The Joys of Tech Support or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Sit on Hold

Okay, we’ll start off with fair warning: today’s post will consist largely of self-indulgent whining and complaining, with very little in the way of new insight or anything meaningful or of value to anyone. Mostly it’s just catharsis for me, and possibly a little for you if you’ve had to deal with a tech support person lately.

So, with that disclaimer out of the way, lets begin with some background. I use a Dell laptop, an XPS M1330 to be specific. Overall, I love it. It’s light, it’s extremely thin, and it’s powerful enough for all of my film editing and gaming needs.

I do have one problem with it, however: the reliability of the hardware itself. Last December (2007), six months after I’d purchased it, the system board unexpectedly died. I contacted the special XPS tech support line, where I was surprised to have my call answered by a real person on the second ring. He arranged for my system to be sent back to Dell, repaired, and returned to me, all free, under warranty. The whole process took about seven days. I decided I’d just had some bad luck and was pleased with the fast response time I’d received. Jump ahead one year, almost to the day. On Saturday, December 27th I entered my room to discover that the system board in my laptop had once again died. Clearly there is a problem with this part, as I am extremely careful of my electronics, the unit had never been dropped or abused, hadn’t even been placed on soft surfaces like couches or beds (which can cause excess dust buildup inside the unit). Yet the part had failed again. I immediately picked up the phone, expecting the same quick resolution I had received previously. But that’s not what I got. Instead, I was placed on hold. I should mention here that, just six days prior to this event, I had spent a combined total of nearly two hours on hold with United Airlines, trying to track down a piece of luggage they had lost, so my patience for the whole customer “service” / tech support thing was already wearing thin. Thirty minutes later, I finally got to talk to a representative. I explained my problem and, to his credit, he did a good job of trying to diagnose the issue and then decided that the unit would have to be sent in. The issue here was that in seven days I would be leaving Canada to work in the US for three months. The computer would be unlikely to be returned to me before I had to leave, and they were unable to ship it over the border. I had to keeping the non-working unit and carry it with me into the US and then call tech support back again, dial the extension I was given, and then repair in the US could be arranged.

I arrived in the US on Sunday, January 4th (days without PC – 8). The first thing I did upon arriving at my hotel was call the tech support number and extension. And I was greeted by a voicemail box. So I left all the pertinent information, as instructed, and waited to be contacted. On Tuesday I repeated this process. On Wednesday I tried the e-mail link for unresolved tech support issues. On Thursday I got an e-mail saying they were “sorry, but this is a technical support question. Please call our tech support hotline”. Of course it’s a tech question! This was the tech e-mail! You even asked for my tech support case number! At this point I gave up on doing what I had been told and just called the tech support line again and sat on hold, again. 35 minutes later I spoke with another agent and, after about 20 minutes of jumping between talking and being put on hold again, arranged for the box which I needed to return my computer to be sent to my hotel.

The box arrived at my hotel shortly before 9 the next morning (days without PC – 13), while I was at work, so it was waiting for me when I got home. I had just enough time to pack up my computer and drive to the FedEx drop off box before the daily pickup was scheduled to take place. Since I arrived at the drop off box literally two minutes before it was supposed to be collected, I decided to wait see if the truck would come (don’t ask me why). About five minutes later it did. I sat in my car three stalls away and watched as the driver got out, opened the box, rearranged several packages inside (mine included) and began talking to himself quite loudly. My car windows were closed so, unfortunately I couldn’t make out the words, but he was clearly upset about something. He removed one envelope-type package, closed the box and went into the back of his truck, doing whatever it is he does. I assumed he would return for the bigger packages. I was wrong. After finishing with the small one, he just got behind the wheel and drove off, before I could even get out to stop or question him.

I returned to the hotel room and called the FedEx customer “service” number. Here my call was at least answered quickly, without first being put on hold. I told my story first to the call center agent, who then transferred me to the regional dispatcher, who then transferred me to someone else who didn’t reveal his position. This person all but told me straight out that I was wrong, that there was no way that my package had been left behind, and refused to contact the driver to see if there was any possible reason why a package would be left behind. Dissatisfied with this answer, I called back later and was told by a different call center agent that the driver would be had been told to return to pick up the packages, but that they were unsure when this would occur. I’m not sure if there was any truth to this, or if it was just being said to placate me. Regardless, I’m more than tempted to return to the site tonight and wait and see if my package still resides within the pickup box, or if it was, indeed, picked up on Friday.

