Short circuiting customer service??

Anyone got any advice on trying to bypass basic isp customer service in
regards to adsl support?

Situation:
I am frequently required to carry out repairs for PCs, review peoples setup
etc, help troubleshoot internet problems etc. The problem is broadband.

By the time I have got round to phoning customer service, I have checked the
filter, disconnected the other phones tried by the master socket etc, have
yet to see it make a difference, but it doesnt hurt, to reinstall drivers
and reset tcp/ip.

But when you get to customer service, you inform the Indian call centre
assistant called "john" all the stages you have gone through, it doesnt
matter, they insist on going through their script, it always takes 45mins,
and left feeling utterly frustrated.

If we have an intermittant loss of sync on a router, reinstalling tcp ip is
not going to make a jot of difference. Its like opening the kitchen window
to see if the electric oven will work better.

But, they insist on going through every stage. I was at a property the other
day, I suspected the internal wiring might not be up to scratch, so i fitted
a faceplate filter (surprising how many times it fixes unstable
connections), still random loss of syncs on the voyager 105.

Reinstalled drivers, tried a known working voyager 100, same problem. Tried
to explain to the customer service rep that the problem is on the line
somewhere, not at the computer.

So, anyone else any tips to bypass first stage customer support and get to
talk to the grownups??

ISPs experieinced this with: Aol, BT Yahoo, Demon, Tiscali, wanadoo.....

Gaz

Hi,

You could try, if you have not already, presenting yourself as an engineer
representing / calling on behalf of the end user / customer ( - you may have
to be quite persuasive).

I am guessing you probably do this already as a mater of course but just in
case you don't or haven't tried this I thought I would post the suggestion -
I don't think it does any harm .


Best wishes,




News Reader


"Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Anyone got any advice on trying to bypass basic isp customer service in
> regards to adsl support?
>
> Situation:
> I am frequently required to carry out repairs for PCs, review peoples
setup
> etc, help troubleshoot internet problems etc. The problem is broadband.
>
> By the time I have got round to phoning customer service, I have checked
the
> filter, disconnected the other phones tried by the master socket etc, have
> yet to see it make a difference, but it doesnt hurt, to reinstall drivers
> and reset tcp/ip.
>
> But when you get to customer service, you inform the Indian call centre
> assistant called "john" all the stages you have gone through, it doesnt
> matter, they insist on going through their script, it always takes 45mins,
> and left feeling utterly frustrated.
>
> If we have an intermittant loss of sync on a router, reinstalling tcp ip
is
> not going to make a jot of difference. Its like opening the kitchen window
> to see if the electric oven will work better.
>
> But, they insist on going through every stage. I was at a property the
other
> day, I suspected the internal wiring might not be up to scratch, so i
fitted
> a faceplate filter (surprising how many times it fixes unstable
> connections), still random loss of syncs on the voyager 105.
>
> Reinstalled drivers, tried a known working voyager 100, same problem.
Tried
> to explain to the customer service rep that the problem is on the line
> somewhere, not at the computer.
>
> So, anyone else any tips to bypass first stage customer support and get to
> talk to the grownups??
>
> ISPs experieinced this with: Aol, BT Yahoo, Demon, Tiscali, wanadoo.....
>
> Gaz
>
>

News Reader wrote:
> Hi,
>
> You could try, if you have not already, presenting yourself as an
> engineer representing / calling on behalf of the end user / customer
> ( - you may have to be quite persuasive).
>
> I am guessing you probably do this already as a mater of course but
> just in case you don't or haven't tried this I thought I would post
> the suggestion - I don't think it does any harm .
>

Actually if & when I do this, once I convince them of my credentials
they normally will do everything in their power to co-operate (normally
at this stage I've proved to problem is probably at their end so it's in
their interest to do so, mind you there was the case of the ISP who
reset a large number of end users passwords without telling them & the
end users couldn't understand why they couldn't log in, the ISP wasn't
forth coming with that one)

"Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Anyone got any advice on trying to bypass basic isp customer service in
> regards to adsl support?
>
> Situation:
> I am frequently required to carry out repairs for PCs, review peoples
> setup etc, help troubleshoot internet problems etc. The problem is
> broadband.
>
> By the time I have got round to phoning customer service, I have checked
> the filter, disconnected the other phones tried by the master socket etc,
> have yet to see it make a difference, but it doesnt hurt, to reinstall
> drivers and reset tcp/ip.
>
> But when you get to customer service, you inform the Indian call centre
> assistant called "john" all the stages you have gone through, it doesnt
> matter, they insist on going through their script, it always takes 45mins,
> and left feeling utterly frustrated.
>
> If we have an intermittant loss of sync on a router, reinstalling tcp ip
> is not going to make a jot of difference. Its like opening the kitchen
> window to see if the electric oven will work better.
>
> But, they insist on going through every stage. I was at a property the
> other day, I suspected the internal wiring might not be up to scratch, so
> i fitted a faceplate filter (surprising how many times it fixes unstable
> connections), still random loss of syncs on the voyager 105.
>
> Reinstalled drivers, tried a known working voyager 100, same problem.
> Tried to explain to the customer service rep that the problem is on the
> line somewhere, not at the computer.
>
> So, anyone else any tips to bypass first stage customer support and get to
> talk to the grownups??
>
> ISPs experieinced this with: Aol, BT Yahoo, Demon, Tiscali, wanadoo.....
>
> Gaz
>
Complain directly to the companies and say you will be advising customers to
change supplier. I object to non UK based call centres as I often encounter
a language barrier as I only speak one. People can't sometimes understand
my accent either and I get annoyed at someone reading a script and not
knowing what it is they are reading.
Banks are now starting to change back to UK call centres as there is NO Data
Protection Act abroad, so details held in India for example can be given out
or sold on. I know people this has happened to and banks and mortgage
companies are in a bit of a panic.

