BBT: Me. CUST: Customer.
Today was an average day at my bench. There was just enough to keep me busy and enough to really for me to classify it as just an average day. However, it seems that right at 5pm, we got flooded- luckily I was out of there by 6, hehe.
So let’s get down to it. I had [another] problem customer as of this last week. He dropped his laptop off on the 1st. Wednesday, it did not get worked on, and it wasn’t touched until Thursday when another technician called him and left a message.
The next day, he called in and Spoke with me, so I pretty much dropped everything to make sure he was getting taken care of:
CUST: Hello, I need to know the status of my computer, I have not heard anything from you guys since I brought it in.
BBT: Hold on while I check.
(At this point, I put him on hold, put the cordless phone on my belt, and walk to the back where the customer units are being held for pickup. I read over this computer’s credentials, and the scan we did shows some pretty good viruses, and some adware.)
BBT: Sir, you still there?
CUST: *sigh* yes. (Oh god, here we go)
BBT: It looks like you computer is infected with some malicious software that can report user activity and personal information. I have no idea what this computer is used for, but if anyone has used it to purchase anything online like ebay, paypal, or even used a credit card or bank card, that information is possibly in someone else’s hands.
CUST: Well, this is my daughter’s laptop, all she does it get on myspace and check email with it.
BBT: So she’s never checked a bank account, or anything with it? (When a computer comes in and has what this one did, I naturally become genuinely concerned for the customers [or in this case the daughter’s] data and personal information. This isn’t a scare tactic, but merely a way to get the customer to wake up and realize what is going on)
CUST: No she’s a 14 year old girl!(Sorry, was I supposed to read your mind or something?) What’s the cost of getting rid of this?
BBT: The price for me to clean your computer out is $99.99. This includes all malicious software and anything that can compromise your security on this laptop.
CUST: This is outrageous! I thought this was included! You’re telling me I have to pay another $100 on a $499 laptop just to get it cleaned?
BBT: Yes, sir.
CUST: Isn’t this covered under some warranty?
BBT: Unfortunately, both the manufacture and our, and every retail store really, do not cover any kind of software problems.
CUST: Well, this is insane. I bought my other daughter the EXCAT SAME laptop but hers loaded everything faster from day one compared to this one! Will the virus removal make it go fast?
BBT: Because of the possibly of a defect in the hardware, I cannot promise you that the laptop will run faster after the virus removal—however, I will do a manufacture diagnostic on the laptop and make sure there is nothing wrong with it, sound good?
CUST: Well, how long is that going to take?
BBT: It take 24 hours for the diagnostic to fully run, we literally test every piece of hardware in the laptop.
CUST: Fine, do that then.
BBT: Alright, we’ll get started on it as soon as we get a spot open and we’ll give you a call tomorrow or Sunday.
CUST: Ok.
So, I will say now that we ALL completely forgot about this until Sunday but we did start it then. It turned out that all of the hardware checks out fine (Surprised?). The other Tech did not call the customer due to the time of night we got done, so he was on my list of people to call today.
I got back from lunch at about 2:30pm today, and this is when I usually do my calls to customers. I like to get them all done in one go, that way I know I called everyone that was on the list; I just update the ticket as I go.
So I get back and one of the sales girls tells me that this irate customer called in saying that he’s never been called and is pissed because no one has ever called him. (I knew someone had talked to him to begin with because I personally took care of the last issue) So he starts going on this rant about not being called, and I let him know what was going on with his laptop. (I can tell you he wasn’t too pleased to hear nothing hardware was wrong) After talking him out of a virus removal, I told him just to burn recovery disks and restore the computer (after all, it’s his daughters, right?).
So later on, he picks up his laptop checks it out, asks me a few simple questions, and walks happily out the doors.
About 45 minutes later, I hear this customer yelling at the top of his lungs [over the phone, mind you] to another tech of mine. The other tech hands the phone to me so I start the conversation:
BBT: Thank you for holding, this is BBT.
CUST: I’VE GOT A PROBLEM (I was thinking: With your volume?)
BBT: Ok, what can I do with you?
CUST: This is CUST and I can’t find where to make these recovery disks.
BBT: Ok, it’ll be under the start menu and under HP, or PC Help & Tools, there should be something called “Create Restore Disks” or something similar.
