Time for AT&T to feel the heat from the Dragon's flame! - Part Duece

As you are aware from the previous post, this is part 2 of AT&T's time to shine (where the sun don't shine, that is). If you have not read part 1 yet, click here to read it first and come back here next time.

Let's sum it up so far before I continue to the second (but possibly not last) part in the AT&T fiasco:

• It took a few phone calls from BK to AT&T to get her $75 visa card.
• BK mistakenly canceled the DSL service and AT&T deactivated it instantaneously. BK called back the same day to put it back on so AT&T said they will do so and it will be back up "momentarily." A half hour later and another phone call to AT&T again, they said it will be back up in 24hrs. 
• I went back to BK's house the next day, DSL still not up. A phone call to AT&T and the man on the other end send the service wasn't added on again. A transfer to sales was required for them to resign up for the DSL service again. It will be back up in 24hrs from that time.
• After two more separate visits to her house, it was finally back up, close to a week of the accidental cancellation. 

Now, it's time to work on getting her number ported over to magicJack. In the middle of May, I called AT&T about putting the DSL on a different number so my customer can port her current number to magicJack. They first said the DSL service would have to be canceled and then reactivated on the new number. Knowing this would take another few days, I said this wasn't a good option. AT&T also said if they did that, they wouldn't be able to sign her up again because the area is "capped (there are no more customer spots available for DSL in her location)." Customer service said she can have the line in the house split, one line voice, and the other data/dsl. This will cost $57. After speaking to BK about this, she agreed so I told AT&T to go ahead with that. She said it would take 3-5 days. I thanked her kindly and that was that. I told BK what went down and to give me a call after the guy comes and splits the line. She agreed and I headed out.

Over a week later, I get another call from BK saying nobody showed up yet to split the line. I told her to give AT&T a call and ask for a status update. She called me back and told me they said there was nothing showing about an order to have the line split, she couldn't get it split, and they had no clue what she was talking about. 

The day after getting that call from BK, I headed back to her place AGAIN and called AT&T AGAIN to see what the deal was. The man on the other line said something like, "Oh, the splitter is bad so you want to order another splitter?"  I said, "No, I want to have the phone line in the house split so the number can be ported without the DSL getting disconnected. This has been requested a couple weeks ago but nobody showed up yet to have it done." He finally knew what was going on. After being transferred to sales and placing the order again, and telling them what needed to be done, she said I can start the port process with magicJack. I did the number transfer on the magicJack site which was pretty simple. I told BK what went on and left again. 
Less than a week later, I received a call from BK and she said someone came to split the line. I headed back over there, excited, thinking this was going to be the last time I have to deal with this BS. When I headed over there, she said her phone was still working which I thought was odd because the number was supposed to be ported over to magicJack. I logged back on magicJack and spoke to someone in the chat and they said the port didn't go through because it was on a DSL line. I told them the line has been split so put the order in again. They did so and said it will take a few days for it to process. I said OK. I told BK what went down and I said for her to call me on her cell when her house phone stops working. This will mean the port went through with magicJack.
On Tuesday, June 26th, I received a call from BK on her cell at 9:03AM saying her house phone stopped working. I called her back a couple hours later and said I can head down there in the afternoon and get her all taken care of. Before I left, I quickly checked her email to see if she got an email from magicJack. She did and it said the number port was a success. I was pretty excited and knew my work and frustration was almost over. All I had to do was go back over there, unplug the magicJack from the power strip, plug it back in, wait a minute or two and everything will be all set.
I arrived at her house at around 3:30PM to get it all taken care of. I unplugged the magicJack, plugged it back in, waited a minute and then.... picked up the phone it was connected only to receive error 220 (or whatever number it was) saying to check the internet connection. I tried this a few more times with the same result so I turned the PC on and.... NO INTERNET. I looked at the DSL modem and the internet light, of course, was not on. The DSL light was but not the internet light. I thought it had to be plugged in the other jack now because of the port and because the line had been split. I plugged it in the other jack and the DSL light was flashing red. I was like, WTF!
Of course, I had no choice again but make another call to AT&T. I spoke to the DSL support AGAIN and asked why there was no more DSL service. I gave him the new number the DSL is under (according to what the woman said who gave me that number said!) and he said, "There's no DSL under that number." I then gave him the other number and he said, "There is no DSL on this number either." Both numbers had no DSL. He said DSL on both numbers did not exist and never existed! I said, "how is that possible when there has been DSL in this house for over a year?" After the man doing some research and not coming up with anything, he said if I wanted DSL on this number, I would have to go to sales. I then got switched over to sales, gave them my speech again and told them they probably won't be able to put DSL on this number because of the "cap." After looking it up, they agreed. I said, "OK, what can you do? There has been DSL in this house for over  a year and it's been yanked out. The line has been split to prevent this issue from occurring but I guess that plan didn't work. How can we get DSL back in this house? (or something to that affect)" She said she'll get it back up and she told me to give her a number I can be reached at for the status. She said she will call within 24hrs. I gave her my cell number and we ended the call. I told BK the situation and she, of course, wasn't happy like a dog would be when you come home and they sit there and wag their tail. So... I told her I should be getting a call the next day and I'll let her know what the results are. Then... it was time for me to leave.... 

Wednesday came and I have not received a phone call from AT&T like they said they would do so I took matters into my own hands AGAIN and decided to speak to someone in the AT&T chat from their website to see what the status was and here is the chat below with the results of the chat after chat transcript. The only thing I have edited in the transcript was the customer name, numbers, and address censored for privacy.

Thank you for choosing AT&T. A representative will be with you shortly.
You are now chatting with David.

