One woman's plight in technical support.

Current News

Friday, October 27, 2006

Read the Documentation

Everyday I have someone who calls and asks me something so inane I can hardly believe they are calling me. In every piece of software I've ever worked with there is always some sort of documentation that comes with the software that explains how to use it.

Almost always in plain english, all you need to do is follow the instructions. Still, some folks out there won't be able to follow the directions, either because they don't know enough about their operating system (OS) or because they just don't want to. The first of which I can tolerate, but the second..... well, lets just say they should just return the product.

When calling technical support, or heck, lets be crazy... ANY kind of phone support for a piece of software, a device, or even your lawnmower, show that you have some sense, and at least skim through the manual in an attempt to find your answer. If there's a webpage for the company, search there. If there is a forum or bulletin board, search there. The last one is very helpful, in almost all cases, someone else has already asked this question. All of these solutions, even doing all of them in consecutive order will save you umpteen hours of waiting on hold.

So please, save yourself from frustration, and don't call a phone support rep to find out how to do the average normal settings that are in your users' manual. The only exception to this rule, is that you've lost the book, and need a new copy. We are happy to provide these.

That's my rant for today. Have a good weekend!

Labels: admin, advice, help, how to, instructions, questions, software, support, system, technical, technical support

If you have tech horror stories you'd like to share I'd love to hear them! If I really really like it, I'll even blog about it. So let's hear it, what do your dumb customers do?

posted by Reine at 12:33 PM

0 Comments:

Narrow it Down

Other Stuff

Subscribe to full Feed

I found out recently that I have breast cancer.
The cost will be somewhere between $4,500-7,000.
If anyone would like to donate to my cancer treatment, you can click below. There is no set amount, anything you can spare will help, and any surplus will be donated to cancer research. Thanks!

Disclosure:

I do accept money to blog about certain products, websites and services. However, they will not always be marked as such. I have some reasons for this: First-if I wouldn't purchase, use or try a product or service; I won't write about it. Second-if I don't have a personal experience to share about the product, relative to a friend or family member who have or might use the product...I won't blog about it. Third, just because I talk about a product or place a link in a blog post--it doesn't mean that it was a paid post. There are times that a link is just relevant or fun to add!! And finally, all stories, experiences or problems that are blogged about, are true. The names may have been changed (to protect the innocent). At times some friendly exaggeration may be used, but really, if you read it here--it probably happened!! So yes, you will find product placement on my blog, but, you will get an honest review regardless of the amount received. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to place a comment or two or ten!! (I <3 Comments!) Thanks!!