What's My Line version 2008

This Blog is dedicated to all of the less than competent professionals out there. I hope that you can find this helpful to vent your frustrations and hopefully gain some insight into the mind of the confused over-compensated technically challenged and just plain idiots that plague our existence.

There are the call center workers who rely on a script to make them sound like they know they are talking about until you ask them a question that isn't covered by their FAQ list. suddenly it becomes a challenge to keep them focused on the reason for your call. Just hope they don't panic and hit the disconnect button. Oh well, they are paid for the number of calls they make per hour no matter if they were helpful or not.

Why you may ask would I call a help line if I am smart enough to figure it out for myself, you may ask? Well her is what is known as the rest of the story. I little over a year ago my wife bought a new digital camera from an anonymous office supply depot. We also purchased the extended warranty due to the likelihood that the camera could suffer damage somehow. One evening we were at a band competition and at the moment the camera was needed it failed. I tried everything thinking that maybe the batteries were dead but nothing we tried would make the camera start working again. It just sat there with it's lens sticking out.

When we got home I checked the web site for troubleshooting feeling confident that I could fix this problem. What I discovered was that after the first couple of questions the only solution offered was to call customer service for the purpose returning the camera for repair or replacement. Upon calling the call center I was presented with the same questions the online troubleshooting guide used to determine the camera was inoperable. I accepted this as a means of verifying that the proper path had been followed to arrive at this conclusion however I felt the need to ask for some background information about the company who was providing this service.

What I found is that this office supply company uses a third party company that is wholly responsible for the management of the service contracts. The company is not equipped to repair the merchandise they warranty, rather, they are playing the law of averages. They are figuring that only a small percentage of the merchandise they cover will have any problem at all. some of the high ticket items are sent to a yet another company for repair. This is all a good idea and can be very profitable but what was sold to me was an extended warranty of the original manufacturer's warranty.

I guess it shouldn't matter who it is that helped me since the outcome was I was refunded the money for my wife's camera but somehow I still feel I was duped into thinking that the support center would be technically competent and totally professional. The more questions I asked the more their lack of technical prowess became obvious. I would not feel this is a big deal if they would have been more forthcoming about their true business model. I guess they hide their true purpose to avoid paying out on every claim rather than hoping to discourage a percentage of claims from even being filed.

I fell it is important that technically challenged people aren't being taken advantage of by companies such as this one. It is hard enough to gain the trust of people who only know enough to turn on the monitor and the computer and possibly check to see if the computer is plugged in with out having to deal with these charlatans. I would like to find a reason to raise a voice of complaint but I guess since I received a refund there is nothing I can complain about.

It should still be of interest to all those who are potential customers that if anything were to happen with their merchandise a refund would be the bet they can hope for. Hopefully, armed with this information you may be wiser in your approach in filing a claim.