It always saddens me, when I encounter incompetent tech support 🙁 And it's one thing, when the person is incompetent, perhaps, it's L0 person, that is tasked to follow a script and is not, actually, a tech person in the first place, which is extremely common in Russia. Today was another day, I've encountered such a case. And below is a long read about it.
My grandma uses a certain network service that provides TV channels and access to library of some TV series/shows and movies. She's been bothered with channels being flooded with Olympics recently, thus I decided to try to teach her to find a movie/series she wants and then "transfer" it from her tablet to TV (MiBox, if anyone cares). It can be done directly on MiBox, through [almost] same interface, but it's not as convenient.
So she found a TV series of 4 episodes and tried starting first episode. She started "streaming" to MiBox through respective button and pressed "play". And video playback got stuck on seemingly eternal "loading". Since she was doing this under my supervision and we already tried the same on a different video (a movie), I know she did everything correctly. Regardless I've tried cancelling streaming and trying again - no luck. Tried 2nd episode - it started almost instantaneously. Tried 3rd and 4th episodes and was able to start them on tablet, but they did not start on MiBox through streaming.
I guess, I need to clarify one thing at this point to avoid further confusion: since MiBox also has appropriate application on it, it looks like when we "stream" from the same app on the tablet, we just "transfer the control", rather than "stream the screen" (like ChromeCast or whatever). This is not exactly important for this post, but still better to be clear.
Now, there is definitely an issue here. Some video plays, some does not. I contact support and what they tell me translates into this: "unplug your router from electricity for 3-5 minutes and while it's down, turn off/on your TV and device to clear cache".
When I read this I facepalmed hard. There are so many things wrong here:
- I did specifically mentioned devices I am using and that none of them are "TV".
- I specifically mentioned the devices, and even the "specialist" did not know what they are running on, he/she could check it quite quickly, to learn, that they use Android, where every app has its own cache, that can be cleaned separately.
- Nothing really indicates an issue with the cache to begin with. At least nothing obvious.
- Router has absolutely no relevance here.
I decided to start with the latter point, in order to get through L0 to L1 at least. I asked what was the technical reasoning for unplugging the router to solve my issue. I got an answer: "Turning the router off is mandatory for updating data in the packets".
If you are a tech person, please, let this phrase sink in. Give it time. Take a deep breath to calm yourself along with me...
Now, I am not a network expert by far, I will never claim I understand how network work unless it's on "high level". But per my knowledge, this does not make any sense. From what I know packets are always "new". Data in them can be repeated, but only if there is caching of some sort or if there is, indeed, a need to transfer the same data, that has been transferred before. But, still, I am no expert, so I ask for more details.
I get a generic answer like this: "Modern Wi-Fi routers is like a small PC with its own processor and memory, which periodically requires reboot for cleaning and updating of certain parameters like IP." Very generalized. And yes, it is true to an extent, but there is a caveat... Maybe more than one even.
- Even home routers today can work months if not years without a need to reboot. Because they have logic to clean their memory from trash. Unless you actually open your network to public, that will "overload" it with traffic or use some peculiar plugins, it is highly unlikely you will need to reboot your router for this particular reason.
- If you do need to reboot because of memory/processor issue on router you will see connectivity issues all over the place. In my case - there are no issues with connectivity. There is an issue with playback of specific videos and only them.
- "Updating of of parameters" is too ambiguous. IPs for "inside" the home won't matter much even if they are dynamic (I have static for all devices, though) and on ISP side they generally do get refreshed by DHCP itself, without the need to restart the router. That's the reason you may temporary lose connection in the middle of a night sometimes. The only other parameter, that can be referenced is Wi-Fi channel, that some routers can update automatically, but... Again there too many assumptions here: can my router do that automatically? Did I leave this in auto mode (I did not)? Does it require reboot for that? Is it able to select proper "free" channel? And, again, how is this even relevant to my issue?
I tried pushing for more explanation, because, again, maybe I do not know something. I was told to google it. And was, essentially denied any kind of further support until I do the steps, that do not make any sense to me and that the "specialist" is not willing to properly explain. Great job 👍
As someone coming from tech support I do not understand this. I understand the "scripts", what role they play and how they can [sometimes] simplify the job. But I do not understand this unwillingness to either analyze the actual issue or educate the client, in case that's required.
Why are you building a wall between you and client, that helps no one and even dissatisfies client as result? If you are not "specialist" enough to explain to client in technical terms how requested actions are relevant to solving his/her issues - forward this to someone who is. I had a case with an ISP before, where I was insisting on forwarding me to someone more knowledgeable, got forwarded and we did find the issue in like 2 minutes. I was dissatisfied by 1st operator, but the 2nd one was good and that, at least, leveled out my whole experience.
Funny thing is, there was a bug with the same service, that a session got corrupted somehow on their side a day after they receive subscription payment. I've bugged them about it for 3 months, pointing out how this happens at specific moment and that solution for that is them "clearing my session". On 4th it finally stopped, meaning it was fixed somehow, yet there was no issue on their side. Allegedly.
I know I can sound frustrated in this post. That's because I am. I still have an issue, that is not being acknowledged and respective support is not willing to look into it, because reasons. Now I need to somehow find a way to debug and fix it myself. That's not something I am paying the service provide for... I mean, if we agreed with them, that I try to take a memory dump or something - that's one thing. But me trying to figure out how their app works with almost zero knowledge about it and for my own money... That's another beast altogether.
If you're a support guy/gal and read thus far - do not be like that. If you follow the script, which you can't skip, at least be ready to provide the client with proper justification for the steps you're asking to take. Not some techno-bable, but properly built justification. Otherwise it will make it look as if you think your client is stupid. And while that can happen, it's not good to assume it by default. And never send client to google anything, unless its for learning more about something AFTER you've solved the issue at hand.
