Tech Support- The good , the bad and the ugly.

[fixthecopier]

In all the years I have been doing this I have probably called tech support on only a handful of times on the copiers I service. Mostly because from the beginning I was not getting advice that was helping me. I always fared better talking to a tech who is out in the field. I wouldn't have anything to say about tech support except for a recent experience with Ricoh. I was dispatched on a Ricoh extended warranty call for a 5100 printer. The back door was broke and a part of the fuser frame was broke. There was no manual to be found, so I called tech support for the numbers. The guy taking my call seemed to have an attitude, wanting to know why I needed a fuser number as that was something the customer puts in. I explained that I was sent on this call and this is what it needs, to which he replied"yea, whatever". He was kind of a dick but I let it go. Fuser comes in, I install and close out the ticket. Now 6 weeks later, I have a call for the same printer. Customer can't print more than 6 or 7 pages without the machine stopping with a "low fuser temp" error.I call again for tech support, tell my problem, and the guy says "well, it could be the fuser or the control board or the power supply. Gee thanks, I thought, I pretty much had it narrowed down to something in the printer". So I pull the printer take back to the shop to check. What I find is that the fuser that he gave me the part number for was a 220 volt fuser. Now this is somehow my fault, and I am supposed to figure out how to prove Ricoh gave me the number. While I was researching it, I found a bulletin that showed a part number change where they had admitted the wrong part number and had to swap the numbers for the different voltages. The tech support guy missed it but I was supposed to catch it. Nobody in my shop has any thing good to say about them and with Konica it is always "This is the first we have heard of this problem". Does anybody else get bad tech support, and how do you handle it. What happens if you order parts you cannot return?

[KenB]

It's gotten to the point where I actually expect exactly what you just described, lack of knowledge combined with a lack of courtesy.

Ever notice that they seem to be more interested in verifying your identity and getting a serial number, rather than helping with the problem at hand?

I have been told that most support people are instructed to end their calls as quickly as possible, even if it means not properly addressing the question.

A few years ago I went to a training class in New Jersey (all software), and I was told ahead of time to learn all I could because that post-sale tech support was clueless on the product. Turned out to be 100% true, too!

Help desks are under-funded, which means that they are seriously understaffed. A friend of mine used to work at one, and when he told me the starting wage for a help desk tech... let's just hope you still live with Mom and Dad. That means that "Level 1" tech support gets the proverbial cream of the crop for a working staff.

Please note that I deliberately did not mention any specific brands - it seems that more and more of them are getting this way.

My manager tells me that our "powers that be" are addressing this, but I've yet to hear anything else.

[SCREWTAPE]

Switch to Canon, LOL.

[Shadow1]

In a lot of ways, Ricoh support has actually improved if you subscribe to and follow their thought process:

First of all, all authorized service technicians / dealers / designated screwdriver jockies are supposed to have ready access to a computer with FSD / DSD on it, which gives you all the service docs, parts catalogs, tech bulletins, etc. Every Direct tech in the U.S. has a laptop setup like this, and dealers are strongly encouraged to do the same.

Barring that, every tech certified on ANY Ricoh product whatsoever has a Tech ID number that gets them access to ALL the same service information and more on TSCWeb.net site free of charge. Not certified? Request a Tech ID anyway - If they can find any excuse to give you one, they will. Its actually pretty hard to get turned down if you really are a tech.

So if you call in and haven't tried to find the part number yourself, you're wasting their time for helping someone who has a real problem. Yeah, you're gonna get attitude.

If you call in for support, the first thing they do is get your ID number and the product you're working on. The computer checks to see if you've been trained on that product, and bypasses the first few levels of support if you are. You go straight to a support tech who specializes in your machine, instead of the "are you sure its plugged in" guys. You'd be amazed how many field techs don't do proper troubleshooting.

If you don't get it fixed on the first round, call back (using your case number) and support is supposed to escalate the case to a product engineer, and I've had 1 case that got escalated all the way to Japan.

The system is designed to fix your problem (even if your problem is you - and I've been guilty of this) as quickly as possible at the lowest level of support. It works a lot better if you've done everything your supposed to do.

On the other hand, the sheer number of calls they get from techs who prefer to let support do the troubleshooting for them means the good techs get dumped on a bit until the support tech realizes you do know what you're doing. And sometimes it just sounds that way because they have to know everything you've done to rule out things its not.

I certainly wouldn't want the job. Especially not for what it pays.

