Tech Support Blues (Extra Special Retard Edition)
Yet another insane correspondence with USR Tech Support. Starting with my most recent response at the top.
What in hell is this crap? You didn't even read my email, did you? Some phone monkey told me a supervisor would call me back in 24 hours but nobody did. I had expected to hear back today from both the supervisor and "Anna" who, thusfar, was the only rep I've had contact with that didn't seem low-functioning. I won't be able to make it to Sam's Club to return this piece of crap until next week so I figure you have until then to actually read my email, acknowledge the troubleshooting, realize that "Anna" told me to call in for an RAL to replace the PCMCIA card only to have the representative on the phone ignore copious waves of troubleshooting evidence and tell me he can't exchange it because he's unable to determine what's wrong. He tried to blame everything under the sun and when the troubleshooting was done to disprove each instance he immediately moved to something else to blame. I don't think he ever actually considered the idea that the card might actually be MALFUNCTIONING as all, and I do mean ALL, of the troubleshooting suggests. I have tried multiple routers with multiple setting changes, multiple pcmcia cards (and the others work just fine) on multiple laptops, in multiple environments, with multiple reinstallations of the drivers on both machines. The only thing I haven't tried is using an OS other than Windows XP pro. I suppose that's what you will blame next. This "higher up" who I never requested to speak with and who was supposed to call me back has not called. The responses to me email, with the exception of the one I recieved from "Anna" border on retarded. Make this right. I have, for years, used and recommended U.S. Robotics products (through several generations of routers and wireless pcmcia cards and all manner of other devices) and had never needed tech support. This one time I need some tech support I been corresponding with you people for over a week now and, aside from one lucid moment, you have repsonded with the most inept and ridiculous string of customer service prat-falls I have ever seen. I can only assume that this is some manner of joke and that if I keep at it I might get $1000 bucks from some MTV producer or Ashton Kutcher and Johnny Knoxville will show up at my house with a new freaking PCMCIA card. FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!! HOW HARD IS IT TO JUST READ MY FREAKING EMAILS AND RESPOND WITH SOMETHING RELEVANT??????????????????????
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????\r\n\r\nOn 12/1/05, usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com <usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com> wrote:\r\n\r\nKyle,Thank you for having considered using US Robotics, and we hope to have your patronage in the future.\r\nYour customer number is 300525061Please refer to case # 300840166 if you have any further questions.If you need further assistance, you can also reach us online at \r\nwww.usr.com/supportPlease include all previous replies when/if responding to this message.Best Regards,Johnny P at Technical SupportUSR Technical Support-----------------------Anna,\r\nI really appreciate your assistance and I followed your advice. The call started off well as the rep put me on hold for 5 minutes as he read everything previous to the call that was associated with my case number. However, after having "read" this information he immediately began asking questions that were, presumably, already answered. I realized, then, that he hadn\'t really really read the previous correspondence thoroughly but in fact had been asking his co-workers what to do. This trend continued as I was repeated put on hold only to have him return with another round of questions based, not on critical thinking but on "the customer is wrong" attitude that one usually gets in a call center when your peers are asked for advice. Ego rules nothing if it does not rule Tech support. Unfortunately, after another ridiculous round of trying to blame the router, the settings, the environement, etc. and telling me that if there were a problem with the pcmcia card it just wouldn\'t work at all and that the fact that it does work at all means it is not malfuntioning (seriously, that\'s what the phone rep told me, that there is no middle ground... it either works 100% perfect or it won\'t work at all) I was told that he would have to escalate it to a higher up and have him call me back within 24 hours. He pretty much ignored all of my information asked me silly questions like "Are you using the most updated drivers for the card and firmware for the router?" Why is that silly? Well it\'s silly because there are no updated versions. The original firmware and driver versions are the only ones available. And yes, I have downloaded them from the site rather than trust the ones on the disk but it didn\'t make any difference. He said "I would hate to RMA the card only to have the same thing happen with the new card!" Yeah, I would hate that too, but since all the troubleshooting points to the card as the problem it seems like a reasonable risk to me. It did not seem to be a reasonable risk to him. He did try a new tactic. He began to gear up towards blaming the laptop. Too bad I\'m not an idiot. That might have worked had I not had the sense to test this (malfunctioning 5411) card, and my other (working) card in a different laptop on two separate routers in two completely different environements. I don\'t know I bothered doing all this troubleshooting if the results were just going to be ignored. I guess I just should have called in screaming from the beginning. Anyway, I appreciate that you actually took the time to read my email and apply the appropriate logic. Please accept my compliments and understand that it was not you who inspired me to return my equipment and go buy a Belkin. It was every other person at \r\n",1]
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On 12/1/05, usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com <usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com> wrote:
Kyle,Thank you for having considered using US Robotics, and we hope to have your patronage in the future. Your customer number is 300525061Please refer to case # 300840166 if you have any further questions.If you need further assistance, you can also reach us online at www.usr.com/supportPlease include all previous replies when/if responding to this message.Best Regards,Johnny P at Technical SupportUSR Technical Support-----------------------Anna,I really appreciate your assistance and I followed your advice. The call started off well as the rep put me on hold for 5 minutes as he read everything previous to the call that was associated with my case number. However, after having "read" this information he immediately began asking questions that were, presumably, already answered. I realized, then, that he hadn't really really read the previous correspondence thoroughly but in fact had been asking his co-workers what to do. This trend continued as I was repeated put on hold only to have him return with another round of questions based, not on critical thinking but on "the customer is wrong" attitude that one usually gets in a call center when your peers are asked for advice. Ego rules nothing if it does not rule Tech support. Unfortunately, after another ridiculous round of trying to blame the router, the settings, the environement, etc. and telling me that if there were a problem with the pcmcia card it just wouldn't work at all and that the fact that it does work at all means it is not malfuntioning (seriously, that's what the phone rep told me, that there is no middle ground... it either works 100% perfect or it won't work at all) I was told that he would have to escalate it to a higher up and have him call me back within 24 hours. He pretty much ignored all of my information asked me silly questions like "Are you using the most updated drivers for the card and firmware for the router?" Why is that silly? Well it's silly because there are no updated versions. The original firmware and driver versions are the only ones available. And yes, I have downloaded them from the site rather than trust the ones on the disk but it didn't make any difference. He said "I would hate to RMA the card only to have the same thing happen with the new card!" Yeah, I would hate that too, but since all the troubleshooting points to the card as the problem it seems like a reasonable risk to me. It did not seem to be a reasonable risk to him. He did try a new tactic. He began to gear up towards blaming the laptop. Too bad I'm not an idiot. That might have worked had I not had the sense to test this (malfunctioning 5411) card, and my other (working) card in a different laptop on two separate routers in two completely different environements. I don't know I bothered doing all this troubleshooting if the results were just going to be ignored. I guess I just should have called in screaming from the beginning. Anyway, I appreciate that you actually took the time to read my email and apply the appropriate logic. Please accept my compliments and understand that it was not you who inspired me to return my equipment and go buy a Belkin. It was every other person at
On 11/30/05, usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com < usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com> wrote:Kyle,\r\nSorry for all your frustration with the MAXg PC Card. From your description, it does appear that the card is not functioning as it should.Please call our tech support line between the hours of 10 AM to 7 PM Eastern Standard Time. The phone number for network products is 1-888-216-2850.\r\nAs part of USR procedure there are some trouble shooting steps a tech support rep will go through with you. Mostly likely it will be determined that your MAXg PC Card is indeed defective and the tech support rep will issue you a RMA, for a replacement MAXg PC Card.\r\nThank you for choosing U.S. Robotics!Your customer number is 300522843Please refer to case # 300836489 if you have any further questions.If you need further assistance, you can also reach us online at \r\nwww.usr.com/supportPlease include all previous replies when/if responding to this message.Best Regards,Anna R. at Technical SupportUSR Technical Support\r\n-----------------------I\'m still waiting for a response. I also, just to rule the offchance that the uninspired and robotic answer I recieved earlier mightactually be true, moved the router even closer. I\'m not less than 8 feet\r\nfrom the router with nothing between the router and the laptop. I alsotried connecting to my old USR 8054G with the new pcmcia card which Isuspect is causing the problem and noticed I was having the same problem.\r\nSo... that\'s two different routers in two locations (three if you count mynegihbor\'s linksys) where the problem exists. If i switch to a different",1]
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U.S. Robotics I had contact with.On 11/30/05, usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com < usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com> wrote:Kyle,Sorry for all your frustration with the MAXg PC Card. From your description, it does appear that the card is not functioning as it should.Please call our tech support line between the hours of 10 AM to 7 PM Eastern Standard Time. The phone number for network products is 1-888-216-2850. As part of USR procedure there are some trouble shooting steps a tech support rep will go through with you. Mostly likely it will be determined that your MAXg PC Card is indeed defective and the tech support rep will issue you a RMA, for a replacement MAXg PC Card. Thank you for choosing U.S. Robotics!Your customer number is 300522843Please refer to case # 300836489 if you have any further questions.If you need further assistance, you can also reach us online at www.usr.com/supportPlease include all previous replies when/if responding to this message.Best Regards,Anna R. at Technical SupportUSR Technical Support
