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wweboy wrote: » So this morning I got a user who said his laptop doesn't power on. He is located way up north from where I am. So I call Lenovo and I admit I was kind of a bad mood to start out with but I get some guy named "Tony" who asks for my 4 digit machine type. I didn't have it I gave him my serial and he said do you have the laptop in front of me I said no he then said "We don't operate that way" I said don't get mouthy and explained that I'm working on a computer across the country. He then quickly switched me to his super. The Supervisor again asks me for the digits I explain I don't have them and then starts talking down to me like a I'm an idiot and don't know what he wants. I lost it and started yelling and cussing saying stuff like "i'm not a ******* moron I know what you want" amoung other things and then he said "Bye your having a bad day" Now I rarely lose it with customer support I mean they do what they have to do but it was they needed that 4 digit machine type and that I didn't have the laptop in front of me that it was just too much for them. How do you deal with bad tech support I know yelling and cussing at them wasn't the best thing to do and I feel silly as I had a few other co-workers hear me but when you get bad support what do you do and do I have any recourse? I mean we spend a lot of money with IBM all our servers and majority of desktop and laptops are IBM / Lenovo. We are slowly switching over to Dell but in this economy that is happening at a snails pace and have to make do with what we have. Thanks.
exampasser wrote: » Dell is not much better. I can't tell you how many times the hard drive on a Dell server has failed on me. If you have the time custom builds are the way to go for desktops/servers. This might not be feasible if you have a lot of computers.
wweboy wrote: » I did have the serial just not the 4 digit machine thing they wanted. After the call I did call the user and specifically ask for the 4 digit number. What pisses me off is their attitude about the entire situation I said I had the serail number was there anyway to look up the info they needed and it was as if I was asking way to much from them. Either way in the end I spoke to someone else and got the issue taken care of but their attitude of treat the customer like an idiot just doesn't sit with me.
msteinhilber wrote: » But on the other hand, anytime I have to deal with any notebook or any other product I typically have the model number and serial number available. Having experience with Lenovo it's common practice to need both the machine type/model number and serial number. Would it have been so difficult to contact the user and have them read it off?
msteinhilber wrote: » If you are dealing with Lenovo you can use their web-based system:https://www-930.ibm.com/support/esc/signin.jsp Anytime I have already diagnosed the problem and fill in the steps or symptoms leading to that diagnosis and submit a request to ESC+ I typically have a replacement part on it's way the same or next day. In cases where you are not certain of the problem they will either dispatch a tech or arrange for a box to be sent overnight to ship the product back to them (depending on the product and if your warranty terms are onsite or depot). As far as them questioning you have you done this or done that, I can't really blame them. It's a part of their troubleshooting process they go through despite how intelligent you at the other end of the phone may be - they are not aware of your own abilities and probably often times run into people who "know what they are talking about" that really don't. I guess I can't comment much on how nice they are towards their customers though since I rarely work with them on the phone at all. Get setup with a login to ESC+ and use that for requests, I much prefer using web based systems with vendors I work with. The only time I typically call in is in cases where I need an instant response such as with a server failure.
skrpune wrote: » On the topic of bad customer support, I hate to say it, but I think it was more of a "bad customer" support issue than a bad support issue. No offense, but if you're telling folks to not get mouthy with you and go off on then, I'm not surprised they weren't all that sweet back at ya. How would you feel if you were on the opposite end of that conversation? There's a way to go about dealing with tech support when you're a techy, and it takes some finesse. No one likes to be told "I know what I'm doing more than you, and you have to help me dammit." My method: start off by saying you're a technician that's been tasked with helping a customer with so-and-so problem, and do a quick rundown of what you've already gone through. Then appeal to the tech to see if they can help you out or escalate you to the next tier of support. If they balk or if they say that they don't work in such and such way, then appeal to them again - acknowledge that you realize this is not the norm, but you would be most appreciative of their help...and that you realize there are certain things they are and are not allowed to do, and again ask if you can perhaps speak with a supervisor or second tier support who might be able to authorize some non-standard stuff. I've had great success by following these steps, with more than one company (Lenovo, Dell, Asus, Western Digital, Seagate...). If you treat them like intelligent human beings who are somewhat limited by what they are allowed to do, rather than stupid people who just don't want to help you, it's amazing what you can accomplish.
Kaminsky wrote: » Absolutely agree. I would have hung up on you too but probably not as professionally as the supervisor did. Hats off to him. You were well out of order! We all work in this industry at various levels of competancy and work preassures but not one of us is so brilliant or so vital that it gives us the right to unload on someone just doing their job within the constraints they have to work within. If any one of us is having a bad day, that's our problem and to unload on someone else, deserving or not, is completely uncalled for and highly unprofessional regardless of how much of a professional you think you are. A great many of those that work on these service desk aren't paid a lot, regardless of their abilities or potential but it suits them at the time. They still try to do the best they can within the confines of the job they are in. You'll be amazed how regimented they are forced to be. In this particular case, I would bet that without those details, they couldn't initiate an incident record which they require to keep track of SLAs which is how that department justifies it's existance. You don't give a jot for their problems but just start gobbing off at them like they are some annoying bugs in your way.... When put on to the supervisor, you obviously feel superior to them as well and start unloading on them tool ... Who the hell are you ? [ see... not nice being talked down to is it ! ... and I'm being polite! ] Professionally, I would suggest you get back in contact with them and appologise. A good bit of advice for the future. When dealing with someone else in life, take the time to understand their problems and they will generally bend over backwards to help you out. Learn this trick and you'll be amazed at how easy dealing with others can get.
wweboy wrote: » I hear you all and 99% I don't get mad at the guy on the phone. I guess I can't justify "Going off" on the guy but believe me I didn't feel suprior or have a raging hard on because I was talking with a supervisor. The guy transfers me with out getting a single lick of info from me. I never asked to be transferred. My problem was I didn't have that 4 digit code and I asked what else can I give you so you can look this up and he then asked if I had the laptop in front of me and I said no and he said "We don't operate that way here" Now maybe that isn't offensive or being rude but to me it is I work help desk you have to be able to bend a little a simple "We must have that 4 digit code" would of been nice. I gave him my serial # and said its a T61 laptop. He just gave me to his supervisor who had an attitude with me and started talking in a very condescending voice. Again my attitude and aggression wasn't warranted and I take full blame I was a total jack ass. But I also feel there was a breakdown in communication. I could call back and apologize but why its a big call center asking for the person by name probably wouldn't get me very far. In the end I worked with someone else who was very nice and explained everything what he was doing and I got the 4 digit number from the user (Before calling back the second time) and got my laptop shipped to them (yay overnight) so the issue is resolved thus far. Either way I think this stuff is a 2 way street.
Turgon wrote: » ...It's understandable to rage against the machine but you have to find ways to work with it sometimes.
Hyper-Me wrote: » Just an FYI, a lot of companies that have call-center environments (be it sales, tech support, or whatever) train their employees to disconnect a call if the customer becomes verbally abusive.
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