In reply to ShadoPrism (msg # 703):

I occasionally read those pages, and they make me laugh! I might send this to them, because you're right.

Unrelated: I hate Mondays sometimes. I woke up an hour late this morning, only because my brother's loudmouth cat came into my room and meowed in my face (probably because he was worried that I wasn't up yet). Then I showered and started getting dressed, and my blouse felt tight against my neck. I looked down, and there were the tags. :|

"In fact, if I'd known the difference between 'antidote' and 'anecdote,' my friend Bobby Schneider would still be alive today."
-Ron White


I feel the same way about this one. MLIA was one of those great sites before people started doing "My Life is Awesome" instead, after which it all kind of spiraled downwards.

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On the subject at hand, I've worked customer service for far too long. My favorite example, and one I will repeat til the end of time, was a wonderful little scene that played out like so...

The year is 20XX, and Tyr Hawk is working as Technical Support in a call center for the nationwide television provider, Oval On Your Roof. Like any Sunday in football season, the lines are busy with people who haven't turned their TVs on in a week or more. And then THE call comes in...

Me: Hi and thanks for calling OOYR, this i-

Caller: Your technician broke my TV.

Me: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Normally our technicians are very good about fixing problems, not causing them. What's going on?

Caller: He broke my TV. It says 'No Signal.' Now I'm not gonna have TV for tailgating at the game! This is unacceptable!

Me: Well, I'm certainly sorry to hear that. Usually that's the sort of thing the technician checks before he leaves because it's a pretty simple fix. So-

Caller: No, he didn't. He broke it when he was fixing things in the house. This is the one in the RV, which he never touched.

Me: ... So, you're saying he never touched this TV?

Caller: I'm saying he broke it when he was in the house installing the other boxes.

At this point, it's important for readers to know that 'No Signal' is a common issue in households with newer TVs. While the message comes in many forms (No Input, Check External Input, etc.) it usually boils down to a cable not being connected between the TV and the item in question (Receiver, Playstation, DVD player, etc.). Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, this is a five minute problem.

Me: Okay... well, if you'll give me a few minutes I can help you fix this pro-

Caller: No. Your technician broke it, and now I won't have TV. I don't have time for this banana.

Me: I can understand that you're in a rush to get to the game, but this will really only take five minutes at most to solve.

Caller: No. YOUR technician did this. So now I'm going to have to find another way to watch the game!

Me: Ma'am, this issue tends to be a physical one, an issue with the cabling. When was the last time you used this TV?

Caller: It was last year! And if this isn't fixed by the time I get back then I'm going to cancel service!

And, to make a very long story short, she argued with Tyr for the next 20 minutes about how the Technician, who she told Tyr never got within 50 feet of the TV at any point, had caused this issue which she didn't have the time to fix. After everything, she ended the call still angry, refused to be transferred to the cancellation team, refused to even try to fix the problem, and, presumably, went to the game and had a terrible time. But... the customer is always right, no?

I swear, the worst thing that ever happened to any type of retail, customer support or any such public field is the phrase "The customer is always right," because they darn well are NOT!

In reply to GammaBear (msg # 707):

There's a website all about it. ;D But you're definitely right.

In reply to Tyr Hawk (msg # 708):

I enjoy Not Always Right. Clients From Hell is another goodie. ^_^

In reply to Eggy (msg # 709):

There are several 'Not Always' sites, all linked together and they post on Facebook as well as their own site.
I been reading over their backstories for months now. Some are funny, some are sad and some make me want to find the antagonist and give them a piece of my mind (or a baseball bat upside the head in a few cases).
I have done my share of retail, and delivery driver work and got a few of my own stories to. Tempted to share a few old vents here but not today - wearing a heart monitor today and don't want to send up any false red flags by airing old grievances.

In reply to ShadoPrism (msg # 710):

I know about the others, but Not Always Right is the only one I like. Retail Hell Underground is another I enjoy. I worked at a game shop/arcade and at a couple of gyms, but I wouldn't call it real retail. It was pretty low stress and there were hardly any customers. I've never worked anywhere else with a cash register, but I have seen lots of awful behavior in shops, so I take those stories at face value.

