# You May Not Call Tech Support. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 21, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679 "2003-05-21T23:52:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/41 "2003-05-22T15:28:58Z")
Yeah, people like me need to stop posting from work 😃 Do you know how hard it is to keep a coherent phone conversation while typing out a completely different thought on a thread? heh ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/42 "2003-05-22T15:35:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by badmana \* > \*\*Why shouldn’t I call Dells crap (desktops only)? It’s over priced as far as I can see (looking right now I can get a Dell Dimension 2350 for $899! Wow! Intergrated everything! 30 gig drive! (I didn’t even know that was still available) and it’s even a sale!) > > Maybe the term “clone” has changed. Clone to me is any system in which someone other than a factory, installs the parts. Whether is be the computer store you buy from, your friend, or yourself. I’m not using my NEC as a reason for not buying a clone, I’m just highlighting my major issue with pre-built systems. Intergrated parts generally suck, even if it’s name-brand (like the Intel Extreme 3d that comes with the Dell I mentioned). \*\* Actually, the price is $699 after a $150 rebate; plus, you get a 15" flat-panel monitor and free upgrades to both 256 MB DDR and a CD-RW drive. Take the monitor off, you save a few hundred bucks, which makes the price nearly the same if not better than the price of a custom-built machine. And what about the integrated sound, network and video cards? You have the empty slots on the board should you need to replace the malfunctioning integrated cards. Which doesn’t happen often with Dell systems–probably about as often as it happens with comparable cards you put in yourself. There’s a reason that Dell is at the top of both the sales and customer service satisfaction charts. What’s even better is that Dell designs their cases to be extremely accessible–some of the best around, if you ask me. Plus they use quality parts. So, I’m still not understanding your insistence of calling Dells POSs. ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/43 "2003-05-22T15:46:26Z")
Huh? Ok, sorry, I’m canadian, I was looking at Dell.ca and that’s _not_ a flat screen. The pricing here is $899, normal 17" monitor, 2.2 Ghz with 256M of RAM. Ok, let me give you something to compare. This place ([www.canadacomputers.com](http://www.canadacomputers.com)) is one of my suppliers. They sell to normal people too so lets use that price. A comparable system is $699 without the OS (that leaves $200 for the OS). The CPU is an AMD (not intel) but comparable. It has a bigger HD, a name brand monitor, a CDRW (unlike the DELL), same ram, and a Geforce 4 non-intergrated videocard. OK, the dell obviously is hard to compare when you include support but still, people who buy dells aren’t getting the best deal they can. Sure, it’s the best out of the others I mentioned (Packard Bell and HP are the worst IMO) but I also get to call them crappy. Maybe Dells are cheaper and better in the US? ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/44 "2003-05-22T15:47:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by badmana \* > \*\*Yeah, people like me need to stop posting from work 😃 > > Do you know how hard it is to keep a coherent phone conversation while typing out a completely different thought on a thread? heh \*\* Yeah, no kidding. As I was typing my first repsonse to you, I managed to say, “… okay, your query needs to be _DISPLAY ASTU AHLT PermNum LN FN IF StuLink \<\> ’ ’ AND Grade = 10 AND **66 DX** …_” “What’s a DX? Which table has that field?” Oops. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/45 "2003-05-22T15:58:17Z")
Heheh. I generally switch screens from the thread to my “work” program (we use a citrix ICA client remote desktop) and it’s pretty bad when I’m giggling like a little girl when a dealer calls. Or when I lose my train of thought and have to ask what they want me to do again… ---
**Author:** ![Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horrifying_Howler_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/46 "2003-05-22T16:03:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nutty Bunny \* > \*\*So _you’re_ the one who took my mom’s service call! She wanted extra space on her computer and ended up deleting something that wouldn’t let her on the internet. > > And God help you if she doesn’t get her Gamesville fix. 😃 \*\* Is your mom from Columbia? 🙂 I wouldn’t have giggled, had the woman not been so obnoxious about it. Told us me had never had this problem until she had switched to our service. Like her deleting the drivers had anything to do with her ISP. People are funny 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horrifying_Howler_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/47 "2003-05-22T16:06:10Z")
That would be told me, not told us me (even when I can spell, I can’t type). I also like people that phone computer tech support for something totally unrelated, because the people they should be calling charge, and we don’t. ---
