She Knew Exactly How to Fix the Customer’s Problem — Getting Them to Understand Was a Different Challenge Entirely
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Imagine being a tech support worker trying to help a customer solve a technical issue. What would you do if the customer refused to do what you told them to do because they didn’t understand how technology works?
That’s the issue the ISP employee in this story had to deal with on a service all about a customer’s security system. The situation would have been so much easier if the customer had just followed directions instead of questioning everything and thinking they know more than they really do.
Keep reading for the whole story.
So I went with my supervisor to fix a security system
We are the ISP.
They can’t access it remotely.
I confirm their settings and suggest we call NOC.
This was the first 5 minutes.
Here’s how the conversation went.
She said “well, the camera doesn’t have DNS set in it.”
Are you going to browse the web on a freaking camera?
It’s a freaking network issue.
After an hour she finally calls NOC.
The customer is confused.
They are confused by all her DNS questions. They tell her, as I told her, just put in 4.2.2.1 and 8.8.8.8.
“But those aren’t our dns settings!”
“No, but they are root servers and it doesn’t matter anyway.”
“Of course it matters! We have to get them able to see their cameras!”
It was very frustrating.
NOC and I are all facepalming.
The link for the camera is an IP, and even if it was a web address, doesn’t matter!
So, a 10 minute support turned into 2 hours.
I explained what DNS was before I left the site.
I can imagine that it must be frustrating for tech support workers when customers don’t understand logistics that seem elementary.
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Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.
Someone else who was confused by DNS weighs in.
Another person makes a good point.
When you’re an expert in your field, it can be hard to realize that things that seem obvious to you aren’t obvious to your customers. I think that’s where the frustration comes in.
This is true in a lot of industries. The workers assume the customers have the same level of knowledge that they do about how things in their industry work, but they don’t. From retail workers to tech support employees, the customers are most likely clueless about what it’s like to have their job.
If tech support workers realized the customers aren’t all that knowledgeable about technology, they probably wouldn’t be as frustrated by clueless customers. Leading with an explanation could be helpful.
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