CUST: Hold on, I want to make sure I can find it before I let you go…
BBT: Ok (At this time I’m thumbing through some information on another customers unit)
CUST: I can’t find it… Are you sure it’s there? (Are you questioning the person who works on nothing but these computers almost every day?)
BBT: Yeah it’s on every HP/Compaq computer.
CUST: (With a snotty tone)Well, I don’t see it.
BBT: (At this point I started getting aggravated. I know its there, unless you made them already. I felt like asking him if he was too stupid to read, or just blind) Well, there is another option, but it requires you to call HP and order the disks, or alternatively, I do the restore for your, but that will cost $130.
CUST: this is stupid! Listen, BBT, I know you’re trying to help, but this is stupid! I don’t care the cost anymore, what is the best way.
BBT: Well, if you just want to order the restore disks that are usually around $30 with shipping included from HP, they come with documentation on how to restore the computer. And because we can’t seem to find the recovery disk creation wizard, this may be the best route to go all the way around, mainly just to have these disks in a time of need later.
CUST: You know what? This is ridiculous. My computer, first of all, wasn’t touched until 2 days after I left if with you guys, then it took another 2 days for me to call you and find the status!
BBT: Sir, actually, you were on my call list, which I happen to do after my lunch break, every day. If you would have waited less than 15 minu…
CUST: I don’t care; I still had to call in 4 times for anything to be done with my PC.
BBT: Actually sir, it shows a Technician called you the 3rd, and you spoke with me 2 days ago. Hold on a moment… (At this point I walked from my bench that was on the floor to the back where I could tell the customer how it is without the odd looks from other customers.
CUST: Well, this is bullshit, I know you’re trying to help me BBT, but this operation you have going at your stores is a joke. (Whhhhooooaaaa buddy, you just crossed the line. I got a little offended at this point.)
BBT: CUST, you’ve got two options if you want this PC to be clean. You can order the recovery disks from HP, and do it yourself, for $60 less, OR you can bring it in, have us remove the viruses, which I can’t guarantee will speed up the computer.
CUST: I know this, but the fact that I got it back in the same condition I left it there 5 days ago without an ounce of work being done on it shows the lack of customer friendliness your bench has back there. (Excuse me 40 year old UPS package sorter?)
BBT: Sir, as I said, you can do one of those two things. I apologize for the 5 days of downtime of your daughter’s laptop, but scans and diagnostics take some time. I mean, it’s up to you if you want to do either one of those things. HP generally ships overnight on all of their packages, just to let you know.
CUST: But it’s the fact nothing has happened in the 5 days it was there.
BBT: Sir, we ran the scan, we showed you the report that it was infected. We later then tested every piece of hardware to make sure it checked out. That’s over 30 hours of time on your laptop alone. I can’t see how you can even ask a question as silly as that. In fact you’ve not paid for a service yet, and you expect to be put at the top of the line with customers who have paid literally thousands?
CUST: There is no need for that attitude. (You… are kidding… right?)
BBT: CUST, I do believe you have been giving me an attitude since Saturday when I talked to you the first time. If you’d rather, I can let you talk to someone who doesn’t know this situation as well as I do I’d be glad to give it over to the other technician.
CUST: No. that’s not necessary. But the fact I never got a call back from you guys during the five days it was there.
BBT: Sir, TECH1 called you on the 3rd. I talked to you on the fourth. I was going to call you today.
CUST: But you never called me!
BBT: I was going to call you; you were literally next in line to be called.
CUST: I think you’re just saying that!
BBT: You may think what you want. But those are your two options as far as getting your daughters laptop back up and running. The choice is yours, really. If you want to continue this argument, you can call our customer hotline and speak with Corporate.
CUST: WHAT IS THE NUMBER FOR HP?
BBT: 1-800-HP-INVENT. I-N-V-E…
CUST: WHAT?!
BBT: 1-800-HP-INVENT I-N-V
CUST: WHAT?! (GOD FUCKING DAMN IT, YOU IDIOT: ENGLISH, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!) INVENT, LIKE I-N-V-E-N-T?
BBT: *sigh* yes.
(I hang up)
Moral of the story:
1) Don’t expect a $100 service for nothing.
2) When you talk to the person working on your computer, don’t be an asshole.
3) The customer is hardly ever right.
4) When I tell you something, it’s as a technician, not as a salesman. I thought this was obvious by me suggesting restoring the computer instead of doing a virus removal.
