I do IT for my school, and as a result I spend a lot of time on tech support lines. I am a connoisseur of tech support hold music: Apple’s music is probably the coolest, except they always play that one John Legend song that I’m so sick of. Cisco’s is definitely the worst, a bland recycled elevator music song that repeats indefinitely. But I know some tricks for dealing with them, which I’m going to share with you.
The most useful investment you can make is some earbuds with a microphone. I find it’s most convenient to call tech support with my own cell phone, not a school phone. When you are on hold, stick the earbuds in your phone and go on to do whatever else you were going to do. I’ve had holds that lasted for more than 2 hours, and didn’t mind
at all because I was getting things done anyway.
If you know what you’re d
oing, your goal is to get elevated as quickly as possible. The people that answer the phone don’t know much. Be prepared for what they are going to ask you. Quickly get through the general questions about starting and restarting your computer and so on.
The best way to be in this position is to research this problem as much as you can in Google first. When you get a person patiently explain exactly what’s happening and what you have figured out so far. When they see you know what’s going on, they’re more likely to go to a more expert person who can actually answer your question.
Of course the hard part is getting to talk to a person in the first place. Some companies don’t list their phone numbers on their “contact me” page. This is stupid, but easy to solve; just Google their phone number. However if they have a callback form, try filling that out first; some companies are pretty good with those.
If you can’t speak to anyone at all, just press the buttons that get you to Sales. For obvious reasons they are most likely to answer. Then just act stupid and pretend you got there by accident.
If you call Apple and use any kind of OSx server, call Apple Enterprise rather than the regular Apple help. They are very good.
Have things like serial num
bers of the products ready before you call.
Get the name of the person you’re talking to, and ask if they have a direct line. Try to make sure they start a case; this means there is a record of what’s already happened. Nothing’s worse than having your call disconnected and having to call back and start from scratch.
Don’t get angry at the tech support people. This isn’t always easy, but remember they are low-level employees. Some are trying hard and some aren’t. but often the obstacles that you are facing aren’t their fault.
But don’t be afraid to be a pain in the butt. Keep calling. Try different menu options to see where they get you. Use your headphones and stay on hold until they talk to you. When they figure out you’re not going away, they will find a way to give you what you want.