mjf
" "
Premium,Mod
join:2000-08-05
New Orleans, LA
clubs:
 ·AT&T Southeast
Host:
General Questions
Wireless Networking
Covad / covad.net
D-Link
Difficult Searches..
| Damned..
I'm happy to see this written and put on the front page. Hopefully, it will encourage more tech support in the forums.
Unfortunately, I've seen a DLink tech get frustrated by the product bashing and the lack of patience by some posters. As a result, he has posted that he will be less active in the forum.
I would suggest that forums with official tech support, list the tech's user name in the forum header. Also, it might be useful to remind posters that the techs are here to help not to be abused.
--
Join Team Discovery |
|
elias
Premium,VIP
join:2000-07-24
Miami, FL
clubs:
| Check out the WorldCom Forum!!!
Those of you with WorldCom/Rhythms lines will find this quite useful:
»MCI (formerly Worldcom)
-- Elias
[text was edited by author 2002-04-30 13:48:10] |
|
Aggie Dan
Stop... Reverse That.
Premium
join:2001-01-30
Frisco, TX
clubs:
| Well...
I try not to go overboard with my activities in offering support since I know I could get in major trouble.
So, I offer help on the DSL through AOL Plus that I have at home more often then I offer help on the DSL that my company provides.
Though, if I can find a quick resolution, I will often research who the customer is and contact provisioning groups to help the customer. So, if some of you have posted and then received a phone call or email from out of the blue, it may have been me.
--
Note : The statements made by myself on DSL Reports are purely my own and is not in anyway to be considered indicative of the opinions of my employer or of my coworkers. |
|
Dewi
Premium
join:2001-09-28
united kingd
| Mediacom and Bellsouth have a good showing
When I was checking out DSL, the techs at Bellsouth helped me out tremendously there when I could not get a straight answer from tier 1 support. And currently in Mediacom, techs there are helping out looking into an extremley tricky problem to track down. It certainley helps, as it leads to lots less frustration. Every time I call tier 1 support thier first response it to roll a truck, and with each tier 1 tech, and each truck tech I have to detail the problem from the start. And it never gets fixed, they try something, then leave and the problem remains. They mean well, they are polite and courteous; but when the problem does not get fixed it leads to frustration. When you can establish a connection with a tech on a forum you can establish an ongoing conversation, instead of explaining the same problem over and over to a new tech each time you call phone support.
I think the techs that maintain visibility on these forums, do a tremendous amount of good for the company they represent, in that they show the willingness of the company to solve your problem, through a multitude of ways, means and methods.
[text was edited by author 2002-04-30 14:03:06] |
|
DaSneaky1D
one wall to block them all
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-29
The Lou
 ·Charter Pipeline
| As long as the line is not crossed...
Everything should be ok. As an SWB customer, our forum has very compenant techs that regulary visit to assist. When "fellow techs" get out of line, they are corrected and the add to the flow of support we are able to receive. As long as the techs remember who they represent, then it can only add to PR of the company.
Keep up the good work and thanks for the help these techs have offered to make BBR what it is today!
--
-- I stand boldly on the threshold of lower middle class.
DjESIGNS.com - stop by and shamelessly plug your site |
|
Nightstick
join:2000-09-21
Philadelphia, PA
|  reply to mjf
DSLReports.com is THE Support for Earthlink DSL
When my Earthlink DSL went down a week ago I immediately called Earthlink Tech support and was told "we are working on it," which was their mantra for the next 5 days. Then, thanks to Raybro in the Covad forums here, I found out what the problem was. A day later, Archivis, in the Earthlink forums, worked his magic and prodded a fellow Earthlink employee into restoring my DSL. Without the DSLReports.com forums, I'd still be looking at 4 green lights on my DSL modem and hearing Earthlink tech support tell me that the problem must be on my end. |
|
freedonia
join:2002-03-13
| Priceless
Good tech support is priceless. When I need to go shopping for DSL service or cable modem service, support is one of the top issues that I look at. If the support is bad, then they don't get my account. I don't mind paying a little more for John Doe's DSL service as long as the current customers are happy. There is a limit to what I will pay though.
It is really hard to trouble shoot something on the phone with level 1 'wannabie' techs that some places have. There are too many times when I have to sit and listen as these first support techs read their cards or keep putting me on hold when they ask someone else for the answer.
For instance...the company that I work for just bought PageMaker 7 and we noticed the mouse wheel doesn't work with it. When I called tech support, the answer I was given was that it never worked...It did in 6.52. The next reply from them was "It must have been taken out and you would have to ask the tech department why they did this.". The tech department is who I called. The lady then told me that she has only been working there for a couple of weeks.
