Is this dumb or what?
May. 5th, 2006 08:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
So I've recently been having problems with my laptop's CD drive. I went to the Dell service site and decided my best option was to go into an online chat with a customer service rep.
I think that one of the following is true:
A) The "customer service representative" is actually a semantics recognition program with a preprogrammed set of responses - and it can't handle any input that's not in its database.
B) The customer service rep knows less about computers than I do and is can only diagnose my problem if I answer a simple series of questions that he/she can look up on a database Other Service Repwhich is essentially the same as A, but more pathetic).
C) The customer service rep has to handle every problem with the same set of questions Other Service Repdepending on the situation) regardless of the customer's proficiency with computers.
Don't believe me? Here's a log of my chat with the rep Other Service Repnames and personal info changed, but crimes against the English language left in).
Cut for length....
6:17:53 PM System Welcome Miss YT...
6:17:53 PM System Connecting to server. Please wait...
6:17:53 PM System Thank you for using Dell Chat, a representative will be with you soon.
6:17:53 PM System Initial Question/Comment: What does it mean if I can't install from my CD-ROM drive because of a "cyclic redundancy check?"
6:19:17 PM System Yours Truly are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
6:19:17 PM System Connected with Service Rep
6:19:25 PM Service Rep Thank you for contacting Dell Hardware Warranty Chat Support! Please give me a moment to review your question and retrieve your service tag
6:19:32 PM Yours Truly Hello.
6:21:22 PM Service Rep Would you please verify the person or company name that owns this system and the current address of the system?
6:22:02 PM Yours Truly What do you mean, exactly? The CD drive?
6:22:45 PM Yours Truly It says: QSI CDRW/DVD SBW242U.
6:22:46 PM Service Rep May I have the address where the system is physically located?
6:23:48 PM Yours Truly Oh, my computer.
6:23:57 PM Yours Truly Second star to the right and straight on till morning.
6:24:21 PM Service Rep Thank you. May I have your phone number and e-mail address?
6:24:41 PM Yours Truly 555-555-4321. My e-mail address is miss_yt@whatever.com
6:25:52 PM Service Rep Is this a new or existing case?
6:26:09 PM Yours Truly This is fairly new.
6:26:46 PM Yours Truly I was trying to install a game called Freedom Force and the install process kept being aborted for one reason or another - the most common being a
6:26:58 PM Yours Truly I got a new CD of the game but that didn't fix the problem.
6:27:30 PM Yours Truly My computer also won't play DVDs properly anymore. It plays a second or two, then pauses while the drive "revs" a few times.
6:28:03 PM Yours Truly Also, if I have a CD-RW I wrote data on and try to transfer it to my computer, sometimes I have to do it more than once to get it to go through or get a
6:29:45 PM Service Rep When did this start?
6:30:19 PM Yours Truly About a week ago.
6:31:09 PM Service Rep Yes the issue with the game and the drive? What are the requirements of the game?
6:31:42 PM Yours Truly Well, it's an old game, and I installed and ran it on this computer just fine before.
6:32:02 PM Yours Truly I had a hard drive crash last summer though, and lost everything. I recently tried to re-install the game.
6:32:38 PM Service Rep What are the requirements of the game?
6:35:12 PM Yours Truly It needs Windows XP, which I have...The minimum system requirements to run Freedom Force are:
6:35:25 PM Yours Truly That's copied from the official website.
6:36:34 PM Service Rep Go to start right click on My computer ,click on properties, and click on the hardware tab and choose the device manager?
6:37:18 PM Yours Truly Okay. You want me to go through my system specs?
6:37:41 PM Yours Truly Because, like I said, the game used to work on this computer, it just can't install now, and I am having other problems with the CD drive.
6:39:24 PM Service Rep Are you in the device manager/
6:39:29 PM Yours Truly Yes.
6:40:29 PM Service Rep Do you see the CD drive ?
6:40:45 PM Service Rep Does it have an red x by it ?
