Computer Answer Man

Steve Feinberg

      Computer Help for the Non-Expert

Home          About me           Scrapbook Excerpts          Ask a question

You want to buy a computer at a discount store. The

salesperson tells you the computer manufacturer has an 800 number  to answer your questions.  Sounds great, so you buy it.

 

You bring it home and turn it on. Strange things happen.  You call the 800 number, but get a busy signal. You call back and are put on hold.  When the tech support person finally answers, he or she says it's a a software problem and they don't help with software.  You call the store where you purchased it.  Sometimes the salesperson helps and becomes a hero.  But not always.  Not nearly always.

 

Ok, so you think you're smarter than other people by buying from a store that just sells computers.  After all, if that's all they sell they must know more, right?  But how much help can you get?  After all, a salesperson's job is to sell computers, not to spend time helping with every problem situation.

 

If they can help you.

Since computer support is my specialty, I've learned two corollaries of Murphy's law: (1) Computer problem solving usually takes longer than expected (2) Computer problem solving usually is more involved than expected.

 

Case in point: a local company recently purchased two computers from a mail order company.  The computers were high end IBM compatibles with internal modems.  A modem is a device that allows a computer to communicate over the phone lines if you use modem software.  The president of the company wanted the modems because he was going to use one computer at home to call the office computer.

 

It should have been simple.  Everything looked great.

 

It wasn't. It didn't work.

I had to call tech support from two companies: the modem manufacturer and the communication software manufacturer.  I was put on hold.  I waited.  I heard tape recorded messages.  I heard music.  I waited for callbacks. The two companies even called

each other about the problem.  Life was put on hold.

 

Finally, I got one computer modem working.  The other didn't work.  I called the mail order company where everything was purchased.  I was put on hold.  When I got through, the tech said the modem was defective and they would send another. After 12 frustrating hours spread over several days, life had to be put on hold. Again.

 

Calls to tech support are so important that magazine reviews nearly always include a prominent comment about the speed and accuracy of tech support personnel in solving problems.

 

Unfortunately, in addition to waiting for Godot, you

sometimes have to suffer less than adequate tech support people: "Worse was technical support. The first technician we contacted had never heard of the Ultraview...it was only after two days of telephone calls that answers - not necessarily helpful ones - became available," says PC Magazine of a reviewed

computer add-on, the Ultraview video adapter.

 

Adding insult to injury, many tech support numbers aren't toll free.  And calling California in the morning just doesn't work.  So you wait.  Or you hire a consultant.  A real hotshot who wears tailored suits and drives a Mercedes.  He actually solves the problem when even the manufacturer techs can't.

 

Unfortunately, he can't talk to ordinary mortals.  He can't explain to non-computer experts what happened or what he did.  He isn't receptive to questions.  He's a busy man. So you or your business becomes more dependent on his skill.  And then you have to wait for him next time any strange event happens.  So you wait.  And Life goes on ...hold.