Man, I can’t stand talking to first-level support anymore. I just got off the phone with someone at AT&T Yahoo! tech support because I was experiencing 400-500ms ping times. I had very good circumstantial evidence that they needed to restart a router. What does the first-level techie want me to do? Restart my computer. The problem has nothing to do with my computer!! Then she reads me something about my provisioned connection speed. I told her that she didn’t understand the difference between throughput and latency if she was focusing on my connection speed.
While on the phone I fixed my own problem by forcing my DSL modem to get a new IP address. Which just confirmed what I’ve always known: calling tech support is a waste of my time.
I find asking to talk to their supervisor works relatively well. While they are not always more knowledgeable, they generally seem more willing to consider the fact that you might actually know what you are doing.
That’s a good suggestion, Martey. Problem is, I feel that it is rude to ask for a supervisor until after he/she has already wasted my time with an inane suggestion.
I was given this address plus mailtest@sbc.com to get help from sbcglobal on my spam problem and it was returned by Major-Domo as a unknown recepient. I too would like a reliable avenue to solve my problems. John in Ks
HI ROOKIES:
I’M FROM FIRST TIER SUPPORT FROM AT&T INTERNET SERVICES AND I DONT LIKE VERY MUCH YOUR SPEAKING ABOUT FTS.
PLEASE MEASURE YOUR LIMITED VOCABULARY. WE ARE FTS DUE TO WE HAVE TO FIND OUT WHAT THE MEMBER WANTS AND HELP HIM. WE CANNOT SURRENDER ON ANY CALL… WE ALL FOLLOW PROCEDURES AND WE HAVE TO DO THINGS LIKE AT&T WANTS.
SOMETIMES THE USER IS HAVING A LATENCY ISSUE DUE TO AN OUTAGE, OR THE CIRCUIT IS INCORRECTLY BUILT IN OR JUST YOUR MODEM IS DEFFECTIVE.
AND KA0MON….THAT’S NOT THE AT&T MAIL FOR TEST ON YOUR SETTINGS FOR OUTLOOK, RIGHT ONE IS test@sbcmailtest.com .
SO….THINK ABOUT YOUR WEIRD COMMENTS ABOUT FTS PPL, WE ARE HERE TO HELP FOOL PPL LIKE YOU
BYE.
The comment of above from “nethack” is quasi-nonsensical (e.g. “we are FTS due to we have to…”) but I thought I would approve it anyway because it is mildly amusing.
How should I measure my limited vocabulary, Nethack? I’ll tell you my score on the verbal section of the SAT if you tell me yours. Or are you too craven? Ok, sorry… that’s a terrible nerd joke/jab.
Wow, an FTS guy responding online. That’s interneting, I’ve always wondered what was on thier minds. You know, it’s a real throw down when I have to take an escalation from FTS. I’d have to say that half of them don’t have the slightest clue as to what they’re doing. Yes, you do have to do everything the way ATT wants, but so many of you mess up so much. I swear I spend half of my calls undoing what FTS did. Can’t connect? Rest the password! Connected, but can’t browse? Reset the password! Connected, but can’t send/recieve mail? Reset the password! Can’t access the GUI because it’s a Speed Stream 5100a and you couldn’t identify it? Reset the password! Pulling a default gateway of 192.168.1.1? Reset the password! Can’t access the 2wire because they don’t know thier 2wire password? Reset the password (email password, by the way). I mean, come ON. That’s just a drop in the bucket. If I had my way FTS wouldn’t be allowed to reset passwords, ever. Instant escalation. And you get on the line… when I say “one moment while I review these notes,” that doesn’t mean “bring them on the line right now.” I wish I could tell every person to never speak to FTS again and always ask to speak with STS but I can’t because I’ll lose my job. Well at least I can say something here. I’m not saying ALL FTS agents are incompetent, but you have all the tools you need to get the job done, you have the same information resources we do, so many of you just choose not to read them and it’s those people who give FTS a bad name.
I used to work for STS at ATT… The sad thing is that only like 5% of the calls make it from FTS to STS; so many of the problems users have with their internet are simple “Your modem isn’t connected” problems.
I agree with the password resets. FTS shouldn’t be allowed. They also escalate calls they aren’t supposed to… some of my favorites were the woman who claimed the ads in her email were watching her, the guy who wanted to know why he couldn’t get online but didn’t order service yet, and every dialup call. Still, First Tier gets a lot of problems resolved.
Also, anyone ever used any other company’s customer service/tech support? AT&T is pretty superior… it’s double sided: they run the company like an old school company. The up side is that they believe in good customer service; the down side is they treat the employees like chattle. Even FTS is supposed to be nice, though. I’ve had comcast operators tell me I didn’t deserve working service because I won’t pay my bill (i won’t pay my bill on time because the crap never works)