photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Jim Larkin | all galleries >> Galleries >> Photo a Day - 3rd Time's a Charm > Dec. 18, 2008
previous | next
18-DEC-2008

Dec. 18, 2008

And We’re Back

I just don’t get it. I just don’t get why you would want to staff a call center with people that are supposed to help your customers, pay them, give them benefits, but fail to give them any training at all on how to fix a problem. I just don’t get it.

I will give Windstream credit. They brought their call center back to the United States instead of having it in India but it’s now gone from bad to horrible.

Yesterday I am cruising along at 11am and then the next thing I know, no internet. Disconnected again. Dang it. I go downstairs and unplug the modem for a couple minutes, plug it back in and…….nothing. I make the dreaded call to the call center.

The very first thing they tell me to do, before looking at anything else, is to get a pen and push the reset button on the back of the modem.

“Done” I say.

“Ok….”comes the response. “Now we’re showing that the modem isn’t plugged in. Can you plug it in please?”

I assure them that it is in fact plugged in. “Well then, I don’t know. We’ll have to put a repair ticket in.” she says.

Are you serious? That’s all you can do? Tell me to hit the reset button and then accuse me of unplugging it, like I am seeking attention from the “support” center or something.

FF 23 hours. The repair guy pulls up and rings my doorbell. I open the door and there’s no hi, hello, or F.U. “Did you hit the reset button?” he asks.

“Um……yeah. They told me to.” I say.

“Goddamn it” he says “Where’s the modem?”

He goes downstairs logs on and resets my username and password. I’m back on. Literally 6 seconds of work and my 24 hour outage is repaired.

He tells me how whenever the reset button is pressed, it seriously resets the modem. Wipes everything clean. He informs me that if “those retards” in the call center hadn’t told me to reset the modem, the outage would have lasted 20 minutes, as they were doing maintenance. Apparently I am like the 43rd house he’s been to today. “Keeps me employed” he says as he walks out.

He apologizes for the call center, gets in his truck and leaves. All told, he was in my house for about 2 minutes.

24 hours for nothing. I am so ticked.

Nikon D300 ,Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D AF Micro
1/15s f/4.0 at 60.0mm iso200 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time18-Dec-2008 20:28:26
MakeNikon
ModelNIKON D300
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length60 mm
Exposure Time1/15 sec
Aperturef/4
ISO Equivalent200
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programmanual (1)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
share
virginiacoastline10-Jan-2009 03:02
THAT is so stoopidly sad it's funny!
Mike Stobbs20-Dec-2008 23:58
Our connections are frozen to the net in Canada......
pkocinski20-Dec-2008 13:32
Life was less stressful when we didn't have Internet access :-)
LG 20-Dec-2008 04:31
Just had problems with my "Pee"stream DSL last week, my "expert" at tech support tried to sell me addtional DSL filters instead of walking thru the issue. I ended up getting into some configuration modules on my own and found the problem. Sadly, when they still had the call center in India, the man actually solved the problem for me. Glad you're back with us, I always enjoy your posts.
Cindi Smith20-Dec-2008 02:49
Man, they should have training or something!!!!! I'd be writing the president a letter or 100!!!
mikiruaq20-Dec-2008 00:01
Kind of funny but so sad that it's true. It's just what I would expect and anything better would be a shock. Service trucks beware :)
Jonathan Popp19-Dec-2008 23:51
lol at Dan's message, he must be way older then i thought!
I had trouble with my comcast modem, returned it, pluged in the new one and nothing!
called support and they told me I had to reinstall my passwords and numbers. At least this time the call center was on target whereas the walkin place never told me that.
Glad you are up & running.
I'm wondering if we will see your next picture of a service truck getting a ticket :)
John Buffin19-Dec-2008 21:24
Oh no no no. The 2701HG is completely wrong. You need the 2702HG+.

We had similar experiences with Comcast. They had to go bye-bye.
Mom 19-Dec-2008 21:08
Our tech guy just told me when you call a tech center, tell them you WANT to talk to a tier 2, 3, 4, etc. He said the people that answer the phone, tier 1, basically know nothing more than to plug and unplug. He said you almost have to be rude to them to speak to someone higher.
Mom 19-Dec-2008 20:32
LOL That's ridiculous!
H M Schwieb19-Dec-2008 18:14
Yep, recognize the router, same problem. Long and short, told by a 'tech' in India to take everything to a repair centre, they might fix it. Ok fine.

Repaired it myself after 2 days of on line router research.

Give me a call if you need future help LOL.

..Max
Carrie19-Dec-2008 18:14
We have windstream too. I will say that if someone showed up at my house, to repair a service that we pay for and said GD... they would be out faster than they could come up with an apology. Idiots. Thank goodness your girls weren't around. (or were they?)

Fortunately, for us, we haven't had any issues with windstream.Glad you are back online, I think life would stink with out the internet.
Laryl19-Dec-2008 17:53
I'm glad my provider doesn't act like that. Have to say when I call they put me on hold and go find out what the heck to do when they are stumped, even give me a supervisor or someone who knows more. They walk me through the reset and we log into the modem via my computer to do whatever. Not all companies are like yours, if I had your experience I'd be looking for a new provider the minute that guy walked out the door!
Dan Chusid19-Dec-2008 17:13
In the olden days, you just cranked the handle on the phone
on the wall and got Thelma down the street who relayed you
to Bill or John over at the hardware store or pharmacy, who
filled your order and sent it over on the bicycle ridden
by little Jimmy.

My how far backwards we've come.
Type your message and click Add Comment
It is best to login or register first but you may post as a guest.
Enter an optional name and contact email address. Name
Name Email
help private comment