Adventures in tech support. March 5, 2008 ~ 12:20 pm
Posted by Julie in : Uncategorized , trackbackI spent three hours on the phone with Verizon last night, trying to figure out why my brand new laptop wasn’t connecting wirelessly to my home network. Verizon walked me through many steps, but none of them were working, so I called Vince. Because Vince knows his shit, unlike Verizon, and he also has a brand new MacBook Pro. Vince knew what the problem was inside of ten minutes: my modem/router from Verizon was basically ancient (four years old is prehistoric in terms of tech), and wasn’t playing nicely with Leopard (Mac’s operating system).
I called Verizon back. I told them that Apple told me their router wouldn’t play nicely with my operating system (yeah, so Vince isn’t Apple. Sue me.). At which point their tech guy said “Oh! Do you have one of those MacBook Airs?” and I said “No, I have a MacBook Pro. The ones that were just released last week.” A lightbulb came on over his head. “Yeah, the old modem-routers aren’t compatible with Leopard. You have to get a new one. You can buy one at Best Buy or call our billing people tomorrow. Ask them for a discount, and if the person you’re on the phone with says he can’t get you one, ask for a supervisor.”
Well I sure as hell wasn’t going to spend money on something at Best Buy if I could get a discount or a freebie through Verizon. I called them this morning. First, they hung up on me (accidentally, I think). Then I was on hold for a very long time and the guy in billing told me he didn’t know what I was talking about. I spelled it out very clearly for him, complete with “your tech guys told me to call you.” “Oh, yeah, I see that modem-router-thingie now. $65.99.” Um, no. Put me on with your supervisor if you can’t give me a discount, your tech guys told me about this scam, too. Talked to supervisor, who tried to tell me full price again. At this point, I believe I burst out with “Look, it’s not my fault your tech is obsolete and doesn’t play nicely with brand new tech. I should not be penalized for that, I’ve been with you for four years.” Suddenly, the supervisor told me that while she couldn’t give the router to me, she could give me a discount. $40 off. I said that was doable, and then sweetly asked how I would be billed, what my confirmation number was, when I could expect delivery, and how they would be shipping it. UPS, 1-3 business days.
Damn skippy, people. You do not fuck with my tech. Thanks, Vince, for pinpointing the issue far faster than Verizon ever would have, and for breaking it down for me so I could break it down for them! You’re a lifesaver!
Comments
Seems like everyone’s a con man these days. Sheesh. Glad you got it all sorted out.
Also, way to go Vince!
Congrats on the new Macbook - everyone should be so lucky. I know I love mine - even if it isn’t “technically” mine - it belongs to work.
And Vince? He knows his shit. ROCK.
Vince rocks in more ways than one. And Verizon blows dogs for quarters.
I find that reminding them that I can drop their service like a hot brick and go to their competitor, who will give me a FREE modem when I sign up…usually does the trick.
Yay Vince! Everyone needs a Vince. Vince should open up a tech support for bloggers service. Though he would need to do it in an Indian accent. For humor purposes.
Yeah, I called my cable/internet company and asked for a discount, as I’d suddenly started receiving full priced bills. They said not for a year, unless I add the phone. I then asked, if after a year, I’d get to pay full price for phone AND all the rest for a year, and they said yes.
I am not so stupid.
But I cannot live without cable internets… Boo full price! We have little/no competition in this area. But I am thinking of going to dish, just internets are sorta different with dish.
J-Me~My mom has the cable internet as well and it screws the pooch. I go through Verizon with the bare minimum on my landline, because I don’t have cable (I have DirecTV and like it so much better, thank you for satellite that is cheaper than cable). My monthly bill with DSL and phone service (and I have no long distance, I use my cell for that) is about $55. It’s better that way.
ESC~Yep, I might have thrown in one of those reminders, too. Leverage is good. And Vince is a rockstar, the way he helps out all the bloggers. He’s like our hook-up.
Pan~*snort* Blows dogs for quarters… hehehe.
E-Lo~The MacBook Pro was always the one I told myself I couldn’t afford, but I sprang for it anyway. Totally worth it.
Grace~The big companies are in it for themselves. I just figure fuck them, I’m in it for myself as well. I will get the answers I want. Or else.
Glad I got it right. I was feeling totally tech stupid as your problem was the 3rd one in 2 days I couldn’t fix. But, as you said, turns out I was right and it wasn’t fixable. Way to go with your ISP and making them give you what you deserve. Any issues getting the new router working right, let me know. BTW, don’t forget to enable WPA (pre-shared key) for the router security. Way better than WEP.
Thanks to all for the kind words. As always, email tech support is always free, phone support is by invitation only, and on site tech support is $100 per hour plus travel plus per deim.
I bow to you all!!!
Vince~I might give you a call again if I can’t figure out enabling the WPA…we’ll see how much different the new router is.
Seamus~Bow to Vince, who should start up a blogger tech support business.