5) If you get snotty with me, fuck off. You’re not more important than the next person.
6) If you work for UPS, I’m sorry you have to deal with fucks like these.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007
The HP Scandal.
To get this off the ground, I’m going to make the first real blog post. This post will contain some harsh biases; please use reader discretion as far as what you want to read, and what you do not.
The HP Scandal.
I will never, EVER buy, or recommend another HP product after this blip. It is possibly the worst failure in a large manufacture I’ve ever seen, and it’s not even related to a recall, or a mass of defective products!
This all goes back to about a month ago. We’ll use the Customers name as “CUST,” HP service rep one will be “HP1” service rep two will be “HP2,” and I will be BBT.
Customer walks to our counter.
CUST: “Hello, I need to drop this laptop off, it does not boot to windows”
BBT: “Ok, we’ll diagnose your problem, and give you a call once we know what the problem is. If it’s a hardware problem we’ll send it off for repair, ok?”
CUST: “Ok, thank you.”
Later on that day, my coworker calls the customer, and informs him it’s something to do with the motherboard, and because of our limited testing equipment, it will be sent to HP for repair. We inform him that his data may be wiped, but it’s not likely and it may take 2-4 weeks to get the unit back. At this point the customer had already started to get pissy about the wait time, and we promptly told him that it’s generally not that long.
Later on that week, we ship it off to HP.
20 days passes by, and there is no laptop, so the customer comes in asking where it is.
BBT: Hello, what can I do for you?
CUST: Yeah I dropped my laptop off 25 days ago, and I haven’t heard anything about it.
BBT: Ok, let me call HP and see what’s up with it.
I’m on hold for 8 minutes; meanwhile the customer is getting impatient. He starts proclaiming that he’s the manager for the Sherwin Williams Paint stores and that he just wants to talk to a manager or the district manager because he knows “how it works.” He said something about “the last time I had a problem; I called the district manager and got the problem resolved.” During the wait time he keeps babbling on about how important he his and he knows how the structure of management is around here, and that we wont do anything for him because we don’t know what we’re doing. Finally…
HP1: Thank you for holding could I have the CSO Number?
BBT: JHO275
There is a pause and I can hear some typing and clicking.
HP1: Ok, yes, we sent off a label on the 2nd and it looks like it got to you guys on the 3rd.
BBT: Yes, we got it and shipped it on the 5th.
HP1: Well, it shows here that it was never shipped.
BBT: Uhh, what?
HP1: Do you have the tracking number
At this point I was a little surprised and hunted on our email account for the tracking number. Alas, the webmail was down.
BBT: At this time I cannot access my e-mail, I know we shipped it off on the 5th.
HP1: Well, it looks like you didn’t on this end.
BBT: And you guys don’t have the tracking number?
HP1: No.
BBT: Ok, let me see if I can find it and I’ll give you a call back.
HP1: Ok, thank you for choosing HP, have a nice day.
I asked me co-worker to go see if a Manager could get into their e-mail to get the tracking number. Meanwhile, I had to inform the customer of the situation, because he was only three feet away from me during the phone conversation. He starts going on some rant about how important he his and how much his sons laptop was. He started mumbling on about how we should just give him a NEW laptop, even though it’s after the exchange/return period. The he started to get angry at me because HP lost his laptop and he was going to sue me directly because I didn’t ship it correctly. After the customer vented on my uncaring soul, my coworker came down with the tracking number in hand, as well as the confirmation that someone signed for it at the HP repair center on the 6th.
I called HP back. I was waiting for another 8 minutes with the customer ranting incoherently about how everything is setup and how none of us can do their jobs.
HP2: Thank you for holding could I have the CSO Number?
BBT: JHO275, Actually, I was talking to someone about 10 minutes ago about the situation of this laptop. She said that we never sent the laptop and you never received the laptop at your service center, although the tracking number with the unit says differently.
HP2: Hold on while I check something, please.
Again I hear more mouse clicking and pounding of the keyboard.
HP2: What’s the tracking number on that unit?
I read off the tracking number, twice. There was another pause, this time for a couple minutes.
HP2: Ok, well, it looks like it was sent to the wrong service center.
BBT: Wait, what?
HP2: It looks like the week you put that claim in, we closed a service center, and opened another one. The label you got and used was a label to the wrong service center.
