Computer "experts" that infuriate me

[elecplus]

My health insurance company offers a discount card (up to $25 per month) on certain foods at Walmart. "Just go online to sign up". OK, I went online, signed in, and the signup page for the discount card totally disappears. After 20 minutes of frustration, I sent them a nasty email. There is not even a search box on their website!

I got an email back, saying they are sorry that I do not know how to run a computer well, and they will have an operator call me on Monday.

Has anything like this ever happened to you?

[Chyros]

I get robots calling me on my mobile phone offering me insurance deals with companies I never even dealt with before (apparently this is legal in the UK). But never has anything like that happened to me, could they have been any more rude?! Oo

[sth]

My health insurance company offers a discount card (up to $25 per month) on certain foods at Walmart. "Just go online to sign up". OK, I went online, signed in, and the signup page for the discount card totally disappears. After 20 minutes of frustration, I sent them a nasty email. There is not even a search box on their website!

I got an email back, saying they are sorry that I do not know how to run a computer well, and they will have an operator call me on Monday.

Has anything like this ever happened to you?

i've worked in support for a while... i can't ever imagine that being an appropriate response no matter how eloquently it's worded.

[Findecanor]

Crap web sites that work only in certain browsers, just not mine... Happens all the time.
Tech support that don't know s**t... Happens all the time.
Rude emails from support... No.

[andrewjoy]

Websites that only work in one browser are simply not acceptable, this is no longer the dark times if IE dominating the market.

Say now you make a website that only works in chrome , well done you have just cut off all iphone and windows phone users idiot. And what happens 10 years down the line when that "quirk" you used to make your app work is fixed. Well done your website no longer works. Follow strict HTML5 standards down to the letter, if your website does not pass https://validator.w3.org/ then GTFO.

[davkol]

Websites that only work in one browser are simply not acceptable, this is no longer the dark times if IE dominating the market.

Yup, this is the dark times of WebKit dominating the market.

And W3C? That's another joke of an organization, just like ISO. (Uh-huh, remember OpenXML standardization process?)

[Muirium]

Chrome forked off away from Webkit a while ago. So that particular one-browser-to-rule-them-all scenario didn't play out. Webkit owns the iPhone and the Mac. Whatever Chrome's new innards are called owns Android and Windows. Much healthier having two strong contenders than the IE hell of 15 years ago.

Which is nice, considering the entrenched monoculture everywhere else on the internet. Google for search, Amazon for shopping, Ebay for getting ripped off, Buzzfeed for horseshit, Medium for disposable blogs, and Facebook for frittering away the moments between the present and the grave.

[seebart]

I have this call center calling me on and off trying to sell me some crap, I did a little gooogle action on the phone number turns out it's some nasty sales force that bought my personal data from my ISP. This is the type of thing that Brussels should be going after. SOB's...

Here is their phone number:

00390495589783

[Spikebolt]

The tech guys at my ISP are always trying to come up with smart ideas as to why my internet isn't working.

"Maybe you should try using Wi-Fi instead of cable"
"Maybe your firewall is blocking your browser, try with Internet explorer"
"Our services are not compatible with MacOS"
"Maybe you have a problem with the POP server"
"You only have 10 devices without internet, try to connect a new device"

There's only so much bullshit I can take before getting a bit rude.

EDIT: that said I've worked a 2 years in sales and it's way worse to be on the other side.

[seebart]

No there are even better ones Spikebolt...

you need to use the cable we provided you with!

[Spikebolt]

Ah, ofc, the provided cable. They also complained once that I changed the original password, which not only could be the root cause but also a security breach. Of course "adminadmin" was a very secure password that no one would even dream of trying.

[ohaimark]

When I read "ofc" I thought: oxygen free cable? Then I realized my error.

I never, ever call tech support unless there is no chance in Hell of fixing something on my end. ISPs have been the culprit most of the time.

"Please reset your modem and check your connections."

"I did that three times. Just reset the damn thing from your end; I know you can see it."

"Yes, sir. I can see it. Let me reset that for you -- sometimes we have small errors that leave a modem without authorization on our network."

(Thinks silently...) "NO SHIT! I never would've guessed."

[amospalla]

I completely agree with you all, but including stories on the opposite side makes it even more funny:

"My computer has no network", "Are you connected with wi-fi", "No", "Are you connected with cable?", "No", at that point it comes the uncomfortable silence.

[elecplus]

As a follow up, I did get another email from the insurance company. Despite having used the postal service to send me targeted mail about this free discount card, it seems my plan does not include that particular service, which is why the page to sign up for the discount card can't be found in my browser.

So I asked why they sent me a letter to sign up for this card, if I am not eligible.

They said that they have done many mass mailings lately to let members know of available benefits, and not all members are eligible for all of the perks.

This sounds to me like
1) a huge waste of paper, ink, and postage fees
2) unnecessary expenditures, which raise my insurance rates
3) they really need a targeted CRM system that will send notices to the correct people!

[Redmaus]

The tech guys at my ISP are always trying to come up with smart ideas as to why my internet isn't working.

"Maybe you should try using Wi-Fi instead of cable"
"Maybe your firewall is blocking your browser, try with Internet explorer"
"Our services are not compatible with MacOS"
"Maybe you have a problem with the POP server"
"You only have 10 devices without internet, try to connect a new device"

I cannot imagine anyone trying to use this kind of excuse. Reminds me of the South Park episode regarding cable.

[Chyros]

So I asked why they sent me a letter to sign up for this card, if I am not eligible.

This really reminds me of an incident I had with Virgin Media over here. When I moved house I needed a new internet connection, but the previous tenant had taken the router and everything, so I had to start from scratch. I wanted to get Virgin as they are fast as well as cheap, but after leaving me hanging for about a month without internet, they said there wasn't actually a Virgin line leading to my house and that there was no plan to draw one, so I had to go non-fibre with another provider.

Virgin still send me internet deal ads in the mail, on my phone, and through email, regularly. Thanks Virgin. Thanks.

[Spikebolt]

The tech guys at my ISP are always trying to come up with smart ideas as to why my internet isn't working.

"Maybe you should try using Wi-Fi instead of cable"
"Maybe your firewall is blocking your browser, try with Internet explorer"
"Our services are not compatible with MacOS"
"Maybe you have a problem with the POP server"
"You only have 10 devices without internet, try to connect a new device"

I cannot imagine anyone trying to use this kind of excuse. Reminds me of the South Park episode regarding cable.

It's not like they do it to intentionally screw you, they're just underpaid kids with little to no formation that are just trying to earn some cash to pay some bills. They're just incompetent, which is understandable but sometimes infuriating.

[Halvar]

This sounds to me like
1) a huge waste of paper, ink, and postage fees
2) unnecessary expenditures, which raise my insurance rates
3) they really need a targeted CRM system that will send notices to the correct people!

Looks like they do not know how to run their computers well...