Thursday, March 13, 2008

Training

Remember when I was rambling about the instruction course?

Yeah, back when Windows 98 was the pinnacle of operating systems.

Well, I open up the corporate email and read:
"To: All agents. If you're willing to show up on days so-and-so for extra hours, you're more than welcome. We're holding a round of simulations for new trainees and I could use all the people I can get. - Instruction manager"

* GLEE! *

What could be better than being a cruel, sinister bastard to unsuspecting interns?

(being the instructor himself, but that's another story)

They were groveling, begging for mercy. I came up with the harshest calls I could come up with.

Then I actually started the simulations. But before, I needed a cheesy intro speech:

>TSG: Hey guys. I'm TSG. You're going to suffer with me. A lot.
>Trainees: ... Crap.
>TSG: By "A lot" I mean you're going to think these are real calls since I base all my causes on ones. Yep.
>Trainees: ...
>Trainees: This isn't going to involve anal hemorrhage, is it?
>TSG: Only if you insist.

And then the shit hit the fan.

>TSG: I have no Internet.
>TSG: What's a dialer?
>TSG: I can't reach the desktop.
>TSG: You bastards suck ass! I need Internet NOW! So shut up and fix it!
>TSG: I've been trying to surf for HOURS and I keep getting the [insert expletives here] error 691/678/769/789/633! HELP ME! I'm paying for this you know!
>TSG: I just bought Internet from you and I still have no Internet, what is this bullshit?!

I think they were crying when I was done. Maybe their pathetic groveling "Please stop!" meant I overdid it.

I was exhausted. My voice died in agony.

But it was all worth it. Now they know what to expect when they begin their internships.

Speaking of windows 98.

Can you believe people still have that piece of crap? Every month or so, a mouth-breathing retard just HAS to call and say:

>Customer: I have windows 98.
>TSG: Can I have your rock?
>Customer: Eh?
>TSG: The one you've been living under.

Eventually, he didn't have the installation CD for Windows 98. I would explain why it's required, but if your balls dropped out/you bleed you should know.

>Customer: So there's no way I can have Internet now?
>TSG: No.
>Customer: I want to talk with to supervisor.
>TSG: Go ahead if you insist, but he'll tell you the same thing.
>Customer: I still want to talk to your supervisor. [ISP name here] doesn't satisfy its commitments towards customers and I know a thing or two about laws.
>TSG: So do I, but if any of my proposed laws were enforced in time, you wouldn't have been born.

* hold *
>TSG (to STSG): Hey man. I got a retard here who won't understand that win98 absolutely requires the installation CDs and I tried all possible methods.
>STSG: Oh god, not these morons again.
>TSG: ... yep. Tell him that he's still retarded.
* back to customer *

>TSG: Right. Here's STSG, he'll churn your tears into butter.

Off he goes. Stupid bloody accountants who think knowing high-school level math makes them Padishah Emperors of the Known Universe.

However, once in two months or so, you get a customer that is not only polite, provides useful information, but he also delivers the one line I had never heard before:

>Customer: I apologize for my stupidity.
>TSG: Wow, what? No way. Are you an evil cyber ninja from Mars here to restore my faith in mankind?
>Customer: No, but I did do something stupid.

Or...

>Customer: It's alright, I can wait as long as necessary.
>TSG: That does it, you are a cyber ninja.
>TSG: This is all a conspiracy.
>TSG: Smart people don't call Tech Support, they got the brains to solve their own problems.
>TSG: Therefore you're fake. Enjoy your disconnect.

Or...

>Customer: * complete information about his rig, peripherals and all I need to work *
>TSG: Complete information? You gotta be kidding me. There's no way people will ever provide information. They think you're telepathic and by saying "I have a problem" you know that their modem is turned off or something.
>Customer: Heh. Yeah. People are stupid.

And the finishing line:

>Customer: Although we didn't come up with a solution, I do thank you for your patience and time.

I didn't think those pure saints existed.

Which means the next three months will be full of arrogant braindead morons.

Case in point.

>Customer: I have an analog modem.

A part of me died inside a little.

Yes, I became stronger, but...

