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We’ve all been there. Something’s dreadfully wrong with your trusty computer - you can’t print, you can’t get on the web, you can’t play Bejeweled. For whatever reason, the problem is major enough to warrant one of the most desperate acts you can imagine - a phone call to tech support.
Now, before we dig in, let me tell you that I’ve done my time answering the tech support phone calls. I spent a good 3 years at it, so I have a pretty good idea what I’m talking about. And while I didn’t enjoy it for the most part, it was an enlightening experience. The support calls that were the most pleasant (or least unbearable, it could also be said) were with people who took the time to perform one or more of the steps I’m going to outline here. Trust me folks, this is the real freaking McCoy.
The key to making things work with your tech support representative is to make things easy for them. I know that there are a great many jackasses out there who feel some sense of entitlement and indignation when speaking to people in service roles, but believe me - you want them to be happy.
Before You Call
As you may or may not know, how you act before you even pick up the phone can pay a crucial role in the success or failure of your tech support experience. It can, quite literally, mean the difference between a quick and complete resolution to your problem and a harrowing grudge match that ends in frustration and defeat.
- For pete’s sake, Reboot - Most people either don’t know to do this or, for some reason, think that their problem is big enough to withstand a restart, so they don’t even try. Anybody who’s worked in support will tell you that a ridiculous number of issues will be resolved by rebooting your computer. So, please, before you pick up the phone, reboot.
- Know how to reproduce the problem - If you’re getting some cryptic error from within your web browser or something, be able to make the error happen on command before you call. Don’t call in and say “Internet Explorer said there was an error and had a bunch of weird numbers” if you aren’t able to do this, because you can bet your bottom dollar that the tech’s first request will be for you to make the error happen again. So, do yourself a favor and (to the extent that you’re able, obviously) get this process straight before calling.
- Attempt to fix the problem yourself - Most people seem to have a very strong aversion to this suggestion. Either they don’t feel like they have the know-how to even try to fix it, or they just feel like they’d rather have a pro look at it. I understand all of this, but people who think that way run the risk of wasting both their time (and money, depending on who they’re calling) and the time of the poor schlep on the other end of the phone. See the “reboot” suggestion above for a *classic* example of this.
Assuming you’ve got all of your ducks in a row and the problem is still rearing its ugly head, it’s time to pick up the phone. There are some things you can do while on the phone that should make things easier. But first, there are a couple things that you should bear in mind as you’re talking to the person on the other end.
Things to Remember
- They (probably) didn’t cause the problem personally - As silly as this sounds, it always amazed me when people got me on the phone to help them fix something and conducted the entire conversation with the tacit belief that I was the one who caused their crap to break and needed to be punished. So, please, don’t forget that the poor a-hole on the other end is just doing his/her job and is probably not directly responsible for your AOL email password not working.
- They can’t see what you’re doing - In other words, you need to be descriptive. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to know (and use) all of the techie jargon (and unless you know what you’re talking about, I would recommend not even attempting to do so), but avoid using words like “thingie” when you’re talking about a pop-up window or the mouse cursor.
- They don’t necessarily know the answer right off the bat - Diagnosing a computer problem is just that, an exercise in diagnostics. Trial and error is the name of the game here, so expect to wander down some paths that end up being dead ends. Effective tech support personnel are able to quickly pare down the list of possible causes of a problem, then systematically eliminate the rest until they arrive at the culprit. Just know that the phone call may not be a quick one.
While on the Phone
- Do exactly what they tell you to do - There’s nothing more infuriating to the tech support guy than some know-it-all, weekend warrior type who managed to install Windows 98 on his own a few years back and is now an expert. These are also the types of people who roll their eyes when the person on the phone asks them to do something they may have already tried (or worse, something they feel isn’t relevant to the issue at hand). Chances are, the person you’re talking to knows more about this stuff than you do. You should operate under this assumption and do precisely what you’re asked. It will make the process go much more smoothly, believe me.
- Be patient - As I mentioned before, the tech will likely try several candidate solutions to your problem before arriving at the winner.
- Context is relevant - If you’re calling about a printer problem, it might be worth mentioning that you recently installed a new cartridge. If your computer is making funny noises, you might want to bring up the series of power outages you experienced in the last 24 hours. It’s better to give more information than not enough, so feel free to share any facts that seem like they might be relevant.
