Tech Support Experience Posted by Jeff

I got onto a certain ISP's "Live Help" for my grandfather, who chose (perhaps unwisely) to have his main email go through them. It took 3 hours and 10 minutes!!! waiting in a queue which started with 26 people in it before anyone even began dealing with me. Some Names and Usernames have been changed to protect the innocent. This is hilarious:

2:12:48 PM System MHI Sansan has joined this session!

2:12:50 PM System Connected with MHI Sansan

2:13:09 PM You Hello

2:13:30 PM MHI Sansan I am pleased to meet you, Bill.

2:13:53 PM MHI Sansan Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

2:13:55 PM You This is actually Jeff, Bill is my grandpa. He had to leave. WE are having password issues on the account

2:14:20 PM MHI Sansan What was the error message you received when you tried to access your AOL account?

2:14:41 PM You well.. We haven't had to put the password in in so long, we reinstall software and when we tried to enter it it says it is wrong

2:15:20 PM You we had it written on a paper, and maybe the O's and Zeros were mixed up or something

2:15:40 PM You So we would like to do a password reset

2:16:50 PM MHI Sansan Let me see if I have this right. I understand that you need assistance with resetting your AOL screen name password. Do I have that correct?

2:17:06 PM You That is correct. I tried to reset it, and it said unable to verify and sent me to live help

2:17:39 PM You Our user name is aolsucks

2:18:10 PM MHI Sansan Thanks for clarifying that.

2:18:30 PM MHI Sansan I will be happy to assist you in resetting the password here online. However, I need to complete account verification before processing your password reset request.

2:18:52 PM You ok

2:20:20 PM You what do you need to verify?

2:22:02 PM You I am ready to complete account verification.

2:23:16 PM You I have waited 4 minutes since you said something?

2:23:23 PM MHI Sansan What is the master screen name of your account?

2:23:31 PM You aolsucks

2:25:14 PM You The screen name is aolsucks

2:25:49 PM You I already told you that 8 minutes ago?

2:26:11 PM MHI Sansan May I have your first and last name please?

2:26:22 PM You William Day (or Bill Day -- nickname)

2:27:21 PM MHI Sansan To protect your privacy and security, I need to verify your account information. Can you please provide me the answer to the Account Security Question of the Primary Master Screen Name? Here is the question:

2:27:21 PM MHI Sansan What is your pet's name?

2:27:42 PM You fuzzball ...... or fido ... i have two pets

2:28:01 PM MHI Sansan I am pleased to meet you, Maggie.

[ May I stop to point out here: WHAT!?!?! ]

2:28:11 PM MHI Sansan Please disregard the last response. I apologize for the confusion it may have caused. The message you received was intended for another member I am currently assisting as well.

2:28:31 PM MHI Sansan I appreciate the added information.

2:28:33 PM You Understood.

2:28:51 PM MHI Sansan What Screen Name would you like to have the password reset on?

2:29:00 PM You aolsucks

2:29:41 PM You As I said 12 minutes ago.

2:30:17 PM You Please help me reset the password for screen name aolsucks

2:32:11 PM MHI Sansan Thank you for waiting. I have reset your password to WD9747 under the screen name aolsucks. For security, please update this password the next time you log in to the service.

2:32:48 PM You Please wait while I try this before you leave.

2:33:17 PM MHI Sansan To change your password, please go to https://names.[the isp].com. Type in your screen name and password, then click the SIGN ON button. In the PASSWORD section, under your screen name, click the CHANGE link.

2:34:27 PM You I have succesfully logged in. It took [YOUR ISP] and you combined 215 minutes to assist me. Do you have faster support options for the future?

2:35:01 PM You After waiting in a queue I was told I was now the first in line, but you do not have enough employees to help people individually?

2:35:53 PM MHI Sansan I do apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. For further assistance, you may contact our Password Department at 1-888-265-8004 toll free number.

2:36:01 PM You People would be happier if you help them one at a time. I am a computer consultant and software professional in my area, and I will be recommending my customers stay away from [YOUR ISP] because of this poor service.

2:36:34 PM You Most companies have a password reset web page that does this instantly.

2:37:18 PM You You can hire a teenager for $50 to make that service work for your company and eliminate the need for this live help.

2:37:51 PM You Bye

2:38:32 PM You p.s. Dell is hiring for tech support. They are a nicer company, you might consider moving.

2:39:16 PM You I will be sharing this transcript (With the names changed) on my blogs as well.

2:40:02 PM MHI Sansan Here is what I have done for you today: The password for your Screen Name AOLSucks has now been reset . The change will go into an immediate effect on your next login. Please do not forget to update this password once you have successfully logged back in.

2:40:11 PM MHI Sansan Thank you for visiting Member Account Services Live Help. Have a wonderful day.

2:40:11 PM System MHI Sansan has left this session!

2:40:11 PM System The session has ended!