I was reading a post on Michael Hanscom’s blog where he’s talking about his net connection being down, and the ISP’s tech support was a little more “honest” than most others I’ve ever spoken to. LOL
I was going to post a comment on his post, but couldn’t due to difficulties beyond my control — thought I’d post it here instead because he’ll most likely see it anyways via the trackback. :D
When BellSouth’s (or BellSloth, as I dubbed them) DSL service goes down, they take the denial approach.
[this is an actual conversation I had with a BellSouth tech support guy not too long ago]
Low-tech monkey: Did you check the network status page on our website?
Me: If I could, that would mean I had internet access and wouldn’t need to be calling you. (*mutter under breath* We all know that network status page is a joke)
Monkey: I show no outages for your area.
Me: Well, I’ve reset all my routers twice, rebooted my servers, checked my network connections, and unplugged the firewall. Have there been any other calls from my area?
Monkey: Is your telephone line plugged in?
Me: *blink* Excuse me?
Monkey: I mean, have you rebooted your computer?
(Oh boy, their favorite excuse: it’s you, not us!)
Me: The problem is not my machine, it’s my choice of internet service provider.
Monkey: Thank you, ma’am. We are glad you chose BellSouth.
Me: You mean ‘BellSloth’.
Monkey: Yes ma’am.
*click*
(Honestly … where do they find these people?)
Michael Hanscom
Hey there! Sorry about the comment problem — more in my ever-escalating battle with the spammers — I think I’ve got it taken care of now, though.
BellSouth sounds like a pain. If Speakeasy’s in your area I’d highly recommend them. They can be a _bit_ more pricey than other companies, but I’ve always found it worthwhile (you get what you pay for, and all). Besides, they do tend to have a good sense of humor. This was one of my favorite encounters with tech support. :)