- Don’t lie - The simple fact of the matter is that many, many computer problems are the result of doing things with said computer that you might not want to admit. And I’m not just talking about porn (though, that’s the chief sinner a lot of the time) - it could also be that toolbar you installed for your browser that gives you easy access to pictures of cute cats, or maybe that free Su Doku game. No matter what, if they person asks you if you opened any strange email attachments (or something) recently, just freakin’ fess up, because they’re probably going to figure it out eventually anyway.
- Don’t be an Ass - One of the quickest ways you can get to the land of the banished is to treat the tech like some peon who’s just “beneath you” or something. Trust me, if you want help, humility is like gold. And if you think that certain tech support people won’t give you the runaround if your attitude is sour, you’re very, very wrong. Very.
Most of us will have to get an expert on the horn at some point in our lives. If your time is drawing near, remember these tips and hopefully your experience will be relatively painless.
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37 Responses to “11 Tips for Better Tech Support”
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It’s hard to stay calm when the tech support guy tells you the reason that your Internet connection is slow is that your cable modem gets slower as it gets older and you probably need a new one…
11 Tips for Better Tech Support : The Cranking Widgets Blog…
We’ve all been there. Something’s dreadfully wrong with your trusty computer - you can’t print, you can’t get on the web, you can’t play Bejeweled. For whatever reason, the problem is major enough to warrant one of the most desperate acts you…
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Good list, most people dont take the time to try and fix the problem themselves, or even use a free tool called Google to see if a solution has already been found.
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[…] Great post on dealing with tech support folks. I’ve been there, done that, got the bruises from beating my head against the nearest wall - mostly from the support guy side. […]
I try to do this. Problem is, I usually *do* know more than the 1st level support techs who largely just follow a script, and cannot be deviated from it. Case in point, I own my own cable modem. Every time I call my Provider regarding a connection issue, the tech, within moments, sees the notation on my account about me using a non-rented modem. “That’s your problem, your modem is bad.” Twice now I have gone and pulled a new modem out of my stock and hooked it up just to get them to actually look into the problems. I’m quite sure I’ve become unpopular down there after saying some not-nice things when they refused to help.
What’s the point… even when you do all of that they tell you that you have to do it again and won’t listen when you say “I’ve already rebooted etc”
@WTP: Simple; The first law of tech support is as follows: “Customers Lie.” Many, many times I’ve been told ‘But I already did that!’ in response to a suggestion. Strangely, the 6th reboot (the one they do when they’re on the phone with me) is magically the one that fixes it.
Well, although I agree with most of the point listed, a lot of the time I can only last that long… I mean I always try to be patient when I call customer support, and I try to do everything they tell me, but when I call my ISP for 20th time for them to actually get it working the way they are supposed to, I just can’t go through the whole 2 hour long “your PC is probably causing this” troubleshooting. When I have to call them that often, and they have all my records and history of past phone calls, they should not ask me to do everything all over again.
I did help support for a few years, too. I understand that most people call in and occasionally get someone that is a moron. Okay, most of the time the “tech” is a moron. When that happens, it’s best to be polite, get off the phone, and call back later and hope for someone better. When you talk with someone you don’t know, give them the benefit of the doubt before deciding you’re smarter than them. I can’t count how many times I’ve had a person being a jerk on the phone, and I could have easily fixed their problem in one minute, but since they treated me like crap, I made them wait forever to get their problem resolved. People get mad when things don’t work right; that’s normal. Just don’t take it out on the person that is trying to help you!
“you can’t play Bejeweled!” — that’s brilliant.
But seriously, I get a call from my mom all the time when I she can’t play bejeweled.
Tech support is often farmed out to lowest bidder cube farms with undertrained “techs”. Hey, training costs money, and no company wants to throw money at tech support. That’s why so many are Indian. They’re cheap. That’s not good enough for corporate America though, they’ve sliced the margins so thin that Indian companies are turning up their noses at contracts.
Thank goodness that trend is reversing and jobs are coming back.
You pretentious prick, you have a jop not a calling you are not some kind of divinity just do your job that you are paid to do and do not belittle the people that call you as part of the support that they have paid for. My personal experience is that few of you know anything other than a stupid bunch of routine activities like switch on the computer, reload this or that , total pricks.
You should apologise to all the users you have offended with this post and then you should TRY to get another job.
I would have to reject to ‘try to fix it yourself’. I am a sysadmin and ALOT of times this makes matters 10 times worse.
I’m trying to figure out who Mike is talking to, and what he’s pissed off about.