BBT: So the unit has been forwarded to the right service center by now, correct?
HP2: No.
BBT: So, this unit has been setting at an empty service center for…13 days without it being noticed?
HP2: Sir there is no reason for that attitude with me; in fact this is only one of thousands.
BBT: Ma’am, You haven’t heard an attitude yet. So how are we going to deal with this today? Quite frankly I think it’s a little ridiculous that a unit has been sitting in an empty repair center with THOUSANDS of other units, do you not?
HP2: Well, I will e-mail the service center with a request for the tracking number for this unit.
BBT: And do what with it? E-mail it to me, so I can tell the customer that his unit is just now being sent into service? This needs to be dealt with today.
HP2: Sir I’m afraid it’s going to take some time to get a reply back from our service center.
BBT: Ok, this is what’s going to happen: You’re going to e-mail that service center. You’re going to forward that e-mail to me, then call the store here to confirm we got it. I’m going to call the HP corporate lead, and we’re going to get this resolved.
HP2: Sir, there is no need to call the corporate lead; we have this situation under contr...
BBT: If you had the situation under control, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Thank you, I expect that tracking number tomorrow, or the next.
I hang up, and then tell the customer what’s going on. I understand his frustration, and now he wants to talk to a manager. Oh well.
I promptly called our corporate lead and get the problem resolved after 4 days of phone tag.
I never got a call back from HP, and the Corporate Lead sends a “new” refurb laptop.
Fuck HP, and fuck this stupid ass customer.
The HP Scandal.
I will never, EVER buy, or recommend another HP product after this blip. It is possibly the worst failure in a large manufacture I’ve ever seen, and it’s not even related to a recall, or a mass of defective products!
This all goes back to about a month ago. We’ll use the Customers name as “CUST,” HP service rep one will be “HP1” service rep two will be “HP2,” and I will be BBT.
Customer walks to our counter.
CUST: “Hello, I need to drop this laptop off, it does not boot to windows”
BBT: “Ok, we’ll diagnose your problem, and give you a call once we know what the problem is. If it’s a hardware problem we’ll send it off for repair, ok?”
CUST: “Ok, thank you.”
Later on that day, my coworker calls the customer, and informs him it’s something to do with the motherboard, and because of our limited testing equipment, it will be sent to HP for repair. We inform him that his data may be wiped, but it’s not likely and it may take 2-4 weeks to get the unit back. At this point the customer had already started to get pissy about the wait time, and we promptly told him that it’s generally not that long.
Later on that week, we ship it off to HP.
20 days passes by, and there is no laptop, so the customer comes in asking where it is.
BBT: Hello, what can I do for you?
CUST: Yeah I dropped my laptop off 25 days ago, and I haven’t heard anything about it.
BBT: Ok, let me call HP and see what’s up with it.
I’m on hold for 8 minutes; meanwhile the customer is getting impatient. He starts proclaiming that he’s the manager for the Sherwin Williams Paint stores and that he just wants to talk to a manager or the district manager because he knows “how it works.” He said something about “the last time I had a problem; I called the district manager and got the problem resolved.” During the wait time he keeps babbling on about how important he his and he knows how the structure of management is around here, and that we wont do anything for him because we don’t know what we’re doing. Finally…
HP1: Thank you for holding could I have the CSO Number?
BBT: JHO275
There is a pause and I can hear some typing and clicking.
HP1: Ok, yes, we sent off a label on the 2nd and it looks like it got to you guys on the 3rd.
BBT: Yes, we got it and shipped it on the 5th.
HP1: Well, it shows here that it was never shipped.
BBT: Uhh, what?
HP1: Do you have the tracking number
At this point I was a little surprised and hunted on our email account for the tracking number. Alas, the webmail was down.
BBT: At this time I cannot access my e-mail, I know we shipped it off on the 5th.
HP1: Well, it looks like you didn’t on this end.
BBT: And you guys don’t have the tracking number?
HP1: No.
BBT: Ok, let me see if I can find it and I’ll give you a call back.
HP1: Ok, thank you for choosing HP, have a nice day.
I asked me co-worker to go see if a Manager could get into their e-mail to get the tracking number. Meanwhile, I had to inform the customer of the situation, because he was only three feet away from me during the phone conversation. He starts going on some rant about how important he his and how much his sons laptop was. He started mumbling on about how we should just give him a NEW laptop, even though it’s after the exchange/return period. The he started to get angry at me because HP lost his laptop and he was going to sue me directly because I didn’t ship it correctly. After the customer vented on my uncaring soul, my coworker came down with the tracking number in hand, as well as the confirmation that someone signed for it at the HP repair center on the 6th.