David: Hello,Thank you for contacting at AT&T. This is David, how are you doing today?BK: Fantastic, how are you?David: I am also good, thanks for asking.David: How may I help you today so that I can make your day better?BK: I would like to see if you can give me a status update check on DSL service which was ordered yesterday for this number: 772-XXX-XXXXDavid: Sure, may I have your service address so that I can check your order status?David: Complete service address?BK: [censored] Fort Pierce, FL 34982David: Thanks for the information please allow me some time while I check this for you.BK: Sure, no problem.David: Thanks for your patience.David: I have check your account status and it is updated now so you will get services very soon at your address.David: May I know which services you are using for TV or home phone?(Look at that! He already wants to try to sell me more services when this DSL service hasn’t even completed yet!)David: Because you will get further discount on internet if you will combine these services with internet.BK: Home phone is still currently AT&T. Will the DSL be ready to set up if I send my computer guy to my house tomorrow?BK: Is there just DSL on this number?David: Did you order home phone along internet?David: because right now I am not able to see all the services at account because your account is in dummy status.BK: I'm not going to get into the whole long story here but I had the line split at the house so I can port my number to a VoIP service. After the line was split, I went with the port of the number. After the port, the DSL dropped even though ATT said they put the DSL on this number I have provided you. The DSL was not on both numbers anymore when I called. So.. I had to reorder the DSL on this number.David: Okay.BK: So, if there is no voice on this number, that is the way on want it.David: Let me check your all order status from other department.David: Please allow me some time.BK: OKDavid: I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you.BK: Take your time. No rush.David: Thanks for your patience.David: I have checked your account status and saw that there is only home land line available on this number/address.David: If you want to order DSL on this line then I will do this for you right now.BK: But I already placed an order yesterday at around 4PM. Why does it have to be ordered two times?David: There might be some issue with order so you don't worry about this I will do this right now.BK: OK, I hope so.BK: Without the DSL, I can't use my phone.David: Are you confirm that you have ordered dsl on this number?David: Yes, you can use but you will not get extra discount or benefit if dsl or direct tv will be not there.BK: 772-XXX-XXXX. Is this the number you have?BK: I can not use my phone because the number has been ported to a VoIP internet voice service, remember? Without the internet, I can't make or receive calls.David: Yes, it is.BK: Ok, I would like the DSL on this number.David: Okay, let me check availability of services at this number.BK: OK but it will probably says it's capped.BK: If so, that will be another big issue but your company failed to put the DSL on this number before the port went through on the old number.BK: The whole reason I got the line split is because of the "cap" in the area. This split cost $57.David: Yes, I got same error.David: Please allow me some more time.BK: Now, the old number is ported over but the number ATT gave me for the DSL does not have DSL service on it. So, now both numbers have no DSL and when I try to reorder it, I get the "can't because it is capped."BK: Thank you.BK: I had the service for over a year and a half so far.David: It is asking for address key if you want services at this number.BK: what's an address key??David: Please allow me a moment let me check from your land line account.David: If there will any address key.BK: I can give you the old number the service was on if you wish before it got yanked off.David: Yes, please give me another can be reach number so that I can call you after completion of this order.David: Also I need some information to process your order.David: I have to generate address key through your land line account then after that I will be able to process your order for dsl.BK: What kind of information do you need? I am B's "Computer Guy" who is taking care of this from my location.David: I need your email address.BK: My name Justin Rocque should be in her account somewhere too.David: Date of birth.David: ssn number.David: and also I need your credit card information.BK: Well, unfortunately, I can't provide this information. Also, why do you need a credit card? She mails in her payments and has been doing this since she had ATT for over 10 years or more. But, after I tell her all of this and how her DSL HAS NOT been ordered even though I did so at HER HOUSE yesterday, she will probably be switching over to Comcast now.David: As I have told you that on this number there is no services for internet.BK: So, unless you want to lose a customer, I suggest you find some other way to get the DSL in her house tomorrow because we are both tired of calling AT&T for all of these issues which could have been prevented if you people kept good computer records and did not give both of us the wrong answers of the phone which is why there is NO DSL on EITHER phone line.BK: So, I wasted over 30 minutes at her house ordering the DSL service which has not even been ordered?David: So if you want to order internet on this number then you need to provide these information to us.BK: That's pretty odd because they did not ask me for this information on the phone yesterday. Just the last 4 of her social.David: may I have your can be reach number where I can contact and can provide all facility to you.David: And I will explain each and everything for you.BK: I already told you...."What kind of information do you need? I am B's "Computer Guy" who is taking care of this from my location."BK: Talking to me would do no good.David: Can you give me her number so that I can take required information which is required. like date of birth e-mail address ssn and credit card information.BK: I placed the order for her at her house yesterday. They said it will be 24hrs when it will be ready and they will call me when it is ready. I have not received one phone call from ATT today so I guess it is not ready and now, after talking with you, it hasn't even been ordered.BK: She never gave ATT her credit card number. She had a bill sent to her of which she paid with a check. Why does she need a credit card number now?David: When we order dsl there is need of credit check so we need credit card detail, yes that order has not been placed due to address key.David: So I will create first address key then will process your order.David: This is the information which is required from every customer which order DSL.David: Please allow me some time while I check address key for this order.BK: 772-XXX-XXXX. Then you can use that number to look up the information you need because that's the number the DSL has been on for over a year and a half.David: I'll be right with you.David: Now you want dsl at this number or 772-XXX-XXXX?BK: This number: 772-XXX-XXXX. The other one has been ported to the VoIP service and is no longer ATT's number.David: I am sorry to say that there is problem with address key at this number 772-XXX-XXXX due to service availability issue so I need to contact other department and has to resolve this address key issue from there.BK: Can you explain what an "address key" is?David: I will call you after some time when it will be resolved from concerned department so please give me desired number where I can reach to you.David: Address key is the number which is used to connect dsl services with land line and we are not able to create that number on this account due to service availbility issue.David: Your order will be processed only if that number will be generated so I will call you when it will be settled.David: Is that okay?BK: How long will this take? It's 6PM Eastern right now. Will it take another day or two?David: I will call you back after 30 minutes.BK: OK. After this issue is "settled," will you still need the credit card and all of the other information?David: May I have number where I can reach you?David: If it will accept land line information then there will no need, you don't worry I will let you know if anything will be required.BK: OK. 772-215-6793David: Thanks.David: Is there anything else with which I can assist you today?BK: No, you have done enough for now.David: It was my pleasure to assist you today.David: We value your feedback as a AT&T special customer and we do promise to deliver you best services in the future!David: Have a great day.BK: You too.David: Bye take care!!! catch you later.David: Thank you for contacting AT&T. Please use the CLOSE button when you are ready to exit our chat session. 

