Live Blogging a Customer Service/Tech Support Call

So, I had to call my ISP tech support/customer service regarding my DSL modem. It has decided to be a total pain in my ass the last few days. Apparently, it likes to change all of it’s settings anytime you try to do anything with it. I waited til late in the evening to make the call, like 10pm, with hopes that there wouldn’t be much of a wait time. There wasn’t hardly any wait at all. That is the only thing that went my way though.

First of all, I obviously got someone who is not based in the US, to put it mildly. I had to have her repeat everything numerous times because her accent was so thick. I’m used to this level of customer “unservice” by now, but good Lord, this is ridiculous.

The real problems started when she asked what Operating System I am using. I told her Mac OS 10. She got silent and asked why I had switched from Windows XP. I flatly told her it was because I had gotten a new computer. This is where the real fun began…

She was nice enough to inform me that she didn’t know anything about the Mac OS. Then casually asked if it was a laptop or desktop. I told her desktop and she seemed even more confused. Then I was put on hold for what seemed like forever while she tried to find someone who knows anything about Mac. This is where I began to get pissed. The problem is in the modem. It has absolutely nothing to do with the computer’s settings. The modem is just randomly disconnecting itself from the internet. If she would have listened, or been able to understand basic English, I could have been off the phone 15 minutes ago. But, no, she heard Mac, and commenced to freak out. When she finally came back on the line, she told me they couldn’t help me because they don’t do Mac support. I had to explain to her very slowly and clearly that the problem that I’m having has nothing to do with the computer; the problem is in the modem. The computer is doing what it is supposed to do.

After several more minutes of trying to explain this to her, she told me she was going to transfer me to a different department to address my concerns. At this point I’m getting very pissed and I can feel my blood pressure beginning to rise. It is not good for customer service agents when my blood pressure begins to rise. I used to work in customer service and I understand what they have to go through, but there is no excuse for incompetence. Nor is there any excuse for having agents who can’t speak the language they are supposed to communicate in. Not only must they communicate, but they must be able to speak in technical terms. This girl can’t. That’s for damn sure. I’ve called this ISP before and gotten someone overseas. But in those cases, the person spoke better English, and at least knew something about the subject matter. I’ve never had problems with this company like this.

Basically she heard “Wireless” and “Mac” and freaked out, so she never actually heard the real problem. The problem is the modem has disconnected itself from the DSL. (Luckily, our city-wide WiFi is about to launch so I can drop these fools and pick up the KiteNet service from the city. (For about ½ as much as this ISP). Unfortunately, I’m stuck with these fools for at least another month, or until the WiFi goes live. )

As a side note, (while I’m on hold), I cannot believe that my little Podunk city is actually going to have city-wide WiFi.) It’s one hell of a set up. They say that the monthly service will be about $20, and you may have to have a modem to boost the signal in some areas, but holy crap, it’s freakin’ city-wide WiFi. In Longmont, of all places. Boulder doesn’t even have city-wide, and they are a hell of a lot more progressive than this town.

So, she comes back on the line and is still hung up on the whole wireless thing. I’ve now asked her to transfer me to someone who can actually understand the issue and do something about it. She’s checking with her “team leader.” Now, she wants to send me a new modem, she thinks the modem is bad. Funny thing is, that is always their response. Every single time I’ve called them over the last 1 ½ years (since I’ve had this service) they’ve tried to say the modem was bad. Every single time they have been wrong. They just don’t want to deal with it, so they think it’s easier to tell me it’s the modem, send me a new one, and punt it to the next poor rep that gets my call when the new modem has the same problem as the first. BECAUSE THE PROBLEM ISN’T A BAD MODEM, THE PROBLEM ISN’T MY COMPUTER, THE PROBLEM ISN’T THE WIRELESS, THE PROBLEM ISN’T MAC OS 10, THE PROBLEM IS THE FREAKING SETTINGS ON THE MODEM, AND SOMETHING WITHIN IT THAT WON’T LET IT RESET WITHOUT GOING BACK TO DEFAULT. AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Still on hold…still on hold… still on hold… still on hold… still on hold… still on hold…
She’s back…still obsessed with the wireless. I told her for the fifteenth time that I’m not having a problem with the wireless. The computer can connect to the modem wirelessly. Not a single freakin’ problem there. The problem is that when I reset the modem to enable the security settings, the modem itself no longer recognizes the DSL connection. Now, I’m on hold AGAIN while she tries to get in touch with some other department. Every single time that I have tried to explain the problem to her, she has pulled this same shit.

On hold…still on hold…still on hold…still on hold…still on hold…I think I may hang up and call back to try to get someone with a better understanding of English and technical matters. You better damn well believe that this ISP is going to hear from me about this.

I guess this has turned into some weird live-blog. Oddly, it’s very calming to write what is happening in real time. It’s helping me get through the really freakin’ long holds without losing my mind. Maybe I should have done this the week of Christmas when I was fighting with Best Buy and UPS. Speaking of those two…don’t ever use either one. Their customer service sucks and they couldn’t care less about their customers. On the 3rd day that I contacted Best Buy, I spent 2 ½ hrs on hold before I finally got a human being. At one point, someone actually picked up the line then hung up. But that is a whole other saga.

Well, we finally got it resolved. Somehow, someway, the password for the ISP in the DSL modem settings had reverted to all lowercase letters. God only knows why. She, of course, wasn’t able to tell me why or how that had happened, considering that I hadn’t been in that part of the setup when I did the wireless connection. All of that to find out that I was right the entire time (as always). I’m kind of pissed because on of the first things she had me do was verify that stupid password according to what was in setup. She said it was fine then. Before I could get off the phone with her, she had to “recap” our conversation including all the steps that we took to correct the problem. I HATE dealing with tech support!!!

Tune in next time…I just sent off for a rebate…I’m sure there will be many fireworks involved in that transaction. (There has been every other time I’ve ever submitted a rebate. I actually consider it a bonus if I actually get the damn thing).