john wrote in
8GKsf.18097$(E-Mail Removed):

> "Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Anyone got any advice on trying to bypass basic isp customer service
>> in regards to adsl support?
>>
>> Situation:
>> I am frequently required to carry out repairs for PCs, review peoples
>> setup etc, help troubleshoot internet problems etc. The problem is
>> broadband.
>>
>> By the time I have got round to phoning customer service, I have
>> checked the filter, disconnected the other phones tried by the
>> master socket etc, have yet to see it make a difference, but it
>> doesnt hurt, to reinstall drivers and reset tcp/ip.
>>
>> But when you get to customer service, you inform the Indian call
>> centre assistant called "john" all the stages you have gone through,
>> it doesnt matter, they insist on going through their script, it
>> always takes 45mins, and left feeling utterly frustrated.
>>
>> If we have an intermittant loss of sync on a router, reinstalling
>> tcp ip is not going to make a jot of difference. Its like opening
>> the kitchen window to see if the electric oven will work better.
>>
>> But, they insist on going through every stage. I was at a property
>> the other day, I suspected the internal wiring might not be up to
>> scratch, so i fitted a faceplate filter (surprising how many times
>> it fixes unstable connections), still random loss of syncs on the
>> voyager 105. Reinstalled drivers, tried a known working voyager 100, same
>> problem.
>> Tried to explain to the customer service rep that the problem is on
>> the line somewhere, not at the computer.
>>
>> So, anyone else any tips to bypass first stage customer support and
>> get to talk to the grownups??
>>
>> ISPs experieinced this with: Aol, BT Yahoo, Demon, Tiscali,
>> wanadoo.....

I have found Wanadoo particularly bad in this respect. They suffer both from
the Indian call-centre problem and an over-zealous attitude to the
data-protection act. I had a long-standing problem (it lasted several
*months*) with one particular customer who ordered broadband which failed to
work with the Dlink router that I bought for him, or with my own Netgear
router, both of which I proved worked on my own ADSL line. Both routers
failed to detect any ADSL carrier: the Netgear's log reported "LCP is coming
up / LCP is down" till the cows came home and the Dlink saw an attenuation
of 80 dB and 0 db noise margin. I changed the microfilter and the cable
between the master socket and the router. I confirmed with the customer that
there were no other phones on the line. I even tried a BT-RJ11 cable
directly into the socket, without any microfilter. Absolutely nothing.
Intriguingly, a phone plugged into a microfilter (with no router plugged
into it) gave a very "rough" sounding dialling tone on the ADSL line but a
clean dialling tone on his other, voice line. And he happened to mention
that he'd had intermittent problems with not being able to send/receive
faxes over the voice part of the ADSL line. The master socket was not the
sort with a removable faceplate and an internal test socket, so I couldn't
try the router in the test socket.

Conclusion: the line was not up to spec.

Wanadoo were useless in trying to get to the bottom of the problem. Every
time I phoned I'd have to go through the motions of convincing the support
person that there really was a problem, remind them of the history so far.
They were reluctant to do anything because it wasn't a modem/router supplied
by them, but I eventually persuaded them to get BT to "check the line".
Sadly this came back "no fault found", but I suspect BT just checked things
at the exchange; certainly they never called at the customer's house which
is what I was wanting. On two occasions Wanadoo said that they had arranged
for a BT engineer to call; both times after the customer had waited in all
day, Wanadoo later told me that they had no record of arranging the visits,
so the person who told me that this had been arranged had *lied*.

Coupled with this, I had to jump through hoops every time I phoned to get
them to talk to me rather than the customer who doesn't have the time of the
knowledge to pursue it himself. On one occasion the customer wrote a letter
to them authorising them to talk to me on his behalf. When I went round a
couple of days later (the next time I was free), when the customer himself
wasn't there, Wanadoo told me that they had received his authority but it
had expired after 24 hours: they didn't have a mechanism to allow perpetual
authority! And they wanted to ask their security questions of the customer
himself: they wouldn't even accept the correct answers (eg his date of
birth) when given by his wife.

The customer has since terminated his contract with them; the last I heard
he wanted me to suggest an ISP with better customer service. I have a nasty
feeling that if he can persuade a new ISP to get BT to visit the house and
measure the ADSL signal at the wall socket, they may find that the
exchange-to-house line is buggered and/or the line is too long, though the
line checker did say "up to 2 Mb" when he placed the initial order.
Significantly, when I checked again a few months later, it reported "up to
512 Kb" and said that an engineer visit may be necessary.

"john" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:8GKsf.18097$(E-Mail Removed):

> Banks are now starting to change back to UK call centres as there is
> NO Data Protection Act abroad, so details held in India for example
> can be given out or sold on. I know people this has happened to and
> banks and mortgage companies are in a bit of a panic.

The Data Controllers under the Data Protection Act are the UK data owners,
even if the call centre is on the moon, and remain legally responsible for
the use of data. Hence the panic when breaches were discovered as they
have full liability.

Having worked as a call centre consultant in the UK, I wouldn't be quite so
confident about security in our "local" call centres. It is very difficult
to supervise 100s of staff 100% of the time, and data can and does get
lifted. Usually only in small volumes, making it very difficult to trace,
but can still make a nice return for those involved. News about this
doesn't get out so often because it is usually tied up in internal
disciplinary procedures.