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Chat Transcript: three guess as to what his first suggestion was . . .

V

Vance

Android Enthusiast
Here is the transcript from a chat I just finished. It was about a wifi connection issue, but I am posting it because I thought it was hilarious how fast he just gave the "hard reset" solution. Was I too snarky?

Customer Chat
Chat Transcript

You have been connected to Jason.
Jason: Hi Vance, thank you for contacting HTC Support, I
 
I don't know any previous conversations you had, but from someone also in tech support, you didn't have to be a complete douche the whole time....Sure, they may not have fixed your problem, and by all means talk shit about them after the conversation/call/etc, but being a dick to the guy/gal is uncalled for and just plain rude.

On the topic of your wifi, there's not too much that can be done about troubleshooting network issues when they only have half of the situation to test. Rebooting the phone doesn't work, what else can they do? They aren't qualified to have you do anything to your router, so the best thing they can suggest is factory reset. What if it DOES fix your problem? That's how tech support works.
 
I don't know if it that was the whole conversation, parts of it or whatever. But, the reason I thought it was funny is because the tech guy seemed a bit snarky himself. It seemed like he didn't want to suggest anything other then a hard reset, and swept his issue right under the door long before he got snarky in return. No other suggestions, no advice, nothing. Seemed a bit to me like he got what he gave. JMO
 
Personally, I agree with CyberPitz. I've been on the receiving end of the 'snarky' and its not fun at all. Not only that, but its their job to do it that way. You can say a hard reset won't work, but it may very well be a software thing. I was having issues where my first droid kept deleting things, and they told me to hard reset, and I did. It fixed it. I reinstalled all my apps and it broke again, and then had to hard reset to fix it again. It was an app that was causing the issue, and it fixed the problem to hard reset and start over. Granted 7 times out of 10 its something else entirely, but can you be sure its not a software thing? Did you write all the code for everything on your phone and you know for sure how it works?
 
That was the entire conversation, and the reason I got snarky was because that was the very first words out of his mouth. A hard reset should almost NEVER be the first words out of a tech support's mouth, in my opinion. It is something that the user can try on his own AFTER the tech has honestly tried other options while the customer is one the phone or chat.

The "hard reset" is notorious as a "get them off the phone" technique as has been pointed out many times in these forums, often by people who used to be in tech support. If he had at least made SOME attempt to resolve the issue, my attitude would have been entirely different. I have excused a number of techs for eventually resorting to "hard reset" (or the equivalent in any tech I am calling about), when it is clear that they have exhausted their own knowledge and that is their last resort. I can get that and it is fine. But when it is a first line suggestion, that is a very clear sign he is just being lazy.

Especially when I resisted the first time and requested suggestions about dealing with my router. What did he say "just do a hard reset and call us back". And he knew I WOULD have to call back.

Yes, a hard reset sometimes does work, but this guy didn't even bother trying. If he really didn't have any experience with this issue, or have any true suggestions regarding how to fix the router, then THAT is what he should have said. Something like:

I don't really have an answer to this problem, you can check your router's tech support and see what they say. As a last resort, you could reset your phone, but if there has been no changes to your phone since a time when it was working fine, and it works fine on other networks, that is not likely to be a good solution. Sorry. If you like I can send this to a higher level tech and have him get back to you.

But just "do a hard reset and call us back"? No.
 
My whole issue with the conversation was his lack of "give a damn". IMO he could have offered a few different solutions and then said, call back if they don't work. But to just say do a hard reset, now get the heck out of my chat? That wouldn't fly with me, and I would be a bit snarky as well. To each his own I suppose.
 
Waremaster, you just did a better job as tech support in 30 seconds than he did in that chat, and you are not even getting paid to solve customer problems. I will try that, but even if it doesn't work, you get all positive reviews in your evaluation! :0)
 
I'm just curious what you expected the tech to do easily, though. Having played with these phones and WiFi connectivity problems since my OG Droid, I know how much of a pain in the ass it is. There's no real page he can tell you to go to and change some settings to get it to work. Doing a factory reset will cut the amount of things that could be the problem immensely. Is it an app affecting it? The Router? The phone going bad? A factory reset takes the app part away right away. If you're still having problems, you have router and phone. They aren't network technicians, they are HTC technicians. I really fail to understand what kind of magic you were expecting them to have casted for you...
 
