Dan Antion

You Call this Support? – #1LinerWeds

As I’ve been trying to provide a little guidance about the Block Editor, I’ve had to learn a few things about the editor. It’s not much help to say, “just go poke around and see what you can find out.” It would be even less help to say, “oh, you probably can’t do that.” Yet, that is the way I was treated by the company that hosts our family email.

Earlier this year, this company switched our email from an in-house (their house not ours) mail server to Microsoft’s Office 365 platform. We didn’t ask for this change, and we weren’t happy with it – are you sensing a pattern here? If the following seems long and boring, please believe me when I say this is distilled from an online chat session that lasted almost two hours.

When we log in to check our email, our provider authenticates us (username and password) and sends us to the Office 365 Home screen. We then have to open our inbox. Since the only thing we use in this Office 365 implementation (we already have an Office 365 subscription) is the email, we want to go straight to the inbox.

The tech-support technician told me they could not accommodate my request. I disagreed. He insisted. I disagreed. He checked with his colleagues, they agreed with him. I disagreed. In my defense, I sent him text from several articles that said that what I wanted to do was in fact, possible. I even sent him a link that explained what they needed to do to accommodate my request. I added that when we implemented Office 365 in my department while I was still employed, we were able to do exactly what I wanted to do.

He refused to help, insisting that I was asking the impossible. After the chat session ended, another hour’s worth of research led me to a solution I could implement from my side of the equation. That solution works well. So, my one-liner for this week is:

“You can’t possibly help others if you don’t know what you’re doing!”

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you would like to join in on the fun, you can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

Maddie was visiting with Chinook when something distracted her.
We think of this as a type of ground cover. Whatever it is, we like it.
One of the curious trees we pass while walking.
This sad little tree appears to be blooming, well, at least half if it is.
Jinx.
Back up high on a very windy day.
The trees are budding. I love how, on a foggy day, the images in the reflections are clearer than the actual view.
Posing for Rivergirl :-)
Our quince bushes are starting to bloom.
Woodpecker in our neighbor’s tree.
Smokey and Smokey.
Smokey and Smokey.
Two strong signs of spring. A tree in full bloom and the weekly yard waste pickups have begun.
Another one of our neighbor’s shrubs is blooming.

68 comments

  2. Hi Dan – so often the case … one has to tie one’s self up in knots to find out an answer. You did it … but yes – NO I don’t call that support. People aren’t interested or curious to help and garner knowledge – drives me batty too … love the photos … enjoy those walks – cheers Hilary

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Oh what a perfect one-liner that is!!
    I can’t count how many times I happen to call a customer service line and I get transferred all over their building until I finally get disconnected!! The latest was, my car insurance agent didn’t know much of anything about the car wise devise in my car – he’ll call back……… still waiting………

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. Customer Service, or Tech-Support Technicians, whatever, are why liquor is such a big seller! I once called my health insurance Custom Service because I needed to make sure a particular procedure was covered. I was told that it was. I called a second time because it was still nagging at me, and that rep told me it was NOT covered! WTH! /@?$}£\¥+. (insert scream here). Fortunately it was covered.

    Maddie must be feeling her ‘sillies’ ! Smokey and Smokey have become a team. They are too cute. I’m jealous of your Flowering Quince…..mine aren’t blooming yet. And your neighbor’s Rhododendron is beautiful. Mine is still only buds. Sigh…. Reflection photo is great. But Old Glory beats them all!
    Ginger

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Oh, Ginger, I’ll scream with you on this one. We wait on hold. Then we wait while they put us back on hold. Then we wait for them to call back.

      The Smokeys are a tag team now. The grey squirrels are like a marauding army. Meanwhile, the bunny just munched on our weeds.

      I’m glad you liked the flag. I just love seeing in flap in the wind.