6:41:02 PM Yours Truly No red X.
6:41:25 PM Service Rep are you able to read any other CDs?
6:42:09 PM Yours Truly Yes. I can read them, but not smoothly.
6:43:23 PM Service Rep Are you using the system to chat with me at this time?
6:45:22 PM Yours Truly Yes.
6:46:16 PM Service Rep May I have 2-3 minutes to research the issue that you are having ? Thank you.
6:56:14 PM Service Rep Ok I need to test the CD drive .
6:56:39 PM Yours Truly How do I do that?
6:57:58 PM Service Rep In order to test the drive you will loose the connection with me ,however you can chat back in and request to speak to me and you will be transfer
6:58:57 PM Yours Truly I understand. What do you want me to do?
6:59:46 PM Service Rep you will turn the system off and restart it tapping F12
7:00:43 PM Yours Truly Anything else?
7:00:45 PM Service Rep This will take you to the boot device menu, from there you will choose the utility partition
7:02:17 PM Service Rep in the utility partition you will choose he custom test a list will com up from the list you will choose he CD/DVD driver and run the test.
7:02:50 PM Service Rep if there is an error write it done before you chat back in.
7:04:11 PM Yours Truly Okay. Go to the boot device menu, choose utility partition, custom test, pick the CD/DVD driver test.
7:05:03 PM Service Rep That is correct.
7:36:36 PM System Welcome Miss YT...
7:36:36 PM System Connecting to server. Please wait...
7:36:36 PM System Thank you for using Dell Chat, a representative will be with you soon.
7:36:36 PM System Initial Question/Comment: I would like to talk to Montoya Bush to follow up on an earlier request.
7:37:17 PM System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
7:37:17 PM System Connected with Other Service Rep
7:37:44 PM Other Service Rep Thank you for contacting Dell Hardware Warranty Chat Support! Please give me a moment to review your question and retrieve your
7:38:25 PM Other Service Rep Would you please verify the person or company name that owns this system and the current address of the system?
7:39:01 PM Yours Truly Excuse me, I have to talk to a specific representative who was working on a problem with me earlier. I had to restart my computer to run a test they
7:39:19 PM Yours Truly I was talking with RTS Montoya Bush.
7:39:22 PM Other Service Rep I'm sorry, but Montoya's shift just ended, she's already left.
7:39:44 PM Yours Truly You know, I had a funny feeling that was going to happen...
7:40:01 PM Other Service Rep Would you please verify the person or company name that owns this system and the current address of the system?
7:41:01 PM Yours Truly [blah blah blah stuff]
7:41:44 PM Other Service Rep Thanks for verifying that for me. So did the test on the drive pass or fail?
7:42:07 PM Yours Truly Everything passed.
7:42:22 PM Other Service Rep OK. Give me a few minutes to research this.
7:45:45 PM Other Service Rep Does the cd drive read any cds at all?
7:47:21 PM Yours Truly Yes, but it does not read smoothly, it takes longer than usual and the data does not always transfer correctly on the first try.
7:49:08 PM Other Service Rep When did the problem start?
7:49:46 PM Yours Truly About a week ago.
7:50:36 PM Other Service Rep Does it make noise?
7:52:16 PM Yours Truly It does seem to be straining a lot when it has to read CDs.
7:52:41 PM Other Service Rep OK, I'm going to replace that drive for you. Give me 10 minutes to set up the order.
7:53:28 PM Yours Truly Thank you.
He then gave me ID numbers for my case and part replacement. I shudder to think how much trouble this would have been if my machine weren't still under warranty.
Now, I admit that I was kind of dumb when the rep was asking for my address, but since an "address" can also refer to where a piece of hardware is connected on the computer (and the question could be interpreted that way), but for the rest I think I explained the problems I was having pretty clearly. I said the game used to work on my system and now won't install, but she asked for the system requirements anyway. She was also fixated on my problems with the game when I detailed other problems I'd had with my CD drive. WTF? She should have told me to do the CD test after I told her what problems I'd been having instead of going through the whole song and dance. And, of course, her shift ended while I was running the test. She shouldn't have told me to request to speak to her specifically when I got back if she knew she'd probably be off shift by the time I finished testing the drive.