I am glad to see people of all sorts trying to help out in the forums. Everyone can learn from everyone else's experiences and knowledge.
--
Dave |
|
WildGod
God Is Dead
Premium
join:2002-01-30
NYC
| What are they afraid of?
I will never ever ever call tech support for any problem ever again. If I want to have a script read to me I'll watch TV. Luckily there are some techs who take the time out of their lives to help in the forums. Why should these people be reprimanded? Is it because they actually will go out of their way to make a customer happy?
If I worked for a company that reprimanded me for that I would simply hire a lawyer and go straight to the news and let them know how these companies treat customers. I have called tech support in the past when I didnt know about DSLReports and I have never spoken to so many incompetent people (no offense to the techs wh know what they are talking about, perhaps I just got all the bad ones).
The waiting time is ridiculous, the people are unproffesional at best, and I'm sick of the fact they they end resolving all issues with "just reinstall it".
I have also heard of tech reps not being able to go out of their way on the phone and told to stick to the script. How disgusting, this is how you treat a customer?
I work in the banking industry for one of the largest U.S. banks. Even though we have millions of clients, we treat each one as an individual. We dont use scripts, we listen to the customer and bend over backwards to help them.
Theres only one thing nowadays that separates competing companies and that is service. I applaud OOL and the other companies who have an active presence in the forums. BRAVO.
Thats the way you run a company and keep a customer happy.
A big thank you to the companies and techs who participate in the forums. And for those who dont or who reprimand their techs for doing so, enjoy Chapter 11.
--
AOL DSL SUCKS / REMOVE SENATOR FRITZ HOLLINGS FROM OFFICE
[text was edited by author 2002-04-30 15:11:53] |
|
JohnC
Mr. John
Premium
join:2000-09-22
Hamden, CT | SNET Also has un-offical forum support.
I have been known to lurk in the SNET/SBC DSL forum. This forum has some extremely helpful employees who spend time helping the end users with remote terminal, account, speed, availability, and other issues. Nice work. |
|
Vorticon
Premium
join:2000-08-24
Fruitland Park, FL
| Some risk losing their jobs
Read what happened when a tech helped someone out in the Roadrunner forum.
Sometimes the consequences are not so great...
»Rather Irrelevant Notice.
--
I know you believe you understand what you think I said but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. |
|
Mactac
@uu.net | Reprimand?? Oh, you foolish executives!
These guys offer a valuable service that only increases goodwill felt toward your companies. I do nothing but applaud the techs in DSLR. Special mention to Engineer88 over in the OOL forum. |
|
bgraham
join:2001-03-15
Smithtown, NY
 ·Verizon FIOS
| The Help Forums Here Are Saving ISP's
the help forums here are saving isp's money. there must be several hundred people a day getting fixes that otherwise would end up as support calls. Any isp would be smart to donate a tech person for support to their own forums. the great thing about these forums is that help comes from other users free of charge to the isp's
i set up a lot of web based shopping cart systems written by a small company in north carolina and they have online support forums as a first line support system and it is great because you not only get support from the company but you get support from other people who are knowledgable users. |
|
odog
Cable Centric Vendor Biased
Premium
join:2001-08-05
Norcross, GA
clubs:
·Comcast
·Metrocast Communic..
 ·Vonage
| as i do this personally it does indeed help...
but i was asked very soon after to chuck that little disclaimer on the bottom of my sig:)
and the SNET forum would be nothing without MRfixit, he has single handedly fixed god knows how many problems...
--
technical evangelist disclaimer: my opinions are my own, my employer is not responsible. |
|
RickNY
Premium
join:2000-11-02
New York
| Optimum Online one of the good ones...
As a frequent visitor to the Optimum Online forum here on DSLR, I can tell you firsthand, that participation with users of a service on a more personalized level, such as one of the forums here, definitely ends up giving the company a much better image in the user's eyes... Often, users are faced with difficulties that they know are beyond the capabilities of a Level 1, or even Level 2 tech at the technical support department, yet are often brushed off by these same techs when calling in for technical support, simply because the telephone support's scripted answers to the user's questions are nowhere to be found.. Having a few OOL engineers on hand, in the forum, allows these users an alternative place to go to report their problems, and often, get corrected much faster than waiting for 100 users to call up a technical service number and report a difficulty. The techs in the forum are extremely knowledgeable of how their system functions, and are usually dead on with their diagnosis of a problem.. Prior to participating in this forum, I used to cringe when a problem arose with my service, and was reluctant to call technical support, simply because I thought it wouldnt do any good at all.. My view of Cablevision's support department was rather bad (as indicated in my ISP review), but after participating in the forum, I can honestly say that my image of the company and the service has improved by a long shot..