No magic whatsoever, but at least some sincere effort. Waremaster got it right immediately, I just rebooted the router and that did the trick. Again, a hard reset might eliminate some variables, but it is such a HUGE step to take (literally hours of getting your phone back in order) that to just suggest that right out of the block is simply irresponsible. He could have said what I suggested above rather than suggest such a drastic measure. He mentioned the possibility of the router, and when I asked a follow up question about that, he just resorted to "hard reset and call us back".

If I had been less experienced in tech support techniques,and followed his suggestion, I would be spending the next couple of hours reinstalling apps on my phone and reconfiguring all of my settings, etc. That is what is so annoying, because that is what my mom would be doing right now.

Look at the transcript again. What if, when he suggested a hard reset first thing, I had said just "no, should I do that?", what would he have said? "Yes, try that and if it doesn't work, call us back." Boom, end of chat. Next!

Thanks, Waremaster!!
 
Same thing happened to me with my fancy-pants-looking Cisco-branded (stealth Linksys junk) home router. It'll chew up the battery when this happens as well. Never ever happens with my D-Link gaming router DGL-4500, at the other end of the house.
 
If you're not willing to spend some time troubleshooting, I think electronics isn't for you...spending "An hour" reinstalling apps and reconfiguring settings....hell, I'm rooted and it doesn't even take me that long to get things back in order, considering the downloading apps part happens automatically for the most part, which isn't time you're spending doing anything.

But in the end, your router was at fault, not the phone. In tech support, you could screw so much more crap up by attempting to troubleshoot another companies product. Sure, rebooting it could fix the problem, but what if it caused MORE problems for other things? You don't want to be in that position.
 
I really don't blame the tech support for their actions. They offered a suggestion the OP acted like a child and said I won't do that and they basically said well if you call us for help but don't want our help you are on your own.
 
CyberPitz said:
If you're not willing to spend some time troubleshooting, I think electronics isn't for you...spending "An hour" reinstalling apps and reconfiguring settings....hell, I'm rooted and it doesn't even take me that long to get things back in order, considering the downloading apps part happens automatically for the most part, which isn't time you're spending doing anything.

But in the end, your router was at fault, not the phone. In tech support, you could screw so much more crap up by attempting to troubleshoot another companies product. Sure, rebooting it could fix the problem, but what if it caused MORE problems for other things? You don't want to be in that position.
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I am an electronics tech, and the first things you try are the least invasive. Usually a power cycle will solve 75% of the issues. Cycling power is not a bad thing, unless you're on a Blackberry & have to wait for the 5 to 15 minute startup. It clears up any garbage data in the memory, frees up RAM, and can alleviate issues with overheating (depending how long it's powered off). My motto is "whenever in doubt, cycle power." It's the easiest thing to try, then move onto the more intensive possible solutions.

I've done a lot of over the phone troubleshooting & for my work it's a big deal, otherwise we have to go to the site, not just have them send in the suspect device. Most of the stuff I deal with (networked nurse call light & matrix intercom systems) cannot be removed easily by the customer. So I have to step up my game to avoid travelling anywhere from 5 to 300 miles to resolve the issue in person. If not, it costs us money (when under warranty) or the customer (when out of warranty).

The first thing I would've asked is does he have anything else that connects over wi-fi to the router (laptop, desktop, tablet) & is that having an issue. Next cycle power to the router. What happens after you cycle power to a router? It comes up fresh. There is no reloading anything, maybe the only thing you'd have to do is re-enter your username & password. Next try a battery pull on the phone. Again, non invasive, takes only a few minutes to complete. After the previous suggestions, THEN a factory reset.
 
odds are the solution to your problem is the same solution that mine was.

disable the N band broadcasting on your router and it'll solve it. Bolts don't like it - or at least they didn't before the OTA. that mighta fixed it, but since mine's running fine, and N doesnt' really offer anything more than G that i need for home use, i'm gonna be leaving it like that for now.
 
