ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!! Comcast Helpless Desk!
Okay, let me start by saying that for the most part, I love my Comcast high-speed internet connection. It has served me very well. It’s speedy, and for the most part it’s pretty reliable. I’d say I have a small outage every couple of months or so, and when that happens, then I’d rather gouge out my eye with a rusty spoon than have to talk to their tech support. To put it succinctly, they are idiots.
Here’s what happened Sunday. I was playing an online game (Guild Wars – participating in the beta) when things started not working. I looked over at my cable modem, and all looked good, but even trying to surf the web, I was getting nowhere. So, I decided that a reboot of the cable modem was in order. I did so, and it came back, but showed it as offline. Okay, we lost cable connection, that happens sometimes, and I just have to wait for it to come back.
So I did some photo editing and about five minutes later, the modem came back online. Great, now I can get back to work. Fire up Mozilla, and nada. Don’t have access. Maybe the router/firewall is having issues. Log in, and everything looks fine, although I have an internal address for my WAN address, wierd. So I release and renew the IP through DHCP, but DHCP never connects. Great. So my link is up, but for some reason the provider won’t give me an IP address, gateway or DNS server. Guess I gotta call.
So I do call, and I get an Indian gentleman (naturally) that has one of the thickest accents I’ve ever dealt with. Now I’m pretty good at understanding non-native speakers in general, but this guy was damn near indecipherable. I had to have him repeat himself numerous times during our conversation.
Anyway, I explain that my router/firewall is not getting an IP address, and that I think their DHCP servers are having problems.
HIM: “Well, lets look at your computer. I want you to go into Control Panel.”
ME: “Um, no need to go into control panel, it’s my firewall that’s not getting the IP address.”
HIM: “Click on Device Manager”
ME: “My machine doesn’t matter in this, my firewall is not getting the address. I have a hardware firewall/router. IT is not getting the IP address.”
HIM: “Sir, please can you just look under Network Adapters? Do you see any with a yellow or red icon?”
ME: “NO, my NIC cards are just fine. Once again, MY machine has nothing to do with my router not getting a DHCP address from YOUR server.”
HIM: “Well I need you to reboot”
ME: “ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Spoon in the eye.
So after having me reboot my machine (twice), and my cable modem (three times) and my router (three times) we can’t get anything to work.
ME: “Okay, my ROUTER can still not get an IP ADDRESS via DHCP from YOUR server. So either your DHCP server is having issues, or my router has fried.”
HIM: “Can we connect the modem directly to your machine then?”
ME: “Sure. I’ve got my laptop here, I’ll just connect directly to that, it’ll be easier.”
I attach my machine directly, try to release and renew. Nothing. Can’t reach the DHCP server.
ME: “Still won’t connect. Says it cannot hit the DHCP server.”
HIM: “Okay, I want you to shut down the cable modem, the laptop and the router” The router wasn’t connected, but whatever “Then I want you to remove the cable and flip it around.”
ME: “You want me to FLIP the cable around? For a DHCP problem, that I also had with the OTHER cable?”
HIM: “Yes”
ME: “Fine.”
By now I want to climb through the damn phone and choke the shit out of this guy. But I do it, flip the cable, reboot everything, and then my laptop gets an IP address.
ME: “Well the laptop got an IP address.”
HIM: “I’m glad we could fix your problem.”
ME: “Listen, you didn’t fix my fucking problem, obviously your DHCP server came back up.”
HIM: “You’re right sir, I’m sorry, you fixed the problem.”
ME: “ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”
HIM: “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
ME: *laughing* “Anything else??? You didn’t help me with anything UP to this point. How could you possibly help me with anything else? I think I can take it from here, thanks.”
I hang up, frustrated to the hilt, but happy for the renewed access. Hooked the cable modem back up to the router, clicked renew for a new IP address. Nothing.
ME: “ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!”
