For The Love Of God, Let Me Help You!

A year ago, I did tech support for a TV company that also handled Internet. I was a part of something called the “advanced resolution team”, meaning I had the power of a manager (credits, extra offers, and such) without the pay but got all the angry people who continued to call in.

One day, I get a call from a customer.

Customer: “I’m not able to download a show on my TV to play it back, and my TV apps aren’t working.”

I go through all the normal questions. “Is everything else working? Is it only affecting Internet-related TV items?” So on and so forth.

I begin my flow for Internet issues and do the basic troubleshooting.

Me: “Can you please check your router and tell me what you see?”

Customer: “There are no lights on my router.”

I guide him through resetting the router. Four minutes later:

Me: “Do you see any lights on the router now?”

Customer: “No, still no lights.”

Me: “All right, sir, is anything else in your home experiencing Internet issues?”

Customer: “The Wi-Fi on my phone isn’t working, and neither is the Internet on my computer.”

I halt my troubleshooting.

Me: “I’ll have to transfer you over to our Internet department due to your Internet being down and your router not working properly.”

The man begins to laugh.

Customer: “I don’t care if anything else has Internet. I just want my TV to have Internet.”

I let out a sigh. I know this is going to be a battle.

Me: “If your router isn’t showing lights, your Internet is down. We cannot only put Internet on your TV since your Internet itself isn’t working.”

Customer: *Irritated* “You don’t want to help me. You only want to pass me off because you don’t know how to do your job!”

Me: “I can only troubleshoot TV tech issues. Because of the issue being your Internet, the Internet department needs to further assist you.”

I was so aggravated. I was yelled at for seven straight minutes about how he only needed the Internet on his TV and we controlled the Internet. My supervisor came over due to my call time being high. I explained the issue and their only resolution was to be a broken record. After ten more minutes of explaining that I couldn’t magically turn on the Internet for only his TV, I cold transferred him to the Internet department, took off my headset, and sat under my desk for the next five minutes.