>TSG: Jesus H. Christ. Do you also have a Spectrum ZX by your side?


God damnit, if it wasn't for the guys at the call center or the shitty-yet-stable paycheck I would've quit this crap long ago.

Speaking of the guys at the call center. I'm talking with the current moron, when I hear a yell across the entire center.

>TSG1 (to TSG2): ping 172.84.100.4

* TSG1 throws a PACKET to TSG2 *

>TSG2: reply from
172.84.100.4 time=1000ms

* TSG2 throws a PACKET to TSG1 *

Enjoyable moments like these make some of the work tolerable. That and the nerd humor around.

Most of the time. Times like these:


>Superior: Guys, in case I didn't make it clear. Proactive service is part of your job and I expect us to top the sell meters.
>TSG: For Christ's sake sir, I can't stand it even more than customers.
>Superior: Sucks to be you. Do it anyway.

Make me want to defenestrate people. Now, to find a place where they make iron boots.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Aggression

Is a bad thing.

Especially towards us. We have to take enough shit from people, the last thing we want is a bitch on PMS or a brain-dead toaster to cry and whine at us because he's too dumb to figure out how to press the power button.

So don't be surprised if we turn up cynical and/or sarcastic and/or make snide remarks.

You won't get them anyway, if you're on the other side of the phone.

>TSG: * opening sentence *
>Customer: Feel like explaining to me why I have no Internet?
>TSG: Good day to you too.
>TSG: I feel fine, thanks for asking.
>TSG: As for the question at hand...
>TSG: No.
>TSG: Figure it out yourself.
>TSG: I'm 100% certain the problem is your stupidity.

I might've paraphrased that. In actuality, I told them the first 20 reasons that popped into my head.

To my amazement the problem was on our side.

...

His modem wasn't turned on.

In the three times I had a problem I couldn't fix (read: desynchronizing/broken modems), the thought of being aggressive towards a representative had never popped into my head. Why? These people are paid to solve my problems, so the least I could do is be humane to them. I also know they can't do much from their position, it's not like they can magically make my modem synchronize with their DSLAM.

As opposed to the last 30 morons that called them.

But I never said they were smart.

Case in point.

I had to conference call the cable company to transfer a business customer to MPLS. Since he's a business class, the transfer is (usually) done on the spot.

>C(able)TSG: Hello, this is [Cable company name here]. How can I help you?
>TSG: Hello there, how are things out there?
>CTSG: Fine, you?
>TSG: I'd rather not answer that. Anyway, this is TSG from [ISP name here] and I got a business customer here who wants to move to MPLS. Want his unique ID?
>CTSG: Hold on one moment, I'll transfer you to the relevant department.

* 5 minutes of obnoxious on-hold crap later *

>CTSG2: Hello, this is [Cable company name here]. How can I help you?
>TSG: Hello, this is TSG from [ISP name here] and I got a business customer here who wants to move to MPLS. I got transferred here from your tech support.
>CTSG2: Wait, why did that CTSG transfer you over here? We're the moving department.

As in "we coordinate between the time you move apartments and we hook up your cable".

I began to wonder if I've been listened to at all.

You could imagine how much I was swearing while keeping the people muted.

>CTSG2: I'll transfer you to the really correct department this time.

Naturally, they had a 20-minute waiting time. I had to drop the customer with them (after telling him precisely what to say) and handle the next moron in line.

You'd think it could be a call I'd get rid of quickly, but...

>TSG: * opening sentence cut in middle to see it's a guy from another department calling *
>CPG: Yo. I got a customer here whom I convinced to stay with us.

That's short for Customer Preservation. Aka the single worst department ever to work at.

>TSG: You want a medal for that? Why'd you call us?
>CPG: Yeah, well. I'm starting her user all over again and I need you to help her type that in her router.
>TSG: ... don't you people know we can't touch routers unless they're purchased from us?
>CPG: You're the TSG, I don't touch technicalities.
>TSG: Yes, but I'd expect you to have a brain. I guess us TSGs are the only people with brains in the company.
>CPG: I'm bringing her up.

A female customer. Who just got convinced not to leave us.