Long story short, I fixed it myself. Seems the DHCP server didn’t want to give my router’s MAC address an IP address. When I changed the MAC on the router to the same as my laptop, I got access just fine and was able to release/renew with aplomb. So, either they were specifically blocking my MAC addy, or they simply HAD A PROBLEM WITH THEIR FUCKING DHCP SERVER!!!!!!
I need a drink.
March 24, 2005 @ 5:43 pm
Comcast has surpassed even the phone company for worst customer server here in the Chicago area IMHO (not that Chicago had anything to do with your problem).
March 24, 2005 @ 6:06 pm
LOL. I feel your pain.
Here in Phoenix we have a company called QWest. I had them as my DSL provider, and ultimately had to switch over to another provider (Cable); simply because their tech support sucked so badly. (Having to explain how DHCP works, and that it did not apply to my machines with hard-coded static IP addresses to the tech guy does NOT inspire confidence). My new provider (Cox) costs a little more, but the tech guys are local folks who actually have a clue what they are doing.
-Devin.
March 24, 2005 @ 9:55 pm
Well, I’m in Chicago too, so it may very well be a regional thing, although, I dunno if this call stayed in Chicago or went to someplace outsourced and far far away…
-Grey
March 25, 2005 @ 12:57 pm
I just love calling tech support when I KNOW this is the scenario I am going to get on the other end of the phone.
Do NOT ask me if my damn modem is plugged in. I’ve been working in IT for 12 years. My fucking modem is plugged in. I had almost the exact same problem as you with my Optimum Online connection (which I LOVE BTW). Only I refused to do the dumb stuff the guy was telling me. No, I will NOT reboot the computer. My router isn’t getting an IP address from YOUR server. My computer connects to my router just fine. Do NOT tell me do change any settings on my computer because they are just fine.
Eventually, it just worked… but nothing I did on my end possibly could have fixed it. The dude on the other end TOLD me something I did fixed it but I know better. Morons.
Your situation is pretty funny though. I’m sure it wasn’t at the time but at least you knew the problem would be resolved eventually.
March 25, 2005 @ 3:35 pm
I was very cathartic to write, and very funny now in retrospect. But I should definitely know better than to EVER count on them for actual support…
-Grey
March 30, 2005 @ 3:35 pm
Christ I feel your pain. Wouldnt you love to have a magic password that would immediately move you past the 1st level support.
That being said, I imagine that those guys just HATE getting calls from people like us. My thoughts are, they should appreciate a technically savvy person at the other end of the phone, but then they can’t check their little boxes on their problem solving application in front of them
May 20, 2005 @ 6:10 am
First off, despite your ‘indecipherable’ claim, you managed to transcribe both sides of the conversation pretty thoroughly.
You also spelled ‘indecipherable’ wrongly, so your implied claim of language superiority by virtue of being a native speaker is ironic.
Thirdly, I wonder whether Americans are blind to the fact that they have an accent too. An accent defines how you speak – even with flawless pronunciation (if there is such a thing), you will still have a defining quality about your voice. Everybody has an accent, including the Brits, probably one for each village. So quit complaining about ‘thickly accented’ foreign gentlemen cos you are equally ‘thickly accented’, dude.
Finally, 1st level support *everywhere* is populated with a mix of inexperienced idiots and experienced old hands. Are you seriously telling me you’ve never had a hair-pulling experience with a local call-center?
Gripe if you must, but be fair.
May 20, 2005 @ 9:59 am
WAHHHHH, I forgot to hit spell check. Either way, you understood what I was saying, so spelling something wrong is not the same as being so skewed as to not being able to be understood. For the record, it has now been fixed. I hope you can sleep better.
Actually, the reason I was able to transcribe both sides is because I had to have him repeat himself several times, for the entire conversation. Otherwise I would have never known half of what was said. I shouldn’t NEED to do that when calling a help desk.
There is nothing wrong with expecting the help desk of any company to have qualified speakers in all of the languages they support. I should have someone that can be understood without asking to have them repeat themselves.
I realize that I have an accent. I realize that Brits have accents, as well as Aussies etc. BUT, when I am calling support for a local service that I purchase, I expect someone with at least a modicum of understandability in a language similiar to my own. That is NOT out of line.