So Annabelle has had this odd sore on the side of her head; vet says she probably had a cyst that scabbed over and took the fur off.  But the sore/bare spot has been getting bigger.  I know she rubs the side of her head on things, not sure whether she's rubbing the raw place on purpose or not, or just hits it with her usual rubbing, but it's getting bigger.  So we got her a cone, poor baby.  She hates it, of course, runs it into things, hasn't figured out how to eat or drink with it on, probably not the litter box either.  So she's learned to take it off when I'm not watching!

In my experience, it's usually: The customer doesn't know what they need.

One of my favorite 'the customer might not always be right, but sometimes they know a heck of a lot more than the would-be salesman' moments:

Back in the earlier days of PCs, I did a lot more of my own computer upgrades because it was really the only way I could afford to sort of keep up with the advances.  The time had come when I was looking to buy a new model, and with where I lived, there weren't really a lot of choices and back then I wasn't as in tune with online ordering as I am now.  :P

So I'm checking out the sales.  CompUSA (an hour away) had some nice deals, and while I was perusing and trying to compare specs, one of their nice computer technicians came over to assist me.  He was being quite condescending -- sort of the 'look, the little lady wants a computer -- how cute!' kind of thing, so I rattled off some of the specs I wanted, including enough room in the tower to install a second hard drive.

He looks at me with a 'oh, bless your little heart' expression, and confidently informs me that "You can't put two hard drives in a computer."

I remember looking at him, debating over whether I should tell him that I'd had two hard drives in my computer for quite a while, and that I'd installed the second one myself ... but instead, I thanked him for his time, and politely invited him to go away.

A few minutes later, his manager came over to persuade me that their technicians were quite knowledgeable, and that, in fact, a computer could not have two hard drives.

At that point, I just decided to go buy my computer somewhere else -- especially since one of their selling points was in house repairs.
This message was last edited by the user at 13:29, Thu 27 Oct 2016.

In reply to Shannara (msg # 714):

Yeah, that is still a problem today. My last computer was not set up properly at all. The computer came with front and rear USB ports, as well as an SD/Mac port a Memory Stick port, a xD/Smart Media port and a Compact Flash drive port but for some reason they never set up the front ports (any of them) and I have been totally unable to get them to do so since I bought it ( From: Office Supply).

In reply to Shannara (msg # 714):

Oh god, I can't even begin to count the "tech" salesmen I've scared off of "helping" me find what I need. My undergrad degree is in IT, my master's will be in network security, so I think I know what I'm looking for without the condescension! I think it scares them or somehow insults their manhood when a woman knows more than them!!

Having been a Computer Sales Reps before (not the condescending know-nothings, but having worked the position) I can say, with a lot of confidence, that most of the training reps receive is in sales, not computers. They teach you what RAM means to a consumer, but not what it is or how it works. They teach you that a Terabyte is larger than a Gigabyte, but nothing about installing an HDD (or even what HDD actually stands for; "What's the second D for?" "Oh, uhh... that one's for Drive, the first D is for the one in HarD"). The computer repair folks (like Best Buy's Geek Squad or... is the Nerd Herd an actual thing now?) are typically certified with some basic knowledge on repairs and manufacturing, but they're not the ones trying to sell you things (except for the repair service contracts, and maybe some antivirus). Sadly, the manager you spoke to probably never went through (or even oversees) those repair techs. They were probably promoted/hired for their sales and people management skills.

Then again, I know little about how CompUSA runs their business so... just a guess.

More to the point though, is that I don't want anyone to get the impression that all tech salesmen don't know anything about computers/technology. Or even that they're insulted when a woman (or any customer) knows more than they do. It's usually just that they're expected to be experts (which can cause ego problems, but everyone is susceptible to that) but they're not given the education, so they have to get it somewhere else. And then the people actually getting that education usually realize they could make a lot more money by not working in an entry-level sales position. It's a vicious cycle...

In the years I've been buying computers, that has only happened to me that one time.  I suspect it's a case of one bad apple who spoiled the crop even then -- ie, the 'manager' who was passing on his bad habits.

