Customer service is the pitts!!!!!!!!!

[carlmccut]

To those that may find some offense to this rant I apologize in advance. It is not my goal to offend or otherwise disrespect anyone. I just want to vent my total and complete disgust with some costumer service and help centers.

Well on with the issue. Just over a month ago I had built a computer for my brother. We had an encounter that resulted in me having him reformatting his hard drive and reloading his OS (XP home). Being that he is 12 hours away all of this took place over the phone. Well we got everything up, running, and all of the software reinstalled and working fine. Now we were going to install Norton AV 2004. Here is where we begin with the problems. As we tried to install the program we received a message that the key was invalid. After several attempts ensuring that my brother was keying in the right code I decided to call Symantec for some help. I go online (with my PC) and get a priority case #.

The first three way call: I get some one with a very thick accent and
begin to explain the problem. The tech. tells me that the key is good for 5 reinstalls. Yeah right!!!! The tech then resets the key and now we can not even get to the point where you enter the key. The install error message states “unable to install NAV disk error”. Ok what gives?? After doing a few more checks I am told that I am going to be transferred to customer service for a replacement disk. GREAT!! Well all I hear is click and a dial tone.

The second call: I get another tech. and equally difficult to understand. I give him my “priority #. Thinking that notes are made on the case I begin where I was disconnected at. Wrong. I had to go through all of the previous items and then was told to disable all firewalls and pop up blocking then try reinstalling NAV2004. Before I could get out that all of this was already been done CLICK!!!!!!!!!

The third call: I am INFURIATED and SMOKING form under the collar now. We get the third poor dictioned fellow. I begin by saying before we go through a plethora of do’s and try’s I give him all that has been tried and the priority #. I also ask if there are any notes on file? He states “yes”. Thank goodness We (My brother and I) do not have to go through the wringer again. Wrong. This person wanted to begin at the beginning with his failure analysis. OH no we are not going through this again. I tell this guy that we have been on the phone over 2 ½ hours trying to get this stupid program to load. All I wanted is for them to send my brother a replacement CD being that this one will not load. I was willing to send proof of purchase and they even had record that my brother had registered the software online. Hello is any one home?????????????????? Well after considerable rebuttals to his requests to trying things already done (reading from a scripted knowledge base) He transfers to customer service for a replacement. Now it gets fun. The customer service rep wants to get in on the action. He wants to reset his key again and wants him to retry to install. I go completely ballistic. As calmly as possible I tell this rep that we have been through all of this and we were being transferred over to him for a replacement disk. This guy decides that he is not going to send out a disk until he is satisfied with his failure analysis. I immediately ask for his supervisor. He states that he is the supervisor for his shift. I ask for his boss. “He is not here” I ask his name he tells me in his native tongue. Who do you complain to?????????Well after 30 minutes of saying did that, tried that, nope that is not working and then getting belligerent he agrees to send a replacement. I then ask when can we expect the disk. IN 10 TO 15 DAYS. CLICK.

My rant on this is that spending over 3 hours to get a simple solution is ridiculous!! And to be treated so nastily when you get upset for the foolishness they put you through. Also if companies are going to farm out their customer service they should be sure that you can understand them. (regardless to what language they are speaking). It is rare when you need these people they should care about the customer and not some stupid screen in front of them as they click through probables. AND READ THE NOTES FROM THE PREVIOUS CALLS RELATING TO THE PROBLEM IF IT IS A CALL BACK!!!!. I know that several computer and software companies have farmed out their customer service to foreign countries if you can call it that being that components and other items are produced world wide.

The best costumer service that I ever encountered was with one of my first computers and that was Gway. “Customer service should read the customer gets the service” Don’t let customer service rule you they are there to serve you!!!! I apologize if anyone was offended this is my rant and my opinion, not of this web site. I thank this site for having and avenue to vent my frustrations. And share it with others.

[ktkendall]

Our big CCC, (Customer Care Center), Is down in Atlanta and I have nicknamed them the, DCC, (Don't Care Center). This just seems to be the way of Big Business Today and even seems to be flowing dowm to smaller Businesses. Of course It's really people that make a difference, and people that care to do their job and do it right, but with coorporate greed mentality things are only going to get worse untill someone somewhere remembers what it was like to be in business for the right reasons. To produce the best product possible or provide the best possible customer service and be happy with reasonable profits. One of our sell offs we were told we were profitable alright, but not in the double digit growth range like the parent company wanted so they sold us off. Just to be profitable is no longer good enough for big business, they have those stockholders to answer to so that is how it goes and I really don't see big business changing anytime soon..

[carlmccut]

ktk...... sorry about the abbreviation. You are so very right it is the people who make the difference. I think it is time that we the people begin to SHOUT back at the big business and say hey we deserve better.

[mbossman2]

Customer service/technical support are 2 very expensive services offered by a manufacturer and both can be used to evaluate the overall quality of a product or service.

Companies try very hard to find the best balance between cost and service. Sometimes they hit the nail right on the head and other times they hit their thumbs with the hammer.

The best way to voice your concerns is to voice them directly to the company. Send a calm, orderly, concise & polite note voicing your issues and concerns. You may (or may not) get a response, but you might be surprised.

The problem is most people don't complain in the right direction to the right people so the company never truly "hears" the problems so they can't make changes.

