You_have_(no)internet
Posted: July 1, 2008 8:56 pmFiled under: internet, rant
And so it goes in these modern times. We are so accustomed to always having our
internet service - what would we ever do without it…
Really - What’s that ? I sound like a broken record ? ?
Sometimes I think the broken record is the sound of un-knowing, un-caring tech-support personnel in a far-distant land. “Uh, it must be stuck…“, or how about “Everything looks right, I don’t see how it can NOT be working.” Maybe you’ve heard “Just leave it like it is, it will take 24 hours to reset itself.” These are lyrics to the song that most modern (so-called) Internet Service Providers (ISPs) continue to sing to a user base that is increasingly more and more network-savvy than their entry-level underpaid outsourced Tech Support……
I honestly don’t understand how these MBAs that drive the profit margins for some of these companies can seriously think that this is good for their business..!.. When you consider the number of repeat calls, the extended duration of support calls, the incredible amount of customer frustration and exasperation - sometimes just to overcome some uncomfortable language barrier - and then learn that what is needed is an Internet Plumber with a Cyber-Plunger, or a Router-Rooter.
Admittedly, the majority of internet users may never have a problem, or be too afraid to call for support - but that is no excuse for the shoddy job many ISPs are passing off for “tech-support“. They have to recognize when to get beyond the “Turn it off and back on..” stage and escalate the call to someone that has a clue. It is not magic anymore!
There are thousands of talented folks available nowadays that can troubleshoot consumer networks. BUT, it is far less expensive to out-source/off-shore as much of that as possible. I’d be so bold as to speculate that some of the cost-reduction ISPs have experienced in this fashion is due to so many folks learning to do their own tech-support - just to not have to deal with ‘phone-support’ and it’s inherent difficulties. I hesitate anymore before I let it slip that I used to run an ISP, or even that I did Support for a big computer company for 10 years. This trade is coming to have a questionable reputation.
The word “SERVICE” is what I miss the most, and this goes far beyond the narrow scope of internet ’service’. People no longer know how to deliver service. I could go on and on about ‘how it was’, or ‘what is wrong with xyz…’, but I get bored with that approach quickly. I alone can’t change the world, but if everyone would take the time, when you happen to receive some shoddy ‘service‘ - to let that company know how bad it was. It will never change until they recognize how and where this will hurt their business. If we continue to tolerate and accept such a sorry excuse for ‘service‘ - we deserve no better. Not so long ago, this country took pride in the growing “Service Sector” of our economy. Well, guess what - we have outsourced that too, along with our economy…
/;^)
July 1st, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Oh, I almost forgot why I started this post…
The SomeNet email server is currently unavailable BECAUSE the new DSL modem that it has been running on for the last 5 days - apparently wasn’t supposed to be working yet, and now that they have properly conditioned the ‘profile’ it will have to wait 24 hours, before it gets “unstuck”. . .
Now I can do without my email a few more hours, but Embarq’s new DSL subscriber can’t use his line for anything but making telephone calls (and he has made plenty to their “tech-support” - and been listening to the same lyrics - over and - over and - over again…) They should at least provide him with a dial-up modem pool to connect into while waiting for the network plumber to come back on shift and flush the buffers, or empty the ‘grid-leak pan’, or whatever it is that allows things to work …. …. …. as before.
Honestly /;^)