Let's Reset

This situation I'm about to describe is a pretty standard. A customer calls in with a problem with his/her DVR. "It just stopped working. I can't record a thing!" Nine out of ten times, the customer can remedy the problem themselves. Believe me, I just had a 70 yr old woman and her 90 yr old mother do it with a little coaching from me via phone.

When your DVR suddenly stops working, but is still on, it most likely just needs to be reset. There are two types of resetting. The average customer would not be able to perform a hard reset which would cause the loss of all recordings. However, a soft reset could be performed by a one year old. This is simply unplugging and plugging back in the power cord of your DVR.

Doing this enables the DVR to reboot as  you will, and well as enable multiple boxes to sync up and allow recordings to be saved on multiple boxes.

He's just being friendly...

It's standard for a tech to call before arriving to a customer's home to inform the customer of the time of arrival. One of the questions we are supposed to ask is if there are pets in the home, specifically dogs.

It's incredibly frustrating when, coming into a customer's home to fix a problem, the family dog begins yapping/barking. No, I don't want to have your "loveable" little pooch yapping in my ear for the next hr while I work. No, I don't believe you when you say "he's a really friendly dog" while he's barking, growling, and lunging at me.

Really, I get it. I'm a stranger in this animal's home. However, if you want your problem fixed, put the animal away. I don't want to get bit by you "sweety," and I don't want to punch your yappy baby in the mouth.

From the Customer Service Desk

I worked on the Customer Service Phone Line for 3 years before I became a TIP (TV/Internet/Phone) Tech. In the customer service line of work you can have some very interesting encounters with people. Most often average people call in angry that their service is no longer working (whose fault it no longer works is often debatable). Sometimes you get the customers who know a little about computers, TVs, or phones and so they try to speak some strange lingo that has nothing to do with what is actually going on with their service. Then there is the older generation, who honestly have no clue about their devices and the service they receive.

One particular incident that stands out would be with a flustered-older woman who complained of her internet service b/c she couldn't get online. All she saw was black. I ran through the standard questions, "is your modem plugged it? Is your modem on? Can you see the lights? Are any of them red or off?" After receiving 'yeses' to these questions I ran the standard line and systems checks. When everything panned out as working and running well I reverted to the next series of questions for people who have no idea about technology (after spending 10 mins on the phone with someone you get a good idea of their level of tech ability).
So I began with "is you tower plugged in?
"Yes."
"Is it on?Do you see lights?"
"Yes."
"Is your monitor plugged in?"
"Yes."
"Is it plugged into the correct place on your tower?"
"Yes."
"Do you see the light/button to indicate it is on and receiving power?"
"No."
"Ok. Ma'me why don't you press that little button for me and see if it lights up. If it does than your monitor should turn on and you will be able to use your computer and internet again."
"Oh it did! Thank you!"

Yes folks, that really happened. Over an hour of racking my brain trying to figure out why this woman could not get online and all she needed was to press the little button to turn on the monitor.

Basic Basics

Yes, 90% of your problems can be solved by turning your device off and switching the device back on. You're welcome.