However, sales reps who don't know the answer to any question are always a lot better served to admit it than to make up an answer.  Any store that teaches, or requires their sales reps to fake knowledge rather than be honest will likely see sales walk away.

I'll take "I don't know, let me try to find out" with gracious appreciation any day.

I'll even take "I don't know, I just ring up the sales once you decide what you want."
This message was last edited by the user at 16:41, Thu 27 Oct 2016.

In a lot of the bigger computer stores around here I've been told that the sales people (mostly young guys) know almost nothing about their products, and must be told to pretend they do.  I've heard horror stories about some who apparently must barely be able to turn on their own computer - surely they have one? - but who speak with apparent confidence on what the customer needs.  Thank goodness I've never had to deal with any of them.

That reminds me of a run in I had with Dell tech support once.

Long time ago, don't hold it against them now.

I bought a new computer, and a disk drive didn't work.  So I called tech support and explained.

"The Disk Drive doesn't work".

We went through all the scripts.  Restart reboot reinstall drivers blah blah blah.

"The Disk Drive doesn't work."

He insisted that I should clean the drive.  He told me exactly what to buy, a disk drive cleaner.  So I did.

I called him back.

"How do I run the disk drive cleaner?"

"Well, you put it in the drive..."

"How?"

"You push the button to open it up and..."

"It doesn't open.  The disk drive doesn't work."

"Oh... so when you said it doesn't work, you meant it doesn't work."

"Yes."

They sent me a new drive.

*chuckle* - I feel for you Eur512.  A big difficulty in any form of tech support is that 99% of users (okay - making up a figure here, but, hopefully the point is still made) - really don't mean what they say.

I worked, briefly, at a remote tech support company; and customers would call-in all the time and say "my computer doesn't work at all."  By the time you ran through a litany of options and discussions, what the customer really meant was, "I can't find the shortcut that was on my desktop that linked to my Email."

Which is incredibly aggravating.

Ftfy. Because I have several people at work who, when I'm away from my desk, will leave a voicemail saying something useless like, "My printer is broken," or (most annoyingly) just, "Call me as soon as you get this." Like, if you're going to take the time to leave that in a voicemail, WHY THE CRAP can't you just tell me what's wrong so I can prioritize your ticket??

And then there's one woman at CO. She has a panic attack every time something on her computer doesn't go exactly right. Just the other day, "[ashlayne], I think my computer is locked up. Give me a call when you get this." And then called me yesterday morning before she was even in the office to say the same thing, because the other day's voicemail was left five minutes after I left for the day. Turned out, she had forgotten her password for the third time in two months.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 13:52, Fri 28 Oct 2016.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 13:53, Fri 28 Oct 2016.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 13:53, Fri 28 Oct 2016.

My computer at work, rarely - if ever -works properly. I blame Windows 10. I've had to learn to just embrace it; sometimes if it's not working well enough, I get to go home early. :

I remember a number of years ago a guy who did tech support for a particular company telling me about his annual calls from an older man saying his printer wasn't working.  I guess he only used it once a year, because the first question my friend had learned to ask was 'Is it plugged in?', pause to check, and then 'Oh, it's OK now.'

In reply to ashlayne (msg # 722):

Oh my god yes.  Getting useful tech support information from clients is like pulling teeth.

Protip if you're calling your local tech guy - giving him the "gist" of a popup or error message is 99% likely to be completely useless.  Give him the full text or better yet a screenshot.

In reply to GreyGriffin (msg # 728):

And a few tips for tech supporters out there:

Never accept what a client says is the problem on the first go-around unless they use exact terms.
Always ask for on-screen messages (read verbatim, whenever possible), what they're trying to accomplish (which often tells you more than you'd think), and what they've done already to try and fix the problem (so they feel like you value their effort thus far).
If you're helping from a distance, also ask them to describe things as often as possible. Don't ask them if they see red white and yellow cables on the right, ask them to tell you what cables they see and where they're connected.

These few tips saved me so much trouble and stress when I worked tech support. ;) It may involve some translation when they're describing things, but it gives you a better picture than the people who just say "Yes" because they think there's no way the cables could be any other way than they're supposed to be.