I recently had to move and while moving, somehow, my XP Home certificate (aka: Product ID) went missing. Needless to say, when reinstalling XP for my gaming system, I ran into an issue.
I searched high, low, sideways and longways. I finally came to the conclusion that one of my dogs ate the license or the movers stole it. Seeing as how I have the OEM packaging with all the neat little codes on it, I figured I’d give Microsoft Support a try.
I called their 800 number and was surprised by how fast a real rep picked up, then I was astonished at how Microsoft trains their outsourced reps.
While the rep did pretty good to hide her accent, I could still tell she was in India - big deal. Most companies outsource these days, right? She asked for my name, email address and phone number and then asked what my problem was. By the time I took my first breath to explain, she read off a list of “problem types” to choose from. None said product/license key, but two kinda sorta fit - “Installation and Activation”. I said ” its a little of those two, I don’t have a product key to inst…” sir, which one is it? I was talking to a human menu system instead of an actual rep! This poor ladies sole purpose on the phone was to enter 3 pieces of my info and make me choose from a menu.
After I randomly chose Activation, she put me on hold and warm transfered me to an activation rep. (For anyone that hasn’t worked in technical support and customer service, warm transferring is talking to the other rep before the customer does.) The other rep asked what the problem was - I explained it. Her accent was worse, which hinted that she was new… She explained for me to click on start, control panel…”I haven’t installed it yet” - “You don’t see START?” “No, I haven’t installed the software yet.” “Sir, turn your computer on.”… This went in circles for a few minutes until she turned around and asked the rep sitting behind her (called shadowing) about the issue. In the process, she forgot to hit mute. (Mute is like the holy grail of technical support - just don’t miss the button. I missed once, never again…) In their thick accents, they decided to transfer me back to Technical Support, aka: the human phone Q. I asked “what option do I choose?” and the response made me laugh “sir, just tell them you don’t have a license.” I knew this wasn’t going to work.
Next thing I know, the rep tries to put me on hold and transfer me by dialing the internal Q’s in my ear. After 3 tries, she gives up and gives me another 888 number to call to talk to Technical Support. It just so happens that Microsoft gives 2 free calls to TS and after that, its $35 a pop.
This was the single most frustrating experience with Technical Support I’ve ever had and I have 5 years of Technical Support experience. It amazes me that companies will go to such great lengths to save money.
If the hold time is too high, have a human act as the menu system - I should have thought of that… I’d be rich!
