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How Far Must We Go?

Members of the ISP-Tech list discuss what happens when a technical problem is the customer's fault. Would you visit a client's home?

[October 2, 2000]

On the ISP-Tech list in September, M asked for helping in drawing a line:

"I have a dialup customer with Windows 98; their machine keeps trying to connect to us at all times, for no reason — the dialup box that asks for username and password keeps popping up. Any advice? How far should I go in trying to solve this?"

Some respondents offered straightforward technical advice:

[IA noted] "If your customer has one of those 'get paid to surf the Internet' things like AllAdvantage.com installed, it can cause the machine to repeatedly attempt to connect."

[PF offered] "Go to Control Panel, then Internet Options, then Communications. At the bottom of the screen, select Never Dial a Connection."

Others argued that it's far better just to stay away:

[JL pronounced] "We make NO house calls. Nada. Never. No way. Not only are such things expensive in terms of administrative overhead, but they involve issues of personal and property liability we can't begin to afford. Who's responsible when you do a customer a favor by working on his PC, then it dies the next week? Or if its power supply blows up and burns down his house an hour after you leave? We gently but firmly explain to our subscribers that just as their telephone company cannot repair an answering machine they bought elsewhere, we don't offer assistance with software that we don't run."

[KF added] "If you've done all that you can, then you need to refer them to the vendor of the software. I have a few go away, but when they know I have tried everything I know to fix the problem, most understand and happily ask the author of the software. The biggest part of this is the way you tell people. The customer is not always right, and you are not responsible for supporting all the software that you did not write. If you sell them the gas for the car, you don't have to repair the radio when it breaks."

[JT agreed] "Where does our responsibility end with customers? If the problem occurs with Windows, then the solution is with Windows. They paid Microsoft for the software, let them get the technical support from Microsoft."

Still others contended that the increase in customer loyalty is worth it:

[KN suggested] "I personally like working on a customer's machine; I get the satisfaction that there was that personal touch that will make them a salesperson as well as a paying customer. Remember, it is harder to get new customers than it is to keep a customer. Also, people that have a good experience with an ISP may tell their friends, but a person with a bad experience will tell their friends."

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