Saturday 10 February 2007

Technical Support - about as useful as NHS direct

Why is it that all technical support lines are full of fuckwitted numpties who seem to know fuck all about what they are talking about.

You spend ages on the phone telling someone what the problem is then you get cut off so you phone back and have to start from scratch. When you've finally explained the problem they have a list of protocols to run through (or perhaps they think they can solve every problem over the phone) I'm not fucking stupid, I've got an idea what the problem is. The first thing they always come out with is "turn it off and then on again" what the fuck? Do I look like an incompetent fool? Don't you think the first thing I did was turn it on and off about 100 times!!! It makes no difference. They then give you a series of tasks to complete.

It can take hours to explain the problem then they usually decide that whatever you're phoning about is fucked and needs to be taken away. Why couldn't they do that in the first place rather than keeping you on the phone for an hour wasting time which could be better spent watching paint dry!

Technical support is waste of space, its about as useful as NHS direct who seem to randomly choose a response from 3 different options no matter what your problem is. Either a) you need an ambulance, b) you need to see a doctor ASAP or c) you'll be fine. Of course we all know what happens when this goes wrong, people die! At least the only consequence of contacting technical support is a long phone bill, a frustrating waste of an hour explaining yourself and an inconvenient pick up time for whatever it is that's broken.

4 comments:

Phoenix said...

Take a chill pill and rise above it

(easier said than done, I know)

Anonymous said...

The funniest thing is that it was me who was in the phone for 3 hours about it, with him quietly fuming next to me!

It is rather annoying when you tell them exactly what's wrong in the first minute of the phone call and then 3 hours later on your Saturday evening they cave, realise you might not be lying, and arrange for the thing to be whisked away never to return.

The main problem is that the technical support person never believes you and then has to do the stupid protocol. Totally frustrating set up!

Calavera said...

You know, there was a hilarious cartoon/video about this very issue on the Internet somewhere... When I find the link, I'll send it on to you.

Is it just me, or do every tech support line you call have a call centre somewhere in India that you end up speaking to?

The Angry Medic said...

Hahaha...I think I've seen that video she's talking about. It involves a ninja (anonymous tech support) taking calls from people with the most idiotic problems (e.g. "My computer won't start up." "Is it plugged in?" "Uhm...no.")

But the direct opposite can happen, like your post. I sympathise, mate. I'd rather take whatever's defective in myself than call tech support.

Oh, and in response to Calavera's last bit there: all my tech support calls seem to go to Scotland or Wales or some other place with an indecipherably strong accent!