So for those companies out there that shun involvement by their techs in a forum environment, such as Comcast, or Roadrunner -- maybe this is something you should watch and learn from.. I know my parents have Roadrunner down in Tampa, FL, and anytime there is a DEFINITE problem, the only route my parents have is to call up Roadrunner, just to be told "Well, thats funny.. We're not showing any problems here".. It becomes insulting to the more technical users of the service to have to deal with attitudes like that..
Rick
[text was edited by author 2002-04-30 18:19:18] |
|
drjim
Premium,MVM
join:2000-06-13
Torrance, CA
clubs: | Get a Clue!
Management at these short-sighted firms should be forced to read "The Cluetrain Manifesto". If you've read the book, you'll agree. If you haven't, you need to.
drjim
--
One man's Magic is another man's Engineering. |
|
kherr
Premium
join:2000-09-04
Collinsville, IL
clubs:
| reply to bgraham
Re: The Help Forums Here Are Saving ISP's
said by bgraham:
the help forums here are saving isp's money. there must be several hundred people a day getting fixes that otherwise would end up as support calls.
And the untold amount of people reading fixes and applying them to their problem. I know I've learned a lot in trouble shooting so that when you do have to make that tech support call you can go right to the problem and eliminate all the banter to figure out what's going on. |
|
Phoenix Gold
Hypocrite
join:2001-11-24
Faulkton, SD
clubs:
| reply to RickNY
they rule
I had a tech take interest in my problem over in the Qwest forum. He was so much more help than phone support and cost qwest NOTHING! Having one person willing to follow my problem until it was solved was invaluable to getting things corrected. These 'broadband angels' should be given employee of the month awards with a fat bonus! Any suit that cant see what a great benefit these hard workers are to a company is a moron who should lose his/her job. |
|
superfrik
join:2001-07-12
Saint Louis, MO
| reply to mjf
Re: Damned..
I am a tech, we get paid to provide support to customers, I have never found a problem with helping someone out when they are in a bind. As is see it, everyone asking questions is a customer(why would they ask if they are not?) So this is another way to provide support, Right?
Just a thought.
--
If you can't beat your computer at chess, try kickboxing |
|
NetWatchMan
Premium,VIP
join:2001-03-13
Alpharetta, GA
| Wake up and smell the CUSTOMER
I initially created the (private) DSL newgroups for Bellsouth.net and then spent over two years monitoring them...based on that experience I became a huge proponent of company involvement in forums.
Throughout that time I also encoutered tremedous resistance to treat forum partipants with the honesty, commitment, and service-level I felt they deserved. Bottom-line, if a customer was going to bend-over backwards to help identify a problem...them doing most of the work, I felt obligated to reciprocate.
One of my take-aways from this was that the customer's primary objective isn't necessarily fixing their problem, but rather BEING TOLD THE TRUTH.
If the TRUTH was that you didn't qualify for DSL because you lived in a rural area where DSLAM deployment couldn't be cost-justified...probably NEVER...then so be it. Tell me THAT, not "you don't qualify now, but keep checking back...we are doing upgrades in your area."
The biggest mistake I see companies taking with regard to forum monitoring is thinking that it's just reading messages...a job any $8/hr temp can do. The problem is that forums are almost totally unstructured. You could have 5 people reporting the same problem, but expressing the symptom in completely different ways. You can also have chronic problems that occur over time...with nothing that easily ties them together. To fully leverage what get's posted here, companies need to put some of their most Sr. people on it...not the most Jr.
Maybe they don't need to be the primary participants, but they definintely need to monitor and jump in when they see something that stands out.
I wonder what the cost of a call to an ISPs help line is vs. a post to this forum!
I don't think most providers really appreciate the free ride they're getting.
--
Lawrence Baldwin
»www.myNetWatchman.com
Automatic Port Scan Reporting |
|
cstrippie$
join:2001-12-19
Ceylon
|  reply to mjf
Re: Damned..The Apple answer
Apple has a dual approach. For our apple.com public user forums, there are techs that respond on behalf of Apple. For public message boards, the policy is (or was, anyway) that you are welcome to help out, but must not attempt to represent Apple. Sorta screwy, but at least they don't actively discourage the help.
Craig
(Former Apple T2 tech) |
|
