the entire issue first.

For expedience in the post I shortened it. I do treat them nicely and did state the entire situation I was in (w/model #, etc.)

I don't think tech support has gotten worse, I think OEMs have gotten worse. New technology that simply doesn't work and tech support can't fix it at all! Not because they don't want to, but because they really can't.

Poor engineering + good tech support = unhappy customers
Good engineering + poor tech support = unhappy customers
Dumb people + failure to die = unhappy tech support

I have had questions that often are answered in just a few second by tech support with "I'm sorry, I have been asked that before and it turns out that the feature we advertise to you, doesn't actually work and the company has no intention of making it work ever." As a rule, I tend to not do business with that company again and is the reason I don't like Marantz, Integra, and Sharp products.

 

[tiredtech]

Here is a nightmare call to my cable provider. I live in an apartment were the cable comes in from a telephone pole. Well the cable was yanked from the box on the apartment (Garbage truck we think.) hanging accross the street. So phone in one hand and cable in the other I call tech support and explained what was going on. The lady very nicely said: Please put your TV set to channel 14 to see if you are getting a signal..... Even though I am telling her it is hanging from the pole... I gave up and lied saying it was on that channel and was scheduled for a service call the next day. I asked what I should do with the cable hanging in the street and that wasn't it a hazard. She responded back with the guy coming tomorrow will fix it. Needless to say a call to the fire department had the cable trucks out in two hours and it was fixed. Oh I still got the serivce call the next day and we both had a laugh about the whole deal.