The second rep (a guy this time) was somewhat more helpful - he asked me some of the same questions (although I think he'd pulled up my earlier exchange with the first rep, since he knew I was having a CD drive problem), but he got to the point faster and ordered a replacement drive for me, which is what I thought I'd need. It's just bad form to come out and say "I think I need a replacement part" to a customer service rep from the company that made your computer, because part of their job is to avoid that at all costs and so it will not get you anywhere.[1]
I was sorely tempted to say afterwards that I was a writer for a news site and that I was very disappointed with how they handled my complaint - a dissatisfaction that would be reflected in my forthcoming article - but that would have been really out of line.
Anyway, I'm still battling a cold, so I'll turn in early.
[1] Incidentally, this is the third component of this laptop that I've had to replace since I got it. The first two were the fan and the hard drive, although to be fair the latter had to be replaced as a result of the failure of the former.
I think that one of the following is true:
A) The "customer service representative" is actually a semantics recognition program with a preprogrammed set of responses - and it can't handle any input that's not in its database.
B) The customer service rep knows less about computers than I do and is can only diagnose my problem if I answer a simple series of questions that he/she can look up on a database Other Service Repwhich is essentially the same as A, but more pathetic).
C) The customer service rep has to handle every problem with the same set of questions Other Service Repdepending on the situation) regardless of the customer's proficiency with computers.
Don't believe me? Here's a log of my chat with the rep Other Service Repnames and personal info changed, but crimes against the English language left in).
Cut for length....
6:17:53 PM System Welcome Miss YT...
6:17:53 PM System Connecting to server. Please wait...
6:17:53 PM System Thank you for using Dell Chat, a representative will be with you soon.
6:17:53 PM System Initial Question/Comment: What does it mean if I can't install from my CD-ROM drive because of a "cyclic redundancy check?"
6:19:17 PM System Yours Truly are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
6:19:17 PM System Connected with Service Rep
6:19:25 PM Service Rep Thank you for contacting Dell Hardware Warranty Chat Support! Please give me a moment to review your question and retrieve your service tag
information.
6:19:32 PM Yours Truly Hello.
6:21:22 PM Service Rep Would you please verify the person or company name that owns this system and the current address of the system?
6:22:02 PM Yours Truly What do you mean, exactly? The CD drive?
6:22:45 PM Yours Truly It says: QSI CDRW/DVD SBW242U.
6:22:46 PM Service Rep May I have the address where the system is physically located?
6:23:48 PM Yours Truly Oh, my computer.
6:23:57 PM Yours Truly Second star to the right and straight on till morning.
6:24:21 PM Service Rep Thank you. May I have your phone number and e-mail address?
6:24:41 PM Yours Truly 555-555-4321. My e-mail address is miss_yt@whatever.com
6:25:52 PM Service Rep Is this a new or existing case?
6:26:09 PM Yours Truly This is fairly new.
6:26:46 PM Yours Truly I was trying to install a game called Freedom Force and the install process kept being aborted for one reason or another - the most common being a
"cyclic redundancy check failure."
6:26:58 PM Yours Truly I got a new CD of the game but that didn't fix the problem.
6:27:30 PM Yours Truly My computer also won't play DVDs properly anymore. It plays a second or two, then pauses while the drive "revs" a few times.
6:28:03 PM Yours Truly Also, if I have a CD-RW I wrote data on and try to transfer it to my computer, sometimes I have to do it more than once to get it to go through or get a
file that isn't corrupt or something.
6:29:45 PM Service Rep When did this start?
6:30:19 PM Yours Truly About a week ago.
6:31:09 PM Service Rep Yes the issue with the game and the drive? What are the requirements of the game?
