Tech Support more painful

[zrock]

Wow tech support over the years has gotten so painful with these call centres and they just use a cut and paste script and give you no real answers. Google Nest protect smoke alarm does not work both on wall and in my hand live smoke test. THey want to know what the indoor/outdoor temperate is, how many lights were on, Where it is mounted, and a photo... hec it does not work in my hand and its brand new. Samsung support for my new samsung monitor been having a issue where it will not wake up, went to do a firmware upgrade and their is no USB slot. Asked tech support how to upgrade firmware and they want to know where i purchased it from. And then tell me their is no way to upgrade firmware..

Seems like no matter what you purchase anymore if you need tech support your screwed.

 

[zrock]

Wow that was really painful. After samsung told me i could not upgrade firmware since there was no usb. I told them that they have to change their website then since it tells me i can and they send me a link back to the firmware DL. Talk about a complete circle of useless help

 

[begreen]

Agreed, most corporate tech support is now automated in tiers. The first level via chatbots is usually brain dead AI. The second tier is often offshored to India call centers which usually go by strict scripts. They often dump you into a long phone queue for level 3 which may or may not be in the states. I have gone through call hell multiple times. Our phone company, CenturyLink, is a horror show which seems intentionally designed to have one chase one's tail.

 

[zrock]

Wow.. support can get worse.samsung told me to plug my monitor into a diffrent outlet. I fail to see what the power supply has to do with the issue..lol

 

[kborndale]

Wow.. support can get worse.samsung told me to plug my monitor into a diffrent outlet. I fail to see what the power supply has to do with the issue..lol

Just another box on the checklist.

 

[johneh]

Wow.. support can get worse.samsung told me to plug my monitor into a diffrent outlet. I fail to see what the power supply has to do with the issue..lol

Unit will only work plugged into an outlet on a North Facing Wall

 

[begreen]

Sometimes they need to go through the obvious. I recall in the early days of computing when tech support discovered some people had their mouse on the floor, expecting it to work like a foot pedal.

Here's some recent IT chuckles

45 Funniest "Tech Support Horror Stories" IT Professionals Have Ever Seen

Sometimes people and tech just don't mix.

pleated-jeans.com

 

[zrock]

haha... yes i remember the early days of computing, i spent more time teaching people then doing repairs since most of the time it was human error.. I understand going through a check list but when a customer gives you all the info you need and common sense tells you the rest of the check list does not apply move on.. Oh wait i now see the error in my ways of thinking no one has common sense anymore they need a checklist to tell them what to do... LOL

 

[stoveliker]

On the other hand, the basic checklist (water does not burn) seems to be a very necessary question to ask on the tens of thousand year old technology we deal with on this site...

I am a proponent of applying Occam's razor.

 

[bogieb]

I understand that it is frustrating, but so many people overlook the simple and obvious stuff. They don't know how competent the person calling in is. And, normally competent people can get a bit "lazy" and make assumptions (I've been guilty of that to my embarrassment).

Being on different forums, I don't know how many people have gotten all upset because their new stove quit working after a couple of weeks. Or, new tool, or whatever, or even their old reliable stoves. Then they either want to throw money at an older model, or return a new model because "it's junk" or a lemon.

They say they did X, Y and Z - but then when it comes down to it, they didn't really. They just looked at it and all looked fine. Kind of like, is the door latched? They look at the door and it seems completely closed, so yeah, its latched. But when you tell them to open the door, then close it, magically things are better because it is really latched.

No, I'm not in IT. Yes, I get frustrated by the seemingly simple stuff they make you go thru. But, it is still necessary to go thru the entire checklist to find the real issue.

 

[begreen]

No, I'm not in IT. Yes, I get frustrated by the seemingly simple stuff they make you go thru. But, it is still necessary to go thru the entire checklist to find the real issue.

Yes, support needs to establish a baseline. On a cold call support people have no idea of the user's experience or capabilities. We see this here a lot. Many times one wants to say RTFM, but we try not to intimidate new users and to coax old burners into adopting new habits as they switch from a smoke dragon to a modern stove.

 

[zrock]

Just noticed another interesting issue.. I have all samsung electronics in my home and while im dealing with a issue with one of them i checked my samsung account and seen that 1/2 of my products are missing from my list now even though i know i registered them, as well another 2 were showing in the list but showing as "not registered".. Found it interesting that everything that i have had troubles with and submitted a ticket for is missing from the list how convenient

 

[mellow]

Hence why forums exist and user groups to help fix issues that the manufactures could care less about.