      Like

      Reply

  7. What is the internet coming too ? Your provider offers Lookout as the email service ? And drops you somewhere near the backdoor ? Look for the big oak tree right after you cross the bridge. Your mailbox is the one that has been smashed by one of the fallen oak branches. Your email will be scattered on the ground amongst the leaves. Some day the internet providers are going to steal the government’s line… Hi I’m here from the ____________ internet provider company. I am here to help you. Please fill out this questionaire and when your done take the survey.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. I’ll tell you what my mother would say in a similar situation that sometimes worked. “Let me speak to your manager.” It’s been my experience with tech support that some people know what they’re doing and some just look it up in the script manual or push an autogenerate button. I’ve even had success hanging up and calling again so I would get a different person on the phone, maybe one who was courteous and helpful. I’m glad you figured out how to make things work without getting a Bozo involved. People like that give the GOOD tech support people a bad name. /climbs carefully down from soapbox/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Haha. Climb up in that soapbox and preach! He did get others involved, but they were no help. Of course, he could have just told me he had others involved. Researching for myself was better than arguing with KnowNothing and DoNothing as my father round have called these guys.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. Oh brother–by agreeing that you were right, would it make nimwit look like he doesn’t know his job? That is ridiculous, Dan, but I am not surprised that you figured it out. Guess it’s not worth your time or trouble to call back and say, “Guess what I found out….?”
    That upside down reflection is so pretty! It looks like a lensball photo. You know, if I took the time to try taking pictures with my lensball set…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. That’s so true!! I think your call should have been escalated up the ladder to the “real” IT group. Still, I am glad you were able to figure out a way to do what you wanted yourself. I wouldn’t be able to that’s for sure!

    That reflection is lovely as are the quince buds, and other blooming flowers.
    We woke up to snow and below-freezing temperatures during the night so I am wondering if the blooms here will wither now? We put out our cushions and turned on the sprinklers a week too soon methinks. 🤨

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. An unfortunately apt one-liner, Dan. I can relate.
    Terrific gallery though. The 2 Somkey photo has the old “Double Vision” song in my head. (And WordPress thinks I’ve spelled smokey wrong, no matter how I spell it. They should talk to Mr. Robinson…) Hugs on the wing!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

        • I have had to do the unfollow/follow drill many times. I really don’t understand how they can get this so fouled up. I’ve had to work this problem from the other side (me getting booted off). I just don’t get it.

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  15. Each time the tech said he was going to check with someone else, he was really just going for another cup of coffee and hoping you’d be gone by the time he returned. BTW, the only reason I’m still here on WP at all is because you and another blogger were able to help me with the Block Editor. Of course, by the time I get comfortable with it (if I ever do), the WP gods will decide to change it to something else.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  16. I’m glad you had the lovely photos to offset the irritation I felt on your behalf in the written part. I thought you were going to be talking about WP. :) Wonder why? Glad you worked it out but it shouldn’t be so difficult.

    janet

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. Wished I knew enough to even discover what it possible, but I totally agree with you – if you are one who’s working for the support side, how can you support, if you know less than the bloggers? Glad you found out in the end what you wanted to know! Jesh

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  18. Oh, how I love Spring! Beautiful photos of new life — budding trees, little creatures (and big ones). Wonderful! Thank you for the jaunt. And, your one-liner is perfect!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. I think they go to a special school to learn how to be obtuse and unhelpful.

    Actual conversation I had with a customer care person about my electric car’s battery:

    Me: I’ve read online that [manufacturer] doesn’t know when the replacement batteries will be available.
    CCP: You can’t believe everything you read online.
    Me: I am referring to the NTSA website and various forums, not random google searches.
    CCP: Even the NTSA doesn’t know everything.
    Me: OK, so when will the batteries be available?
    CCP: We don’t know.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. I spent three years managing a tech support team, and came to the conclusion that a larger fraction of the not-so-good engineers drift into support rather than development. This changes the culture of the support group and encourages the kind of behaviour that you write about. I spent most of the three years trying to spot the better people and building a team of trouble-shooters inside support. The others were people who would then routinely carry out the schemes that the core group developed. It worked well for some time; but engineers move around in organizations (and some even migrate to management) …

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  25. Here’s your chuckle for this morning. Janet mentioned ‘slider’ so I came back to refresh my mind, but realized I hadn’t gotten this post. I went over and signed up to ‘follow’ you again, but got a message “You’re already subscribed to this site!” I love it as it as I’m sure you do. If I’m subscribed, why the heck don’t I get the posts. :-) I am so mature, I remember when companies had ‘customer service’ departments staffed with trained personnel. Now, you mostly talk to the hand. :-)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Add your thoughts or join the discussion. One relevant link is OK, more require moderation. Markdown is supported.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.