And really? 1st level support sucks everywhere? Thanks for the revelation. Might not have figured that one out on my own cocheese. However, this experience was different from many that I have had in several facets:
1. I couldn’t understand the person helping me
2. He would not deviate from his script no matter what
3. He lacked the basic understanding about how routers worked
4. He actually THOUGHT he fixed my problem
Now, I’ve had bad tech support before, but this was so blantantly bad, in pretty much every way, that I wanted to share my frustration.
This also shows me that outsourcing does not work. Period.
So, Mr. Anonymous Devil’s Advocate? Are you an H1B Visa working at Concerto software? An Indian gentleman perhaps? Just wondering. Concerto makes help desk software. Interesting that you would be out there defending call centers, no matter how bad they would be. Comcast a customer of yours?
-Grey
May 20, 2005 @ 5:31 pm
Duuuuuude, you spelled Cochise wrong now! There’ll be no peace now, man. Brace yourself for a batch of incoming complaints from the OTHER set of Indians…..
Signed
Anonymous Native American Spell Check Grand Wizard
*snicker*
May 23, 2005 @ 2:29 am
*Whistle* Blew me away with your IP/DNS trace. So clever, must have been at the top of yr networking class?
What’s with all the vitriol against H1Bs? I’m not one, but so what if I were? I’m earning an honest decent living, working my butt off, just like you.
I work out of the Far East where we have tons of American and European expatriates working here, staying here, generally earning buckets more than the locals, and living la dolce vita.
What goes around comes around.
May 24, 2005 @ 4:09 pm
Mr. Advocate,
I just happen to hate anonymous cowards who post on blogs without giving any indication of who they are. Also, the fact that you dislike my stance on bad help desks while simultaneously working for a company that depends on help desks to survive is rather suspect in my opinion.
If you are going to comment on something like this, at least have the balls not to do so anonymously. Represent yourself truthfully and I might respect you more.
But back to the topic at hand. Every person who calls for help desk support (no matter WHAT country they are from) should be able to get understandable support in their native language. That’s not too much to ask.
I don’t necessarily have problems with H1B Visa’s, and I’ll even admit that was a cheap shot, but I do have problems with outsourcing entire organizations to other nations. Especially when the quality I receive is equal to what I posted about above.
And Rob… LOL. Too funny.
-Grey
May 25, 2005 @ 1:09 am
You are not the first person to accuse me of being a coward just because I happened to choose an anonymous handle. It always puzzles and amuses me to see such a connection made in regard to what is nothing but a simple no-risk exchange in cyberspace. Why would I be afraid of posting my name or identity (in fact I’ve done so above – hope you can sleep better now) – it’s not like there’s any risk to my life and limb from talking to you; but in my opinion it adds nothing to the debate apart from distraction and unfounded allegations of bias. ‘Oh you are an Indian, you would naturally support Indians’ or ‘Oh you are a man, you would naturally say that’. Nothing could be further from the truth. My intellect is not a slave to my identity.
Again, just because I work closely with call-centers doesn’t mean I’m brainwashed into some way of thinking – give me a little more credit please. If anything, it probably just means that I’m a little more empathetic, and empathy doesn’t equal sympathy.
I’ve seen call-center operators being frustrated and harassed time and again by rude, impatient, angry customers. If the guy you spoke to were rude or discourteous or plain unhelpful to you, I would never defend him, not in a hundred years. (And believe me, I’ve had more than one experience with extremely rude and unhelpful operators at United Airlines – these were almost certainly Americans). Not one line in your transcript indicated that this person did anything but try to help you.
Now to turn to his failings. OK, he spoke with an accent much different than yours, to the point of being almost unintelligible to you. Mate, the landscape is shifting. It’s no longer a world where everything you want is available in your backyard. When the economy is going global, perhaps people’s attitudes should too. Perhaps the American and British accents will no longer be the only accepted standards. Perhaps Filipino, Thai, Eastern European and dare-I-say Indian accents will find acceptance and be respected, not dissed and denigrated just because they happen to be different from yours.