I would cut and paste your comments directly to here and don't say things like "I will never buy your product again no matter what you do" (they will see that as hopeless case) but rather say something like this "While it is admirable that your tech support and customer service try really hard to resolve my problem, their inability or unwillingness to document my issue properly so the next person in line can see what was done, actually create MORE issues than they solved and may force me to reconsider my future relationship with your company" (or some such statement).

[HyperTF]

I had a similar incident to this one when I was on dial up. the problem was I did not have a spare phone so I had to keep ending the call, trying to fix the modem issue I was having at the time, find that their suggestion/s did not work, call back to yeah...surprise...go through things ALL over again with someone new. I kept saying surely you keep record or can see the other guy I just spoke to nearby... but no... "what is your name, address user log in?... have you tried plugging it in?" AAARGGGHHHH! ha ha yep done it, been there and would prefer not to do it again... must be a tricky job at times I can accept that, but jeez, get with the program!

[bailey]

hey, I gotta agree with ya, as far as I am concerned there is no such thing as tech support today.
and the best place to go for help is right here.

[Carl Price]

You have hit my hot button with your post.
The problem as I see it iis not only with the companies themselves but with people like us too. All too often we want what we buy to be the cheapest not necessarily the best quality. For example, in 2000 we had here in Memphis an ISP called Major Internet. They were local, their tech support was local, and they knew what they were doing. They folded in 2001 because they could not get enough subscribers to pay their bills. They only charged $14.95 per month but they couldnt fight the FREE internets and AOHell. While they were going, I asked some AOL customers why they had AOL and not Major Internet. The answer I got was that MI was not as big so AOL had to be better. My stock anwer to that is that AOL is living proof that 30 something million folks CAN be wrong.

The same thing is happening in the browser market today. Opera is by far the best browser, but because it is not free it will never have the market penetration it deserves. When we start being ruled by what's better for us instead of what's cheapest then we can expect better. But we have to be willing to pay for it. Till we ARE willing to pay for quality than we can expect to get the CRAP end of the stick. What are we going to do when all that's available is foreign?

[mbossman2]

total cost of ownership NOT the acquisition cost is what really needs to be considered.

[carlmccut]

Carl,

I do agree with you about you get what you pay for most times. But my issue is that I was not looking for something cheap. I had paid for the product and their customer care(less) was terrible. Many times we do need to look at quality vs cost and decide what we want. Me i prefer to pay a little more for something with higher quality. OH yes as far as the "walled garden" AO?? Many folks feel warm and fuzzy with someone else doing the work and minding their business. Not for me.

[DragonNOA1]

I work at a Help Desk for the local hospital and all I can say that it is the Customer Care Rep that makes all the difference. They should tell you what they can/can't do and help/talk you through ideas. I've heard so many bad customer care stories that I strive never to be like that myself. I think my case may be a little different, though, because we actually go out and see the people we have to help over the phone.

Sorry about your ordeal carlmccut and hopefully you aren't using that resource hogging Norton yourself.

[carlmccut]

Dragon,

You are right it is all about the people, on both sides of the fence. I do take my hat off to many of the CCC folks. they have a very difficult job to do dealing with the public. I know first hand my family business provides services for families. It can be very trying at times but it is our job to provide the best service as possible. Oh by the way no I do not use NAV. What do you thind is the best to use??

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by carlmccut Dragon, You are right it is all about the people, on both sides of the fence. I do take my hat off to many of the CCC folks. they have a very difficult job to do dealing with the public. I know first hand my family business provides services for families. It can be very trying at times but it is our job to provide the best service as possible. Oh by the way no I do not use NAV. What do you thind is the best to use??

Hey carlmccut. If your bro has any problems with that NAV just drop me a pm and I'll stop by to see him. Uninstall his NAV and install the new AVG 7.0. I carry it with me on my Flash Drive always. No charge even!

[thorlo6]

Originally Posted by Panama Red Hey carlmccut. If your bro has any problems with that NAV just drop me a pm and I'll stop by to see him. Uninstall his NAV and install the new AVG 7.0. I carry it with me on my Flash Drive always. No charge even!

Hey Panama! Sorry to burst your bubble, but I tried AVG 7.0 and it even found a trojan on my PC! Guess what? I did everything it said to do to quarantine and remove it without any success. I uninstalled AVG and installed
Avast!. 10 minutes later my PC was trojan free! As for carlmccut's problem, been there done that! I am SO SICK and tired of calling CS and getting a blasted Indian accent so freaking thick you can't understand diddly! The only good thing is that yes I do have dial-up, but, thank God for cell phones!thorlo6

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by thorlo6 Hey Panama! Sorry to burst your bubble, but I tried AVG 7.0 and it even found a trojan on my PC! Guess what? I did everything it said to do to quarantine and remove it without any success. I uninstalled AVG and installed Avast!. 10 minutes later my PC was trojan free! thorlo6

Antivirus programs often won't remove Trojans, Spyware or Adware. A periodic online scan at Trendmicro's Housecall does a good job of backing up the protection povided by AVG. If you prefer Avast, that's fine. I'll stick with AVG tho.

[glc]

thorlo - have you tried the NEW AVG 7.0? It's a whole different ballgame from 6.0. The free version has only been out a couple of weeks.

[Jaggannath]

Agreed.... AVG 7 is a very different kettle of fish
I like it much better than 6

[carlmccut]

Well I have composed a very non emotional and persice letter and mailed it to Symantec let's see what happens. where do you get AVG 7.0???

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

www.grisoft.com

[carlmccut]

Thanks got it !!!!!!!!!!!!