Great. The last thing I need is a condescending bitch who thinks her measly monthly payment makes her the queen bitch of the Universe.

>TSG: I'm TSG from the Tech Support department.
>Customer: Now listen here. I just got convinced to stay and I still have no Internet.
>TSG: And I care because? It's not my fault CPG is too retarded to have changed your username while enabling it all over again.
>Customer: Well, change it back?
>TSG: No shit sherlock, I already tried. The system won't let me because it's already taken.
>Customer: Hold on, let me put on my careface. It's your problem, fix it.
>TSG: And I'm liable to what the other guy did because...?
>Customer: You two are the same person to me.
>TSG: You DO realize I have the right to deny service the second I'm insulted, right? So stop your bitching and start helping me to help you to help me sustain my mental health. And paycheck.

In the end I had to bring up her router's TSGs to get her to type her username in.

Did I hear a "Thank you TSG and I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier"? No. Sometimes I think what's going on in these people's heads. Just because they waited 15 minutes on the phone they think they can vent their frustration at me?

The treatment you'll get from me is independent of waiting times, the amount of departments you've been transferred through or any other reason.

It's completely uniform.

I hate all of you equally. So stop your whining and be a nice little customer.

Of course, when you call us, there's no way you can be polite or pleasant, right? You just HAVE to be the most obnoxious, annoying and sanity-shattering retard to exist.

>TSG: * opening sentence *
>Customer: I haven't had Internet for a week now! Only now I got Internet connected!

(That means only now the infrastructure company is hooking up her cables. I had to use a rusty vice to get that information out of her.)

>TSG: ... I still don't see how this is related to me as you obviously CAN surf now.
>Customer: Well who's going to reimburse me for not having Internet the last week? I'm paying for it you know.
>TSG: Not me. And the relevant department is closed for the night, so you'll have to get your greedy tentacles to them tomorrow morning.
>Customer: You can't reimburse me right here right now?! I'm disconnecting, your service sucks!
>TSG: Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Even though our department doesn't even have access to this data, you still insist on doing something I don't have permissions to. In fact, you don't even deserve an Internet connection.

I have more stories but duty calls.

By that I mean copious amounts of alcohol.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Make something idiot-proof

And someone will make a better idiot. Today I want to talk about retards.

They're everywhere. Even in places you'd
think would filter them efficiently.

It seems the company has, to my great disappointment, allowed retards in the call centers.

Not our department, thank god. Us TSGs actually have to KNOW a thing or two in order to work as TSGs. And since our customers are dumber than Dodos on crack cocaine, we often have to use our brains
for them.

I mean it.

I can count the number of customers who knew what they were talking about on my hands. I can count the number of people I had a pleasant conversation with if you chopped all my fingers and toes.

Yes, yes... about the retards. I'm talking about Customer Service here.

I used to pity them once. After all, we just deal with retards. They deal with retards and their money. Then I had some of the most moronic calls just to realize these morons opened a DSL package (with DSL permissions) to a cable user and vice-versa.

Let's use logic here for a change. Suppose a customer calls who's listed as a DSL user. Unless he asks specifically for an infrastructure change, there's no bloody reason to change his surfing permissions. The same applies to the fancy crap we sell to these idiots. It's painfully obvious there ARE differences between DSL and cable. [At least over here, DSL technology is (duh!) using PPPoE while cable users use a VPN connection. Other than the whole copper wires/coaxial cables thing.]

But no. They fuck up. Then the customer (rightfully) calls one of us TSGs, wondering why they "have no Internet". And I have to dig through the shit some keyboard-dribbling dodo on magic mushrooms did with their user.

>CSG's Brain: So I did an upgrade to this guy. Should I even bother looking up the catalogue numbers for [Customer's infrastructure here]? Why no, I'll just type in the first one available, wait for the update and tell them it's done. I also won't document this act for shit, more work for the Tech Support department is always so much fun.

