Have you ever had to talk to tech support? Ask for help, when your computer, your email account, or your internet connection isn’t working?
Ever wondered what’s going through the mind of the person answering? Quite often, it’s this: “I’m not a mind reader!”
Working at a web-host, at least once a week, I get an email that goes “My email isn’t working” or “Please setup a new virtual host for me”. Those questions, whilst they make a lot of sense to the asker, who has the context in mind, make very little to me. What is wrong with the email account? What domain name do I need to add to the server, what server do I need to setup the hosting on? Hence, I’m not a mind reader 🙂
So, if you ever need to report a problem, give us as much detail as possible. What happens when you check your email? Do you get any error messages? Describe the steps you take, so that we can replicate your problem on our machines – fixing it is a lot easier when we can see it happening.
I hate it when I always get through to line one support and they are reading through a script. Its quite annoying that they always assume I’m using Windows XP as well. Usually i just translate the steps they are talking through. I get the feeling they have a scripted pause too – I was resisting the urge to yell ‘and den?!’.
Anyone have any ideas for a) annoying line 1 b) getting to line 2 faster
excuse me if it’s not line1/2 i’m sure you can translate if you know the right terminology 😛
Levels. We call that Level 1 support. The best way to get to level 2 quickly, is
a) telling them you know what you’re doing,
b) learning their script and beating them at it (yes, I’ve changed the wifi channel. Yes, that definatly has got nothing to do with the problem with my internet connection)
c) asking for a manager.