UPDATE: I did, in fact, go back to ensure that my package had been taken. Sure enough, when the box was opened, my package was gone. I guess they weren’t lying and actually did send the driver back.

So now we’re caught up to today, Monday, January 12 (days without PC – 16). And that is why I am currently fed up with tech support. Over the past several weeks I have spent entirely too much time sitting on the phone, waiting on hold, being treated like I don’t know what I’m talking about, and just generally trying to correct problems that weren’t my fault to begin with and that I shouldn’t have to deal with. There’s really got to be a better way, but at this point, I’ll settle for just getting my stuff back in working order and going back to avoiding tech support at all costs.

UPDATE 2: I got the package with my laptop in it back yesterday, Friday January 16th. I turned it on, only to discover that it had not been fixed. I called tech support again and after nearly an hour on the phone (though, thankfully, only about 10-15 minutes on hold) they arranged to have a technician come out to my place to fix it, rather than me having to send it in again. He should be here sometime in the first half of next week. (days without PC - 21)

UPDATE 3: I received a phone call from the repair guy yesterday, Wednesday Jan. 21, saying that he would give me a call after 4:00 and be over to fix my computer. The second call never came. This morning, Jan. 22, I called him back, and was told the same thing. When he didn't call back by 4:30, I called him again, an he said he would be over aroud 7:00. 7:00 came and, shortly thereafter, he arrived. I'm now typing this on my own computer, which appears to be as good as new. The saga is over. All told, I was without a computer for a total of 26 days.

Sleep well,

DTE

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Songs of the Moment:

Metric – Help, I’m Alive; Ten Second Epic – Life Times; Kings of Leon – Use Somebody

Music while I wrote:

Michael Giacchino – Lost Season 1

Movie Round-up: The Best and Worst of 2008

Everywhere you look online this time of year, people are making top 10 lists.  Since I have still haven’t had time to write the post that’s been percolating in my head for about a month now (it’s about feminism and is sure to be an insightful, witty, must-read post.  If it ever gets written), I’m going to follow suite and give all of you (as always, “all” is hypothetical) my list of the best, worst, most surprising, and most disappointing films of 2008.  I know of at least three people who read my film reviews on a regular basis, so this post might actually be useful to someone, somewhere.  Then again, maybe not, but I’m writing it anyway.

This year my total for films seen in a theatre is down slightly to only 40, which I blame on having to do my final engineering design project and beginning a new job which requires a large amount of travel.  The films I saw did cover quite a lot of ground, in terms of themes, styles, and subject matter, so I think that’s still enough to make a fairly well-rounded list.  So, without further ado, we’ll begin.

First up is the most surprising films of the year.  These are films I went to which I didn’t necessarily expect to be great but which exceeded those expectations.

Most Surprising:

21 – I went in hoping to see just a slick, glossy movie.  That’s what I got, but with the added benefits of interesting characters and a smart-ish plot.

Speed Racer – Again, I was there purely for the visuals.  Along with those spectacular visuals I found a truly fun film.

Eagle Eye – This looked like another wannabe thriller for teens.  It’s actually quite a well made and entertaining thriller, not exclusively for teens.  This is the second time I’ve been surprised by a D.J. Caruso film (the first being Disturbia), maybe it’s time I quit underestimating him.

Bolt – Due to Disney’s recent lackluster track record with in-house animation, I wasn’t expecting a lot from this film, but it’s really quite entertaining.  This comment basically echoes what I said about Meet the Robinsons last year.  Again, I think it’s time I quit underestimating them.  Under John Lasseter, the studio seems to be able to make quality films again.

Next, we’ll take a look at the most disappointing films of the year.  These are the films that I wanted to be good, or which could have been good, but weren’t.

Most Disappointing:

Be Kind, Rewind – Not a bad film, but coming from Michel Gondry, I expected so much more than passable.