**Author:** ![sciguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/48 "2003-05-22T16:06:45Z")
**Neenah** , I’m right there with you. Worked my way through college doing ISP support. [ul][li] I second revoking tech support for people peeing on the phone. I don’t care if we’re in the middle of a reboot, I do **not** want to listen to your bodily functions.[/li]Umm, on preview, make that “peeing **while talking** on the phone”. :smack: Ewwww… [li] If your modem stopped working, do not wait 20 minutes to mention that the telephone pole down the street was struck by lightning last night, which happened to knock you offline.[/li] [li] If you deactivated your account because your laptop was stolen, don’t be surprised (and definitely don’t get upset) if we ask questions to validate who you are when you try to re-activate it. For all I know, you’re the thief.[/li] [li] Don’t spend five minutes yelling at us for our crappy connections and/or authentication servers before checking whether your caps-lock light is on. You will be laughed at. In fact, don’t yell at us at all; we have as little control over the hardware as you do.[/li] [li] New puppies like to chew things. Please try to keep them away from your modem cord.[/li] [li] Tech support will **not** give you URLs to free porn sites. [/li] [li] And one more: [/li]IF YOU ARE NOT AT YOUR COMPUTER, YOU MAY _ **NOT** _ CALL TECH SUPPORT!!! My employment contract expressly forbids me using my psychic powers to read or change settings on your computer. [/ul] I’m sure repressed memories will soon be surfacing, and I can come back and share more. And I think this would be an appropriate place to include my sig: ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/49 "2003-05-22T16:08:59Z")
Oh, well, if you’re in _Canada_… 🙂 Hell, I don’t know what Dell sells to our Northern Neighbors; I would have thought it’d be the same quality of hardware, but maybe not. I can’t speak with any authority on that. And $699 _is_ a great price for the system you described (with me assuming the HDD is relatively large, the AMD chip comparable in speed and cache, and the monitor is a nice one)… but even more so for people such as you and me. For those who cannot support their own machines, Dell’s USA support (normally really good, except when I have to deal with first-level server techs just to get bumped up the queue to a more knowledgeable staff member) justifies the extra hundred or so dollars. Which does indeed make a good deal for those people. Maybe more _expensive_ to you and me, sure, but definitely a good deal to those who need the support. That said about the expense, I’d much rather order from Dell these days for my personal, general use machines (my home servers I’ll build myself unless Dell is clearing out old models and reducing the prices) than going to the trouble of putting one together. True, I don’t need the support figured into the price, but I like the ease of dealing with one vendor should any warranty problems crop up the first year. YMMV, of course. Anyway, I apologize for asking whether you know what you’re talking about–that was fairly snarky of me. ---
**Author:** ![Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horrifying_Howler_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/50 "2003-05-22T16:11:36Z")
**sciguy** How about this? When they phone and start out “I can’t get on the internet.” Okay, lets start by shutting off your computer, disconnecting the power from your modem. We’ll restart the modem in a bit, wait for bloc sync, and then reboot your computer. Time passes… Okay, now lets reboot your computer. “I can’t reboot my ccomputer, I told you can’t get on the internet.” ARG, why are you calling your ISP?! ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/51 "2003-05-22T16:16:03Z")
**badmana** , maybe you ought to take an English class before posting again. “Crappy,” to people who speak English, means “not very good.” If what you actually mean is “good, but more expensive than some alternatives,” the proper word is “overpriced.” Of course, since all you’ve managed to demonstrate with your comparison is that Dell computers involve a trade-off between customer service (at which most people agree Dell excels) and fancier components (which you can get by paying more, anyway), I don’t think you can even say Dell is overpriced; they just have a component that you’re not willing to pay for – service (and compatibility testing). Which makes this line – “We all know anyone who’s buying pre-made desk tops needs to be checked out anyhow” – particularly snotty. [irony]After all, as we all know, anyone who buys his own components and takes the time to put them together, replace incompatible components, and hunt down the most appropriate drivers, simply doesn’t have anything important to do.[/irony] Computers, hamburgers, lawn chairs, you name it: great service; great product, great price – pick two. ---
**Author:** ![NameAlreadyTaken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/97f17d/32.png) [@NameAlreadyTaken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NameAlreadyTaken)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/52 "2003-05-22T16:30:44Z")
All I can contribute to this thread is the early years of the online [User Friendly](http://www.userfriendly.org) comic archive. All of this and much more, including the Big Foam Clue Bat ™. ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/53 "2003-05-22T16:38:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyway, I apologize for asking whether you know what you’re talking about–that was fairly snarky of me. \*\* And I apologize for making off hand snotty remarks. But I see **nametag** has brought up a point on preview. “Compatiblity testing” is a pretty silly selling point. I haven’t come across many parts that don’t work with each other (except IRQ conflicts but that’s been solved with plug and pray). OS compatiblity on good parts usually isn’t a big issue (but hey, I make good money fixing this sort of problem when it crops up, usually software issues). Crappy in the context I used is maybe too strong. How about: the cheapest available parts they can get their hands on? Intel isn’t known for their videocards (ok, so I actually bought an intel PCI video card once…) so the card sucks ass. If something sucks, it’s crappy. I’d rather have a good geforce chipset than an Intel one. I’d rather have a common chipset than some custom made one (only because it’s easier to fix). I think I can pick up an intel video card for less than $30…you don’t call this a shitty card? Maybe I’ve become snotty because all my friends think this way. We also support our friends for free if they need it. I’ve forsaken pre-built machines (except for my $3500 laptop) because their a pain in the ass sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/54 "2003-05-22T16:43:02Z")
Shit, excuse my typing (and grammer) mistakes. Must. Stop. Posting. From. Work… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/55 "2003-05-22T16:51:51Z")
Well, having a motherboard incompatable with your processor is not uncommon, if you don’t know what to look for… ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/56 "2003-05-22T16:54:08Z")
You guys are missing the real reason not to get a pre built computer. The lame software that come pre installed on them. There is just so much cruft put on those machines that does not quite work right. ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/57 "2003-05-22T17:22:39Z")
True **LPN**. But then again if you don’t know how to buy a CPU and a mother board of the same class, I wouldn’t recommend those people try building a computer on their own. Of course a few years ago this was different. That Dx2-66 I mentioned actually has an upgrade called the “overdrive” DX4-100. Basically a DX4-100 that was run at 5V instead of 3.3V (in which all CPUs above a Dx2-66 were running). If I had bought a normal DX4-100 I’d have blown my motherboard. Now a days an AMD cpu shouldn’t even fit the socket for an Intel (do they? Never tried). ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/58 "2003-05-22T17:36:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neenah \* > \*\*If you plan to pee loudly while you’re on the phone, you may not call tech support. \*\* [whine]But I was on hold for 90 minutes before I got through to you![/whine] [sub]And I think the gray aliens put diuretics in my tap water…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![sciguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/59 "2003-05-22T18:26:42Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Magayuk_ > How about this? When they phone and start out “I can’t get on the internet.” > Okay, lets start by shutting off your computer, disconnecting the power from your modem. We’ll restart the modem in a bit, wait for bloc sync, and then reboot your computer. > Time passes… > Okay, now lets reboot your computer. > “I can’t reboot my ccomputer, I told you can’t get on the internet.” Argh!!! I hated those people! I tried to take that into account by asking “what’s the _first_ problem you see?” Some more:[ul][li]If you only have one phone line, listen to me when I saw “Do not click ‘connect’!” [/li][li]No, I can’t read your screen. It’s just that I’ve just had to walk hundreds of people through the configuration we just did, so the dialog boxes are permanently burned into my brain. Sadly, I think that even after all these years away from support, I can probably describe every step needed to remove, reinstall and configure the Win95 network components without glancing at any screenshots. I could be using that memory space for something useful![/li][li]Telling tech support “That won’t work” when asked to do something will likely get the response “If you know what won’t work, why can’t you fix it?” Well OK, maybe not, but he/she will be thinking it.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679/60 "2003-05-22T19:13:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Magayuk \* > \*\*Is your mom from Columbia? 🙂 > I wouldn’t have giggled, had the woman not been so obnoxious about it. Told us me had never had this problem until she had switched to our service. Like her deleting the drivers had anything to do with her ISP. People are funny 🙂 \*\* Nope, she’s from a little podunk town in Northern NY. It’s on the Canadian border, about 1.5 hours south of Ottawa. I think part of her problem was this was her first home computer and it was a PC, as opposed to the Mac she’s been using at work for years. She got a little confuzzled when she got it. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-may-not-call-tech-support/176679.md?page=4)