I called HP back. I was waiting for another 8 minutes with the customer ranting incoherently about how everything is setup and how none of us can do their jobs.
HP2: Thank you for holding could I have the CSO Number?
BBT: JHO275, Actually, I was talking to someone about 10 minutes ago about the situation of this laptop. She said that we never sent the laptop and you never received the laptop at your service center, although the tracking number with the unit says differently.
HP2: Hold on while I check something, please.
Again I hear more mouse clicking and pounding of the keyboard.
HP2: What’s the tracking number on that unit?
I read off the tracking number, twice. There was another pause, this time for a couple minutes.
HP2: Ok, well, it looks like it was sent to the wrong service center.
BBT: Wait, what?
HP2: It looks like the week you put that claim in, we closed a service center, and opened another one. The label you got and used was a label to the wrong service center.
BBT: So the unit has been forwarded to the right service center by now, correct?
HP2: No.
BBT: So, this unit has been setting at an empty service center for…13 days without it being noticed?
HP2: Sir there is no reason for that attitude with me; in fact this is only one of thousands.
BBT: Ma’am, You haven’t heard an attitude yet. So how are we going to deal with this today? Quite frankly I think it’s a little ridiculous that a unit has been sitting in an empty repair center with THOUSANDS of other units, do you not?
HP2: Well, I will e-mail the service center with a request for the tracking number for this unit.
BBT: And do what with it? E-mail it to me, so I can tell the customer that his unit is just now being sent into service? This needs to be dealt with today.
HP2: Sir I’m afraid it’s going to take some time to get a reply back from our service center.
BBT: Ok, this is what’s going to happen: You’re going to e-mail that service center. You’re going to forward that e-mail to me, then call the store here to confirm we got it. I’m going to call the HP corporate lead, and we’re going to get this resolved.
HP2: Sir, there is no need to call the corporate lead; we have this situation under contr...
BBT: If you had the situation under control, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Thank you, I expect that tracking number tomorrow, or the next.
I hang up, and then tell the customer what’s going on. I understand his frustration, and now he wants to talk to a manager. Oh well.
I promptly called our corporate lead and get the problem resolved after 4 days of phone tag.
I never got a call back from HP, and the Corporate Lead sends a “new” refurb laptop.
Fuck HP, and fuck this stupid ass customer.
First post.
Well, I guess Welcome to my blogsite ;). I’ve wanted to do this for quite some time and finally got the balls, and the time [really] to do it. There are a couple things I want to go over as far as what my blog will contain.
My blog will not contain revealing information as far as location, name of the retail store, or my personal contact information for not only security reasons, but also for the sake of keeping my job.
My blog will contain interactions with customers and products that I come into contact with. If I see something I dislike or simply think is funny, more than likely I’ll post it on here.
My blog is dedicated to all of the big box employees that have to deal with customers with the attitude that they are always right. In my experiences at this particular store, my manager has become lax on enforcing many of the rules. In doing so, he’s also become less and less customer friendly, given that the customer is irate and wants something for free.
I am a PC technician, with MCP (In classes for A+, Net+, Server+, Linux+, CCNA, and MCSA). I’ve been working on computers for eight years and I have a successful IT Contract business on the side.
None the less, I hope you enjoy everything I post here because I’ve got quite the stories to tell.
My blog will not contain revealing information as far as location, name of the retail store, or my personal contact information for not only security reasons, but also for the sake of keeping my job.
My blog will contain interactions with customers and products that I come into contact with. If I see something I dislike or simply think is funny, more than likely I’ll post it on here.
My blog is dedicated to all of the big box employees that have to deal with customers with the attitude that they are always right. In my experiences at this particular store, my manager has become lax on enforcing many of the rules. In doing so, he’s also become less and less customer friendly, given that the customer is irate and wants something for free.
I am a PC technician, with MCP (In classes for A+, Net+, Server+, Linux+, CCNA, and MCSA). I’ve been working on computers for eight years and I have a successful IT Contract business on the side.
None the less, I hope you enjoy everything I post here because I’ve got quite the stories to tell.
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