 

[zrock]

yes when their is a fix available.. hard to fix when they tell you to do a firmware upgrade via usb but their is no usb slot. One thing i just noticed today updating drivers is the driver update and firmware update are the exact same file name so the have just put the file their for reasons unknown..LOL

 

[begreen]

I didn't enjoy working with Samsung when I had one of their phones and TVs. The support was weak and confusing at times for the TV and the phone was so full of their bloatware that itself was the source of some problems.

 

[zrock]

I have no issues with their phone i have been using the s series since blackberry fell off the map.. With my old job the phone would get abused and never fail me, i do wish they would bring back the note though as it had a bigger screen and well my eyes are starting to suck..LOL.. tryed a iphone once and it lasted about a month before i took the hit and sold it. Even work tryed to supply me one of those things and i sent it back telling them where they could shove it...LOL

 

[bogieb]

I have no issues with their phone i have been using the s series since blackberry fell off the map.. With my old job the phone would get abused and never fail me, i do wish they would bring back the note though as it had a bigger screen and well my eyes are starting to suck..LOL.. tryed a iphone once and it lasted about a month before i took the hit and sold it. Even work tryed to supply me one of those things and i sent it back telling them where they could shove it...LOL

I too have had Samsung phones since shortly after the S1 came out (I bought a refurb about 6 months after release). I've had the S9+ and currently have the A53 (only upgraded because some areas only have 5G and the S9+ didn't so wouldn't work in those areas). My work only supplies iphones, and I've had two of them in 5 years - I have disliked them both but most of my actual issues are caused by upgrades for 3rd party apps that work pushes for security purposes.

My Samsung LED TV is about 14 years old - absolutely no issues with it either. But, at the same time, I don't use any of the smart features either (and those are very basic compared to what is out now).

 

[zrock]

ya my old samsung tv was about the same vintage and had no issues with it other than the picture was not as crisp as the new tv's hench why i upgraded. In the past 5 years i have been through 2 of them and had issues with both.. Should have listened to my sales guy the last time and went with LG but i have always been a dedicated samsung person..

 

[kborndale]

I used to be a dedicated Samsung guy but the last 10 years or so their quality has plummeted and I no longer will give them my business.

 

[begreen]

Had an S8 and can't say it was a great phone. Never went back.

 

[bogieb]

ya my old samsung tv was about the same vintage and had no issues with it other than the picture was not as crisp as the new tv's hench why i upgraded. In the past 5 years i have been through 2 of them and had issues with both.. Should have listened to my sales guy the last time and went with LG but i have always been a dedicated samsung person..

I still marvel at the really nice picture on my Series 6300, 48" flatscreen. I was in Best Buy a couple of years ago, and some of the higher end TVs do have a slightly crisper picture, but not enough for me to go for it. I did talk to one of the guys there for quite some time about them though. I mostly watch Sci-Fi channel, NatGeo, Discovery, the History channel and Animal Planet, with some football thrown in. I think the only time I would really appreciate the small difference that I can see is when watching shows about space (for the deeper black). .

Take all that with a grain of salt (looking at reviews, they just say the picture quality is "good"). I have visual issues that may make better quality pictures moot, or at least the differences may not pop out to me as much as they would to others.

 

[semipro]

Yes, support needs to establish a baseline. On a cold call support people have no idea of the user's experience or capabilities. We see this here a lot. Many times one wants to say RTFM, but we try not to intimidate new users and to coax old burners into adopting new habits as they switch from a smoke dragon to a modern stove.

Reminds me of the time I called tech support regarding an issue with one of my heat pumps. I shared a photo of the outside unit showing the unit icing up in cold weather. The unit is located outside under a large deck, which the photo did not show well. The tech replied back "please tell me that the unit is located outside and not in your house?". I assured him it was outside and shared a better photo. The way he responded made me wonder if he hadn't run into that issue before though.

 

[semipro]

About half the time I can't understand what the tech support person is saying. It's no slight on their nationality but I feel they should be able to communicate verbally in English. Chats aren't much better given the poor grammar that is now so common.

 

[zrock]

About half the time I can't understand what the tech support person is saying. It's no slight on their nationality but I feel they should be able to communicate verbally in English. Chats aren't much better given the poor grammar that is now so common.

ya i feel that way about everyone that moves here, you want to live in a english speaking country then have the respect to learn the language, our kids have to learn to speak and write so why not the immigrants?

Well google nest support just ignores me now... great service i see will be the last time i ever purchase something with their name on it.

Samsung same thing i cannot give them a receipt because its printed on that paper that ink disappears on after a few months, My account shows its not registered for warranty even though i know it was and that they have a previous claim for the same issue. That will be the last samsung product i purchase and everything in my house is samsung.

They string you along until you get frustrated and stop trying..

 

[semipro]

They string you along until you get frustrated and stop trying

Kind of sounds like a health insurance claim...