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GraceCat - 16 Apr 2004 05:06 GMT

Ebonic speaking baffoon...

Yeah... I did it. After a week of frustration I called my IBM tech
support to help with a problem. He sent me to an offwebsite to download
their material!!!

Ya wanna know something? That's *after* telling him I couldn't get
beyond the Windows startup screen. He didn't ask if I had another way of
getting to this off/ non sanctioned by IBM or Microsoft website.

*sighs*

Anyway, the problem... I have an IBM thinkpad loaded with XP. The
factory software, drivers etc didn't come on CD-ROM format. They came
with the protected partitioned drive. I need to repair an itty bitty
.dll file. I *don't* have to reformat. Microsoft says I don't. They gave
word for word instructions that matches my problem to a "t". But....
they only give the repair method by using the full XP version CD-ROM.

I asked the IBM support if there was any way to partially reformat or a
simple repair from the partition and there isn't. At least he says there
isn't. So that's it? If you partition your software and sell it to the
consumers it's full reformat or nothing baby!?!?

I'm so ticked... I just said yeah, thanks and hung up because he had no
f-ing clue. I mentioned I needed help to repair a file and he said "oh
umm, oh... welll... umm.. let's see.... here, here's a website they can
help you better"

I don't rant too badly about letting other countries deal with the tech
support. That's ok. If I don't understand them, well I ask to speak to
someone who I can understand. But when they hire persons that cannot
even plainly... It's not racist because I've seen walks of all color
pull this ebonic ghetto stuff. It's knocking down the person who has to
listen a few IQ points.

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Hopitus2 - 16 Apr 2004 06:54 GMT

Hopitus relates to your dilemma.....within the last year, I *renewed* my
subscription (much, much cheaper than buying the whole kaboodle Norton
anti-virus thing) to Norton, by credit card (their mandate), and could not
get it to work with my ISP. Norton wanted to charge me $39.99 - their
standard tech support fee - for walking me through the simple steps to
format Norton downloads of up-to-date virus 411. OR - I could get their help
"free" - all I had to do was BUY the whole $50 package of NAV (which is
already installed, for years already, on my PC). Every year I just renew to
get the new upgrades......my blood boiled and I thought about just giving
up, but I got the matter solved from a really wierd helpmate: Comcast tech
support, my ISP, walked me through the point-n-click adjustments needed to
connect the Norton Mothership w/ cable instead of former dial-up connection.
BTW, Grace, whenever I get a tech support dude whose other-country accent is
so thick I can't understand a word he says, I just hang up and keep on
dialin' till I get one that sounds like a USA slacker or Gen-Y or
Z......*then* and only then do I explain what my problem is.
Rude and time-consuming but effective in long run. And my IQ points are not
in the genius range......

: Ebonic speaking baffoon...
:
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
: pull this ebonic ghetto stuff. It's knocking down the person who has to
: listen a few IQ points.

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Yoj - 16 Apr 2004 08:17 GMT

I've had "tech support" people who spoke articulately but didn't have a
clue. A *lot* of tech people know absolutely nothing about newsgroups,
for instance. When I changed my ISP I couldn't access my newsgroups at
first, so I called for help. I think it took three calls to get it
straightened out. Finally I found somebody who knew what I was talking
about.

--
Joy

Life is what happens to you while you are planning to do something else.

> Hopitus relates to your dilemma.....within the last year, I *renewed* my
> subscription (much, much cheaper than buying the whole kaboodle Norton
[quoted text clipped - 50 lines]
> : pull this ebonic ghetto stuff. It's knocking down the person who has to
> : listen a few IQ points.

Reply to this Message

Yowie - 17 Apr 2004 03:56 GMT

> I've had "tech support" people who spoke articulately but didn't have a
> clue. A *lot* of tech people know absolutely nothing about newsgroups,
> for instance. When I changed my ISP I couldn't access my newsgroups at
> first, so I called for help. I think it took three calls to get it
> straightened out. Finally I found somebody who knew what I was talking
> about.

