Tech Support Hell (disgruntled rambling to follow)

Kinja'd!!! "Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
04/07/2017 at 13:56 • Filed to: None

Kinja'd!!!0 Kinja'd!!! 8
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See this mouse? It’s a Razer Naga 2012, exactly like the one I have here sitting on my desk (according to its label). It looks like it has three interchangeable right side panels, right? The product manual on the manufacturer’s website says so, the reviews all say so, but apparently it doesn’t according to the manufacturer’s tech support staff member with whom I’ve been ‘communicating’ (with communicating being defined as the successful conveying of ideas between parties, hence the quotes).

I’ve worked in corporate tech support, and I know first-hand that it can be a monumental challenge dealing with inane questions from clueless users. And working with the gaming crowd can probably be even a bigger challenge as I would expect the age and patience level to be considerably lower than your average corporate desk drone. I’ve already explained to the manufacturer that I want to buy the part in question and that I understand that, as at least the second owner of the product, I don’t have any warranty and that they are under no obligation to provide it to me for free. They first came back and told me that they don’t have any internal parts for the mouse, and that installing an internal part would void the warranty. Repeat - not an internal part and I know that I have no warranty to void.

I realize that you generally put your lowest level employees on initial tech support duty and pay them next to nothing, and after a few months, if they show a pulse or any semblance of synaptic activity, you generally promote them in order to spare them the hell that is dealing with the general public. But why do we, as the general public, have to deal with brain-dead morons that don’t have a clue as to the products they are allegedly supporting. Instead of arrogance and a confusing, illogical dismissal of my query, how about actually taking a moment to understand the problem. Yes, I’m not asking about the latest product that you sell, but as a tech support employee I would expect you to understand the products you support, and if you can’t do that, escalate a problem to someone that knows the older products or spend perhaps 30 seconds on Google to see what the customer is talking about just in the off chance that they are not full of shit. JFC, it’s not that tough... You may be stuck in an entry-level position, but either do it well or GTFO; treating customers, especially potential return customers, like turds does not bode well for your, or your employer’s, future.

(OK, I may be a little steamed right now and may be missing something blindingly obvious, but I would appreciate it if someone could kindly explain to me how my mouse doesn’t have these removable side panels despite all evidence to the contrary, and how replacing these EXTERNAL parts would violate my non-existent warranty, I would be most appreciative. Thank you.)


DISCUSSION (8)


Kinja'd!!! RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/07/2017 at 14:04

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Wrong color, but if you could only send him this...


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Razer-Naga-2012-Razer-Naga-Epic-Mouse-with-three-interchangeable-side-panels/272484493123


Kinja'd!!! Mercedes Streeter > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/07/2017 at 14:06

Kinja'd!!!0

Eh, that’s Razer for you. I decided not to send back my Nextbit Robin because their warranty policy is hilariously terrible. They gave me two choices:

1. Send us the phone, we’ll give you a new one in about a month or so. (Wat?)

2. Return the phone to the seller for a refund, then buy a new one. (Not so easy if I bought a new one for a heavy discount, no?)

This story gave me a giggle. I work in a corporate TS, but they pay us awesomely and treat us like family. Many customers treat us poorly and act like they’re smarter than we are, so obviously we’re wrong when we tell them the system can’t do what they’re trying to force it to do...But I mean, if you’re smarter than me and know everything about the system, why did you bother to call?

Of course, your call was one of those strange occasions (as I often have with Mercedes-Benz) where the support person you’re calling doesn’t know anything about what you’re calling about.


Kinja'd!!! If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/07/2017 at 14:16

Kinja'd!!!0

Tech support is the  wurst. My office’s printer has a loose power jack and the printer loses power if the cord is so much as even nudged. I finally got fed up yesterday and called it in.

TS: “Thank you for calling the retail support center how may I help you?

“Yes I need my printer fixed it has a loose power jack”

TS: “Okay sir we’ll send you a new power cord”

“The cord isn’t the problem it’s the jack on the printer itself”

TS: “What is the make and model so we can get you the right cord?”

“No, the cord is fine. We need a new power jack for the printer”

TS: “We can get the new cord out to you by Monday”

AAAARGH. It took half an hour of this to convince them they needed to send a tech out to service it.

Like, I get that they don’t expect people on the store level to understand the tech but I have more than enough wherewithal to troubleshoot the issues myself and when I say what the problem is that means THAT’S WHAT THE PROBLEM IS


Kinja'd!!! TheRealBicycleBuck > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/07/2017 at 14:34

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This is why screen sharing is such an important tool. I won’t have a call with any of the engineers I work with unless we can share screens and use annotation tools to point, circle, mark, etc. on the document we are editing or the page we are observing or the... whatever we are trying to communicate about.

A big part of the problem is language, especially when things start to get technical and the software packages use the same words to refer to different things. The word “layer” comes to mind. In CAD, it has a very specific meaning. In GIS, the meaning is a little more vague since it’s a representation of data instead of actual data.

The other one that comes to mind is “database.” It drives me batty when people call a spreadsheet, or a folder filled with files, a database.


Kinja'd!!! Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/07/2017 at 14:44

Kinja'd!!!1

I think you may have the Naga Epic, not just the regular Naga.

Here’s an ebay listing for side plates:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Razer-Naga-2012-Razer-Naga-Epic-Mouse-with-three-interchangeable-side-panels/272484493123?_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40130%26meid%3Da6364a82e8f74398b5220d9ad45f1db1%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D281514454656


Kinja'd!!! Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever
04/07/2017 at 14:56

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Looks like a Naga 2012 to me, but at this point I guess anything is possible.


Kinja'd!!! My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
04/07/2017 at 15:15

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Because the MBAs from Harvard MBA mill have decided that first call resolution is the least important metric. I’ve been in and out of tech support since 1999, and I’ve seen the progression from knowledgeable agents to script monkeys.

Under the current QA guidelines that are the industry standard, more weight is put on Value adds and fake Empathy than problem resolution. Technically astute people don’t last long because script monkeys with good QAs get promoted.

The reason for this change is the rise of overseas call centers. They are the worst of the script driven support. They handle calls for several companies at once and have no clue how the product they’re supporting actually works.


Kinja'd!!! Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > My X-type is too a real Jaguar
04/07/2017 at 15:41

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We’ve got some issues like that around my office. The call center operators stats are based on calls taken, trips booked and call time. From what I’ve been able to tell, accuracy (or lack thereof) is not figured into the equation, and it’s the errors that could have been caught by the CCOs that drive the dispatchers crazy as they slow down the vehicles and cause other problems for other passengers. One CCO I spoke to said he didn’t care about the accuracy of his work, only meeting his stats; as of this week he’s now a dispatcher and it’s only a matter of time before his attitude turns around 180 degrees once he experiences the hell caused by inaccurate booking.

And just last week I learned that the dispatchers who are assigned to customer service get their stats dinged if their phone is not on a call or not on ready. You know what causes the phone not to be on ready? Making courtesy calls for dispatchers, a very vital and essential function. This will lead to the dispatchers on CS not wanting to make those calls for fear of wrecking their stats, all the while letting the vehicles sit around whilst dispatchers make phone calls instead of handling the radio like they’re supposed to. Hopefully there will be enough of an outcry and the policy will change because this just seems to be a step backwards. Stats or no stats, the disruptive/disgruntled employees get shown the door, but why have this sword of Damocles hanging around causing needless fear in the minds of good employees?