Comments on: The State of Phone Support: Not Good

By: HP is the New Dell: Great Customization Options and Even Better Price | Bob Caswell

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:17:53 +0000

[...] slick and glossy offerings). And the phone support system was (and still is, to a certain degree) a nightmare of touch tone loops which felt like its sole purpose was to make sure you never spoke to a [...]

By: Bob Caswell

Bob Caswell — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:38:13 +0000

Hi Heidi, nice to hear from you! And, yes, I definitely remember you…
I love how blogging can keep me connected without me having to try very
hard. Interesting points on your phone experiences… I'd love to read
your rant. Feel free to drop a url in a comment or send me an email.

By: Bob Caswell

Bob Caswell — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:38:13 +0000

By: Heidi Quist

Heidi Quist — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:09:33 +0000

I'm just finding you now–good to find you! (Do you remember me? Danielle's old roommate?) Anyway–yes, ditto–especially the “our options have change”–I had a temp job at a company and did some airline booking for a DVP and their line had that on it. Six months later, I came back to that temp job and the phone line had the same message. I wondered how long ago those options changed? Anyway, I would also add the language barrier I've too often run into even after I've gotten a real person on the line. They don't use colloquial American and since I'm not a computer guru, it's not at all helpful for me to have them tell me the specific real names of things when they want me to do something. I ranted a little about that on my blog in March, too, curiously enough:

By: Canceling Credit Cards: Why Not Online? | Bob Caswell

Canceling Credit Cards: Why Not Online? | Bob Caswell — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:20:16 +0000

[...] the tedious phone process to do so. You know the drill. Call the main 800 number, fumble through a horrible phone system, and then find the cancel option as the last possible selection in the option tree. In both cases, [...]

By: HP is the New Dell: Great Customization Options and Even Better Price | TechConsumer

Wed, 28 May 2008 04:39:27 +0000

By: It’s Comcrapstic! My Comcast Tech Support Story | TechConsumer

It’s Comcrapstic! My Comcast Tech Support Story | TechConsumer — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:59:15 +0000

[...] more on these kind of issues, check out The State of Phone Support: Not Good, How To: Provide Phone Support That Doesn’t Suck, and Why Are Companies So Horrible At [...]

By: Comcast Rewards You for Complaining Publicly | TechConsumer

Comcast Rewards You for Complaining Publicly | TechConsumer — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:28:13 +0000

[...] place and the issue was resolved. This sure beats what he experienced earlier with the automated phone system and misleading customer [...]

By: How To: Provide Phone Support That Doesn’t Suck | TechConsumer

How To: Provide Phone Support That Doesn’t Suck | TechConsumer — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:24:21 +0000

[...] work for SewellDirect.com, and I definitely get to see a lot of both sides of the phone support dilemma. I’ve worked there over a year and a half doing tech support through phone calls, email, and [...]

By: Bob Caswell

Bob Caswell — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:46:54 +0000

Nice, Michelle. I definitely have experienced the “don’t go!” response when canceling. Funny too, how canceling is usually not the easiest option to find. It’s buried somewhere three levels into the right choice of options…