What in hell is this crap? You didn't even read my email, did you? Some phone monkey told me a supervisor would call me back in 24 hours but nobody did. I had expected to hear back today from both the supervisor and "Anna" who, thusfar, was the only rep I've had contact with that didn't seem low-functioning. I won't be able to make it to Sam's Club to return this piece of crap until next week so I figure you have until then to actually read my email, acknowledge the troubleshooting, realize that "Anna" told me to call in for an RAL to replace the PCMCIA card only to have the representative on the phone ignore copious waves of troubleshooting evidence and tell me he can't exchange it because he's unable to determine what's wrong. He tried to blame everything under the sun and when the troubleshooting was done to disprove each instance he immediately moved to something else to blame. I don't think he ever actually considered the idea that the card might actually be MALFUNCTIONING as all, and I do mean ALL, of the troubleshooting suggests. I have tried multiple routers with multiple setting changes, multiple pcmcia cards (and the others work just fine) on multiple laptops, in multiple environments, with multiple reinstallations of the drivers on both machines. The only thing I haven't tried is using an OS other than Windows XP pro. I suppose that's what you will blame next. This "higher up" who I never requested to speak with and who was supposed to call me back has not called. The responses to me email, with the exception of the one I recieved from "Anna" border on retarded. Make this right. I have, for years, used and recommended U.S. Robotics products (through several generations of routers and wireless pcmcia cards and all manner of other devices) and had never needed tech support. This one time I need some tech support I been corresponding with you people for over a week now and, aside from one lucid moment, you have repsonded with the most inept and ridiculous string of customer service prat-falls I have ever seen. I can only assume that this is some manner of joke and that if I keep at it I might get $1000 bucks from some MTV producer or Ashton Kutcher and Johnny Knoxville will show up at my house with a new freaking PCMCIA card. FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!! HOW HARD IS IT TO JUST READ MY FREAKING EMAILS AND RESPOND WITH SOMETHING RELEVANT??????????????????????
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????\r\n\r\nOn 12/1/05, usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com <usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com> wrote:\r\n\r\nKyle,Thank you for having considered using US Robotics, and we hope to have your patronage in the future.\r\nYour customer number is 300525061Please refer to case # 300840166 if you have any further questions.If you need further assistance, you can also reach us online at \r\nwww.usr.com/supportPlease include all previous replies when/if responding to this message.Best Regards,Johnny P at Technical SupportUSR Technical Support-----------------------Anna,\r\nI really appreciate your assistance and I followed your advice. The call started off well as the rep put me on hold for 5 minutes as he read everything previous to the call that was associated with my case number. However, after having "read" this information he immediately began asking questions that were, presumably, already answered. I realized, then, that he hadn\'t really really read the previous correspondence thoroughly but in fact had been asking his co-workers what to do. This trend continued as I was repeated put on hold only to have him return with another round of questions based, not on critical thinking but on "the customer is wrong" attitude that one usually gets in a call center when your peers are asked for advice. Ego rules nothing if it does not rule Tech support. Unfortunately, after another ridiculous round of trying to blame the router, the settings, the environement, etc. and telling me that if there were a problem with the pcmcia card it just wouldn\'t work at all and that the fact that it does work at all means it is not malfuntioning (seriously, that\'s what the phone rep told me, that there is no middle ground... it either works 100% perfect or it won\'t work at all) I was told that he would have to escalate it to a higher up and have him call me back within 24 hours. He pretty much ignored all of my information asked me silly questions like "Are you using the most updated drivers for the card and firmware for the router?" Why is that silly? Well it\'s silly because there are no updated versions. The original firmware and driver versions are the only ones available. And yes, I have downloaded them from the site rather than trust the ones on the disk but it didn\'t make any difference. He said "I would hate to RMA the card only to have the same thing happen with the new card!" Yeah, I would hate that too, but since all the troubleshooting points to the card as the problem it seems like a reasonable risk to me. It did not seem to be a reasonable risk to him. He did try a new tactic. He began to gear up towards blaming the laptop. Too bad I\'m not an idiot. That might have worked had I not had the sense to test this (malfunctioning 5411) card, and my other (working) card in a different laptop on two separate routers in two completely different environements. I don\'t know I bothered doing all this troubleshooting if the results were just going to be ignored. I guess I just should have called in screaming from the beginning. Anyway, I appreciate that you actually took the time to read my email and apply the appropriate logic. Please accept my compliments and understand that it was not you who inspired me to return my equipment and go buy a Belkin. It was every other person at \r\n",1]
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??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
On 12/1/05, usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com <usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com> wrote:
