How Do You Feel About Your ISP's Customer Support?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around experiences with customer support from Internet Service Providers (ISPs), particularly focusing on the challenges faced during technical support interactions. Participants share personal anecdotes about outages, troubleshooting processes, and the perceived quality of support received.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Experiential accounts
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes a frustrating experience with TDS customer support, where the representative denied an outage and insisted on unnecessary troubleshooting steps before escalating the issue, which revealed a significant local failure.
  • Another participant echoes similar frustrations with ISP support, mentioning a past experience where language barriers complicated the troubleshooting process.
  • Some participants express dissatisfaction with the scripted nature of support interactions, suggesting that it limits the ability of techs to think critically about problems.
  • One participant shares a positive view of their ISP while acknowledging that issues with customer support are common across different providers.
  • A reference is made to Richard Feynman and his approach to problem-solving, contrasting it with the scripted responses of modern tech support.
  • Several participants mention the lack of alternative ISPs in rural areas, highlighting the trade-offs between service quality and location.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the frustrations associated with ISP customer support, particularly regarding scripted responses and the quality of service. However, there are differing opinions on the overall satisfaction with ISPs, with some expressing contentment while others share negative experiences.

Contextual Notes

Participants' experiences are influenced by individual circumstances, such as geographical location and previous interactions with ISPs. Language barriers and personal technical knowledge also play a role in how support is perceived.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to individuals experiencing similar issues with ISP customer support, those considering moving to rural areas with limited ISP options, or anyone interested in the broader implications of technical support practices.

turbo
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This morning, I called TDS to report an outage. The guy that I spoke to denied that there was any outage in my area and demanded that I unplug my modem, restart my PC, and auto-reconfigure the modem, among other things. After over 1/2 hour of that nonsense, he said that I would have to call Actiontec to "fix" my modem because the problem was not on their end. To make a long story short, he bumped the situation up to a senior tech, and lo and behold the local switch had experienced a massive failure. Not just an easily replaced card, but a whole rack of electronics. I hate dealing with script-monkeys that treat you like you are an idiot. I have set up and maintained networks, so I do have a clue.

Unfortunately, there are no other ISPs available on this rural road, and no cable companies either. I got much better customer support at our last residence. We moved out here to get some privacy and reduce my exposures to fragrances from dryer-vents, etc, but there are trade-offs.
 
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turbo said:
This morning, I called TDS to report an outage. The guy that I spoke to denied that there was any outage in my area and demanded that I unplug my modem, restart my PC, and auto-reconfigure the modem, among other things. After over 1/2 hour of that nonsense, he said that I would have to call Actiontec to "fix" my modem because the problem was not on their end. To make a long story short, he bumped the situation up to a senior tech, and lo and behold the local switch had experienced a massive failure. Not just an easily replaced card, but a whole rack of electronics.
The guy may be trying to create demands, well I guess.
I hate dealing with script-monkeys that treat you like you are an idiot. I have set up and maintained networks, so I do have a clue.
I don't like anyone who is having such an attitude also. That is so good of you.
Unfortunately, there are no other ISPs available on this rural road, and no cable companies either. I got much better customer support at our last residence. We moved out here to get some privacy and reduce my exposures to fragrances from dryer-vents, etc, but there are trade-offs.
I used to deal with my ISP before when my air-link became broken, he offered lots of instructions on command prompt commands such that I could get him the information on the connection I was using. My English wasn't that good (only was about beginner~intermediate level) to understand what he was actually telling me. That was just a bad time I had too in my life. Thank you turbo so much for your story.
 
Have you tried to say "shibboleet"?

tech_support.png
 
Borek said:
Have you tried to say "shibboleet"?

tech_support.png

I don't know how people think about your image, but it's a very informative and enlightening hint to me. :biggrin: Thank you for your "clarification".
 
I'm happy with my ISP, but this issue is universal. I bet the techs working on problems I have would be surprised by how fast my hardware reboots if they really thought about it. :devil:
 
russ_watters said:
if they really thought about it. :devil:

Thinking is not part of the script, so there is no risk.

Somehow it reminded me of how Feynman was repairing radios by thinking.
 
That cartoon mirrored my experience almost to a T. Except for the 12+ hour loss of broad-band.
 

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