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Why Tech Support Is (Purposely) Unbearable
Getting caught in a tech support loop — waiting on hold, interacting with automated systems, talking to people reading from unhelpful scripts and then finding yourself on hold yet again — is a peculiar kind of aggravation that mental health experts say can provoke rage in even the most mild-mannered person. Now Kate Murphy writes at the NYT that just as you suspected, companies are aware of the torture they are putting you through as 92 percent of customer service managers say their agents could be more effective and 74 percent say their company procedures prevented agents from providing satisfactory experiences. "Don't think companies haven't studied how far they can take things in providing the minimal level of service," says Justin Robbins, who was once a tech support agent himself and now oversees research and editorial at ICMI. "Some organizations have even monetized it by intentionally engineering it so you have to wait an hour at least to speak to someone in support, and while you are on hold, you're hearing messages like, 'If you'd like premium support, call this number and for a fee, we will get to you immediately.'"
Mental health experts say there are ways to get better tech support or maybe just make it more bearable. First, do whatever it takes to control your temper. Take a deep breath. Count to 10. Losing your stack at a consumer support agent is not going to get your problem resolved any faster and being negative in your dealings with others can quickly paint you as a complainer no one wants to work with. Don't bother demanding to speak to a supervisor, either. You're just going to get transferred to another agent who has been alerted ahead of time that you have come unhinged. According to the NYT, to get better service by phone, dial the prompt designated for "sales" or "to place an order," which almost always gets you an onshore agent, while tech support is usually offshore with the associated language difficulties. Finally customer support experts recommended using social media, like tweeting or sending a Facebook message, to contact a company instead of calling. You are likely to get a quicker response, not only because fewer people try that channel but also because your use of social media shows that you know how to vent your frustration to a wider audience if your needs are not met.
Ever wondered why tech support is so shitty? This article from the New York Times may explain the reason:
You may consider yourself even-keeled, the kind of person who is unflappable when those around you are losing their cool. But all that goes out the window when you call tech support. Then you fume. Your face turns red. You shout things into the phone that would appall your mother.
It's called tech support rage.
And you are not alone. Getting caught in a tech support loop — waiting on hold, interacting with automated systems, talking to people reading from unhelpful scripts and then finding yourself on hold yet again — is a peculiar kind of aggravation that mental health experts say can provoke rage in even the most mild-mannered person.
Worse, just as you suspected, companies are aware of the torture they are putting you through.
The article goes on the state that some of the reason is the simple fact that users are getting more sophisticated and can solve the simpler problems themselves. But:
The most egregious offenders are companies like cable and mobile service providers, which typically have little competition and whose customers are bound by contracts or would be considerably inconvenienced if they canceled their service. Not surprisingly, cable and mobile service providers are consistently ranked by consumers as providing the worst customer support.
The article goes on to describe companies and situations where excellent customer service can be found, and situations in which customer service is intentionally awful. I'm wondering what Soylentils think about the conclusions of this article.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 10 2016, @01:11PM
I think the tech support most people or companies are willing to be pay for is a more accurate assessment. For example, my NetApps generally have autosupport so I get a call agent within a minute or two of a call and I get, usually, an on-shored rep who knows what they are doing. On my Dell equipment, I get their Canada call-center a lot and the techs their know their stuff enough for the purposes of the call. I.e., confirm a a part needs replacement and get it dispatched ASAP. I have called into Novell and SUSE for some weird stuff and the techs knew their product very well... they were based out of Provo.
Conversely, I have called Symantec for support and it's literally the worst in the world. I have had agents ask for my working hours and deliberately call back outside of them. So, they never get a recommend from me.
The point is my enterprise support contracts are not cheap... generally, 5 year terms are 9% - 15% of the original purchase price so on a big order, it adds up. But, we are willing to pay because it matters. Most people are not willing to pay because they just do not care enough. If you are old enough, you can recall when Dell tech support was 100% US-based and they would support their products indefinitely. Then they found out consumers were not willing to pay for that anymore... so now, if you buy consumer, you get India based support and they are going to grind out their script whether you like it or not.
It's just the way of the world.
(Score: 2) by GungnirSniper on Sunday July 10 2016, @03:22PM
There's a world of difference between business customers and consumers. Generally, having decent and responsive support can make or break a sale on the B2B side, where it is much more likely that the time-to-answer will be tested before purchase. The B2C side nearly never encounters that, as many consumers won't bother to test it.
In a way, management doesn't want the B2C folks to be as quick or as helpful as the B2B folks because otherwise the constant callers and lonely elderly will clog up the lines, driving up costs. For just about everyone but Apple, customer service is a cost center.
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(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday July 12 2016, @02:25AM
This is one of the reasons I always suggest people check out the small business lines from Dell and others when shopping for laptops. Because you see the same thing there -- the difference in quality of support between an Inspirion and a Vostro is absurd. The home products you'll spend two hours on hold and another two hours with them insisting the problem must be something you did wrong and there can't possibly be an issue with the computer...until you get frustrated and hang up and go through the same routine all over again tomorrow. But if you call about business line products they'll have an RMA box on its way in fifteen minutes flat.
Of course, the OTHER reason I always suggest the business lines is they're often a bit cheaper. :)