It is now 2:57AM Eastern time and I still have not received a call from David who said and I quote, "I will call you back after 30 minutes." He also said, "catch you later." It's been after 30 minutes and he has not caught me later. 
So, needless to say.... I will be giving AT&T one FINAL call tomorrow and there will be a FINAL blog post regarding that phone call. 
Will this be the end of an AT&T customer who was with AT&T for over 10 years? Will Comcast be getting a brand new internet customer soon? Will AT&T make their customer happy again by putting the DSL service, which was active for over a year and a half, back in their customer's house so she doesn't have to deal with this bullshit anymore and I don't have to be calling AT&T to figure out what's going on because I actually understand the terminology? Or will AT&T fail and lose a customer, forcing BK to CANCEL ALL of her AT&T services of which she had for over 10 years and go to Comcast, of which, she has to pay the Dragon to set up? And just so you know, AT&T, most of these tech calls I placed were on MY OWN TIME and I DID NOT receive any compensation for MY TIME because I didn't find it fair to have my customer pay for your F-ups! 
Stay tuned, folks (and, especially AT&T!) for the results of the battle with the Dragon versus AT&T!
Same Dragon Blog, Different Eastern time...
Dragon
Click here to go to the final part!

Time for AT&T to feel the heat from the Dragon's flame!

Before I start this blog post, you can read about a related incident here regarding the lovely AT&T DSL: http://dragonpctraining.blogspot.com/2011/07/why-doesnt-dial-up-just-go-away-already.html

As you can see from the above, I have convinced people to give up their dial-up and go with DSL. The female who was mentioned briefly in the last paragraph is the one we will be discussing in this blog post. You can also notice from above, this person has had DSL for more than a year.... until it became "inactive" yesterday (6/26/2012)!

Before I discuss what went on yesterday, let me give you a small background about my customer. My customer, let's call her BK, gave me a call on December of 2010 about a computer issue she had with her NetZero Dial-up not working. The computer wasn't in the greatest shape and I won't get into specifics regarding the other "tech person" she had prior who "sold" her that 8+ year old Dell machine. I took BK to Staples to get  a new PC and I hooked it up for her. She had to spend another $50 on a USB dial-up modem because the newer computers don't come with a modem anymore for obvious reasons.

Because of an email hijacking issue with BK's email account on May of 2011, I told her it would be best to get DSL service so the PC stays up to date, she can have an updated anti-virus running, and so she can do more with her PC besides email. I told her it will be an overall quicker and better computing experience. BK didn't want to do this at first because of the extra expense. She was currently paying about $9.95 for NetZero. I told her it will be $14.95 for one year for the DSL service then $24.95 for the DSL service after the one year is up. She then agreed. On the end of May of 2011, the DSL was hooked up by me (who also called AT&T to sign her up for the service) and everything was honky dory. However, AT&T FAILED to send her the $75 visa card for the modem reimbursement. After BK called them on the phone multiple times, she FINALLY got it in the mail! So, there is one small boo boo already on AT&T's part. But, like Onyx said in their song Slam towards the end.... but but but wait, it get's worse!







On a day towards the end of April or the very beginning of May of 2012, I received a frantic call from BK because her AT&T bill showed  a charge of $34.95 (or higher, I can't recall the actual price now) for the DSL service. I called BK back and told her that's because the year is up and you have to call AT&T and have them down grade the DSL service to the lite service which is $24.95 a month.  BK said it was going to be over $50 a month for the phone and DSL and then wanted to go back to the ".net" as she calls the dial-up service (NetZero.net). During this time, BK also mentioned magicJack and said she wanted to go back to the dial-up service and get magicJack for her phone for $20 a year.

After trying to explain over the phone, in order for magicJack to work, broadband (DSL or Cable) internet is required. I also asked BK, why get magicJack phone service if you already have phone service in the house? Are you going to cancel your phone service? Then you can't use the ".net" dial-up service! After that lengthy discussion on the phone, she decided to keep the DSL and get magicJack and cancel her phone service eventually. She wanted me to set up the magicJack for her. I agreed and told her to keep the DSL service and cancel her phone service and just go to the "DSL direct" which is what AT&T calls their DSL service without voice. She said, "OK."

On May 2nd, I picked up the magicJack at Staples and went to BK's house to set it up. As I was sitting at the desk taking everything out of the packaging, this conversation started:

BK: "OK, I canceled the DSL Service!"
I stopped, looked back at her and said, "what did you do?!"
BK: "I canceled the DSL service!" I was quite shocked and said, "Why did you do that?!"
BK: "You told me to!"
Me: "No.... I said, cancel the phone service, not the DSL service!"

So, of course, she got upset because she didn't have a clue as to what was going on and I had her call back AT&T to reactivate the DSL service. After BK was on the phone for a while, she was getting annoyed at them so I had to take over. I told them what went down and they said they will reactivate it and it will be up again momentarily. So, we both waited... and waited.... and I started playing with the modem to get it set up again and nothing was working. After thirty minutes passed by, I called AT&T back again to see what the deal was. Another person on the phone said it takes about 24hrs for it to activate again. I thought that was odd because the other person on the phone before said it would be back up "momentarily." So, I said thank you to the kind man and hung up the phone. I told BK what was going on and said I'll be back the next day to set up the magicJack again! She said OK. Another fat failure on AT&T's part with their lack of knowledgeable customer service personnel who give false information!

