Not too long ago I wrote about how after 6 months of frustration, one more call to Wild Blue solved my problem of not being able to view my own domains on my own computer.
That time, I was connected with a woman who listened, understood what I was saying, and knew how to solve it immediately.
Today I had a simialr experience, this time with DirecTV.
I don't pay much attention to the television, but my husband does. So last night when all he could get was a "Searching for Satellite" message on the screen, I called DirecTV. (The excuse is, he's hard of hearing and can't understand people on the phone. The truth is, I've been the "secretary" making his phone calls for over 40 years.)
After going through all the automated junk, I was finally connected with a tech support person. All she could say was that it must be the snow. Never mind that it was snowing very lightly, and that the TV had worked just fine yesterday when we were having a blizzard. Never mind that Wild Blue was still working, and the Internet Satellite is WAY more touchy than the TV satellite.
She had no clue, but said that if it wasn't better by tomorrow, to call back.
OK - it was about my husband's bedtime anyway. We can wait and see.
Waiting for the snowstorm to end didn't work...
This morning the sky was clear and the sun was shining. And some channels came in, some of the time. Others would not. We kept seeing the "searching" message.
So, with a big sigh and a bit of dread at having to go through all that automated mumbo-jumbo before talking to an actual live human, I made the call.
But this time was different. This time I was connected to a woman who knew what to do. And it was SO easy.
She said that sometimes static builds up in the cables and interferes with the satelite signal. She told me to disconnect the cable from the receiver, to touch the copper pin in the center with my finger, and then reconnect it.
And that's all it took - my husband can once again watch TV to his heart's content.
In both instances, success came from talking to the right person.
So from now on, if I don't get answers, I'm going to call back right away... maybe I'll get lucky on the 2nd or 3rd try.
What does this mean to you?
If you have someone answering phones on your behalf, make sure they know what they're doing - and know what to say.
When we're under contract to companies like Wild Blue and DirecTV we don't have any choice but to stay with them. But your would-be customers and clients do have a choice. Make sure they're glad it was your number they chose to dial.
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