6:31:42 PM Yours Truly Well, it's an old game, and I installed and ran it on this computer just fine before.
6:32:02 PM Yours Truly I had a hard drive crash last summer though, and lost everything. I recently tried to re-install the game.
6:32:38 PM Service Rep What are the requirements of the game?
6:35:12 PM Yours Truly It needs Windows XP, which I have...The minimum system requirements to run Freedom Force are:
- Windows XP, Windows Me, Windows 2000, or Windows 98 Yours Truly Windows 95 and Windows NT not supported)
- 300 MHz Intel Pentium II or AMD K6-2 processor
- 96 MB RAM
- 4x CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive
- 31 MB free hard disk space plus space for saved games Yours Truly with additional space required for Windows swap-file and DirectX 8.1 installation)
- 16 MB Direct3D capable video card using the NVIDIA GeForce3, NVIDIA GeForce2, NVIDIA GeForce 256, NVIDIA Riva TNT2, NVIDIA Riva TNT, ATI Radeon 8500, ATI Radeon, ATI Rage 128 Pro, ATI Rage 128, PowerVR3 Kyro II, PowerVR Kyro, Matrox MGA-G450, or Matrox MGA-G400 chipset with DirectX 8.1 compatible driver
- DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
- Keyboard
- Mouse
6:35:25 PM Yours Truly That's copied from the official website.
6:36:34 PM Service Rep Go to start right click on My computer ,click on properties, and click on the hardware tab and choose the device manager?
6:37:18 PM Yours Truly Okay. You want me to go through my system specs?
6:37:41 PM Yours Truly Because, like I said, the game used to work on this computer, it just can't install now, and I am having other problems with the CD drive.
6:39:24 PM Service Rep Are you in the device manager/
6:39:29 PM Yours Truly Yes.
6:40:29 PM Service Rep Do you see the CD drive ?
6:40:45 PM Service Rep Does it have an red x by it ?
6:41:02 PM Yours Truly No red X.
6:41:25 PM Service Rep are you able to read any other CDs?
6:42:09 PM Yours Truly Yes. I can read them, but not smoothly.
6:43:23 PM Service Rep Are you using the system to chat with me at this time?
6:45:22 PM Yours Truly Yes.
6:46:16 PM Service Rep May I have 2-3 minutes to research the issue that you are having ? Thank you.
*time passes*
6:56:14 PM Service Rep Ok I need to test the CD drive .
6:56:39 PM Yours Truly How do I do that?
6:57:58 PM Service Rep In order to test the drive you will loose the connection with me ,however you can chat back in and request to speak to me and you will be transfer
to me ok.
6:58:57 PM Yours Truly I understand. What do you want me to do?
6:59:46 PM Service Rep you will turn the system off and restart it tapping F12
7:00:43 PM Yours Truly Anything else?
7:00:45 PM Service Rep This will take you to the boot device menu, from there you will choose the utility partition
7:02:17 PM Service Rep in the utility partition you will choose he custom test a list will com up from the list you will choose he CD/DVD driver and run the test.
7:02:50 PM Service Rep if there is an error write it done before you chat back in.
7:04:11 PM Yours Truly Okay. Go to the boot device menu, choose utility partition, custom test, pick the CD/DVD driver test.
7:05:03 PM Service Rep That is correct.
I restart the computer and run the CD-ROM tests. When I go back on the Dell chat I'm connected to a different rep and find out - not really to my surprise - that the rep I'd been talking to was done with her shift..
7:36:36 PM System Welcome Miss YT...
7:36:36 PM System Connecting to server. Please wait...
7:36:36 PM System Thank you for using Dell Chat, a representative will be with you soon.
7:36:36 PM System Initial Question/Comment: I would like to talk to Montoya Bush to follow up on an earlier request.
7:37:17 PM System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
7:37:17 PM System Connected with Other Service Rep
7:37:44 PM Other Service Rep Thank you for contacting Dell Hardware Warranty Chat Support! Please give me a moment to review your question and retrieve your
service tag information.