Yup, when I went "shopping" for a new ISP, I asked how many newsgroups they
supported. I was told "all of them". So I asked "ok, do you have
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes?". The guy seemed confused. "No, we have CNN, ABC,
NBC, Reuters". SO I said "No, I mean *usenet*". He had no idea what I was
talking about so I asked tobe put through to tech support. Apparantly I
*was* talking to tech support.

Needless to say, they didn't get my business.

(And this was one of Australia's leading ISPs)

At least I can respect some who say that they simply don't support
newsgroups because thats such small demand for such a big investment of
storage space. Fair enough. I can, after all, always connect via
individual.net. But it really drives me nuts when I know more about the
problem and the solution than the tech services people I've called (and am
paying) for help.

Yowie

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Steve Touchstone - 17 Apr 2004 23:23 GMT

>Yup, when I went "shopping" for a new ISP, I asked how many newsgroups they
>supported. I was told "all of them". So I asked "ok, do you have
>rec.pets.cats.anecdotes?". The guy seemed confused. "No, we have CNN, ABC,
>NBC, Reuters". SO I said "No, I mean *usenet*". He had no idea what I was
>talking about so I asked tobe put through to tech support. Apparantly I
>*was* talking to tech support.

You'd have to be awfully suspicious of an ISP which claims to have ALL
the newsgroups. Mine does a fair job and has around 30,000, but I
check a couple times a month for any interesting looking groups and
usually have over over a hundred new groups. Not sure what criteria
they use for dropping groups, but they add any group a customer asks
for.

>Needless to say, they didn't get my business.
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
>Yowie

It's a sad facty, IMOH, that there hasn't been good tech support since
the old days when Word Perfect was a separate company which prided
itself on support. I don't often call tech support, but from what I
hear one of the most common "solutions" is to reformat the hard drive
- a recommendation often made before making sure there's a backup to
restore things

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Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky

stouchst@JUNKsirinet.net [remove Junk for email]
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EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) - 17 Apr 2004 06:42 GMT

> Ebonic speaking baffoon...
>
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> isn't. So that's it? If you partition your software and sell it to the
> consumers it's full reformat or nothing baby!?!?

Huh? My Gateway came with "resident" software, but they also gave me
the disks - including the one that enables you to start the computer and
install the software! That proved fortunate, since one of Gateway's
idiot redneck tech-support people told me how to "solve" my problem of
getting a frozen blue screen when I tried to shut it down from the
"Start" button in the conventional way. I was a computer innocent in
those days, so I did what he told me to do. (He hadn't mentioned that
what I was doing was reformatting the disk!) Of course, even though the
computer was READING the CD drive at the time, when it came to detecting
the hardware, it decided there was no CD drive, so I had to wait a week
until I got a replacement, then wait for their in-house warranty service
to come to install it. (When I finally got the computer working again -
fortunately I had not lost TOO many files - the first time I tried to
shut it down, guess what?) ....But at least I HAD the disks for all the
"resident" software.

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GraceCat - 17 Apr 2004 17:43 GMT

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" <evgmsopnospam@earthlink.net> wrote in
message > Huh? My Gateway came with "resident" software, but they also
gave me

> the disks - including the one that enables you to start the computer and
> install the software!

Yes. Every computer I've ever had came with the software in CD-ROM
format. But this thinkpad (IBM laptop) came with all the information
partitioned into a protected area where it's impossible to access
without the computer allowing you to do it correctly. In a way, it's
good because I never worry about losing the XP software or the drivers.
I always have it with me. But it's a pain because I can't repair a
simple file like it is whereas before, with the CD I could have.

It's just a new thing for IBM thinkpads I guess...

Grace

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Steve Touchstone - 17 Apr 2004 22:27 GMT

>"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" <evgmsopnospam@earthlink.net> wrote in
>message > Huh? My Gateway came with "resident" software, but they also
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
>Grace

My new system, a HP desktop purchased last year, also came without any
disks and the software in a protected partition.

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