Kyle,Thank you for having considered using US Robotics, and we hope to have your patronage in the future. Your customer number is 300525061Please refer to case # 300840166 if you have any further questions.If you need further assistance, you can also reach us online at www.usr.com/supportPlease include all previous replies when/if responding to this message.Best Regards,Johnny P at Technical SupportUSR Technical Support-----------------------Anna,I really appreciate your assistance and I followed your advice. The call started off well as the rep put me on hold for 5 minutes as he read everything previous to the call that was associated with my case number. However, after having "read" this information he immediately began asking questions that were, presumably, already answered. I realized, then, that he hadn't really really read the previous correspondence thoroughly but in fact had been asking his co-workers what to do. This trend continued as I was repeated put on hold only to have him return with another round of questions based, not on critical thinking but on "the customer is wrong" attitude that one usually gets in a call center when your peers are asked for advice. Ego rules nothing if it does not rule Tech support. Unfortunately, after another ridiculous round of trying to blame the router, the settings, the environement, etc. and telling me that if there were a problem with the pcmcia card it just wouldn't work at all and that the fact that it does work at all means it is not malfuntioning (seriously, that's what the phone rep told me, that there is no middle ground... it either works 100% perfect or it won't work at all) I was told that he would have to escalate it to a higher up and have him call me back within 24 hours. He pretty much ignored all of my information asked me silly questions like "Are you using the most updated drivers for the card and firmware for the router?" Why is that silly? Well it's silly because there are no updated versions. The original firmware and driver versions are the only ones available. And yes, I have downloaded them from the site rather than trust the ones on the disk but it didn't make any difference. He said "I would hate to RMA the card only to have the same thing happen with the new card!" Yeah, I would hate that too, but since all the troubleshooting points to the card as the problem it seems like a reasonable risk to me. It did not seem to be a reasonable risk to him. He did try a new tactic. He began to gear up towards blaming the laptop. Too bad I'm not an idiot. That might have worked had I not had the sense to test this (malfunctioning 5411) card, and my other (working) card in a different laptop on two separate routers in two completely different environements. I don't know I bothered doing all this troubleshooting if the results were just going to be ignored. I guess I just should have called in screaming from the beginning. Anyway, I appreciate that you actually took the time to read my email and apply the appropriate logic. Please accept my compliments and understand that it was not you who inspired me to return my equipment and go buy a Belkin. It was every other person at
On 11/30/05, usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com < usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com> wrote:Kyle,\r\nSorry for all your frustration with the MAXg PC Card. From your description, it does appear that the card is not functioning as it should.Please call our tech support line between the hours of 10 AM to 7 PM Eastern Standard Time. The phone number for network products is 1-888-216-2850.\r\nAs part of USR procedure there are some trouble shooting steps a tech support rep will go through with you. Mostly likely it will be determined that your MAXg PC Card is indeed defective and the tech support rep will issue you a RMA, for a replacement MAXg PC Card.\r\nThank you for choosing U.S. Robotics!Your customer number is 300522843Please refer to case # 300836489 if you have any further questions.If you need further assistance, you can also reach us online at \r\nwww.usr.com/supportPlease include all previous replies when/if responding to this message.Best Regards,Anna R. at Technical SupportUSR Technical Support\r\n-----------------------I\'m still waiting for a response. I also, just to rule the offchance that the uninspired and robotic answer I recieved earlier mightactually be true, moved the router even closer. I\'m not less than 8 feet\r\nfrom the router with nothing between the router and the laptop. I alsotried connecting to my old USR 8054G with the new pcmcia card which Isuspect is causing the problem and noticed I was having the same problem.\r\nSo... that\'s two different routers in two locations (three if you count mynegihbor\'s linksys) where the problem exists. If i switch to a different",1]
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U.S. Robotics I had contact with.On 11/30/05, usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com < usr_amr_eng@aqinc.com> wrote:Kyle,Sorry for all your frustration with the MAXg PC Card. From your description, it does appear that the card is not functioning as it should.Please call our tech support line between the hours of 10 AM to 7 PM Eastern Standard Time. The phone number for network products is 1-888-216-2850. As part of USR procedure there are some trouble shooting steps a tech support rep will go through with you. Mostly likely it will be determined that your MAXg PC Card is indeed defective and the tech support rep will issue you a RMA, for a replacement MAXg PC Card. Thank you for choosing U.S. Robotics!Your customer number is 300522843Please refer to case # 300836489 if you have any further questions.If you need further assistance, you can also reach us online at www.usr.com/supportPlease include all previous replies when/if responding to this message.Best Regards,Anna R. at Technical SupportUSR Technical Support
posted by Unknown at 3:15 PM
2 Comments:
screw 'em. return it. it's not worth the fuss and botheration.
also, comments aren't working for me on mezzo's bird crap post. what is up with that?
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