| reply to morbo
Re: Would you like an extended warranty with your DSL? said by morbo:my mistake. they should have to provide unlimited support for their product. Having worked in technical support for nearly 10 years now, I am forced to strongly disagree with this statement. Especially in regards to ISP technical support. Service prices have come down so much and technical support is so expensive that ISPs dont start making a profit on a good customer until after having their service for 6 months. Each call to tech support on average costs the company $8-10. So frequently I've seen people who call in two to three times per month becuase their service stops working. All it takes each time is to powercycle the modem or router. at $25 per month if you call in 3 times, the chances of an ISP making a profit on your account are erased. This same issue occurs for hundereds of users. I feel that ISPs should have the right to limit what they support, especially for customers who are chronic callers who dont seem to learn. |
|
 morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | then the ISPs should educate users of their service OR charge more for what they are providing.
it's not my problem that they aren't doing the things needed to make a profit for 6 months. |
|
Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA | Not to mention they SHOULD be providing that support if you have to power cycle your modem 2-3 times a month. Wtf is that? The only time you should have to power cycle is to update the MAC address for the directly connected device. 2-3 times?! |
|
| reply to morbo
said by morbo:then the ISPs should educate users of their service OR charge more for what they are providing. it's not my problem that they aren't doing the things needed to make a profit for 6 months. I believe you misunderstand my point. Firstly, educating customers who cant even fathom how to navigate their Start Menu on even the basic functions of an ethernet device let alone anything about their computer is nigh on impossible. Customers want everything for nothing, but in general are not willing to pay attention or learn. Customers want competition which includes lower prices but arent willing to understand the business aspect of how extreme competition can affect changes to the service provided. |
|
| reply to Ahrenl
We're talking about customers who run their modem and router through extension cables, 30-50 foot phone cables, daisy chain dsl filters, or generally hose up the way things are supposed to be connected in hundereds of unimaginable ways. Ethernet devices are solid when they are used properly. However, they are also fairly sensitive electronics. Power fluctuations because they are using a cheap-o Walmart power strip or a 30 foot power extension cable can cause you to have to powercycle. Signal fluctuations because your cable is too long from the wall to the modem or it's looped up in 30 coils can cause the signal to generate it's own EMI. In these cases, the lights on the modems dont normally change, everything looks good, but the connection is still dorked. These situations require powercycling frequently unless they are corrected. What my point is is that at least 85 - 90% of the calls I've ever gotten at an ISP help desk are user error not service error. This gets expensive for companies because customers dont want to learn. The onus for correcting these types of problems should be on the customer because they should bother to learn at least a little bit about what they are dealing with first before subscribing. |
|
morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | reply to ph03n1x
No, I understood your point. I stand by my earlier comment that the burden is on the ISP to either price the product/service correctly, considering that there is a range of users, including those extremely ignorant of all things internet, AND/OR educate users on what to do.
This trend by corporations to try and nickle and dime consumers to death is not a welcome change. It is particularly disturbing that this trend seems to be encroaching more and more into everyday life. |
|
| said by morbo:No, I understood your point. I stand by my earlier comment that the burden is on the ISP to either price the product/service correctly, considering that there is a range of users, including those extremely ignorant of all things internet, AND/OR educate users on what to do. I suppose we must agree to disagree. I feel that the onus of learning what is supported by whom and what kind of problems are caused by what should be on the customer. While I agree that companies want to nickel and dime, it's unrealistic in the current market to price a service correctly based on it's cost. There is a larger attitude, at least in the USA of people feeling entitled to everything for nothing and being unwilling to learn anything about what they are buying. Everything starts at a loss to be competitive. To do otherwise would mean internet service would be $50-60 a month (a decent starting point if you consider the $10 per tech support call cost) still for basic speeds. If a company priced their service at this rate, say for a 1.5 line, then they would not have very many subscribers. |
|
|
|
morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | I guess we do agree to disagree.