I arrived at BK's house on May 3rd at around 3PM because it was around this time the previous day the service had been activated. I noticed the internet light not on the modem again and went through some steps again to get it working. After messing with it again with no results, I called the DSL tech support again and told them it's been about 24hrs since it was activated and the internet is still not up and running. After some further "research" from the tech support person, he told me it is not activated because the service has not been added. I told him what has been going on and how she accidentally canceled it then we called back and reactivated it and how the person said it will be back up "momentarily" then I was told it takes 24hrs. He said in order to put the DSL back on, I needed to speak to sales and sign up for it again. I was transferred to sales and had to go through the process all over again. I told BK what happened and, of course, she wasn't a happy camper. Then I left because there was nothing more I could do.

The next day, back to BK's house! I might as well have moved in at this point! Tried to get it all working again and.... it still wasn't activated yet! Gave them another call and the female gave me a number to call to "expedite" the service. After speaking with the expediter, she said she it wouldn't be up and running until the next day anyway so that call was pointless. So, I told BK what went down again and.... left!

The next day, I went back and FINALLY, after close to a week of her accidentally cancelling the service, which took no less than 10 minutes for it to be deactivated, it took about a week and close to ten phone calls for it to be up and running again!

I FINALLY was able to hook up the magicJack and get it working. I told BK the new number to use and I told her she can cancel the phone service with AT&T, not the DSL service. She then tells me she wanted to use the same number she had with the magicJack service. After I allowed the screams in my head to subside, I told her, because of the DSL being tied to the phone line, it will be complicated to port the number over to magicJack. She didn't care and still wanted it done. Oh, and she also told me she wanted the magicJack Plus instead of the regular magicJack because she read from the paper about it not requiring a computer to function. I told BK, even though it doesn't require a computer, it needs a router to receive the internet, of which she did not have. After saying that, she didn't know what the heck a router was and anything else I was talking about so.... I had to create a magicJack "dummy" diagram. After all, she is in her eighties so a lot of this stuff is new to her.

After all that, she still wanted the magicJack Plus of which she then bought at Radio Shack. I had to get the router and power strip for her though and didn't mind.

Because this has been a lengthy blog post already, I'm going to break this into two parts. The number porting process as well as the "current" process of the magicJack Plus and DSL fiasco will be continued with part 2! Click here for part 2!

Until next time,

Dragon

Best Buy is now on the Dragon's S--t List until further notice!

                      

After four years of working at Best Buy, over two years of still shopping there after I left, and, most importantly, referring MY customers and PURCHASING products for MY customers in the store since I reopened my computer business, Best Buy is now on my shit list of the stores I will NOT:

• Shop in.
• Refer my current and future customers to.
• Make business purchases in for my business or my customers.
• And not even shop in for PERSONAL reasons as well.

I'm sure you are all thinking, "what mighty strong words coming from the Dragon! What made the fire burst out of the Dragon's mouth?" These are all good thoughts, indeed. Here is the simple answer to those questions.

A long-time (over seven years) customer of mine was out of state to spend time with his family during the Christmas holiday. His wife had purchased him a laptop at Best Buy for Christmas. They decided to wait to open it until they get back to Florida so I could set it up for them. They decided to have it shipped through UPS instead of carrying it on the plane. 

The laptop arrived at their house and I showed up a few days later to set the laptop up. I took it out of the box carefully as I normally do, plugged it in, and turned it on while it was on my lap. As soon is it loaded the Windows set-up screen, I noticed there was a black discoloration of the screen in the upper-right corner with a spider web-like affect going down towards the middle of the screen. I knew the screen was damaged. I proceeded to  click on a few of those "bullets" to get past the Windows set-up crap and type in the name of the customer. After that, I told the customer and his wife of the issue of the screen. I was pretty disappointed as much as they were because it was a brand new laptop which has never been opened and an expensive model as well.

Since it was brand new and not opened until I went through the basic beginning set up of the laptop, I told them to bring it back to Best Buy, tell them what was wrong with it so they can swap it out for a new, undamaged one. They complied so I put it back in the box, along with the packaging it came with.

Last Thursday on February 9th, I went over there to teach them how to use the fax function of their new printer I set up for them a couple weeks prior. My customer told me what happened at Best Buy when they brought the laptop in and I just couldn't believe my Dragon ears.

He brought the laptop to the Geek Squad and told them what was wrong with it and the Agent (read: "immature asshole") told him I was the one who broke it because I was able to type the customer's name on the laptop. So, the Agent, if he should even be called such a status, told my customer it will be over $400+ to fix it. As you know, that's pretty much the price of a new laptop and about half of what it cost for the laptop at hand. My customer was not happy about this and neither was I when I heard this shocking news of this immature "blame game" because that's pretty much what it was.

So, according to the Agent, I, the Dragon, who has been setting up computers for over fifteen years, with a computer business since 2003, with customers who are STILL customers since then (such as this customer I speak about now is who was a REFERRAL from another one of MY customers since 2003 who lives in the same gated community) "broke the screen." My customer along with his wife were watching as I was setting the laptop up. They obviously did NOT see me drop, punch, kick, throw, smack, or step on the laptop so how could I be the one to blame because the screen is damaged? 

Because this is obviously an expensive fix on the Geek Squad's part to repair (or even swap that one out for another laptop to SATISFY the CUSTOMERS needs, even if it's with an inexpensive model, and send the other out for repair and when it comes back, resell it open box for a little less than retail cost) the Agent (possibly with the authorization of the supervisor) decided to use his immature tactics and put the blame on the customers' "tech guy." If you ask me, that's pretty shady business practices there and it should NOT even be allowed in a big electronics store such as Best Buy or ANY business for that matter!

