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Johannes Ernst

I just figured out why tech #support often feels so enraging:

I say something, and instead of responding to what I said, the tech support rep looks back into their script, doesn’t see anything that matches what I said, and then falls back to something like “reboot your modem”.

It’s profoundly invalidating because most times you try to be helpful, have an extra insight, or notice something, it gets discounted or ignored. Picking their incompetent, inane script over you, the individual.

22 Jun 2023 at 6:23 | Open on social.coop
4 comments
Billy Smith

@J12t

This is also down to the metrics-driven approach used by the call-centre contracts.

The contracts are completely inflexible, so the call-centre staff aren't allowed to deviate from the script, and they get penalised if they have to pass the call on to a higher level of support.

As the calls are recorded for the metrics, and, for contract compliance, the first-level tech support staff can't do anything but follow the script... :|

22 Jun 2023 at 6:39 | Open on social.coop
Johannes Ernst

@BillySmith as usual, the problem is not with the grunts but with the executives.

22 Jun 2023 at 6:46 | Open on social.coop
Billy Smith

@J12t

I was looking for something else, and found this being relevant. :D

hackaday.com/2017/08/30/lu-ban :D

It's a way of keeping the call-centre-staff as interchange-able cogs, so the company's don't have to pay people what they are worth.

22 Jun 2023 at 6:49 | Open on social.coop
EmberQuill :v_gf:

@J12t as someone who worked in tech support for two years, I can confidently say it's just as enraging being on the other side of that call.

I had people straight-up lie to me and tell me they'd tried rebooting when I knew a reboot should solve their problem and they clearly hadn't. I had people yell at me for 20 solid minutes for being unwilling/unable to disable a critical security feature because it inconvenienced them. I had to argue with people who *thought* they knew what was wrong and supposedly had extra insight but really had no idea what they were talking about.

As for the script, often you don't have any choice and it's management's fault. A tech could know the exact solution to your problem but they're not allowed to tell you before following the script.

Also there's a reason why rebooting is such a common suggestion. Reboots and password resets solved 85% of the calls I took.

@J12t as someone who worked in tech support for two years, I can confidently say it's just as enraging being on the other side of that call.

I had people straight-up lie to me and tell me they'd tried rebooting when I knew a reboot should solve their problem and they clearly hadn't. I had people yell at me for 20 solid minutes for being unwilling/unable to disable a critical security feature because it inconvenienced them. I had to argue with people who *thought* they knew what was wrong and supposedly...

22 Jun 2023 at 11:13 | Open on tech.lgbt
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