Some helpful hints when talking with tech at a call center

Over the years as a diagnostic tech at a large electronics corp I've
compiled a list of do's and don'ts when calling on a problem you have
with any product:

Do your homework before you buy:

If this is new technology that you do
not know look for one of the popular
series of books "xxx for dummies"
Ask around your friends & neighbors
who might have one of the devices.
Research with "Consumer Reports" etc.

Be sure to ask yourself if you are sure you can operate the device?
Is there another device on sale somewhere that
will do the same thing, cost less and is more
user friendly?

Call the 800 number for the product before you
buy and if you really have questions at the store
ask to see the manual.

You are just about to buy your product but...
It is on the "Special 1/2 off table or "As is" or is
the "Demo" Model"

Think 5 times before you buy it...I can tell you stories.
Most of the time you do not get the "Great Deal" you
might think it is.

Make sure that you buy the retailers "Extended Warranty"
If there is no "Manufacturers Extended Warranty".

Congratulations on owning a new....

Taking your product home:

Keep your receipt. Better yet, keep it and make a copy or
two. Your warranty really is your receipt.

If you do have a warranty card do fill it out and send it in.

Under no circumstances, unless it is a birth,death or
end of the world (in that case it doesn't matter anyway)
should you "Leave your new product in the closet"!!

Open it up and check it out, do you have all the parts?
Does it work?

If your product does not work...

Make sure you check the obvious..power cord
snug and plugged direct to wall etc.

Don't take your product apart to fix unless your
using the instruction manual and it says you can.
You may void your warranty.

Take it back now..not next week...most retailers do
have a return policy but it may only be a few days
to 2 weeks and at most a month. And a word to the wise:
Don't ever get caught saying that you "Didn't have
time to take it back to the store". Whatever the case,
we all make time for what we have to do. If you can't take it
back someone else can!

So, you have decided to call the 800 line...
and you have read the manual...don't expect the
tech to read the whole manual to you!

When you call:

1)Have all pertinent data available such as model number,serial number
Date of Purchase. If it helps to write down the problem then do so
because the more information the tech has in hand the faster he can
either fix it or tell you that it needs service.

2)When the tech comes on the line let him or her guide you. Don't say
I'm from so & so's office but do give a name and quickly say what
product you have and then ask what info he or she needs.

3)As you answer the technicians' questions please realize that he or
she
has an established troubleshooting technique for your product. Do
your
best to follow his or her lead. Don't say that you will not do
something like moving it or testing it with new batteries etc.
Always remember that your tech has been trained on this product and
probably has more experience in using it or at least knows the
problems far better than you do. This is the tech's job everyday not
yours.

4) Although it is not uncommon for a good tech to try to make some type
of connection with you ( sometimes it smooths out things out )
please
remember he or she can't spend a lot of time with you. Hopefully if
the tech is good with people, whatever the outcome, you are going to
come away feeling that was a positive experience.


5)If you disagree with the technician ask what the next step would be.
It is very possible that he can refer you to a supervisor but they
may
not be able to come to the phone right at that moment but can get
back
to you later possibly in just a few minutes or hours.

5)Don't lose your temper!! Remember, your technician is not a robot
but a person whose sole job it is to try to solve your problem or
tell you how your product can be serviced.

7)Don't swear at all! It is not "professional" and you will quickly
gain a reputation.

8) Don't be a pest.

9) If there is a manufacturers extended warranty..buy it.
It is usually better than the retailer extended warranty.

10) If you buy it with a credit card say "American Express"
they may still have a "Free Replacement" clause. Other
Credit Card Companies may offer the same.


If you decide to E-Mail your question:

Include all pertinent information because now it is vitally important.
Remember that E-mail is only one way and may take hours to get a reply.
If you do not have enough information for example like the model number
than don't bother E-mailing. The tech may only be able to give you a
very limited amount of information because you know what you have but
he can not unless you tell him.

Try to be as concise as possible but be cordial.

Please remember that business E-mail is purely for business and even
though a transaction might be fondly remembered you would not want to
include that tech or company in your personal bulk E-mail.
Apparently, from what I have seen, some older folks do not understand
this concept...they don't know about viruses yet!

To conclude, while most of the above information is just plain common
sense if you follow these hints your transactions with Help Desk call
centers will be successful.

In closing, most, if not all of this information is just basic common
sense & courtesy. If you always follow these hints you should have a
more positive experience in dealing with Corp. Call Centers.

wrote:

Make sure that you buy the retailers "Extended Warranty"
If there is no "Manufacturers Extended Warranty".

....

9) If there is a manufacturers extended warranty..buy it.
It is usually better than the retailer extended warranty.

Though many of these hints are common sense and welcome, I have
to think a little harder about this one. In my experience,
buying the extended warranty is usually more expensive than
replacing the product after it fails. Stores price these
warranties so they can make a profit: on average, they have
to charge more from the warranty than they pay out fixing
or replacing things that fail.

My strategy works well with most products that are well-made
and reliable. It doesn't work with junk, but you won't be
happy buying junk anyway. They other class of products
for which extended warranties really are useful are newer
technology which the manufacturer hasn't yet figured out
how to make reliable enough.

For example, between 1980 and 2000, every computer I bought
had a disk drive failure in the first year. I always bought
extended warranties for computers, I always had to make a claim
on the extended warranty, and the warranty always paid for itself,
In recent years, disk drive technology has become more mature,
and I no longer think an extended warranty on a computer is a
good buy.

In the context of this newsgroup, I haven't heard complaints
that telescopes need better warranties. Do the better brands
hold up for their expected life? Is an extended warranty a
waste for a telescope?

--
Glenn Holliday

Glenn Holliday wrote:
In the context of this newsgroup, I haven't heard complaints
that telescopes need better warranties. Do the better brands
hold up for their expected life? Is an extended warranty a
waste for a telescope?

The less technology is involved in the telescope, the less likely an
extended warranty will come into play. I have a C5+, which has a motor
drive with the capability of taking a declination drive, but which is
otherwise electronics-free. It had a one-year warranty, I think, but
it wouldn't make much difference to me if the warranty were only 30
days. I knew about all the kinks the telescope has had in that first
month, none of them major, and luckily enough, I was able to cure them
on my own.

On the other hand, I heard all sorts of troubles with the inexpensive
GOTO telescopes that came out first. Wrapped cords, iffy electronic
connections that would fail at the most inopportune moment, handheld
unit displays that would malfunction in only moderate cold, stuff like
that. I don't know the distribution of time-to-failure for these
telescopes, but it *might* have made an extended warranty worthwhile
at the time (just as you said for PCs early on, when HD technology was
not entirely mature). It seems, however, that most of these problems
have been cleared, although I don't myself own one of them.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt