It Just Makes Me Angry When ….

A new customer called because they could not connect to the Internet using Verizon DSL. There had been a storm and as thunderstorms often do, it destroyed their DSL link. The blinking link light on their DSL modem signaled accurately that the DSL link was down. Verizon was summoned and they got the link operating properly in short order, but then the trouble began. Although the link was operating, they could not make a connection to the Internet. At this point the Verizon person was no help because they do not specialize in PC connections – they only specialize in connections from the DSL modem to the Verizon Network.

So my soon to be customer was left with a repaired DSL connection but no Internet connectivity. Someone suggested to them that their Ethernet Network Interface Card (NIC) might be bad and need replacement. A bad Ethernet NIC will most certainly prevent connecting to the Internet. So off they went to a mainly blue with another pronounced color nationwide electronics store (not the one that is French owned but the other one) with on-site service that is supposed to be like a police unit because they flash badges. At the store they turned in their PC and trusted them to install an Ethernet NIC card. The card was installed, the PC returned home and the Internet connection was again tried to no avail. At some point they were also advised that increasing the RAM in their PC would also most likely make it work and would certainly improve the performance. Increasing RAM would not make any Internet connection work, but it would increase performance.

At this point I was called. Now, I try to solve problems over the phone if I can because there is no charge from me. To my revenue detriment, I come from a generation that believes in customer service first and revenues later. Today’s successful business model might be advertise, advertise, advertise and charge, charge, charge. As I explained how to step by step resolve the problem, it became apparent that I needed to physically show them what to do. They invited me to come over and fix the problem so I went. What I discovered was that the problem was simply a misconnection. The physical wires from the Ethernet NIC to their Linksys router to the Verizon DSL modem were not plugged into the correct ports on the Linksys router. Just changing the places that the cables plugged into the router resolved the problem. More importantly, their Ethernet NIC was good and did not need to be replaced. I explained exactly what was wrong, and suggested that their original Ethernet NIC might be good. They had the original Ethernet NIC. We replaced the new NIC with it and it worked.

It just makes me angry when someone trusts a large organization that advertises technical competence and that organization (retail store and technical personnel) takes advantage of their customer because the customer has no clue that they are being ripped off. When the store technician plugged their original Ethernet NIC into the store’s network, they had to immediately know that it worked and did not need replacement. Instead of charging them $5.00 diagnostic time (a very fair price for the store and the customer), the customer was sold an unneeded Ethernet NIC to generate more revenue for the store. The store likely created the impetus to buy more RAM as well.

About 99% of my customers trust me without question. However, I now know why the 1% do not trust any technical person. It just makes me angry when an organization with slick TV advertising rips off trusting hardworking non-technical retired people just to increase their sales. This column may be self serving in a way, but it makes me very angry when something like this happens. When the shoe fits, the guilty party should wear it. I hope the shoe is two sizes too small.