Comic Relief.

I know it's been a little serious around here lately and since I've spent the last few days studying for my Cisco Certified Network Associate certification so I can exit my current job and enter one that doesn't require Xanax, I thought a little comic relief would be in order.

Tech Support - watch more funny videos

Unbelievable iPhone 4 tech support call recorded!! - watch more funny videos

Tech Support on the Frontierville.

I would like to take a bit of time to answer a question Tech Support agents get asked a lot, the question comes up often for I.T. staff working in a PC world with customers who may have a Linksys router, an HP printer, a Dell notebook with Microsoft Windows 7 on it..  The question is "Why can't you help me with X issue if fixing X issue will get my product working?"

The short answer is liability.  If you can't get your HP printer working wirelessly because you don't know the encryption type and password, you've probably heard HP tech support tell you to call Linksys.  This response may piss you off and make you feel like HP tech support sucks.  And HP tech support DOES suck, believe me. But the fact of that matter is that even if you got lucky enough to get an agent like myself, with years of experience in the Information Technology field, you're still going to be out of luck because we aren't allowed to help even if we can in these instances.  The company just won't let us for liability reasons.

I actually had a co-worker, who was very knowledgeable, break this rule from time to time, and would go in and change router settings to get the product working, but it eventually came back to bite him on the ass when an astonishingly stupid customer called back because he had changed settings my co-worker had NOT told him to change and his router ceased functioning all together.  It is people like this that have caused the whole liability issue to come up and it is why these companies don't allow their Tech Support agents to go outside of their boundaries to fix these issues.

A select few of my co-workers have years of experience in the field and can fix just about any hardware, networking, or software issue, the problem is we're just not allowed to do it.  If the heart of the issue lies with Microsoft's O.S., then you have to call Microsoft.  If it lies with your Linksys router, then you have to call Linksys.  That's just the way the world works if you are part of that segment of the population that relies on Tech Support to solve all your problems.

What we will and won't do for you, depends on you!

We as Tech Support agents, no matter the tier, do have some leeway to help.  I can guarantee that if you call in pissed off, cursing, and generally being an ass, you will get the minimum amount of help we are required to give you.  After all, why should we run up our call times to deal with a customer who is an ass?  Most companies require Tech Support agents to do very little, it is then up to that agent to decide how much more help can be given within their boundaries.  Think about that the next time you are looking to take out your general hatred of life on someone who is just trying to make a living.

I don't know what Best Buy policy is, but regardless, any experienced tech would have released the call when the customer chose to continue using expletives and personally attacking the agent. By the way, the Agent gave the customer the correct answer for this issue. He, however, spent way too long giving the customer way too much time to continue being abusive.

Frontierville

Tip of the day

I have been playing Frontierville off and on now for a little while, and the weeds issue is really starting to bug me.  Apparently the only way to get rid of them and keep them from coming back is to basically fill up every empty square on the map with something.  Some use crops, some use decorations.  It's really annoying.  What's even worse is that the tips and tricks I have seen for the game are all pretty much common sense, and don't need to be posted about.  If you've got a site that has some REAL tips and tricks for Frontierville, let's hear about them as I'm sure we would all be interested to check them out. 

Astonishingly Stupid

I am always amazed at how technologically impaired people still are in this day and age, and yet, every day I am reminded of this one single fact: Some people are astonishingly stupid.  Take this recent call I had for instance...

This client calls in to complain that his printer isn't working wirelessly as he was told it would. I verified with him the model of the product, and yes it was actually a product capable of being wireless on the network.

Customer: "So, I'm really frustrated right now because I was told this printer is wireless!"

Me: "Well sir, based on the information you gave me, this is true, it is wireless."

Customer: "Uhh, no it's not. It's not printing. I try to print and it does nothing."

Me: "I'm sorry about that sir, but I am sure we can get that fixed for you.  Is the wireless indicator lit on the printer?"

Customer: "No.  Where is that located?"

Me: "It would be on the top of the printer, next to the status indicator."

Customer: "Ok hang on a second, let me pull the printer out of the box so I can see it better."

At this point I'm a little confused, but I roll with it and let him remove it from the box. I've had people put their printers in closets and cabinets before, so why not a box?

Customer: "Ok, No there are no lights on it at all, and I just tried printing again and it's not doing anything."

Me: "Sir, is the printer plugged in and powered on?"

Customer: "What do you mean plugged in? It's supposed to be wireless."

At this point I put the customer on a brief hold so that I can have a good laugh with my co-workers.  When that's done. I take the customer off hold and thank him for waiting.

Me: "Alright sir, let's go ahead and plug the a/c cord into the printer and an a/c outlet, then let's power on the device by pressing the power button on the top of the unit."

Customer: "But that's not wireless! If I have to have a cord running to it, then it is W-I-R-E-D."

Right about now the customer's attitude has really taken a turn for the worse.  And he's also put me in a position where I am going to have to explain to him exactly what wireless, in this context, means, thus making him feel completely stupid, but I try to break it to him as gently as possible.

Me: "I'm sorry sir, but wireless means that you do not need a cable to transmit data from the router to the printer.  Because technology hasn't advanced to the point of being able to provide electricity wirelessly, the printer still needs to be plugged into an A/C outlet."

The customer pauses for about 30 seconds to take this in. Then...

Customer:"What's a router? I need a router? Where does it say I need a router?"

Me: "It's a device that is used to allow data to be transferred over the air to all the devices that are connected to it wirelessly.  Do you have a wireless router sir?"

Customer: "Well this is stupid. I pay good money for this piece of crap and now I have to go buy a damned router to make it work?  What the hell is wrong with your company. My BlahBlah product wasn't this complicated to set up!"  *Click*

Yes, it really did happen.

TIP

Removing The Phoenix Failsafe Software From Your Computer

If you don't know what it is, then this doesn't concern you.  Phoenix Failsafe was a software used for securing  notebooks against theft.  It was offered for a while on several different brands but some months back the division was sold off by Phoenix (Maker of Motherboard BIOS software) and hence, the company is no longer in business.  The problem here is that there is no way to remove the pre-install package without software from Phoenix Failsafe.  However, finding the software is next to impossible unless you know where to look, and even then you could be looking for hours.  So for all you people who are sick of those pop-ups showing up when you are trying to work or watch a show on your computer, the solution can be located here:   Phoenix Failsafe Removal Software

Once the patch has run you should have no more issues with those annoying pop-ups

Quick Buy Tip

Buy an HP Envy instead of a Macbook or Macbook Pro

The P.C. scene is catching up to Mac on design, it's been slow going, but I really like the new HP Envy products.  The HP Envy 13 is way over-priced, but the rest of the HP Envy line is quite stylish, lightweight, power, and reasonably priced.  So before you get sucked into Apple's advertising campaign, consider sticking with a PC.

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P.S. The box he removed it from was the packaging. The man hadn't taken it out of the box yet....  He had just opened the top of the box and tried to start printing "wirelessly"