Indians (and just about everybody else in the world) are able to grasp American accents, not because you necessarily talk ‘better’ than them, or more eloquently, or even more grammatically correct English; it’s because they watch American TV and movies and – many times – make really sincere attempts to learn and adapt – trust me, learning ‘American’ is like learning English all over again. If others are willing to adapt to you, why should it be so difficult or demeaning for you to adapt to them? The whole thing about meeting half-way, remember?
Finally, let me be frank. I’m not here to defend the crappy technical knowledge of some call center operator who I don’t know and care less about; chances are he’s probably an accounts or arts graduate in Bombay or Delhi temping before he gets a break. Call centers in India are in their infancy – and right now it’s a gold rush with every Tom’s Hairy Dick rushing to get a piece of the action; many with possibly little regard to quality – but I’ll bet the industry will mature and have its due shakedown and get much better in the years to come.
I intervened in this discussion only to try to break up some stereotypes and stir up a little bit of debate about adjustment between cultures. As opposed to letting one or two bad experiences jaundice your view of an entire community.
May 25, 2005 @ 11:02 am
Well thank you for actually posting your email and real name. It DOES matter to me. And if you don’t follow the Domino community much, here’s why.
Awhile ago, an “analyst” firm posted some research that we in the community thought was way off base, and many of us denounced it. Well, some anonymous posters (and then some with brand new fake hotmail addresses) posted in defense of the research.
It’s a fake grassroots technique known as astroturfing. The IP’s were traced to the analyst firm in question. These anonymous posters also emailed companies that some bloggers worked for demanding that they be fired. Once again, these anonymous hotmail accounts were traced to the firm.
This past year, a young girl was murdered in a local town that I used to live in. The father confessed, on video nonetheless, but the family said he was coerced. I posted a rather scathing entry about how this guy should fry for killing his little girl. Well, posters there took me to task, saying that he was innocent.
Through my “head of the networking class” deduction skills, I found that one of the posters defending him was actually coming from the law firm representing him. Dubious to say the least.
So, I’ve had experience in the anonymous posting regard where people were less than honest in their intentions. That’s why it matters to me more than most.
That being said, knowing that you work for a company that makes call center software DOES have some bearing, and would have been nice to know up front. That doesn’t automatically make you biased, but it does shape your world view somewhat.
I still disagree with your notion that I need to accept the fact that I may not be able to understand the person that is supposed to be helping me.
Whether or not the economy is going global is moot in my opinion. If I purchase a service here, and I call a help desk for that service, I should easily be able to understand the person in question.
I am MUCH better at understanding dialects than many of my friends and family. If we’re out, I almost act as a translator many times if we are talking to someone with a thick accent. I don’t normally have a problem with that.
What I DO have a problem with is when it is SO thick of an accent that even I have problems. I guarantee that most of the people in my family and close friends would have NEVER been able to understand him at all, even if he did repeat himself over and over.
That is unacceptable.
I’m not going to automatically assume the worst when talking with someone with an Indian accent. I’m not that way. But, I should be able to understand the person. That is NOT too much to ask.
This particular situation was frustrating in the fact that the tech was SO inept, and SO unintelligable for most of our conversation. Those two things made this far more of a bad experience.
Until I have a good experience (there are many more that I have NOT written about that also sucked, just not to this degree,) This is what will shape my view of outsourcing. To me, the money the company is saving is proportional to the goodwill they are squandering with customers.
Comcast may very well save a ton of money by outsourcing its call centers. But, my rates continue to go up, and what was once decent customer service now sucks. There has been absolutely no benefit to customers here.
Anyway, thanks for your input. I welcome all debate, whether or not I like it.
-Grey
May 26, 2005 @ 4:54 am
Great, I think we both made our points and got through at some level to each other. To be honest, I probably appreciate your experience more than I let on. Like I said, I was playing the devil’s advocate. So your operator from hell was after all the implicit devil. 😉
On that note, cheers and till the next one.