@Shane eh, I probably could’ve phrased that a little better. I obviously don’t think regular users should go poking around in C:\Windows\System32 or anything, but it should be fairly obvious in most situations where the root of the problem might be. If you can’t print, restart the printer. Always reboot the computer before calling. Make sure whatever device is broken is actually plugged in, etc.
I just hope screensharing applications will completely change the nature of tech support in the next few years…then you don’t have to ask half the questions and you don’t need to describe every stupid detail about the button that’s staring them right in the face.
Alas…I don’t know which to dislike more, the silly calls I sometimes get from customers or the silly responses I sometimes get on my own tech support cals. The one important bit here is that YOU (Brett) are competent but the people who answer many of the calls I’ve placed really aren’t. Or maybe I’m just the annoying “know it all” guy you mentioned above…
do you also reccomend taking apart said crapped-out computer. like i did earlier today. and brilliant me!…it works!..sort of, for now anyways.
but, brett, you know me, i still am trying to figure out all that coding stuff you and justin were doing years ago. like de-coders in the dark? night lites and stuff. secret messages.
okay, i didn’t take it “apart” i just unhooked it all and took the battery out and popped it back in. see, what the hell? is that okay? i hate computers. i like turtles.
RE: “Most of us will have to get an expert on the horn at some point in our lives. If your time is drawing near, remember these tips and hopefully your experience will be relatively painless.”
Problem is that the tech support person you typically call is not an expert. It’s tough to deal with tech support when you yourself are a technical person and have already tried everything that a level 1 (and usually level 2) support technician would tell you to try. It ends up wasting a lot of people’s time when issues that should be escalated to top level support don’t get escalated right away.
And to Jared, screen sharing is great and all (my company’s help desk uses it), but it’s a problem when the issue is with your ISP and you don’t have an internet connection.
[…] in an online forum or send an email to someone for help, be sure to master the art of asking. 11 Tips for Better Tech Support [The Cranking Widgets […]
These tips are all great, but there’s no point.
End users just don’t care. Nor do their bosses. People are hired, never asked about PC skills, put in front of a PC, never trained, and then given an IT phone number “in case they have a problem.” The same people cause the same problems, over and over and nobody is accountable or cares as long as a “computer guy” is there to clean up the mess. If they were driving a car, their license would have been taken away a long, long time ago.
I’ve routinely had people actually call me to ask how to do their job. These are things that their manager should have shown them on their first day. But since it involves the PC, the manager simply says, “the computer guy will show you the computer stuff.” No, I’ll fix it when it breaks, but WON’T show you how to use your accounting software. No wonder other countries are kicking our asses.
Now before I get flamed for being elite, and do understand that very few of us should need skills to rebuild a server or rescue an Exchange database. But it is 2008, and EVERYONE over the age of 5 years old that is breathing and wants to earn a paycheck should know the very basics of PC usage. I’m sorry, but the world runs on PCs. I am sickened by the people who are hired that don’t even know about right-clicking.
If you are a manager of a big company, PLEASE WAKE UP. Your employees need PC skills. The world runs on computers and you don’t even consider it when hiring. Having tech support waste 15 minutes of everyone’s time to help someone change their password every 60 days is something we as Americans and business owners will not be able to afford as the world gets more competitive.
Whew, I feel better.
[…] How To Get Better Tech Support Lately, I’ve seen a lot of new users here on CB. They usually have a problem and are asking us to help solve it for them. Something a lot of newbies don’t realize is that you can search thousands of threads on here, and the question has probably in asked once before. You can also easily search this site using Google by using the site operator. What I normally do is type "site:forums.crackberry.com messages deleted" and this brings up a nice list of results, sometimes more relevant than the search from the site itself. Some newbies do have a problem that really hasn’t been discussed much. This can be a problem though if you don’t ask in the right way. You need to be able to explain the problem since no one but you can see you screen. I found a couple of good articles with more general tips earlier today. Hopefully this helps some of the newbies. Geek to Live: The art of asking 11 Tips for Better Tech Support : The Cranking Widgets Blog […]
Good article. As a long-time tech support worker, I do have a couple of issues.
(1) I do not agree with “Try and fix it yourself first”. People who do this generally cause more problems. Too many “Well it did had an error. So I deleted some files and edited the registry but it didn’t help. Now I have more errors.” conversations has deterred me from this.