So, for the reason of not going above and beyond to satisfy my unhappy customer with the broken laptop YOUR STORE provided at the time of purchase and for the Agent at the Geek Squad who decided to use the very unprofessional "blame game" just to force the customer to have to pay over $400 to repair a laptop which was already broken out of the box, I will tell my customers and family members to NOT purchase ANYTHING in your store again, nor will I purchase anything for myself, my customers, or even meet MY customers at the store to assist them in their technology purchase of which I have done many times before. 

However, when Best Buy does read this and decides to go above and beyond to take care of my customer (who used to be their customer as well), the above statement will likely change. I will give Best Buy one week from the date of this blog post to respond. If I do not receive a response from them regarding the obligation to assist my customer with his laptop, they will not only loose my business and my families business but also the 200+ and counting of the current and future customers under my companies belt. 

This blog will be updated to reflected any future correspondence coming from Best Buy until one week from this post. If, after seven days has passed, there will be an update stating there was no contact made from Best Buy to address this situation. 

Until the next update,

Dragon

The Dragon Calling Tech Support

You read that right, folks. The Dragon had to call tech support. Listen below for the results! Be warned, it's a couple long recordings!







The above recordings are one tech  support call for the Trendnet USB to 10/100Mbps Adapter purchased from tigerdirect. After trying install it on a PC with a bad onboard network port using the including drivers disc, I decided to give tech support a call to see what the problem was. Listen to it for the shocking results!

Corel Update with a shocking twist at the end!

As you can see from my previous post, I wrote about a Corel software situation my customers (who also became and still are great friends of mine!) stumbled upon. A few hours after I had published that blog post, I received a message from @corelsoftware on my twitter business account saying an email will be sent to me shortly. I then received the following email on 7/21/11, a couple hours after the blog post was published:

"Hi Justin:

Thanks for sharing the feedback on this customer’s situation. We would be happy to exchange their copy of Corel Home Suite for the more advanced feature set found in WordPerfect Office. We’ve taken your feedback re: Corel Home Suite’s ability to open WPD files together with the points you made on the product description. While the products are designed and priced to reflect the different needs of different types of users, we can appreciate how some of the product messaging on Corel Home Suite could be confusing. We will work to make that clearer in future.

Please let us know how we can connect to help this customer.

Regards,

Liz"

So, there is the first message from Liz  who works for Corel. Notice what I put in bold and underlined. This will be important to note for what goes on a little later.

Here was my response to the above message:

-----Original Message-----
From: Justin Rocque [mailto:Justin@dragonpctraining.com]
Sent: July-21-11 8:29 PM
To:Liz

Subject: Re: Blog post regarding Corel

Hi Liz,

Thank you for reading my blog post and for replying VERY quickly! I told my customers about the email I received from you and they are pretty shocked at the fast response as am I.  I was going to try to exchange the product at Staples where they got it but, because it has been opened already, I don't think they will let me. My customers are leaving next Wednesday (the 27th) to go back to NY where they live. How do we go about the exchange in a timely manner so I can uninstall and install the other version on their new PC before they leave? Do I need to send you the Home Suite in the mail or would you just like the product key and copy of receipt or all of the above? Can I download the trial version of the WordPerfect Office and you send me or them the product key through email? I told them about the Home and Student Edition which is about $30 more than the one they had already purchased. How do they make the $30 payment difference? Over the phone or online?

Thanks again for the fast response in this manner. My next blog update will reflect the excellent customer service!

-- Justin Rocque                                                                                                                 Dragon PC Training& Repair                                                                                          "Quality Service From A Man Who Cares!"                                          http://www.dragonpctraining.com

 Notice I said "excellent customer service." The quick response to this matter was excellent, no doubt. But... was the rest of the customer service excellent? We're about to find out in a bit!

Another message from Liz:

"On 7/22/2011 12:00 PM, Liz wrote:
Hi Justin,

Thanks again for your reply. We would really like to give your customers a call so we can provide the software and resolve this today.

Do you mind providing me with the contact information for your customers so our customer support team can reach out to them?

Best,
Liz"

My response:

"Hi Liz,

It's my pleasure. Their name is Ed & Ingrid C. Their number is. [undisclosed]. I have the Corel box and receipt and am going to send it to them (pictures of product keys and receipt) as an attachment in case they need it for customer support. I told them about the customer support call and they are looking forward to it.

Thanks again for your help,

--              Justin Rocque "

Liz's response on 7/22/11:

"Hi Justin,

Thanks again for bringing your customer's situation to our attention. We're glad we could help. I'll check back in with you on Monday to ensure that everything has been resolved and that your customers are happy before they head back to NY.

Please let me know if there's anything else I can do.

Best,
Liz"

 Here is a message I sent on Monday late afternoon because I have not heard back from Liz:

"Sent: July-25-11 3:11 PM
To: Liz                                                                                                                                  Subject: As of yet, no call to my customers

Hi Liz,

It's Monday. My customers called me yesterday saying they received NO call and I followed up just now with another call and.... they still have NOT received a call from anyone from Corel. Like I said, they are heading back Wednesday so that leaves the rest of today and tomorrow to take care of this situation. Their number, again, is [undisclosed] and name Ed and Ingrid C.
I am going to head back to Staples and speak to them about the situation to see if they will show some recourse in this matter and go beyond normal customer service and accept an exchange of an opened software product for a similar "premium" version of the product.

I'm looking forward to hearing back from you again soon for a final resolution,

-- Justin Rocque"

 The response from Liz:

"Hi Justin,

I sincerely apologize. I understood this had been taken care of, but I have escalated it and am working to have our customer support team call them as soon as possible.

My apologies.