Vance said:
No magic whatsoever, but at least some sincere effort. Waremaster got it right immediately, I just rebooted the router and that did the trick. Again, a hard reset might eliminate some variables, but it is such a HUGE step to take (literally hours of getting your phone back in order) that to just suggest that right out of the block is simply irresponsible. He could have said what I suggested above rather than suggest such a drastic measure. He mentioned the possibility of the router, and when I asked a follow up question about that, he just resorted to "hard reset and call us back".

If I had been less experienced in tech support techniques,and followed his suggestion, I would be spending the next couple of hours reinstalling apps on my phone and reconfiguring all of my settings, etc. That is what is so annoying, because that is what my mom would be doing right now.

Look at the transcript again. What if, when he suggested a hard reset first thing, I had said just "no, should I do that?", what would he have said? "Yes, try that and if it doesn't work, call us back." Boom, end of chat. Next!

Thanks, Waremaster!!
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So the HTC tech did what he was suppose to do. Oh said it was your router that was the problem. So even if the tech gave you a hundred possible fixes. It still wouldn't have fixed your problem. As it was your router. So you would of still acted the same like you did.

9 times out of 10 if your having connection issues with WiFi then you reboot your router. I went through this with my wife. She said her computer wasn't connecting and I said did you reboot the router? She said it isn't that its my.computer causing the problem. Well after yelling at her for ten min she reboot the router just to prove me wrong. Guess what her computer connected. It's hare to get through to people when they think they know the problem is. I know I am even guilty of this.

You are as much to blame as the tech. Tech gets blamed for everything even if its the owners screw up. Like our op. Even though it wasn't his phone at all he still blames the tech. I think people that has a problem with a tech should work their job and see just how much crap and know it all attitude they run in to. It's a thankless job.
 
Dark Jedi said:
So the HTC tech did what he was suppose to do. Oh said it was your router that was the problem. So even if the tech gave you a hundred possible fixes. It still wouldn't have fixed your problem. As it was your router. So you would of still acted the same like you did.

9 times out of 10 if your having connection issues with WiFi then you reboot your router. I went through this with my wife. She said her computer wasn't connecting and I said did you reboot the router? She said it isn't that its my.computer causing the problem. Well after yelling at her for ten min she reboot the router just to prove me wrong. Guess what her computer connected. It's hare to get through to people when they think they know the problem is. I know I am even guilty of this.

You are as much to blame as the tech. Tech gets blamed for everything even if its the owners screw up. Like our op. Even though it wasn't his phone at all he still blames the tech. I think people that has a problem with a tech should work their job and see just how much crap and know it all attitude they run in to. It's a thankless job.
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While I agree it can be a thankless job, the little troubleshooting the tech did is still a problem. If the op had followed the tech's suggestion, it wouldn't have solved the problem & he would've had to reload everything onto his phone. Notice how many people on here have said to reboot the router. If a tech is at all knowledgeable, that's something he should've suggested before going to a factory reset. If it's a problem connecting to wi-fi, the device providing the wi-fi should be the first place to start.

When I was having problems with my Tbolt's GPS showing my correct location, I called in. Since it was only a few days after I got it, I explained everyting that happened until that point including anything that could cause the issue, like having an internet outage after a storm for a bit & that we have a network extender in the house. He had me try a factory reset, then surmised it was the phone. I got the replacement, didn't load any apps, & had the same problem. I mentioned to the second tech again about the internet outage & my having a network extender. He had me switch back to the original phone then cycle power to the network extender. Problem solved. Because the first tech didn't even check to see if that could be the issue, they got back a new phone that they had to sell used.

The job may be thankless, but if they put little to no effort into it, then why should they be thanked for it. I have done and still do tech support on and off the phone. I know some people can be unreasonable, but that comes from frustration when things don't work properly. It's up to the techs, myself included, to be knowlegeable on these things, or at the very least consult someone else & do some legwork on it. If cycling power to the router is common enough knowledge for a lot of the posters in this thread, you'd sure think someone with the title of tech should be aware of it.

I'm starting to wonder with the problems Verizon is having with the Tbolt, that they are instructing their techs to suggest a factory reset firstoff, just like suggesting advanced task killer was THE thing to suggest last year when problems arose.
 
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