I recently went to a friend’s house to work on a DSL router/modem/WiFi unit that he had acquired in 2003. It was a perfectly good 2Wire unit supplied by the phone company -- AT&T or its predecessor. DSL technology hasn't changed much; so as long as the electronics are serviceable, this unit should function forever.
But there is a rub. In recent years, the credentials used to connect the DSL modem/router to the telephone company’s service needed to be changed. Normally, this is an easy thing to do. You access the unit (if you have a separate router, you access that) and update the credentials. This requires a password to get inside the DSL modem/router. Since this was a unit installed many years ago, my friend couldn't immediately remember the password.
Luckily, the modem supplier had thought of this and included a "forgot the password" link on its support Website. Clicking this brought up a nice page that gave instructions to call customer support and give them a 20-digit number to receive a temporary password. I thought I had the problem solved, but I was wrong.
I called the phone company, AT&T, since the modem company, 2Wire, refers all customer contact to it. AT&T's response: We can't do that anymore, and we don't support that modem. Its solution: buy another modem.
If they had the program (probably a Web page) that would transform the 20-digit number in front of them, this could be solved in less than a minute, but it took over six hours to determine that they had no solution. In addition, several times I was told to find a reset button, which isn't available on this model.
I was ready to administer impact therapy to this device when my friend suddenly remembered the password. I changed the credentials, and the modem works fine now.
I liken this experience to locking the keys in my car, and then being told that replacing the car is the only way to solve the problem.
This entry was submitted by Tom Watson and edited by Rob Spiegel.
Tell us your experiences with Monkey-designed products. Send stories to Rob Spiegel for Made by Monkeys.
Good point, TJ. You gotta love that recommendation -- we don't support that equipment, so you need to buy a new modem. So, you're right, the monkey was in customer support.
I am not surprised by AT&T's attitude. When I worked in Tech support we used to get plenty of calls with this problem. A new company called Securifi came up with a neat idea to put a touch screen on the router so you can access all your settings there. I hope that thing takes off!
This type of customer service is what caused me to sever all ties with AT&T. At one point in my household, we needed two separate internet connections. I experienced the local cable company arriving within a 2 hour window the day after I called, and, by the time the installer left, I was surfing the internet. AT&T on the other hand, took a week to show up, the service window as anywhere within 8 hours and when the installer left, I was told that I'd had internet access at 8 pm that night. By 8 pm there was no access, so I called and was told, no, that was wrong, it took 24 hours because it's much more than just flipping a switch. "How much more than flipping a switch?" I asked. "Oh, it's much more than flipping a switch," was the reply.
So which was the technology company? The cable company that had me online in about a day and a half from my call? Or the large telecommunications company that took 8 days?
Out of curiosity, when is it acceptable to stop support? As we lean out our organizations, focus on new product how does one maintain support for an eleven year old product? Why is it suprising that a company would not support an 8 year old product? How do they maintain the knowledge, continual training for new employees, schematics, parts, testing if they repair units? How do you hustify keeping resurce sto suport 8/10/12 year old product. I am not surprised they would say the solution is buy a new one?
Where I live the law requires an importer to maintain service for 7 years. After that, it's a matter of goodwill. Many years ago a DEC representative told me that it would be cheaper for the company to give a certain customer a new VAX computer for free than to maintain the spares inventory to support their old PDP-11. But company policy, of course, won't allow them to do that, for obvious reasons.
The comment above about how long a company should maintain "life support" for previously released products is an interesting take on the subject. If this blog was occurring 20 or 30 years ago (or more), I could understand the blogger's comments. But, in this day of such vast data-collecting & storage, it seems to me that for MOST companies that sell products in this group, that their databases are almost infinitely deep w/ facts. Practically every corporate website one visits nowadays has a FAQ icon in which a user can pore through the myriad items contained therein. Furthermore, it is my feeling that many of the "customer service" representatives that a person speaks to is doing nothing more than looking up one of these databases in the first place. I'd be willing to bet that most of them, given some technical tools in hand, would NOT be able to troubleshoot a faulty unit of any kind (not just a modem).
On a personal note, I have an older cousin who was high up on the AT&T corporate ladder. He's long since retired, but the point is that it IS very evident that ARROGANCE is a fundamental human quality for working @ AT&T. Some of his comments over the years would startle even the most hardened minds!
With all the storms hitting the country lately, many customers are finding that trying to navigate the Comcast AVR is like getting a mule to drink water. Having been in the telecommunications field for well over 40 years now, I am finding that many companies are using the AVR to their advantage. I called one the other day that said to press one for sales. Then I get this recording that said "That number is not is service" and proceeded to disconnect me.
Trying to get a live person on the pohone at Comcast to work with you on a modem problem is just as bad. The president of Comcast should try acting like a customer and see just how bad the customer is treated. The TV show that has had a number of upper management go undercover and play the rookie employee roll will show just how messed up these companies are and how they treat their customers.
Problem is these companies think they are the only game in town and have total control over their customers. Think again when I cancel my service with you. More people should do the same. Maybe then these companies may put some effort into their customer service and the attitude they have over the phone.
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