Best,
Liz"

I have received a phone call from a Corel representative later on that day which was good. My customer also received a phone call that same day. I then sent him an email which was as follows:

"Good morning Austin,

You should have already received an email from Ed & Ingrid C. with the information you requested. I have a couple requests for you, if it's possible, to make things easier for them. First, I noticed on the Corel site, there is an option to download a trial of the standard edition of WordPerfect Office but not the Student and Teacher Edition they are purchasing with the exchange of the other product they had mistakenly purchased. What I would like for you to do is have them agree to the download version and forward me the link to download the software with product key. The only place they have internet at is the club house where they live and I don't know how fast it is and how reliable it is for downloading one large file. I'd rather download it onto a disc from my PC at my location and install it on theirs so they don't run into any complications. They may want you to send them the boxed disc as well for back up purposes but if you can't do both, tell them I'll put the Corel download on disc for them and print out the product key for them in case they need it again in the future.

Thanks very much for your prompt assistance in this matter! By the way, you have a pretty familiar last name.

Have a great day,

--              Justin Rocque"

Notice I said "Student & Teacher Edition" and "exchange" here.


Here is Austin's response on 7/25/11:

"Hi Justin--

I realize they want the H&S version of the program, but to make things easy, I planned on over-nighting the installation discs to them. Plus, I need a little more information before they commit to the H&S edition. Rest assured, they will be well taken care of. Like you, I have been in the business for 15-18 years and pride myself on ensure my customers are overly taken care of. "

 A couple days after this message, I went out do dinner with my customers before they headed back to NY and found out what went down when they spoke to Austin again over the phone. To cut a long story short about what went down, Austin ended up selling them the standard version which was a whopping $179 and, as you can see in the next message below, they did not want the one my customers mistakenly purchased back. I found that odd because, as you can see with the first message all the way up top, they "would be happy to exchange..."

Even though I was pretty upset about how the situation ended and wanted to do more, I have agreed to put a cap on the situation because what was done was done and I didn't want to make matters more confusing than it already was. I was going to wait until they got home and see how everything went with the installation of the program with the help of Austin on the phone before I updated this blog.

On 8/5/11 I have gotten this message from my customer, Ed:

"Dragon,

Mr Corel called this AM - we are installed!  He walked us through it, although, I think we could have done it orselves.  Yipee!   They do not want the first one back....

Ed"

So, as you can see, they got the program installed and everything is working. Right before Ed sent me that message, I got this message from Liz:

"Hi Justin,

I just wanted to check in with you to ensure your customers received their discs and that they were able to install the program smoothly?

Please let me know if anything comes up in the future.

All the best,
Liz"

Here is my response to Ed's message first:

 "Date: Friday, August 5, 2011, 4:35 PM

Ed,

I'm happy to hear that. I was almost ready to publish an update on the Corel situation on my blog but received a follow up email from Liz to make sure everything went through ok. Of course, I told her what went down and another thing I noticed about the whole "Corel" thing and told her what was on my mind like I've been doing these days because holding back these days in my life, as you know, get's one nowhere. So, I just sent that off to her and will give you one more status update either through here or through my blog and..... the "Corel Case Files" will be closed. ;-)

I'll get back to you soon,

Dragon

PS> You saying "they do not want the first one back" just took the cake and gave me more of a reason to respond to her message! Thanks!! ;-)"

Of course, Ed insisted I not go any further and put the blame on themselves but were happy campers now..

"Dragon,

Don't make any waves on our behalf - we made a mistake in buying (the first one) AND we knew they mostl likely would NOT take it back . . . we accept that - we are happy campers now.

Ed"

Even though they were happy campers, I, the Dragon, felt Corel could have done more. If I didn't think they could have done anything to resolve this, I wouldn't have went through this whole mess. My customers could have just gotten the CHEAPER home and student version for $99 instead of having to shell out another $179 through Corel themselves. So... Liz wanted an update so an update she shall (and did) receive...

Sent: August-05-11 4:30 PM
To: Liz
Subject: Re: Corel checking in

Hi Liz,

You just caught me at the right moment because I was about to finish up and post an update to the Corel issue. Here is where it boils down to now. You have nothing to be blamed for because you did a great job with everything and I appreciated it very much. I sent an email to Austin a couple weeks ago and said the following:

"Good morning Austin,

You should have already received an email from Ed & Ingrid C. with the information you requested. I have a couple requests for you, if it's possible, to make things easier for them. First, I noticed on the Corel site, there is an option to download a trial of the standard edition of WordPerfect Office but not the Student and Teacher Edition they are purchasing with the exchange of the other product they had mistakenly purchased. What I would like for you to do is have them agree to the download version and forward me the link to download the software with product key. The only place they have internet at is the club house where they live and I don't know how fast it is and how reliable it is for downloading one large file. I'd rather download it onto a disc from my PC at my location and install it on theirs so they don't run into any complications. They may want you to send them the boxed disc as well for back up purposes but if you can't do both, tell them I'll put the Corel download on disc for them and print out the product key for them in case they need it again in the future. "

As you can see, I mentioned the one I told them to get and the one for him to sell to them which was $99, $30 more than the one they had already mistakenly purchased. So, when they exchange the other one (which you agreed to do in the first email you sent to me), it will only cost them $30 more.

He responded back saying the following:

"Hi Justin--

I realize they want the H&S version of the program, but to make things easy, I planned on over-nighting the installation discs to them. Plus, I need a little more information before they commit to the H&S edition. Rest assured, they will be well taken care of. Like you, I have been in the business for 15-18 years and pride myself on ensure my customers are overly taken care of. "

This response was OK but... a couple days later, after the transaction had been taken place on the phone with him and our customers Ed & Ingrid, I met them for dinner to see them one last time before they left and they told me..... The guy Austin sold them the "Standard" version which was $179, not the "Home & Student" one for $99 I specifically told him to sell them because of what I said to you already and said to him in the email above. I also told him the situation on the phone as well right after he left me a voicemail. Maybe there was some confusion on the phone during the transaction but there is still no reason why he could not have sold them the one I already mentioned. The whole purpose of the email I took time to send him was to prevent anymore confusion and more "unnecessary expenses" imposed on our customers.

