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Ask Slashdot: Dealing With Service Providers When You're an IT Pro?
New submitter username440 writes: So, a lot of us will have been here: You have a problem with your ISP, cable TV, cellphone whatever technology and you need to call the provider. Ugh. Foreign call centers, inane fault-finding flowcharts (yes, I have turned it off and on again) and all the other cruft that you have to wade through to get to someone with the knowledge to determine that YOU in fact also have a degree of knowledge and have a real problem.
Recently I had a problem with my ISP, where the ISP-provided "modem" — it's a router — would lock up at least 3 times per day. I had router logs, many hundreds of Google results for that model and release of hardware showing this as a common problem, and simply wanted the ISP to provide a new router (it's a managed device). I replaced the router with a spare Airport Extreme and the problems disappeared, to be replaced with a warning from the ISP that they could't access my managed device" and the connection is provided contingent to using THIER router. However my point was to prove that their router is at fault.
How do you fare when trying to get through to a service provider that they actually DO know something in the field? How do you cut through the frontline support bull*hit and talk to someone who knows what they are doing? Should there be a codeword for this scenario?
Recently I had a problem with my ISP, where the ISP-provided "modem" — it's a router — would lock up at least 3 times per day. I had router logs, many hundreds of Google results for that model and release of hardware showing this as a common problem, and simply wanted the ISP to provide a new router (it's a managed device). I replaced the router with a spare Airport Extreme and the problems disappeared, to be replaced with a warning from the ISP that they could't access my managed device" and the connection is provided contingent to using THIER router. However my point was to prove that their router is at fault.
How do you fare when trying to get through to a service provider that they actually DO know something in the field? How do you cut through the frontline support bull*hit and talk to someone who knows what they are doing? Should there be a codeword for this scenario?
Just stay on the phone and complain until the problem is solved to your satisfaction, no matter how long it takes.
I have (at least) one major problems with you (good) advise: i can not "complain" without feeling bad for myself (i could never do it), plus, for us Greeks "complain" means that you must "escalate" to some "barbaric phrases" (otherwise it is not a real "complain" and you get ignored!) that makes me feel even worse...
I have a friend that she works in an ISP call center and she tells me how bad she feels, not only because she has to deal with assholes like me, but also because, while she undertands how frustrated the clients feel and really wants to help them, usually they are more even more ignorant than she is.
Very recently i had almost the same problem the post describes. I called my ISP (good thing is that, because of our rare Greek language, we don't have to deal with some call center in India!), a girl tried to "read from the script", i stopped her and i said: "girl, your voice is so beautiful, i am in love with you, let's get together... i know that you have to wait some time before you connect me to a real male technician, so lets talk about us while we wait time to pass" (and other stupid things like that). The problem is that this thing may me o.k. between Greeks but i doubt it will be o.k. in many other countries.
Anyway, i think that you may cut "the script" if you try to be direct (but be sure you know better than the girl "reading the script" - she really try to help, and she is a human).
Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!