(2) Need to add “Do exactly what they say AND NOTHING MORE”. When a support agent tells you to go to control panel, that does NOT mean to go into Network & Internet, Device Manager, or any other icon in control panel. It means go to control panel.
(3) I would add a note that generally, they really do want to help you. People seem to think that we don’t want to help, or that we’re prone to lying to customers. Unless you’re calling the shadiest tech support on earth, neither of those thing would keep us in a job for very long.
Also, I would like to double up on the “Don’t be an ass.” It does not help you At. All. The second you’re a dick to me is the second I start finding ways to be a dick to you. I would love to send you recovery CDs for free, really, I would. But if you bitch at me for 10 minutes before you ask, it’s a safe bet I’m going to make you pay for them.
And finally, if you’re calling tech support, be prepared to accept any solution they give you. “I computer won’t boot.” “You need to reinstall windows.” “But I’ll lose all my stuff! There has to be another way!” No. You’re calling free tech support. We offer the quickest, easiest, more sure-fire way of fixing a problem. If you want some fancy solution that takes an hour to figure out and 2 hours to implement, but doesn’t lose data… find it yourself.
@Shane: Agreed. If you don’t know what the start menu is, please don’t try to fix it yourself. Also, we’re here to help you, not to be your vent. If you swear at me, I’ll hang up without warning.
Second, take a minute to think about your dilemma. If you’re getting a BSOD, don’t call your ISP. Computers are like cars; they break down. If your muffler falls off, don’t bitch at the gas station.
@brett: the printer.
@thegrumpyadmin: you have no *freaking idea* how many times I’ve had to explain how to right-click and then explain that you only do it on certain occasions.
“Right click on local area connection, then go to properties.”
“right click on properties?”
“no, just left click. Only use the right button when I specifically say so.”
“so….you want me to right click on properties?”
Damn PEBKACs.
I am currently a 1st level support tech and would like to share a few thoughts.
A. At the first level of support there is a scope that we are allowed to operate within(at least where I work). We are required to troubleshoot an issue and determine what the problem is and fix it if possible. If not we determine if it is an issue that needs to be escalated to a higher level of support or if it is just something that we dont support. We cannot automatically escalate issues to the 2nd level, or “highest” level of support because a user feels thats what it requires. Obviously everyone wants the top specialist for their issue, but thats rarely required.
B. Regardless of what kind of jackasses youve spoken with in the past, dont automatically assume that you will receive the same level of support that you may have previously. Many schmucks are hired for the first level, but many IT professionals fresh out of college with a higher level of knowledge than needed for their position begin their career at this point. The level of support you receive is a mixed bag but even a poor analyst can quickly escalate your issue if they deem it fit, and they most likely wont if you are a despicable human being. Your attitude will largely determine the quality of service you receive. You wouldnt curse at your waiter before you ordered your meal, unless you enjoy the taste of spit, dont be a douchenozzle before you give your tech support agent a chance.
C. This has likely been reiterated a few times, but dont second guess the analyst you speak with. If you really feel theyre going about the wrong path to solve your issue, why did you call? Try it yourself, and then when you still cant solve it, give tech support a call. Obviously this is a bad idea in more complicated matters but this is an issue that tech support agents encounter so often it is ridiculous. We usually can solve the matter fairly quickly but users want to second guess and try other things in the midst of instruction which wastes at least one persons time.
I’ve been on both sides of the tech support divide, and I think in the end virtually all strife with tech support can be solved by two simple things:
1. Don’t be an Ass
Seriously. If you go in with a pleasant tone of voice, are polite and actually thank the support person on the other end for their time and assistance, they’ll bend over backwards to get things working for you. I’ve even gotten free months of cable doing this because in certain cases, the support person has some leeway to “reimburse” you for your service troubles.
Being kind goes a LONG way.
2. Ask for Tier 2
If you’re stuck with a Script Monkey (lvl1) and you’ve been through the script many times in the past (as I have with my ISP) get through the list quickly and politely ask for the tier 2 person. Don’t wast time you don’t have to with the temp who was hired to take the brunt of the stupid user errors. Chances are the tier 1 guy will be glad to dodge a tough problem, and you’ll probably get your problem solved quicker
Dear IT Guys,
While I value your tips for many of my delightful new almost-retirement colleagues, may I give you one as a recent college graduate who entered the workforce last year.
If the person you are talking to sounds young-ish (ie under 40) they probably have tried things such as reboot (and know the difference between soft and hard reboots, so if we say we had to do a hard reboot, don’t follow up with “well, did you try unplugging it and then plugging it in again?”)
