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Case Study: Tech Support Call
Yesterday I got a technical support call as I often do. However, this one wasn’t like my normal ones. This one had more different situations occur in it than usual. The client called up angry and left happy, in this article I’ll tell you everything that happened in between.
The story starts out a day before the tech support call when the client brought in their computer. After examining their computer it was obvious that WindowsXP was seriously damaged and wouldn’t boot so the best course of action would be to reinstall XP. I whipped out my “Backup Checklist” form and went through it with the client asking them what they wanted to backup. I made sure that they knew that the computer would be restored back to the state it was when the originally brought it, except they would keep their files.
I do the reinstall of Windows in a different folder so they don’t lose any files, install all the drivers and other software that they say came with their PC. I setup their email account settings, emails and contacts and brought over any other files and folders that are in user specific locations. The came back later to pick up the computer and off they went. The next day they call me and sound angry based on the tone of their voice.
I ask what could I do for them and they tell me that everything looks weird, their icons are bigger and their background is stretched. I assume that the resolution is lower than what they previously had it which would explain the larger icons, but I had to ask about the stretched background because I had left it on the standard Windows XP background. They said that their children’s faces are all stretched so I am guessing they changed their background and chose the wrong position setting (center, tile or stretch).
To lighten the mood I said in an upbeat voice and always remaining calm that “I believe I know what is causing that and I can talk them though that right now if they like”. I talked them though changing their resolution and fixing the position setting for their background which went well.
I then made sure that she knew why those two things weren’t done (because I don’t want her to think I’m incompetent or lazy) by saying “Is that back to as it was? Yes? Great. Although I restored all your files, folders and emails I was unable to tell what background you had or screen resolution you were using because Windows wouldn’t boot for me to see it for myself.” She understood.
The next issue was she believed she was missing some contacts in Outlook Express. At this point I was growing concerned because one of my greatest fears as a computer technician is losing a clients data. In Outlook Express she had most of her contacts under her own identity, but had a few others in another identity which she cant find after I setup the two identities again.
This was strange because when I gathered the Outlook Express Address book, there was only one .wab file. I even did a search of the hard drive for *.wab, there really was only 1 Outlook Express Address book. I couldn’t figure it out.
Again, she asked me what happened to those addresses and I said the immortal line when you don’t know the answer to something “I don’t know the answer to that at the moment. However, I am able to find out”. Don’t ever be afraid to admit you don’t know the answer to something, but always tell them you will find out for them.
I then told her I’ll call her back in about 15 minutes and I should have an answer.
I tried to reproduce what was happening on my own computers Outlook Express. I created two OE identities, added some contacts to each identities address book and then deleted one of the identities. It turns out that the contacts will merge into the remaining identities address book.
I called the client back, told her what had happened and talked her though moving the contacts back into the other account by moving them to the shared contacts first, then into the other account.
I then asked her if there was anything else I could help her with? She said no, thanked me and left with a happy tone in her voice.
This is not a typical support call for me. Would you guys have handled it differently? Got any of your own tips or tech support stories?
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I’ve only been in biz a couple months, since in between jobs at the moment. I’m doing the in-home service for now, so when i return a pc I’ll have the customer check to make sure they can do all the things they would normally do. It’s easier to fix something when you’re looking right at it compared to over-the-phone. Looks like you had no prob though. Well done.
I can say that this not out of the ordinary call for us. This is a common call for our residential customers, the ones that are not really tech savvy, and basically know how to do something in a certain order or way, for example getting on the Internet by using the Blue E icon on their desktop.
While 8 out of 10 are happy, and never complain there are always those two which want you to never do residential again!
But that being said, the customer is always right, and we do try to help as you did in this one Bryce.
Our one glaring example of a customer that out of line, and we did everything to rectify the problem, yet we’re still the problem is…
An older couple brought in their E-Machine for repair. Motherboard was bad, and we we’re able to find a replacement, and get it up and running in no time, and without much trouble. During the diagnosis, I had told them, “Emachines are notorious for having bad motherboards. This is a common issue.”
We’ll they pick up their computer got it home and after a few days they called and said it wasn’t working again. So we look at it again, and the power supply had crapped out. Today we’ve seen enough of these that both the power supply, and motherboard need to be replaced, but this was a new issue to us at the time.
So they we’re complaining mightily. So to rectify the issue, we gave them a FREE USED power supply, and a 30 day warranty it as well.
So everything is working well, except a few things like resolution and wall papers etc, which we fixed over the phone several days later.
Then about two months later, they had called complaining that something software related wasn’t working and we were the cause. At that point we explained our warranty policy on work, and that it would cost to look at it. They said they were going to report us to the Better Business Burea and we never heard from them again.
No doubt the worst customer we every had. Some people are quick to point fingers, and expect the world from you, and even when you bend over backwards to meet their needs, they still are not happy.
All that being said, be gracious, patient, and do the best job you can, it will go along ways.
nice job…:) I haven’t rally checked all the articles here but can I ask for an article where there are steps or tips on how to back up important files like the one you did on your client from this article? You see…doing backups is oftentimes forgotten by newbie techs…
I’ve had difficult customers, and my viewpoint is that they are NOT always right. I’ll work with them as best as possible, but if they continue to be difficult, they can go elsewhere. Likely they’ve treated people that way all their lives. Two examples:
1. It’s late 2004–customer has Dell that’s a spyware farm, and wouldn’t boot. Pulled HDD, scanned in known-good machine, repair installed XP to find their sound card not working. Of course, I was blamed for that (suspect it was bad before I looked at it). Drivers wouldn’t fix, so replaced the sound card, no charge. Dell computer was under warranty, so, told her, either deal with me, or drag your feet with Dell. Since no cost for her and fixed, she dealt with me.
—Fast forward to early 2007, when she calls, complaining sound card is “broke again!” She wants her old one back so she can get Dell to come work on it (STILL under warranty!). I either gave her the original card upon repair, or tossed it (don’t remember), she was POd, had her husband call to stiff-arm me, and I wouldn’t budge. Told them to take it elsewhere. Sad thing is, this woman was a referral, a friend of an extended family member. Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin. Lesson learned here; if a comp. is broken, and still under warranty , I won’t touch it. It’s some other tech’s headache, not mine.
2. Had very old, nice gentleman, whose hard drive croaked. Got new HDD, installed XP Home OEM and all programs for his wife regarding screen magnification (she has macular degeneration). Everything was fine when I left, and he saw all programs functioning.
—Calls me three days later, practically screaming at me, wondering why everything isn’t installed. I told him I already did that, he claimed I didn’t, I said “You were right there when I did!”, etc., etc. Schedule call back for later in the day.
—Go there to find a totally different looking desktop, with no progs installed, and most items splatted in Device Manager. I asked him if he used System Restore—guess what his answer was? YES! He restored the damn thing to the VERY INITIAL install of Windows XP, before anything else was installed (why I don’t know). After restoring everything, I told him I wouldn’t charge him, although I should have, and that if it happened again, it would be a regular service call charge.
I could care less if these two badmouth me to the world. Chances are, people that know them KNOW they are difficult, and will take their opinions with a grain of salt.
Such is the life of being a computer repair guy. 9 times out of 10, a tech’s “error” is really the user’s.
Gotta admit though… that’s our time to shine! When someone’s having a tough day and their computer is the last straw… we gotta be there for them… professionally. It’s one of the things that keeps this gig interesting!