View and vote on the article here: Ravn's Rants and Ravings - Tech Support
Ravn's Rants and Ravings - Tech Support| Category | | | Summary | | I'm going to say two words: Tech Support. Sent a shiver down your spine, didn't it? If you were smart, you probably ran for cover, too. Whether you're the one giving the support, or the one receiving it, nothing could possibly be worse than Tech Support. |
| | Body | I'm going to say two words: Tech Support. Sent a shiver down your spine, didn't it? If you were smart, you probably ran for cover, too. Whether you're the one giving the support, or the one receiving it, nothing could possibly be worse than Tech Support. Why is this relatively minor thing (in the grand scheme of things) such a nightmare for everybody?
Well, first off, family and friends are the bane of the computer geek's existence. Yea, OK, so friends are probably less of a problem for you (if you have them), but your family probably has them, and that is just as bad. You see, to most of the people in the world, the computer is this magical device that is beyond comprehension. So, what happens when it breaks? Do they hire a professional to fix it? Of course not. They've got a relative (or they have a friend with a relative) who is a computer geek, who (of course) will fix it for free (that's us, folks!). They call us up and try to trick us into coming over (often with promises of free food), and then once we've arrived, they spring their woes on us, and we have no choice but to attempt to fix whatever it is they've broken. Now, I'll admit, that doesn't seem so bad, does it? I mean, occasionally fixing a computer is no big deal, right?
The thing is, when you fix their computer they expect it to stay fixed. Now, I know that I always install AV stuff, and anti-spy/adware stuff, and I give a stern lecture on how to prevent whatever it was they did to cause the problem. But they do not listen. They just go right ahead and break it again, frequently before you even make it home. This means you get called back to fix it again. Annoying, but ok, fine. It gets worse though! They blame YOU. That's right - YOU didn't fix it before. If you had, it wouldn't be broken again, would it? And then it all goes downhill. You see, you've just become that person's personal tech support for life. It doesn't matter where you go or what you do, they will ALWAYS call you with their computer problems, even while they're at work and have an on-staff tech! You people need to understand:
While we may enjoy working with computers, doing tech support absolutely sucks and we hate it. It is not fun for us to come fix your computer, no matter how much you might think it is, so give us a break already.
Then there are the electronics. Non-geeks seem to think that all electronic devices are the same, and that expertise with one constitutes expertise with all of them. What does this mean? If you fixed their computer, you can also expect to be called for help with their TV (home theater in general), car, microwave, CD player, and anything else that uses electricity. Folks, I don't know how to tell you this, but you need to knock it off! Yes, I know the intricacies of computers, but I DO NOT know how to fix your microwave. Stop being such a cheapskate and pay to take it to a freaking professional. We'll all be a lot happier. Though of course, paid professionals are not the end-all be-all either...
Sooner or later, even the geekiest of geeks has to call in help. There's no shame in it. It happens to us all. No big deal, right? I mean, there are professionals out there who will talk you through whatever the problem is you're having. They're paid to do that! Sadly, it isn't so simple. Companies these days are all about cutting costs wherever they can, and tech support seems to be one of the biggest areas for this. What does it mean? Well, it means that "Bob" on the phone there is NOT some guy sitting in the company office in Alabama. "Bob" is actually across the ocean somewhere (probably in India), being subcontracted/outsourced to for support. If you're lucky, maybe he'll speak English, but I wouldn't count on it. Even if he does, in all likelihood his accent will be incomprehensible. But heck, let's assume that you CAN understand him. (Congratulations, you are one very lucky person!) The problem is that he still doesn't actually work for the company whose product you're having problems with. In all likelihood, he has never USED the product and knows nothing about it.
You see, call centers these days are just scripted. The person on the phone has a little script he reads, and your answers tell him what to say back to you. In theory this would work fine, but it assumes that your problem is well-known and documented. If you knock your support guy out of his script, you'll quickly find him completely useless and unable to help you. Why do companies have to short-change us all by hiring tech support staff that are incapable of actually providing support?! I think it is pretty obvious that a person should have at least USED something before trying to provide support for it. I mean, seriously people: it's not THAT much more expensive to hire someone qualified. Heck, chances are we'd even pay more for the product to make up for it. Just give us tech support we can actually USE.
Of course, this leads us back to people calling their local geek and causing us nightmares. It is a vicious cycle, and one that needs to be broken, for all of our sakes. But how? Simple: Companies need to get off their butts and do things right. How do we make them? Stop using products and services from companies that outsource their tech support, and TELL THEM THAT'S WHY. Take your business to the people who pay for good support. And geeks, you need to start standing up to your family/friends. Tell them that enough is enough. Don't stop giving them support - they need it - but make it clear that any support you give will be done on YOUR schedule, not theirs, and make sure they understand that if their toaster breaks, they need to take it up with the manufacturer, not you. If we all do this, in time we will be freed from our nightmarish tech-support lives. |
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This article was imported from zZine. (original author: ravn)
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