For the record, we new hires usually know how to install a printer (local or network), are smart enough not to open .exe files, and probably are multi-OS lingual. (I can do all of the basic user functions on a Mac, PC, or Linux box. Most of the people hired at the same time as me can do the same.)
Naturally, there are exceptions to the rule — like the legal intern recently fired from my job for opening a “funny” PowerPoint slideshow from a chain letter that crippled our network for a week — but for the most part, college attendance at anytime in the 21st century requires we graduates to not be computer retarded. So, please don’t talk down to me and please don’t suggest things to me like “turning it off and turning it back on”. Been there, done that. In fact, if someone from the class of 2004 forwards (and possibly before that) calls you to say there’s a problem, we’ve probably already checked to make sure every thing’s plugged in, rebooted more than once, and possibly even looked at files if we have access to them.
Oh, and if you don’t already, watch The IT Crowd.
“Do exactly what they tell you to do” - you have to be kidding me. I have been a software engineer for 20 years on every imaginable platform you can think of, so no, a tech support isn’t smarter than me. For a tech support to insist that I open IE and tell him what i see is downright insulting when I am talking to him about the DHCP server on the wireless router not working properly and yes I know WTF I am talking about. Every company needs to have a fast track process for an experienced user to 2nd level engineer without going through the usual crap that 1st line tech support monkey forces on him, ARGH, so don’t tell me to do exactly they tell me to do.
I don’t agree with “attempt to fix the problem yourself” entirely. Some people will do more harm than good, but if you’re comfortable with trying something, then that’s usually fine.
[…] by Chill on 27 Apr 2008 at 10:44 pm | Tagged as: Uncategorized The problem is, the people who need this advice will never, ever read […]
OH COME ON!
First of all. We DO get training.
Second. I’m NOT indian, you stupid rednecks, I live in Argentina.
I have more knowledge about computers than the people reading this.
If you’re not happy with the tech support you get, build your own computer like I just did.
If you’re not smart enough to do that, just learn how to use a freaking computer. Most of the problems occur because you’re a bunch of ignorants.
Thank you for choosing us, and have a nice day!
I’ve been working in tech support for 10 years, and love this thread. By and large, I agree with thegrumpyadmin above - it is often shocking how little people know about PC’s, and even more frustratingly, seem defiant about not learning anything more. However, I have found that the hardest people to work with are the “almost experts” (apart from my narrow fields of expertise, I am definitely in this camp) - it’s really hard to deal with people who have “already tried everything” and are positive that every suggestion given is not the problem - until it turns out that it is.
My best strategy has been to suggest that a tech support call is like a trip to the doctor - they will rarely accept your sworn promise that your blood pressure is fine, and may want to check for themselves. As someone who has been on both sides of the phone, please don’t take this as an insult.
[…] somewhere in India. So save yourself the potential humiliation and check out the article titled 11 Tips for Better Tech Support. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and […]
@mike sanders: First of all, there’s a thing called punctuation. Learn it. Use it. Love it. Second, you seem to be the only one offended by this post. So maybe there is something wrong with YOUR thinking.
What you are not seeing is that “stupid bunch of routine activities like switch on the computer, reload this or that ” usually fix the issue right away. Like Philodox said, “Strangely, the 6th reboot (the one they do when they’re on the phone with me) is magically the one that fixes it.” We COULD take people’s word that they have tried rebooting and these other stupid routine activities and move on to other steps, assuming those didn’t work. Then after wasting both the time of the customer and tech support we decide to start over and try the stupid routine activity the customer said they already did…magic. It works!
Remember one simple rule. You are calling tech support because you have an issue and you don’t know how to fix it. You call the people that have the knowledge and ask them for help. Answer their questions clearly, do what your told, and you will find that the calls go by so much faster with positive results.
My favourite quote, I heard from my co-worker. “Sir…sir…sir…you’re calling ME an idiot. Yet YOU called ME for help.” mike sanders probably won’t get the humour in that one. But others will.
[…] 11 Tips For Better Tech Support [The Cranking Widgets Blog] […]
[…] Cranking Widgets Blog suggests 11 tips for getting better tech support, for those times when technology is being the master, not the […]
Interesting - because that is the same thing I found out last Thursday.
[…] The Cranking Widgets Blog “We’ve all been there. Something’s dreadfully wrong with your trusty computer - you […]