As most of you know I work for a major telecommunications corporation doing tech support. Advanced tech support I might add. What does this mean you ask. Good question. It means I am not the first level of support, it means if you get to my level you have been through the first level several times. It means I don’t read from a script, it means I can run advanced line tests and even see into your equipment. It means I can read those tests as well. I am going to give you a few tips for what to do and what not to do when you reach my level of support. Just to lessen your frustration and for you not to cause me to have frustration towards you.
First of all I have to ask for a good callback number, that is required by my company, period, I seriously don’t need snarky remarks like “it’s the number I’m calling from” or my favorite, “the one on my account”. I don’t have caller ID as your call comes through a switch and the numbers on your account are not always correct. You forget humans input the information and a typo is quite possible. I have no limitations on calling you back the way the lower levels do, so, please, for the sake of expediency, give me the number.
Secondly don’t go on a tangent, I don’t honestly care what everyone else has done. I am highly trained and have been doing my job for a long time, so the whining and the simpering and the fits are not going to work with me. when I ask a question I need an answer, playing coy is not going to get the job done. When I ask you what color a certain light is on your router the answer is not oh there’s one blinking and three solid. I asked for a specific one! Why are you not listening? I know the writing is small, if you need to get glasses or get closer to it I’ll wait.
Do not, ever, scream obscenities at me, there is a clause in the terms and services you agreed to when you obtained the service that says if you abuse an employee of the company providing your service then said service can be disconnected. EVERY call that comes to our office is recorded, so every word you say to me is provable. If you do something of this nature I will turn you into a specific group we have in the company that handles your type of situation.
I want to handle your issue as efficiently as possible, every question I ask is geared toward that. They are not random, they are not from a script, they are honed from years of experience and training.
If your television won’t turn on, it is not the problem of your television service provider. If your computer won’t turn on, it is not the fault of your internet service provider. You would not call your electric company if your refrigerator stopped working, don’t call us when your equipment doesn’t work. It’s a waste of time and energy.
Another thing, if you don’t have electricity, your internet is not going to work, having wifi does not mean it doesn’t need a router to generate the signal.
I seriously had a customer call in and tell me she had been in a hurricane and the whole area didn’t have power. She wanted to know why her wifi signal wasn’t working. At first I thought it was a joke and looked around for the hidden cameras. Nope, she was serious.
I would ask that you educate yourself on how things work, something as simple as having power to your equipment.
The best customer I ever had was an eighty year old woman, she was having some email issues and I was walking her through a few things. She was just zipping along, following directions and getting things done.
I commented on how she was better at what she was doing than some forty year-olds I spoke to. She told me she realized her grandchildren were acquiring more knowledge than she had.
So she signed up for a computer class at the senior center, she didn’t want those whippersnappers (her word) to know more than she did.
I want to be her when I grow up.
So, next time you have to call in for technical support, be nice, answer all questions, above all use your eyes and look for what we are asking you to look for. Everything we ask is important. We want to help you, it’s our job to help you, we are human beings at the end of the day.
Highly trained, highly intelligent and good at our jobs, human beings.
As usual if there are any questions or comments please feel free to post them. If they are derogatory in any way, shape or form, they will not be posted. After all, this is Angie World and I am the empress.
Angie World 