My favorite thing about Tech Support calls, or Quitting Smoking Part 2
My favorite thing about working in tech support is the call that starts out like this:
“I’m not very technical.”
Seriously people? Neither am I. My area of technical expertise extends to browser configuration and some basic functionality. Really. So stop calling in and prefacing your next statement with that particular catch phrase.
The next part is my favorite. That’s where this gets fun.
“Sir, are you using Internet Explorer to access the internet?”
“I told you that I’m not that technical. Could you just cut the jargon please?”
OK, stop just a minute. Did I just ask you a technical question? I mean I’m assuming that you got my phone number from the internet since all of our support is for WEB products. Yes I know what they say about assuming. So you had to get on the internet somehow, right? It probably involved clicking on an icon somewhere on your desktop.
“My what? What are you talking about??”
Wow – things have gotten out of control quickly haven’t they? Because now I’ve confused you with all of my technical jargon and you’re so completely and utterly obsessed with the fact that you aren’t in the least bit technical that you aren’t even willing to tell me if you clicked on the blue E on your computer’s desktop to get online. This is where my supreme communication skills come into play.
“OK if you look on the desktop – that’s the thing with all the little buttons you click on – do you see a blue E?”
This is really a trick question. I mean, if you’re not even savvy enough to know that you’re using Internet Explorer then let’s face it, you’re using Internet Explorer. Or – God help us all – AOL. Nevertheless it is my job to establish which browser you’re using to get onto the internet. That way if you’re not using IE, I can tell you to.
I could go on for well, hours about this crap. Please if you take nothing else away from this post (and it would be hard to do that since this post is pretty pointless) take this – never begin a conversation with Tech Support by telling them you’re not technical. We already know that. That’s why it’s called Tech Support.
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