[Stirton.M]

Man, things like this make me happy I am where I am. I know our regional tech support guy personally, I used to work with him in the field until he couldn't take the stress of driving around town...road rage issues is what I tease him with. We click beers together from time to time....

That said, the support we get in Canada is professional. There are no assumptions made about what the tech or customer has access to or their capabilities beyond that of access to the information. Tech support will email or fax service bulletins on demand for certain issues and ALL calls are placed in a record for concurrent event followup. If the local guy cannot answer any problems, either he, or I create a ticket through tech support national, and the technical guys there will also keep records of the events, even with emails for followup response to ensure there was a resolution to the problem. Thus far, I have yet to have any issues in the 14 years I have been doing this.

I've encountered head hunters from our competitors and thus far, none can guarantee this level of internal support on their products, let alone training and access to service tools and software.

[fixthecopier]

Shadow, I hear what you are saying, but keep in mind, we could not locate the parts manual for the printer, all I wanted was a part number. According to the bulletin I found, the number would have been wrong. You would think someone would have caught the fact that an oversees fuser was shipping to inside the states. As far as troubleshooting the machine, how many of you go to a call with the thought that maybe the voltages are wrong? Last month I took another tech with me on a Lanier 124c with quality problems. The tech called tech support. They said to change the color developer. I tried to order color developer but could not get a part number. Why? Because there is no developer, just new dv boxes.You would think they would have mentioned that. I had a color certified tech making the call.
The first time I used Minolta tech support when I was new, I had a cof24 code. The tech support took me through hours of by the book adjustments and changing stuff that did not need to be changed. Still had the code. After the fact I found a piece of paper in the cleaning section. For the next 6 years every time that code showed up on a 520/620 it was paper in the cleaning section, but nobody in tech support knew that. That is the kind of info you get on a site like this.

[mrwho]

Kinda reminds me of the 7165/7155/7265/7272/600/750 developer and drum ground modifications that I learned on this site. Never anyone from Konica tech support mentioned this. That's why this site rocks. Two thumbs-up!

[gwaddle]

The problem I see with tech support, and this is true I think no matter what brand, is that the guys in there while they might have been techs at one time, haven't been for a while. And if they are engineers, well that in itself makes them useless. My solution to ineffective tech support was to come here.

[mrwho]

Don't get me wrong, I met some awesome people from my country's tech support. Trouble is, many times they were limited to what they got from the factory - and, many times, it was something like "Well, that's the first time we heard something like that"!

[CableGuy]

Don't get me started about KM.... I'd rather dangle by my gonads than have to contact them!!

[blackcat4866]

I've been through several different tech support lines. Panasonic was by far the worst. If I actually wanted to talk to a human I had to allocate 4 hours of office time near a phone. The automated answering would kick you off automatically after 45 seconds if you didn't press a button on the phone. I have gotten through in as little as 3 hours, with the usual useless responses "firmware, main board, blah, blah, blah...".

With Samsung you can actually speak to a human right away, but they don't know anything. It usually involves at least three transfers, and your call gets dropped twice before getting to the helpdesk. They also change the phone numbers frequently, so you really don't know the correct number to call, you just think you do. Now once you get there the information has been dead on. Allocate at least an hour.

Now lately with Kyocera they have been getting to the phone pretty quickly, and are courteous. The information hasn't always been useful, but the helpdesk guy does reference the fix database, and usually follows up with an email. I've been pretty happy with the last few interactions. =^..^=

[Shadow1]

Shadow, I hear what you are saying, but keep in mind, we could not locate the parts manual for the printer, all I wanted was a part number.

Ahhh... The flaw in the system. Ricoh wants to assume you have all the documentation, when sometimes you just don't.
Perfect example: My laptop crashed recently, and the only backup system is for me to call other techs or my manager.

[RRodgers]

When I call Riso Tech support I usually tel them THEM what the problem is and how to solve it. Or, sometimes they call me!! LOL (I kid you not it was on an HC) From Konica I ALWAYS expect "did you flash it first" With Lanier it's "is it plugged in?" ugg... Guys.... guys... guys... I'm a TECH! OF COURSE it's plugged in! sigh...

[fixthecopier]

I happen to be a shredder tech also, and in that industry there is no formal training. We are a dealer for one Martin Yale / Intimus and I get support from the head tech at the factory. When I call S.E.M. for support, all I get is an offer to e-mail me a parts catalog. When I call Dahle for support, If the head engineer does not pick up the phone, I leave a voice mail and will get a call back in 5 minutes, If I am on site at one of his machines, I can have him paged. He has even let me return boards that did not fix my problem. That is awesome tech support!!