What should you do when you have trouble with your Internet connection? N. tells Consumerist that his combination DSL modem and wireless router from Netgear simply won’t work. According to the ever-helpful technical support team at Netgear, there’s nothing left that they can do, and his only option left is to call the Geek Squad to perform a house call. If it didn’t require a $139 house call to troubleshoot a $79 device, N. might go along with this plan. [More]
tech support
Mozy Wants To Explain Wireless Internets To You
By 8.16.10
You might think that a company like Mozy, which sells secure online backup services, would be able to troubleshoot common technical issues that are directly related to its business. After all, surely Heather isn’t the only customer to have problems with her initial backup hanging for several days in a row. But instead of offering useful assistance, Mozy’s tech support person told Heather that the problem was that “wireless internets don’t like lots of files flying through the air.” Wow, that must really cause problems with Mozy’s business model. [More]
Acer And Gateway Have Crappiest Tech Support
By 8.9.10
If you need to call tech support, you don’t want to be holding an Acer or a Gateway, a new Laptop Mag study finds. [More]
Dell Responds To Crazy Story Of Nudie Pic-Stealing Tech Support Guy
By 7.30.10
Earlier today, we wrote about the woman in California who contacted Dell’s tech support hotline and then watched as naked photos of her were downloaded remotely by the employee. After seeing the story, Dell has written Consumerist to let us know they’re taking it seriously. [More]
Woman Watches As Dell Tech Support Swipes Nude Pics From Her PC
By 7.30.10
So it looks like it’s not only Geek Squad staffers that scour customers’ computers for free porn. A woman in California has recently gone public with claims that she not only watched as a Dell tech support worker downloaded nude pics of her remotely, but that he also set up a website featuring the photos. Oh, and he used her Dell credit card to buy stuff for another woman.
Don't Call In To Complain About How You Can't Steal Wi-Fi
By 3.1.10
Someone named Jennifer called in to the Leo Laporte show a week ago and asked for help on how to get back online. She’d been able to access a Wi-Fi hotspot for over a year and a half from her apartment, but “that’s disappeared now for three weeks.” She bought a wireless extender and that didn’t solve the problem at all. Laporte gently tries to point out that she’s being a freeloader, but she’s not buying it. [More]
Woman Accuses Dell Tech Support Of Launching Her Webcam Without Permission
By 1.25.10
I always keep a little sticker over the webcam lens on my netbook when I’m not using it, because I don’t trust that I know enough about computers to be 100% confident my webcam is off when I want it to be off. And if you think that’s being too paranoid, look at what happened to Dianne Annunziato earlier this month when she called a Dell support line for help with her laptop. [More]
Verizon Hold Times Inspire Song On M.I.A.'s Next Album
By 1.12.10
According to Rolling Stone, when M.I.A.’s new album comes out later this year, there will be a track on it called “I’m Down Like Your Internet Connection”–and it will feature “Filipino Verizon workers singing the hook.” [More]
Call Drop Rate For iPhones In NYC Is 30%, Says Apple Genius
By 9.30.09
Hey AT&T, maybe you should offer some sort of congestion pricing on your iPhone plans in places like New York City. We’ve heard/read all sorts of anecdotal reports on dropped calls before, but today Engadget reported that an Apple Genius said a 30% drop call rate is average for the area. If that’s true, it seems like false advertising to charge for a full-time calling plan that you can only use about two-thirds of the time.
Apple Has The Best Tech Support, Dell, HP, Acer Have The Worst
By 8.8.09
After calling every major computer maker with two basic questions, Laptop Magazine determined that Apple has the best overall tech support, while Dell, HP, and Acer have the worst. Though the results aren’t surprising, the depth of the PC makers’ incompetence is truly disappointing…
Need Your Apple Product Fixed? Try TechRestore Or iFixIt
By 6.10.09
I’ve always relied on TechRestore for cheap upgrades or repairs on any Apple products I’ve owned, but if you prefer DIY repairs, try the new iFixit website, which will sell you the parts and then provide detailed guides on what to do with them.
Has Comcast Hired ELIZA For Customer Chat Support?
By 4.8.09
This English-as-a-second-language tech support guy just wants to help Noah out, but the weird combination of formal exchanges and misunderstandings make him sound like an AI program. We don’t think Jullan even realizes that his good-natured attempts to help are only annoying the customer more. In theory, we like the idea of a tech support guy “extending an extra mile,” but maybe next time he should stick to tech support and leave billing questions unto the billing department.
EA Games Tech Support Actually Listens, Bends Rules To Help You Solve Problem
By 1.6.09
Mike had an increasingly rare experience with EA Games tech support: the customer service representative listened, empathized, and made an exception to the rules in order to please a customer.
Nintendo Repairs Out-Of-Warranty Wii In One Day, For Free
By 9.12.08
I have a first generation Nintendo Wii and I recently bought the game Boom Blox for it. When I put the game in to start playing it would often lock up at the health warning screen and I would have to restart my Wii by unplugging it since no other method would work.
10 Secrets To Getting Better Tech Support From Asus
By 7.16.08 — Updated: 3.18.13
An Asus technician has stepped forward out the shadows to give us the 10 insider tips for getting through and getting better and faster tech support from the computer and computer parts maker. Some things just can’t be fixed though, but it’s at least to know the soul-crushing math they’re using to destroy the customer experience. Considering how bad their tech support is, you’re definitely going to need these tips…
By 5.29.08
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585-756-1119 is the number to reach Time Warner Cable Level 3 tech support for people living in the vicinity of Rochester, NY.
Why You Should Buy A Backup Harddrive
By 4.15.08
Waffling about whether to invest in a backup harddrive? Maybe this story will help convince you:
I am crawling under my desk in my work clothes before I have to take children to school and then run for the train. There is a phone wedged under my ear and a bowl of cereal in one hand. With the other, I am trying to pull a cable from behind my computer while a customer service rep for Treo (like a Blackberry, but worse) attempts to diagnose why the computer just wiped out every article I have ever written and my appointments through next year. She is in Bombay. My children are in my kitchen. They are yelling for me.
Hard drives WILL fail. It’s just a question of when. Protect your sanity, and your work clothes from getting wrinkled, and get a backup harddrive.
Comcast Tech Abuses Power To Rack Vegeneance On Xbox Hackers
By 4.2.08
DSL Reports has the story of an outsourced Comcast tech was fired after bragging online about using internal Comcast systems to get vengeance on hackers disrupting his Xbox. After annoying little twerps intentionally overloaded his Xbox with data (known as packet flooding), Mark Ribeiro, who describes himself as a “Comcast tier 2.5 support agent, which essentially means im one of the top 1% elitest agents,” went to work. First he identified one of the perps and found out he was a Comcast customer. Then he looked up the kid’s info in the Comcast support system and called the kid’s father…
