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Sep. 7th, 2003 12:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolariEver had one of those days (those of you at call centers) when the sound of the ringing phone makes ya wince? That's today.
Just got off the phone with an irate college mom. Her Major Computer Corporation's computer has no sound. No, problem, let's troubleshoot the problem.
Not happening. Little Johnny is at Penn State. She's in Chicago. I hate these calls, because at this point, Little Johnny is the Cream of the Penn State Crop, Gods Gift to Ecologists, Master of the Universe, and Candidate for God.
I hate these calls...but I'm now prepared. Basically, my only response to something like this is: We need you to be in front of the machine to troubleshoot it. Of course she doesn't want that, Johnny's MP3s aren't playing, and it's hurting his grade point average as we speak! Besides, he took it to the Penn State IT department, who told him it was the sound card, and to get a new one! Not only that, he took it to a friend who said it was a sound card.
Were they Dell Certified Technicians? No. And I thought this was great: "WHAT'S THE USE OF THE PENN STATE IT DEPARTMENT THEN?" "They make sure their network is running." "Well, you just have an answer for everything, don't you?"
Of course I do. I get one call a week like this.
Anyways, it all boiled down to: Replace the Sound Card, or we're returning the computer. I gave them the number to sales and bid her goodbye.
Now some people may think I was a bit harsh in giving her the sales number for a refund. But Little Johnny needs to call us, troubleshoot with us, and help us get the soundcard out. If God-Elect Johnny doesn't have the time to deal with me, I don't have the time to deal with them.
Besides, that's one less person calling us demanding parts for a computer three states away.
I admit, some people in the world just aren't technical. I have no problem when you call something by it's wrong name, or don't know the technical words. I was that way once. However, when I tell you a CD is marked "Major Computer Corporation Reinstallation Disk" don't ask me if the CD that says "Roxio Easy CD Creator" is the one we need.
This is what happens when Little Johnny grows up.
Johnny II calls in upset over the fact that his repair was not done today (Friday). I look at his order, and yes, there was a delay. I apologize and let him know that the part IS in California, and the tech should be out there Monday.
That's not good enough. WE NEED IT NOW. So I offer to have the tech paged to call the customer to set up an appointment. It's still before business hours in CA, I can get it done easily. Not good enough for Johnny II. I don't want to have a tech paged, I want a service manager NOW. I offer to get the tech out. No, he wants a service manager.
Thankfully, I have a manager who rocks. Most managers do 24-hour-turnaround callbacks and it's likely you won't talk to my manager. Mine is very proactive - if someone demands a manager, and you can't diffuse the situation, give him a call, anytime day or night, and he'll take care of it. Plus he cooks a mean barbecue.
So my manager and this guy jabber, about how important it is that the tech come out NOW. And I know something is wrong when Johnny II begins asking about "I need a direct line to the Research and Development Team at Major Computer COrporation" and "I have some suggestions for corporate wide restructuring for your corporation." Especially since he bought a Million Dollars worth of computers from us (which turned into two, and eventually three by the time the call was over).
After all was said and done, my manager basically said "We'll get someone out there tonight" and pulled some major strings.
After the whole fiasco was over, and while I Was waiting for callbacks to make sure everything was hunky dory, I called our Onsite Technician Company to make sure everything was good on their end. There wasn't a problem at all - however, the tech DID call into the customer that morning, who told them to come in Monday.
Seems the repair was for a woman at that company...who asked for the repair on Monday. Johnny II obviously decided that she was in the wrong and we needed to be there NOW dammit.
And after all that, I check the call notes...he called in the next day asking for the direct line to our CEO.
His position? IT Department Supervisor for a small school district.
Just got off the phone with an irate college mom. Her Major Computer Corporation's computer has no sound. No, problem, let's troubleshoot the problem.
Not happening. Little Johnny is at Penn State. She's in Chicago. I hate these calls, because at this point, Little Johnny is the Cream of the Penn State Crop, Gods Gift to Ecologists, Master of the Universe, and Candidate for God.
I hate these calls...but I'm now prepared. Basically, my only response to something like this is: We need you to be in front of the machine to troubleshoot it. Of course she doesn't want that, Johnny's MP3s aren't playing, and it's hurting his grade point average as we speak! Besides, he took it to the Penn State IT department, who told him it was the sound card, and to get a new one! Not only that, he took it to a friend who said it was a sound card.
Were they Dell Certified Technicians? No. And I thought this was great: "WHAT'S THE USE OF THE PENN STATE IT DEPARTMENT THEN?" "They make sure their network is running." "Well, you just have an answer for everything, don't you?"
Of course I do. I get one call a week like this.
Anyways, it all boiled down to: Replace the Sound Card, or we're returning the computer. I gave them the number to sales and bid her goodbye.
Now some people may think I was a bit harsh in giving her the sales number for a refund. But Little Johnny needs to call us, troubleshoot with us, and help us get the soundcard out. If God-Elect Johnny doesn't have the time to deal with me, I don't have the time to deal with them.
Besides, that's one less person calling us demanding parts for a computer three states away.
I admit, some people in the world just aren't technical. I have no problem when you call something by it's wrong name, or don't know the technical words. I was that way once. However, when I tell you a CD is marked "Major Computer Corporation Reinstallation Disk" don't ask me if the CD that says "Roxio Easy CD Creator" is the one we need.
This is what happens when Little Johnny grows up.
Johnny II calls in upset over the fact that his repair was not done today (Friday). I look at his order, and yes, there was a delay. I apologize and let him know that the part IS in California, and the tech should be out there Monday.
That's not good enough. WE NEED IT NOW. So I offer to have the tech paged to call the customer to set up an appointment. It's still before business hours in CA, I can get it done easily. Not good enough for Johnny II. I don't want to have a tech paged, I want a service manager NOW. I offer to get the tech out. No, he wants a service manager.
Thankfully, I have a manager who rocks. Most managers do 24-hour-turnaround callbacks and it's likely you won't talk to my manager. Mine is very proactive - if someone demands a manager, and you can't diffuse the situation, give him a call, anytime day or night, and he'll take care of it. Plus he cooks a mean barbecue.
So my manager and this guy jabber, about how important it is that the tech come out NOW. And I know something is wrong when Johnny II begins asking about "I need a direct line to the Research and Development Team at Major Computer COrporation" and "I have some suggestions for corporate wide restructuring for your corporation." Especially since he bought a Million Dollars worth of computers from us (which turned into two, and eventually three by the time the call was over).
After all was said and done, my manager basically said "We'll get someone out there tonight" and pulled some major strings.
After the whole fiasco was over, and while I Was waiting for callbacks to make sure everything was hunky dory, I called our Onsite Technician Company to make sure everything was good on their end. There wasn't a problem at all - however, the tech DID call into the customer that morning, who told them to come in Monday.
Seems the repair was for a woman at that company...who asked for the repair on Monday. Johnny II obviously decided that she was in the wrong and we needed to be there NOW dammit.
And after all that, I check the call notes...he called in the next day asking for the direct line to our CEO.
His position? IT Department Supervisor for a small school district.
