Re: [LUG] The old I SP problem

[Julian Hall <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jon Lawrence wrote:

> I'll give another vote for Eclipse.
> Others to consider are Griffin or star.
> human being on the end of the phone: that depends on your definition of human 
> - mine is that they are capable of a reasoned thought process, with some ISPs 
> that definition doesn't apply to first level support.
In defence of support staff (God alone knows why!) when I worked in Tech 
Support as a Senior (oh yeah that's why ;)) we had strict targets set by 
Management about how many calls the techs had to take, how long each 
call must last on average (yes I know.. stupid to those of a technical 
mind who know you CANNOT pigeonhole technical issues like that - but 
they did anyway).  So as a rule the front line staff *have* to stick 
rigidly to what is supported because otherwise they'll get the toe of 
someone's boot in their bums and to be honest the poor sods were under 
enough pressure as it was.  Also may be a possibility they could 
actually lose out on a bonus if they don't hit their targets, so they 
have a financial incentive *not* to deviate from what is supported.

Secondly, there is the matter of training.  Zero training was given on 
Linux.  Hell after I left I heard the question was asked "Do we really 
need Mac training?" by some numbskull manager.  The response was "HELL 
YES!" of course.

Third, if one person supports the customer on Linux (or for that matter 
NAYTHING unsupported such as Opera etc), the customer invariably expects 
*every* tech he or she speaks to from then on to help as well.  I'm sure 
everyone reading this will no doubt be thinking "I'm not like that" and 
that is undoubtedly true.  However the majority of customers I spoke to 
in the last seven years, regrettably, are.  I lost count of the number 
of customers who ranted at me that "so and so supported me on this so 
why did such and such refuse???"  The truthful answer was that the first 
tech was about to get his backside kicked for unofficial support.  The 
answer the customers got and *never ever* accepted was that the first 
tech had offered courtesy support based on personal knowledge and should 
have made that plain.  They made life difficult for the less 
knowledgeable techs who got ranted at by customers.  Even when the 
customer knew that only one tech can help them, they got stroppy if that 
one tech is not available and started making unreasonable demands, 
presumably expecting the poor burger to stay in the office 24/7 in case 
they call.

Last but by no means least, raw quality of the tech staff.  
Paradoxically the smaller ISPs may do better because the techs they 
employ *are* technicians, not customer service agents some idiot thought 
they could "train to be a tech".  Or worse, degree students just wanting 
something to fill their bank balance while looking for a job related to 
their degree.  Generally with minimal computer know-how.  One manager 
got my back up badly on that saying "You need to teach Customer Service, 
anyone can tech".  My response had the letters B and S in it.  My 
personal opinion, which you may or may not share, is that Customer 
Service is simply making sure the customer is politely, fairly and 
respectfully dealt with.  It's not rocket science to know that calling 
the customer a prat for messing up his dialup connection is not the way 
to give good service.  After I left one of my ex colleagues emailed me 
and said the latest crop of "technicians" were failed Macdonalds 
employees who couldn't master the concept of burger flipping.

Anyway, enough of me :)  In short, do please try not to blame the poor 
sod at the end of the phone who may be able to recognise a keyboard 
twice after two weeks training, but even if they can help with Linux may 
have someone breathing down their neck to ensure they stick to official 
support.  Basically I would say go for the ISPs who actually say they 
support Linux, or better yet one of the recommendations given by the LUG :)

Kind regards,

Julian

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