If products or services cannot be priced correctly based on cost, then those companies will go out of business and those services will not or should not be provided. Capitalism, eh?
There is a personal entitlement issue in the USA, but I don't see it in this case. If anything, I see your view as a corporate entitlement issue. Your position comes off as Corporations are unable to price correctly due to over demanding consumers. In reality, DSL and cable internet are huge cash cows for these corporations. I don't for one minute feel that I should feel like I should pay more for these services. It's like feeling sorry for the poor car salesman that is only making $2500 commission off my new car versus $2800. Enough profit is being made that the issue isn't relevant.
Obviously, if my ISP has to raise the price to stay in business or because they feel that they have consumers on hook (common with cable tv), I, as a consumer, decide if I want to stay with that provider or go to another, if there is even an option.
|
|
| reply to morbo
said by morbo:then the ISPs should educate users of their service OR charge more for what they are providing. Can I have some of what you smoke? apparently that's some really good stuff! Send me an IM on the price please!
said by morbo:it's not my problem that they aren't doing the things needed to make a profit for 6 months. Ok why is it an ISP's problem if you decide to plug in a router between you and your cable/dsl modem and can't get on the internet? Then the audacity to expect the ISP's tech support to help you fix the problem?
Yea You should pay, no questions asked. I still think computers should be like cars and drivers licenses should be issued. Fines for innundating the wrong/incorrect tech support. |
|
 sivranBack to Opera againPremium
join:2003-09-15
Arlington, TX
kudos:1
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to ph03n1x
Ten years?! Good god man (or woman), tell me you haven't spent all of that time on the phone. You must be a supervisor now, right?
Oh, I used to do Verizon tech support. DSL. Then FIOS. FIOS was quite a bit easier to support.
--
Think outside the fox...Seamonkey |
|
| No, I've only spent about 4.5 of those years on the phones. Moved back and forth between different positions. Back on the phones now for awhile since I switched jobs to work directly for a telco instead of for a crappy outsource outfit. |
|
morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | reply to notwrth10
you should really read my trail of posts before responding. |
|
| reply to morbo
said by morbo:then the ISPs should educate users of their service OR charge more for what they are providing. I have to call the bull on that. Whatever happened to RTFM?
I didn't see any company or tech support teaching ME how to use a 2400 baud modem or how to build a computer from bottom-up or how to install Windows. If people need hand-holding on how to do a ping and translate the results, I have little sympathy for them.
I'm not the brightest bulb in the track lighting; if I can learn it, so can any other monkey. Again, RTFM! |
|
| reply to morbo
said by morbo:Obviously, if my ISP has to raise the price to stay in business or because they feel that they have consumers on hook (common with cable tv), I, as a consumer, decide if I want to stay with that provider or go to another, if there is even an option. Ah, I see. What happens when corporations do what you say and price it near the actual cost? Why, then the customers go to war! More screaming of "THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!" and demands for credits and the first-born of a rep.
Earthlink used to price its ADSL close to the cost - 49.99 for 1.5 down. What happened? Bitch and whine by the customers, because the telcos subsidize the cost of their extremely anti-profitable internet services with their very profitable regular telephone service. Cable internet? Same deal - all subsidized by the prices you pay for TV. Satellite? SAME DEAL. All broadband is subsidized by the profits for some other venture offered by the same company. Those who DON'T have another venture have gone down the tubes because they can't win the price war - see Earthlink, @Home, and several other 'ISPs'.
So, sure, I'll agree with your opinion. Just let me have Murdoch's empire and I'll guarantee you'll get all the broadband you want for $5/month. I'll be subsidizing it out the other profits I get for everything else, but you won't mind. That is, until I undercut everyone else, buy them out, and have a monopoly on the interweb. You still won't mind...after all, you get what you pay for, yes? |
|
| reply to morbo
said by morbo:you should really read my trail of posts before responding. You should really think before posting but that don't stop you now does it?
At what age did you insert the AOL CD and spread your stupidity on the internet? 10? 11? 12? |
|
