[size=3]Tips On Dealing With Tech Support[/size]

1) Don't argue with Tech Support! If you knew how to fix your current problem you would not be on the phone with them in the first place.

2) Calling Tech Support is some what of a crap shoot. Some techs know their stuff backwards and forwards. They have every menu memorized and they know pretty much what you are going to say even before you say it. If you run in to one of these skilled techs get his/her name. If you ever have to call that particular tech support again ask for that person by name. He or she will fix your problem in the least amount of time.

Other techs may have just started or may be still learning. They have access to very knowledgeable people. It may take them longer to fix your problem, but there is a good chance they will. They might have to go ask someone else what to do, but more than likely they will eventually fix your problem.

Ok, some of the techs are clueless. The demand for skilled techs is high, but the supply is low. There will be some people in tech support who will find their calling in another profession. If you are reasonably sure the person you are talking to is not skilled enough to help you, ask nicely to speak to the lead tech or supervisor. If the lead tech or supervisor is not available ask if you can leave your name and number and have someone get back to you. Don't expect an immediate call back. It may be a day or two depending on how busy the tech support department is. Usually the person assigned to do the call backs will be one of the better techs.

3) When you call tech support, no matter how pissed off you are, remember the tech support person did not cause your problem, but they may very well be the person who fixes your problem. Being a smart ass will only decrease their desire to help you. The tech support person on the phone has absolute power over your call. If you piss them off too much they can hang up on you in the blink of an eye, and send you back to the cue for another long wait just so you can complain about being hung up on.

4) Learn how to use your computer. The "Dummies" series of books (Windows 95 for Dummies, etc) are easy to read and understand. I learned how to use Windows 95 myself by reading "Windows 95 for Dummies" before moving on to more advanced topics. If you are not willing to learn at least a little you are wasting your time and money on a computer.

5) Call Tech Support during non-prime time hours. The calls coming in to Tech Support are at their highest volumes during weekday evening hours and business hours. The usual slump in the volume of calls occurs in the morning (9:00 am - 10:00 a.m.), right at lunch (12:00 p.m.), and around supper time (5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m). Mid afternoon on Sunday can also be a slow time. When choosing a time to call keep in mind that the tech support you are calling may not be in the same state and time zone you are. Even local tech support numbers are not always "local". The phone company may be forwarding your call to another distant location even though you dialed a local number.

6) Don't buy the cheapest product you can find especially when buying a modem for your computer. Cheap modems almost always are cheap because they are junk. There IS a difference in quality and performance. A big difference. I once walked in to a computer store and saw a customer about to make a mistake. He picked up a blank white box that said "33.6 modem" and put it on the counter. I explained who I was and told him of the many calls we get at Internet Tech Support from customers who bought cheap modems that are now repeatedly hanging up on them. The sales person countered; "Actually that modem is made by Diamond Multimedia - The same company that makes the Supra Express." I replied; "It might be, but if they were proud of it they would have put their name on the box."

7) Calling computer tech support when you are not in front of your computer is pretty much useless. If you do not have a telephone near your computer move one there at least long enough to talk to computer tech support. If you have a modem then you can plug the phone line usually plugged in to your modem in to a phone. If you have a second phone line don't call tech support on the same phone line your modem uses if your problem relates to the modem or the Internet.

8) If you need your glasses to see your computer go get them before you call tech support.

9) If you have a hearing aid use it while on the phone with tech support.

10) Don't call in to tech support when you're drunk!

11) Call the right tech support number. It will do you little good to call your Internet service provider because you can't get your fax machine to work.

12) If you are so computer illiterate that you just can't seem to successfully communicate with tech support get some one to come over who is more knowledgeable about computers. Let that person call tech support for you. I remember one very nice, but very computer illiterate elderly couple that called in for several days and just couldn't seem to get their problem fixed. A week later their granddaughter called in for them. She and I fixed her grandparents computer in less than fifteen minutes.

13) Persistence pays off. One elderly man called in to tech support repeatedly for weeks. He was so computer illiterate when I first talked to him that I dreaded hearing his voice again. He had many computer problems that needed to be over come before he could get on the Internet, and he didn't have a clue what he was doing. I recommended (nicely) that he buy and read "Windows 95 for Dummies" and "Internet for Dummies". He did. One by one we over came his computer problems. Each time he called tech support he was a little more skilled and knowledgeable than the time before. After about fifteen calls to tech support over the period of several weeks we finally had all of his problems fixed. He had come a long way too.

The last time I called him to see if he was having any more problems. Then I asked to speak to his wife. I told her how her husband first called tech support and about drove me crazy. I also told her how far he had come since that first call. I told her how much I admired him for teaching himself, and for sticking in there despite problem after problem. I would have thrown my computer out the window and said the hell with it if I had been faced with the problems he over came.

Of all the calls I have ever taken I still remember him over two years later as the one person I admire the most for not being a quitter. When ever I am ready to blow my top or quit because things are not going my way, I remember him. His persistence and patience is now giving me the strength I need to keep my cool and try again. In the end he taught me an important lesson I will carry with me for life.

14) Read the manual!. it pays to do so...