At 11:00AM this morning, my customers sent me this message:

"Dragon,

Mr Corel (Austin) called this AM - we are installed!  He walked us through it, although, I think we could have done it orselves.  Yipee!   They do not want the first one back....

Ed"

So, they do not want the first one back. This means an "exchange" of the other product is not going to happen, meaning our customers are going to have to eat the $70 they already spent on the first one they bought by mistake. Correct? So, $180+70= $250 without tax they spent on two Corel programs. Do you want to know what else is pretty upsetting about this whole thing too? I went to Staples yesterday to do my usual business shopping and noticed on the shelf... Corel WordPerfect Office X5 Home & Student selling for $49.99!! http://www.staples.com/Corel-Wordperfect-Office-X5-Home-Student/product_863355 If they had gotten the Home & Student one as I insisted, it would have been only $30 more directly from Corel (with the exchange) which is the main purpose of going through your company (and spending time on writing emails back and forth, of which I didn't mind as long as there was a positive outcome) (and because Staples obviously does not allow exchanges of any opened software unless defective and swapped for the same one). If we did not bother to do that and just buy the H&S at Staples for $99, it would have been $170 total (+ tax), still cheaper than going through Corel directly. Staples also has a 30 day price match. I would have noticed the H&S go down in price especially by 1/2 and would have told them to go to the Staples in NY with their receipt to get $50 back, which will make the total of both programs $120.... $130 less than going through Corel directly.

Like I said, this is not your fault. You did more than what I expected you to do. But, in the end.... did "our" customers receive the satisfaction they wanted and am I satisfied with the results?

I do not think so. People would ask me why I would care about the money other people spent and how I went above and beyond and did what I could do. When I have customers who are still customers for over eight years... they are more than customers and transition into close friends.

So, I guess what's done is done now and the case is now closed. My updated blog post will still reflect your positive customer service though but the ending result, unfortunately, will not be very positive.

Thanks for your kind follow up and have a great weekend,

-- 

             Justin Rocque

      Dragon PC Training & Repair

“Quality Service From A Man Who Cares!”

    http://www.dragonpctraining.com

So, as you can see with that long explanation above, especially in that last big paragraph I made in bold, this whole Corel situation DID NOT pan out the way I wanted to by any stretch of the imagination. And, what makes it worse, here is the final message from Liz:

"Hi Justin,

Thanks for providing me with this detailed update. I have reached out to Austin and our refund department to understand what happened. The last I heard, they were to process a refund for Corel Home Suite. I am not happy to hear that this issue has not been completely resolved yet. I hope to have some more clarification and answers for you on Monday.

Best,

Liz"

Well, that message was sent on August 5th. All of the Monday's in August have passed and half of the Monday's in September have passed as well. I haven not bothered to look into it any further because, as you can see above, it's just not worth it anymore.

So, here are my final thoughts on Corel and their customers service:

If you have been using Corel's office suites for quite some time and find them to suit your needs and are comfortable using them then, by all means, keep using them and don't switch to anything else on my behalf.

However if you are still using an older PC with Windows Xp and an older Corel program, be prepared to purchase the specific Corel program which matches the older one when you get a new PC because the older version will not work on the newer Windows.

As you can see from the image above, the "Corel Home Suite" will NOT be able to open the .WPD files created from the programs above it (well, you can't see this by the image above but I explained it in my first Corel post). However, Microsoft Word can open those files quite well. A bit odd, don't you think? I ranted about this "odd" thing in my previous Corel post here: http://dragonpctraining.blogspot.com/2011/07/corel-is-crapel-to-me-now.html

My advice is to purchase the WordPerfect Office X5 - Home & Student for about $100. Sometimes, you can find it for half off at a retail store. But, to tell you the truth, my firm advice is to just skip WordPerfect Office all together and just go with the industry standard, Microsoft Office Home & Student for about $119, less if you purchase it with a new PC. 

Now, for the Dragon's score on Corel's customer service based on a 1-10 scale, 10 being best:

Response time to problem: 10 - because Liz was super fast at responding to the blog post.

Steps taken to resolve problem: 9 - because Liz did her best at resolving the problem.

Tech Support & Sales:  6 - although this should really be a separate score for each, only one person took care of this so, even though he did great at the tech support part, he failed to sell the right product to the customer, even with the assistance of myself who knew what the customer needed.

Follow-up on problem status:  4 - although Liz did great with asking about the status updates to the problem, she failed to give me that last update as to why everything went the way it did at the end. I'm not one who likes to be left "hanging" and I'm sure nobody else out there likes to be left "hanging" as well so that's a big no no in my book.

Final resolution to problem: 2 - I'm sure I don't have to explain myself here!

So, there is the final unfortunate result of the Corel situation. The good thing is my customers got taken care of and are happily using their Corel software the way they used to back then. The bad thing is... it wasn't worth the expense and Corel failed at the promise they made with the FIRST email.

If you run into any problems with a software, hardware, or any technology-related company in general, let the Dragon know so he can help you get the issue resolved. The status and outcome will be posted on here for everyone else to see so they too can be helped if they run into a similar issue as well.

There will be more posts on more technology subjects coming soon! If you have a tech question you would like answered and think other people will benefit from it by having it posted on here, send it to the Dragon for consideration in a future blog post!

Until next time,

Dragon

Update Those Updates!!

Many times, I get customers asking me about the so-called pop-ups popping up on their computers and whether it is OK for them to do what it says or ignore it? Unfortunately, a lot of them click on the "Update Later" button and continue their business. I don't recommend this at all because the computer is not secure when this is done. There are a few updates you need to worry about and keep up to date. The most important one is the Windows Updates from Microsoft, next is your Anitvirus software, Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader, and last but not least is the updates for Java.

