Due to *ahem* high turnover, tech support has mysteriously become my job. While I mostly don't mind doing it, here's some things to keep in mind before calling your poor swamped tech support guy:
1. PLEASE be descriptive. "It had some error message" is about as helpful to me as telling your mechanic "my engine cut out and a light on the dash came on".
2. DO NOT jump to the conclusion that whatever it is is our fault. We have rack units with digital (ISDN) modems with a fibre feed from the exchange. You have a $20 piece-of-shit analogue modem. Not your fault, but that's the way it is. And if it *is* our fault, it'll be fixed ASAP, top priority, the whole nine yards. Doesn't happen often though.
3. IF you are asked to read something out, PLEASE read out only that. I do not need to know what the 25 other lines that don't say "IP Address" say, if that's what I'm asking.
4. Our logs don't lie. If that means your kid was online at 4AM, deal with it. If someone else used your account, that'd be why we told you you probably should have chosen a password stronger than your girlfriend's name when you signed up.
5. There's more to the Internet than the Web. Being unable to browse does NOT mean you're not connected to the Internet.
6. Leaving aggressive or whiny messages on my voicemail is not the way to get your problem solved quicker. It MIGHT make me abuse my powers as systems admin, though - or at least it would if I wasn't so ethical :halo: Oh, and emailing your girlfriend 7 times a day without response suggests obsession and desparation, dude.. *whistles*
7. No, you did not receive that email about your email account being locked from us. Email addresses can be forged. I don't expect you to necessarily know that, but would commonsense not raise some alarm bells about how you could get that email if your account was locked?
8. If you are tech support for one of our customers, I expect at least a token effort at problem solving before you call us. I expect some base competency if you're getting a paycheck as an IT professional, too, but hey, I can't argue with your shiny new A+ certificate, can I?
Oh, and quoting your qualifications/experience at me in order to try and indicate how hard it is to do something with us that you "never had any problems with before" will only make you look like an idiot by the end of the phone call.
9. It's not my job to guess your username. And believe it or not, it's poor security for me to tell you what yours is unless I call you back on the number you gave us. So if you forget yours, don't piss me off or you'll get nowhere until you remember or find it. I'm even tighter with passwords.
10. DO please be patient with me. Diagnosis over the phone is not easy. Patience and calmness WILL be appreciated, believe me - I remember the nice ones
*phew*
Linear Mode
