Friiiiiiiday . . . happy Friiiiiiiiday . . . happy Friiiiiiiday . . . (conjure mental image of large, bald, man dancing and singing, and you're with me!)
I actually got some writing done last night! Popped in another 1,700 words on "First". Not a killer day, but it's forward progress! I'm using the work laptop and was working on the couch yesterday. Not the ideal situation but the office is unusable so I just settled for working during commercials as my wife and I watched the tube. I'll bring the laptop home tonight and try to get a little more "focused" time over the weekend.
So, I just had a WONDERFUL (are you feeling the sarcasm?) experience with Gateway's online support staff. I tried to order a replacement power supply online for the one that fried on my desktop but couldn't find the right model/make in their listings, so I went to tech support. Got online with a woman named Ingrid who (politely) asks me to hold on for a moment (read: 15 minutes!) before handing me off to another tech, named Tony, with no explanation. Okay, no biggie . . . I explain to Tony that I need to order a replacement part but that I can't find it on their site. No problem, he will research it and get me an answer please hold (for 25 minutes this time). He comes back with a link, that I click on - only to find it leads me back to the parts page I started with that DOESN'T have my piece on it. I try to explain this to Tony but the support session suddenly disconnects. Okay. Log back in . . . fill out the stupid forms again . . . and voila'! It's my old buddy Ingrid who once more asks me (politely - with the same form response) to hold on (only 5 minutes this time . . . things are looking up!) before pawning me off on Dave. Alright. I explain the situation to Dave (including the worthless answer Dumb-Ass Tony gave me!) and he says no problem, we can fix that! We're here to help, sir! Just hold on for a moment, please (or 23 minutes as the case may be) Dave comes back with a link to various system cases, asking me to select the one appropriate for my system. I do so, and he (politely!) asks me to continue holding as he does more research. (16 minutes worth) before coming back to tell me (and this is an exact quote!) "Yes, James, you can replace your power supply." I CAN? Wow, thank you so much! Oh, by the way . . . WITH WHAT, YOU FRIKKIN' MORON!!!!
Okay, I didn't say that (sure as hell was thinking it though!) Instead I (politely!) inquire if he can tell me where I can find the appropriate part on his site, or if he can point me to a different make/model that will fit my machine. Of course he can! Please hold on for a moment, sir! (48 minutes this go 'round) before he finally returns with: "Gateway no longer carries parts for your (3 year old!) system. We recommend you try Best Buy or CompUSA, our business partners. They carry the part you need." Fine, it's off to those sites, where (of course!) they carry no such thing! The only place I can find the part I need online is from some mini-computer store in Bumblefuck, Ohio!!! I hate ordering from places I don't know but it was either that or buy a whole new system (Which I want anyway, but Der Frau says das is verboden!)
In the end, Gateway sends me a follow up questionaire, asking if their support staff had been helpful. I responded that they certainly had been!!! Why, if not for the help of your fine staff, I never would have known that I WILL NEVER AGAIN BUY FROM GATEWAY!!! I'm a Dell man from now on. (Use 'em at work and love the damn things.)
Fun stuff, huh?
Hey, here's one of those bizarre twists life takes: you know the contractor that's been making my life hell? Talking with him yesterday, we discovered that he and I worked together some 20 odd years ago. We both thought the other looked familiar but didn't make the connection until we were chatting. Scary thing is he was real good friends with my older brother. Well, maybe that will help get his ass in gear, eh? (Actually, they're starting painting the walls tomorrow, so hope is in the air!) I won't get silly and expect them to be done before the end of the month though . . . I mean, that would just be RIDICULOUS!
Later!
5 comments:
Hey, we had so many bad experiences with Dell support staff (at work) that we've gone HP. It's just so hard to find good help these days. Good luck with the writing!
Tech support is a given bad experience, even when they're polite, it seems.
By the way, that would be Die Frau.
I've been hearing the same, Nienke. I came back from the holidays with my freshly rebuilt Dell in continuous reboot mode. I was fortunate our staff replaced it with a brand new HP (3500+ AMD with 1G RAM, YES!) that same day, slaved my old hard drive and recovered my data, favorites, .psts, and everything the next day and reinstalled it.
Good luck, Jim. I hope you're able to find what you need and things work out well for you.
You expected great help from tech support? I don't think half of them are from this country.
Anyways, great to hear you actually found a part. I would have given in and bought a new system. (My DELL is awsome, by the way. ;) )
It still doesn't help get a word count in when I should be writing. :p
Hey, what's wrong with "Bumblefuck, Ohio?"
Good luck with the parts
You all cheer me up immensely!
Here I was, thinking it was a personality issue, but it seems Tech Support treats us all equally: like crap!
Good, now I can cancel the therapist appointment I'd made to find out why people don't like me!
:-)
Jean: "Die" Frau might have been mistaken as a personal request on the part of the wife and I AIN'T brave enough to go there! :-)
SRH: Oops. Forgot you lived in Ohio. It was a random choice of location and was certainly not intended to in any way disparage the fine people of that lovely state! (we would also like to apologize to any platypus lovers who were offended by the previous entry . . .)
LOL!
Later!
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