Windows Update:

Usually, windows updates on it's own then, when you shutdown the PC, it installs the updates. Sometimes, when you turn the PC back on, it finishes installation of the updates as well. Sometimes, because of the time Windows is set to install the updates, the updates do not get installed automatically. This is usually because the PC is off or on standby during the time Windows is scheduled to install the updates. If this is the case, you have to manually install the updates yourself. To do that, follow these steps:

In your notification area (formally known as System Tray before Vista), you should see an icon which looks like this:

That little icon circled in red is Windows Update telling you it may be downloading updates, installing updates, or just letting you know there are updates available for you to download and install.

Single-Click on that icon (Click once using the left mouse button). A window similar to the one below should come up.

Click on the circled button "Install Updates" to install the available important updates.

The window should then look like the one shown below:

You can minimize the window and do other things while Windows Update is running in the background doing its thing or you can leave it the way it is until it is finished. It's up to you. When the updates are finished installing, you will get this window shown below:

That is telling you the updates are installed. You can click the red "X" to close that window because it's finished. Sometimes, it will say to restart computer to continue installing the updates. If it says that, save your work from your currently opened programs and click "Restart Computer" to restart and have Windows finish installing the updates.

That's all there is to it! If you get stuck or have any other questions, feel free to let the Dragon know!

Antivirus:

Most of the time, your Antivirus software updates on it's own. There are some instances when it does not. Because of the the many types of Antivirus software out there, I can't discuss how to update each one through here. If you would like to know if yours is up to date and would like some instruction on how to update it, send me an email and I'll assist you that way.

Adobe Flash:

Taken  from Adobe's site: "Adobe® Flash® Player is a cross-platform browser-based application runtime that delivers uncompromised viewing of expressive applications, content, and videos across screens and browsers."

Know what Adobe Flash Player is now? I didn't think so! To explain that in simpler terms, the application is used within a web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, etc.) to display multimedia content such as games and video. You need  Adobe Flash to display videos on Youtube, for example.

Because of the popularity of Adobe Flash and how it's used, security vulnerabilities arise so Adobe has to update the application. You may have been seeing a window pop up from Adobe telling you there is an update available for Adobe Flash. It looks like the window below:

Instead of clicking on the "REMIND ME LATER" button like I know a lot of you do, click on the "INSTALL" button circled in red. After you click "Install," it will only take about thirty seconds to install the update. If you are using Firefox as your web browser, you need to close the browser to continue the install process. That's it. Install it and be done with it. Better safe and secure than sorry.

Adobe Reader:

Adobe Reader is a program used to view and print PDF files. A PDF file is explained as this, taken from Adobe's site: "Portable Document Format (PDF) is the global standard for capturing and reviewing rich information from almost any application on any computer system and sharing it with virtually anyone, anywhere." Basically, you can view a PDF on any computer (and also on most newer smart phones) and it will look exactly the same on that computer, no matter if it's running Windows, Mac, or Linux. It will also print the same as it looks on screen.

Just as with Adobe Flash Player, security vulnerabilities are found in Adobe Reader as well, which are patched in the updates. 

Because Adobe Reader is created and maintained by the same company as Adobe Flash, the updates for this is very similar and need not be explained again here. If, for some reason, you do get stuck on figuring out how to update it, send the Dragon an email and let him know. 

Java:

Java is similar to Adobe Flash in a way in that it's mostly used within web browsers, mainly on game sites such as pogo.com and Yahoo! games. There are some software for Windows out there which are programmed  with Java to run using Java. The programs are usually pretty small in size.

If there is a Java update available, Java will let you know by placing an icon in the notification area like the one below circled in red.

It's a picture of a coffee cup with coffee steam coming out of it, java to be exact! Ha! When there is an update available, it will say so in that white box where the text is. Left click on the icon once to open the Java update window. You will see a window like the one shown below.

Click "Install" which is circled in red show above. You will then get this window shown below.

Now, before you all go rushing to click "Next" like a lot of people do, look at that small square with the check mark in it I circled up there. See it? Do you see what it says next to that check box? It says: "Install the Yahoo! Toolbar." It even shows a nice picture of the toolbar in that window too. Pretty little thing, isn't it? If you just rush along and click "Next," that lovely little toolbar will install and the next time you open your web browser, you'll say, "How the heck did that toolbar get up there? I don't want it there nor did I install it!! How do I make it go away?!!" Well, you did install it without realizing it by NOT unchecking that little check box circled above. If you feel you want that toolbar and use Yahoo! then more power to you. Here are a few reasons I have against this and other toolbars:

They always have some way of installing sneakily on people's computers without them realizing it. I have gotten many customers who had up to four or more toolbars on their web browser and they, not only wondered how the toolbars got there, but also wondered why their web browser took forever to open. Also, they decrease your browser viewing real estate. This will force you to scroll down a page more than without the toolbar.

Now, don't get me wrong. There are some good reasons one may want to use a toolbar and I'm all for that. I've just decided, after explaining more than I wanted to about toolbars in this blog post, I will make separate post solely on toolbars themselves; what they are, the popular ones, and the benefits of using them.

Now, back to the Java update. If you do not want that Yahoo! toolbar, uncheck the check mark in the check box by single clicking on it to remove the check. Then click "Next."

You will then get the window shown below saying it's installing Java.

Wait about a minute for the install to complete. When it completes, this window will appear:

Click "Close" and you are done. That's all there is to installing the Java updates.

This concludes how to install the most important updates on your computer. Doing this will prevent a lot of computer issues from occurring in the future. If you have been keeping your computer up to date and run into an issue, then it's time to give the Dragon a call to get it taken care of and have him give you some pointers to prevent that issue from happening again.

I hope this has answered many of your questions about those pesky "pop-ups" all of you have been getting on your computer from time to time. They pop up for a reason and those reasons have been explained above. If any of you get a different pop up and have no idea what it is and where it came from, let me know so I can look into it for you and possibly add that one to a future blog post on pop-ups.

Stay tuned for more blog posts coming again soon,

Dragon