ID10T

I used to work in tech support, and I actually loved it on one of the projects I worked on. I loved talking to people from all over the place, helping them with their problems, and feeling like the smartest person in the world. It was good fun, for the most part.

I've also had conversations that lasted well over an hour with people that had absolutely no business touching a computer. They just had the bad luck to still be working as we entered the 21st century, where pretty much every job requires the use of technology. I have put people on hold & cried out for help from God & my colleagues, because I just didn't know how to explain it in any other way.

So let me say that I know how to make my way around a problem. If I can't solve it myself, I've googled it (when applicable), and basically tried everything I can before I get to the point of contacting customer/tech support.

Also? I know how to write a message. I'm not perfect- I don't always think of every, little detail they might need to know (windows version, time of day, color of my mood ring), but I explain what I did. "I've tried this, this, and this, as directed on the site, and this is the error message that I got."

My point? I'm not stupid. And I hate stupid tech support workers. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, because most of the people I worked with weren't all that good at their jobs. (FYI: at least for website issues, the support staff is not full of computer whizzes. At all.) It bugs the crap out of me when I get a message back and they clearly did not read my message.

"Hey! Thanks for writing! You can just go ahead and press the 'forgot password' link on the login screen and we'll send you a temporary password! Don't forget to check your spam folder!!!!!!!1!!"*

Vomit. You can tell they're trying very hard to be nice & chummy & not talk down, but it's sooooo not working.

*I understand if they have a process & that's the first step that the must tell everyone to do. Fine. But acknowledge that I have a brain in my head in your message, á la "I see that you already tried this, but just try it one more time for me & tell me the error message you get." Or just go ahead & escalate it already or tell me the next step.