>Customer: I have no Internet.
>TSG: * Set of usual guiding questions the to get the info the Retarded Sea Cucumber (I meant "Customer", I swear!) should've provided in the first place *
>TSG: Hmmm. Apparently the guys over customer service fucked up with your user, giving you wrong permissions. Hold on a second please. * mute *

>TSG (to call center): Stupid retarded airheads! Why can't they do their job right and give me work I shouldn't be dealing with in the first place?
>People around: What did they do this time? Forget to enable his user? Gave him DSL permissions when he's cable? Collected his debt but didn't unfreeze his account? Listed a business customer as a private one?
>TSG (to people around): E: All of the above. Stupid blondes, should've been bloody waitresses instead of dealing with issues that require you to think.

Yeah. One of their fuck-ups was so royal, Intel left us to join another ISP. Intel. Because of these morons.

Just think for a while here. But not for too long, you might get permanent brain damage. Anyway, I had to conference call customer service again just to fix their problems.

[That call ended with the RSC in question thanking me for my professionalism. In return, I proceeded upstairs and beat up the moron in customer service for their retardation.]

Of course, the retarded sea cucumbers with down's syndrome think each and every one of us can do everything, including coming over their house just to do something they should damn know how to do.

I bet you can imagine this. I must've set up two or three dialers in over 10 years of using my trusty Internets, and... you guessed it, I used logic. Let's see the basic process of setting up a PPPoE dialer. I'll assume only basic knowledge.

  1. My computer doesn't know how to connect to the Internet by itself and it says "Modem" on the box that came with the infrastructure technician guy. Whatever this "Modem" is, it must be facilitating the connection, because I didn't have one before.
  2. * Several logical steps to plug in the modem. Damn, this should be obvious, but... "Plug in the appropriate cables into their respective receptacles.", "How do I do that?", "/facepalm, you don't deserve a connection to the Internet before you learn what a computer is. Go away, you make me sick." *
  3. So... since this modem won't connect by itself, as evident by "This page cannot be displayed" in my IE, I need to let my computer know it can connect. I'm adding a control element to it, therefore it should be in the "Control panel".
  4. This "Control Panel" should hold elements that are integral to the computer's function, therefore it should be easily accessible. "Start" should be a good start, *click* Control Panel, there it is.
  5. "Internet" has "net" in it. So does "Network". I wonder if there's a correlation between the two. Network Connections, there you go.
  6. Hmmm. My computer is only connected to the modem. I should let it know it can connect to the internet now. "Create a new connection".
  7. * Basic steps to get through the install wizard *
  8. I'm connected! I did it!
And there's absolutely zero need to call us. See what you can achieve with just THINKING every now and then? You should try it once. You might like it and won't have to call us.

* a 40-minute call where the RSC can't type in their username *
>RSC: Can't you just send someone over?
>TSG: You DO realize this process shouldn't take more than 5 minutes, right? The only one to blame is your rampant stupidity and if I were you, I'd never reproduce for the greater good of humanity.

As some people might have noticed, I've become increasingly sarcastic recently. I guess those chill pills I began to take don't affect me much nowadays. Many sentences I wouldn't dare to say earlier are being spoken freely.

>Customer: Hello, I have a problem.
>Customer: * dead silence *
>TSG: It's alright, I tracked down it's reasons, solved it and reduced its chances of occurring again.
>Customer: Really?
>TSG: Of course not you dolt, I have no idea what your problem is nor do I care about it.

Then they get pissy and whiny and tell me my service is bad.

>Customer: Your service is crap! I'm calling tomorrow and asking to leave you.
>TSG: Don't let the door hit you on the way out. It's not our fault you're too stupid to type in your password correctly, as evident by the hundreds of failed entries with the reason "Bad Password". Don't take me wrong though, I'd love to cancel your deal on the spot but I just can't access the cancellation panel. Sad, don't you think?

There's also the people who are convinced the problem is on our side.

Trust me, when there is a problem on our side, we're the first to know. At least by the dreaded Plasma Screen Of Death that says Calls Waiting: 9001.

At least we're responsible enough to let you morons know there is one and put up a message on the answering machine - not that you actually listen to it. I'd tell more about those times, but I'm more tired than a stud who worked in a snowfield for 8 hours straight and went back home uphill.

You guys think I'm mentally unstable? 'Cause I keep feeling like implementing my "Stress relief room" idea more and more.