7:38:25 PM Other Service Rep Would you please verify the person or company name that owns this system and the current address of the system?
7:39:01 PM Yours Truly Excuse me, I have to talk to a specific representative who was working on a problem with me earlier. I had to restart my computer to run a test they
recommended. They said to request them specifically when I logged on again.
7:39:19 PM Yours Truly I was talking with RTS Montoya Bush.
7:39:22 PM Other Service Rep I'm sorry, but Montoya's shift just ended, she's already left.
7:39:44 PM Yours Truly You know, I had a funny feeling that was going to happen...
7:40:01 PM Other Service Rep Would you please verify the person or company name that owns this system and the current address of the system?
7:41:01 PM Yours Truly [blah blah blah stuff]
7:41:44 PM Other Service Rep Thanks for verifying that for me. So did the test on the drive pass or fail?
7:42:07 PM Yours Truly Everything passed.
7:42:22 PM Other Service Rep OK. Give me a few minutes to research this.
*Jeopardy waiting music*
7:45:45 PM Other Service Rep Does the cd drive read any cds at all?
7:47:21 PM Yours Truly Yes, but it does not read smoothly, it takes longer than usual and the data does not always transfer correctly on the first try.
7:49:08 PM Other Service Rep When did the problem start?
7:49:46 PM Yours Truly About a week ago.
7:50:36 PM Other Service Rep Does it make noise?
7:52:16 PM Yours Truly It does seem to be straining a lot when it has to read CDs.
7:52:41 PM Other Service Rep OK, I'm going to replace that drive for you. Give me 10 minutes to set up the order.
7:53:28 PM Yours Truly Thank you.
He then gave me ID numbers for my case and part replacement. I shudder to think how much trouble this would have been if my machine weren't still under warranty.
Now, I admit that I was kind of dumb when the rep was asking for my address, but since an "address" can also refer to where a piece of hardware is connected on the computer (and the question could be interpreted that way), but for the rest I think I explained the problems I was having pretty clearly. I said the game used to work on my system and now won't install, but she asked for the system requirements anyway. She was also fixated on my problems with the game when I detailed other problems I'd had with my CD drive. WTF? She should have told me to do the CD test after I told her what problems I'd been having instead of going through the whole song and dance. And, of course, her shift ended while I was running the test. She shouldn't have told me to request to speak to her specifically when I got back if she knew she'd probably be off shift by the time I finished testing the drive.
The second rep (a guy this time) was somewhat more helpful - he asked me some of the same questions (although I think he'd pulled up my earlier exchange with the first rep, since he knew I was having a CD drive problem), but he got to the point faster and ordered a replacement drive for me, which is what I thought I'd need. It's just bad form to come out and say "I think I need a replacement part" to a customer service rep from the company that made your computer, because part of their job is to avoid that at all costs and so it will not get you anywhere.[1]
I was sorely tempted to say afterwards that I was a writer for a news site and that I was very disappointed with how they handled my complaint - a dissatisfaction that would be reflected in my forthcoming article - but that would have been really out of line.
Anyway, I'm still battling a cold, so I'll turn in early.
[1] Incidentally, this is the third component of this laptop that I've had to replace since I got it. The first two were the fan and the hard drive, although to be fair the latter had to be replaced as a result of the failure of the former.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-06 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-06 04:15 pm (UTC)Quite a few of my friends do phone CS for Dell, and the way their system is set up, each rep writes notes on the call. If Montoya didn't write good notes on the call, then your next rep won't know anything. That's one of the reasons why they each have to ask the same questions. Very little information is recorded by "the system". I've worked with such systems in previous jobs, and they are all CSR dependent on recording information. And obviously Montoya didn't give two shits about writing notes. So there you have it.
And the other reason they are required to ask the same questions? Because Dell wants to make sure that customers aren't fucking with them. Apple, Gateway, IBM, and every other computer manufacturer does it the same way.