Well, I must be spoiled in the fact that all the clients for whom I do tech support have internet access. I assumed that Chimera does work similar to mine.
Often when I call tech support it is because I no longer have Internet access even though I should.
And anyway, “that level of detail” as you describe it, is actually “reading words from a screen,” which I would think any literate adult (or child, for that matter) should be able to do.
You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?
Heh. OK, point taken.
If the number I called connects me to a division called “Customer Service”, and the service I require is totally reasonable, falls under the current warranty and is legal, then I expect the person I talk to can either fulfill my request or put me in contact with someone who can do it in their stead. If I call Customer Service and get a long list of automated options, none of which pertain to my problem and none of which leads to talking to a human being, I get pissed. If there is supposedly an option to talk to a human being, but the wait is longer than 20 minutes and/or the call keeps dropping on their end, I get pissed. If I actually get in touch with a human being after a damn long wait and the only answers I get back are a combination of “I dunno” and “I don’t know what to tell you” then I am damn pissed, because I could have saved a shitload of my valuable time by asking a drunk in the gutter the same question and getting the same answer. I don’t want to hear about bad customers that deserve to be treated like shit because that has nothing to do with this problem-until they talk to you you have no damn idea what kind of customer they are, do you? I don’t know many people that can afford to hold their phone up to their ear or keep the speakerphone on for 45 minutes hoping that someone will pick up.
Out of curiosity, what will get a call center customer service rep fired most quickly and decisively?
Psst! EECB.
That would depend on whether you worked for a real Customer Service that was there to satisfy a customer’s reasonable needs, or for a Customer No-Service that was there to deflect and delay your company’s responsibility for goods and/or services, wouldn’t it?
Now, this is true.
[quote=“Lord_Ashtar, post:119, topic:585091”]
If your job requires that kind of detail, then you should either have a program that let’s you remote in and see their screen (LiveMeeting, GoTo Meeting, etc), or you should know to ask for a screenshot. Seriously, you know better than that.
If I can’t prompt a person to read me what is on their screen then I shudder to think of the contortions I will have to go through to explain to this person how to take a screenshot and email it to me.
If they can’t do basic functions like that, then you’re not going to be able to remote in, which usually requires a bit more effort on their part.
There’s a work around. I once had a warranty issue on a product with a national company and got the run around from customer service. I found out the company president’s name and wrote him regarding the issue, marked it “personal and confidential” and sent it off. Middle management was more than happy to not only fix my issue but provide a gift card for my troubles providing I never do that again.
Based on the only shared corporate/call centre Winter Holiday party we ever had - having sex with a coworker in the middle of the dance floor.
A former coworker had a great workaround for that sort of thing.
Moron: It keeps formatting my numeric cell as text.
Him: What do you have in the cell?
Moron: 39.276
Him: Three nine point two seven six?
Moron: Yes.
Him: And there’s only one period?
Moron: Yes.
Him: Not two?
Moron: No.
Him: Are you sure?
Moron: Yes!
Him: OK, read it to me… backwards.
Moron. six point seven two point nine three.
Him: You said point twice.
Moron: Huh? No I didn’t!
Nah - it was paid by debit card and the only way I have of disputing it is to go to the small claims court, which would cost more than the hoover. And the customer service agents have been, while polite, always utterly disbelieving until I cajole them to actually look the details up.
Meanwhile they have the money they stole from you.
Maybe you could get a lawyer to write a stiff letter asking them for the money. If that doesn’t work, take them to court and add the lawyer’s fees to the bill.
Also, see your PMs.
Either I’m the greatest at my job ever or I have really smart clients, because I rarely have a problem with this. I tell them I want a screenshot and get either an answer in the affirmative that they will do it, or “I don’t know how to do that.” If it’s the latter, I walk them through hitting Ctrl+Print Screen, pasting it into MS Word, and emailing it to me.
My tool sends them an email with a URL, which they click and it then takes care of everything for them. Most everyone can do that.
Well, you must admit that walking someone through creating a screenshot is much more complex a task than reading the words that are on the screen.
I work with Go-to-Meeting, a relatively simple tool, providing webinars for people at a Director level and above. It can take 5-10 minutes to get everyone squared away with the software and ready to go. These are people that work with the same software for every training call and they still need to be coached through the process.
I don’t find it to be too arduous a task. If I’m expecting something to be on a client’s screen and they say there’s nothing (as in the Chimera’s example earlier), then they’re either lying, stupid, or both. At that point, I can no longer rely on their word and need to see it with my own eyes.
I have yet to get a complaint about it taking an extra 5-10 minutes for me to remote in and see exactly what’s happening so I can fix it. In fact, I take the opportunity to show the client while I have control of their screen what I need so they can provide it next time.
I’m not denying that your experiences have been different. But when I started this job almost three years ago, I was told that the first rule of support is that clients lie. I’ve found that not only do they lie, but they are often incompetent as well, which just makes things so much easier if I can just see it for myself.