Smart People – Had some really strong performances, but the script just felt like it was continually hitting just short of the mark.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – I really wanted this to be good, but I knew it wouldn’t be.  The problem isn’t that the people involved didn’t do what they were supposed to, it was the medium.  This was three 30 minute TV episodes shown back to back.  Had they been shown on TV over three weeks, it would’ve appeared much stronger, but in a theatre the TV animation doesn’t hold up, and the pacing is all wrong.

Pineapple Express – The weakest of the Apatow comedies, it just can’t stand up to the others.

The Punisher: War Zone – A Punisher movie should be easy, but they’ve tried three times and failed three times.  This one got the violence right, but anytime someone opens their mouth it falls apart completely.  Fortunately, there’s not a lot of talking.

The Spirit – Great script, good visual style, horrible, confused directing.

On to the worst of the year:

5 Worst Films of 2008:

5. The Punisher: War Zone – Mostly an uneven mess.

4. I Am Legend – Technically this is a 2007 film, but I saw it in 2008 and it’s bad enough to warrant being mentioned here.  Sure, Will Smith’s performance is fairly strong, but he has no script to work with, poor direction, the awful choice was made to show the zombies too clearly, too soon, and a weak ending.

3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars – I’ve already explained this one in the “Most Disappointing” list.  Basically, it just didn’t belong in theaters.

2. Vantage Point – Though it had a cool concept, this was just poorly executed.  By the final 20 minutes the audience was actually laughing at just how bad and clichéd the film had become.

1. Max Payne – Really nothing to redeem this one.  Bad script, bad acting, bad choreography, bad cinematography.  Not even enough her to recommend it to fans of the game.

Finally, the ten best films of the year.

10 Best Films of 2008:

10. Speed Racer – Visually stunning, this is a live action anime that completely delivers.  Yes, it lost more money than any other film this year, since it had a massive budget and no one went to see it.  But take a look at what the people who went to see it thought of it.  The few dozen people who actually bothered to see it loved it.  It’s definitely worth checking out.

9. Iron Man – A different kind of superhero movie.  Well made with a fantastic performance by Robert Downey Jr. and great special effects, this is a great popcorn film.

8. Benjamin Button – Well crafted and thought provoking, this is an engaging film, though it could probably stand one more edit.

7. Rachel Getting Married – A perfect representation of a family gathering, this film is claustrophobic and uncomfortable.  You’ll likely recognize yourself and your family in the characters, and not to be overlooked is Ann Hathaway’s stellar performance.

6. Hellboy 2 – Another superhero film, this year was good to a traditionally second rate genre.  Guillermo del Toro’s take on the material is breathtaking, creating a beautiful, fascinating, intelligent story.

5. Synecdoche, New York – It’s pronounced Sin-ek-duh-key.  And it’s great.  It’s about the horror of growing old, addressing a fear present in everyone, whether we admit it or not.  Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut, the script is every bit as smart and engrossig as you’d expect.

4. The Dark Knight – Yet another superhero film, this one the most ambitious and adult of the bunch.  Fantastic directing, a strong script, and Heath Ledger’s perfect portrayal of The Joker all make this a great film.  But you already knew that, since everyone went to go see this back in July.

3. Let the Right One In – A vampire film from Sweden about two eleven year old kids.  Also the best vampire film in years.  It’s haunting, frightening, engrossing, and fascinating.  Not to be missed.

2. Slumdog Millionaire – Danny Boyle has crafted a terrific, film, chronicalling the life of a boy who grew up in the slums of India.  Beautifully shot and as energetic as the country in which it was made, this is one that everyone will enjoy.

1. Wall·E – Pixar has been nothing if not consistent.  Year after year they deliver films that are not just great, but also push the boundaries of the art form, and Wall·E is the most ambitious yet.  Just because it is animated does not mean that it is only for kids (or for kids at all) and Pixar has proved this time and time again, making films with something for everyone, miles ahead of the competition.  Wall·E is beautifully crafted in every sense and hands down the best film of the year.

Last year I was surprised by the large number of comedies on my “Best” list.  This year it’s back to normal, with comedy completely absent in my top ten.  It’s a little unusual to have an animated film in the number one spot, but not surprising given Pixar’s record.  Other than that, there’s not really anything worth noting about these lists.

That wraps up another year of films.  Time to begin 2009.

Sleep well,

DTE