After wasting 2 hours of my life with Cox technical support this morning, I started thinking. Why doesn’t someone who reaches the pinnacle of all computer networking certifications get a “fast pass” to Level 3 technical support with companies like Verizon, Cox, Comcast, Time Warner, etc. when they’re having home ISP issues?
Quick overview of the conversation.
Cox: We don’t troubleshoot around 3rd party routers. You must hook the computer up directly to the cable modem.
Me: It’s not my router, but I’ll disconnect anyway.
Cox: Please reboot your computer.
Me: I rebooted the computer, but I’ll do it again.
Cox: What IP address are you being assigned (he walks me through ipconfig /all).
Me: 10.3.218.10.
Cox: Can you surf the Internet?
Me: No, because that’s a PRIVATE IP address. It’s not routed through the Internet.
Cox: Your equipment is malfunctioning. We will dispatch a technician.
Me: No. I want to speak to Level 2 tech support.
Level 2: Your cable modem is experiencing a hardware failure. Do you have another cable modem?
Me: I have another one right here. But I guarantee you the cable modem isn’t the problem. You have DHCP server that is responding to my address requests, and shouldn’t be. Must you waste our time?
L2: Yes.
Me: Can you provision it please?
L2: Uhhh… sure.
<10 minutes pass>
L2: OK, sir, what is the IP address you’re getting?
Me: 10.3.218.10.
L2: Hmmm… hold please.
<10 mintes pass>
L2: We have a problem here. We will look into it and get back to you.
Now, here’s a serious question. If I can provide a CCIE number and it matches up with my name, why not just allow me to speak with a level 3 automatically? Why waste my time with mundane garbage like this, when I knew the problem had nothing to do with what was in my house.
Why can’t my credentials speak for themselves and let me be passed onto at least a peer?
I think Cisco should set this up with Internet providers.
Because everyone who knows how to change their desktop wallpaper thinks they are at pinnacle of all computer networking skillz.
Because then there would be people selling “legitimate credentials” online to make a fast buck (“Pay $25 and go STRAIGHT TO THE FRONT OF THE QUEUE!!! Save Time!”)
If you’re so smart, how come your shit ain’t workin’, hoss? (Just kidding - I understand it was external). Seriously, you have to wade through these guys 1) because there’s at least a chance that they’ll resolve your issue using their scripts, so the “advanced technicians” don’t have to waste their vaulable time and 2) If they don’t put these guys out front, nobody will be learning the ropes to come up through the ranks and be “advanced technicians” later. (Just to name a couple reasons)
We lease IBM computers (now Lenovo), so I deal with the IBM helpdesk periodically. We’re supposed to bypass the “have you uppacked it from the box yet?” and get through to the good guys, but you couldn’t always prove it by me. I’ve had to lead them through troubleshooting, as you describe.
I recently dealt with Viewsonic (again, we’re VIP). I rattled off the problem and told 'em what it was, and was not. The muppet at the other end replied with, “uh, yeah. There’s something wrong.” Boy, I love these technical diagnoses!
How-some-ever… I patiently follow through with the level 1 people because I do not know everything (that’s I, not you. I’m more of a generalist, not CCIE-certified). I might be having a brain dead day (I mind the time I called up HP with a Hitachi laptop. Only after getting sharp with the rep for not recognizing the model number did I-- heh-heh- realize what I’d done. I did apologize profusely.)
Because people lie and sometimes you have to do things like that. For example i work in IT support. I know basic trouble shooting skills. Well advanced ones actually i am very experienced with computers. The other day my satellite went out. Being the smart guy I am I tried to fix it myself. What did i do? Turn it off and back on. Nothing. Unplug it wait a while and plug it back in. Nothing. Ok how about I take out my card and put it back in and hit the reset button. Still nothing! I give up I called tech support and she walked me through the steps. The same thing I already tried step by step. She told me to remove the card and reset the box. I told her I already did but would try again for shiggles. Sure enough it worked. Sometimes things dont work the first time and sometimes they only work after you call support even if nothing changed. Everyone thinks they know what they are doing. These guys do this for a living.
It does not matter how smart you are or how many degrees you have. Sometimes you over look things.
Maybe I’m lucky, but for some reason, they pick up that I Have A Clue and they skip the flowchart. This generally leads to a rapid escalation and resolution.
I find “I have a copy of your checklist, and I’ve done steps (list steps), can you escalate me?” works on Dell. HP assumes I know what I’m doing because I’m calling the server/enterprise line–most of the time, the conversation goes “Hi, can you write up a warranty replacement on the RAM modules on a DL380 server? Yeah, the 4x4GB configuration. Thanks, I’ll send the defective ones back.”
A good technician can sense your level of expertise and can adjust accordingly. I’ve done it myself when explaining how to fix a problem until the user made a comment that indicated they knew more than average and I could switch to more technical questions.
But it never hurts to retry the basics. Sometimes they work. Otherwise, like in the old joke, you could be the smartest person in the world, but exit the crashing plane with a knapsack instead of a parachute.
Yeah, I’ve started a call with an HP tech (for my personal laptop) with a list of the troubleshooting steps I’d already done. They were pleased to be speaking with someone who actually had a clue. But then I called another day and got someone who wanted to follow the script step-by-step. I’m assuming second person was relatively new.
This happened to me last time my cable modem went wonky. It reset itself and assigned me a private 10.* address so I couldn’t surf. I called up Cablevision tech support and described the problem including the details about the wrong IP and what I had already tried. After a bit of a wait I got connected to a sexy-voiced female network technician who (gasp) knew what she was talking about! I explained again, and she fiddled a bit on her end – it turned out some upgrade had screwed up their DHCP database and she just had to reset a flag in my account. We had a lovely chat about Ethernet routers for a couple minutes while she pinged my modem.
(Just kidding - I understand it was external). Seriously, you have to wade through these guys 1) because there’s at least a chance that they’ll resolve your issue using their scripts, so the “advanced technicians” don’t have to waste their vaulable time and 2) If they don’t put these guys out front, nobody will be learning the ropes to come up through the ranks and be “advanced technicians” later. (Just to name a couple reasons)