More Tech Support Hell

[joreth]

Is it a rule or something that they can only hire morons for Tech Support?  I mean, I understand they get a lot of stupid people calling so they're used to their callers being morons, but shouldn't they at least be able to read before they're hired?

> Question / Problem:
>
> In my screen saver power settings, I have it set to start the screen saver
> after 5 minutes, turn off display at 10 minutes on battery and 15 minutes
> on plugged in, and turn off hard disk at 30 minutes on battery and never on
> plugged in.
>
> The display will turn off when it's on battery power, but it will not turn
> off while plugged in.  How can I fix this?


> Thank you for contacting Acer America. What you are describing could be due
> to the way the power management was set up. Plug in your AC adapter, then
> click on the Start button and select Control Panel. Click on Performance
> and Maintenance then click Power Options. In Power Options you can change
> the length of time before any component is shut down. I hope this
> information is helpful.


No, that was not helpful.  If you fully read the request for help, you will
see that I have already set my power settings to shut off the display after
15 minutes and it still does not shut off.  While I realize, as a tech
support personnel, you recieve requests for help from people who have no
idea how to turn on a computer, let alone configure it ... I, however, am
somewhat comfortable with and familiar with PCs, although Vista is quite
the challenge with it's numerous incompatibilities and driver issues.  I
suggest, in the future, you fully read the request before filing off an
auto-response that doesn't help and wastes both of our time.  Now, shall we
try this again with a more appropriate suggestion?


When you set your power options, was the AC adapter plugged in, or was the
computer running on battery? This could have an effect on the setting. I
recommend setting this option with the AC adapter attached. You could also
try launching the ePower Management software with the AC adapter attached,
and creating a custom profile for the settings you desire. If this does not
resolve your issue, please contact Acer Technical Support at 1-800-816-2237
M-F 7am-9pm CST and Sat-Sun 8am-5pm CST, excluding holidays. Currently we
are experiencing high call volume, so please expect your hold time to be
longer than normal. We are working to reduce this by providing additional
support personnel and by providing online support tools such as
www.FixMyAcer.com. I hope this helps.


I already tried all that with the AC adapter plugged in.

Comments

[redheadlass.livejournal.com]

I believe that I can safely say that all technical support people are not morons (simply because I'm married to one). You know, of course, that the emphasis in most customer service call centers is to get the most responses taken care of in the least amount of time. In addition, you start at the lowest level of knowledge with support, so you're probably getting first level techs who barely know the system when you email. Much of the time those tech support people give canned answers to a specific question type rather than the question being asked in hopes that it will answer your question. You're not going to get a lot of personalized assistance until you get escalated to a second or third level rep.

Mike's company doesn't work that way, thank goodness.

Try this link, it may have the answer you want. If not, sorry.

:)

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-024509.htm

[joreth]

:-/ Yeah, I know ... hell, *I* used to be in tech support and many of my good friends (including Mike) are in it and are not idiots. I just get frustrated that these are the exceptions and not the rule.

I reset my system the way that link suggests - next time I'm away from my computer long enough for the power settings to take effect, I'll see if it works. If it doesn't, at least that was something new that I hadn't figured out on my own, unlike the tech support guys. Thanks!

[funky-firelord.livejournal.com]

Are yes, First level support. I sometimes think they deal with so many people who are as dull as a draw full of spoons, that when someone with some intelligence comes along it goes right by them.

The best support people are the ones who can adapt to your callers level of ability.

Quote I had to use on HP a few days ago "Yes I'm sure I pressed the button, Ive been a professional IT engineer for 17 years I know how to turn a computer on"

*grins*

Firelord