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Sat 2 Jul, 2016 12:32 am
Is anyone else having to spend large chunks of their life studying the unreadable owners' manuals, trying to figure out some Windows detail, or software that does not work; or new hardware/gadgets that won't work? How about holding on the phone to get Customer Service (more than one corporation each day, usually for me), when no option for a call back, and no indicator of how many minutes to hold? How about calling Amtrak for schedules, and having "thirty nine people ahead of you" on thIs anyone else having to spend large chunks of their life studying the unreadable owners' manuals, trying to figure out some Windows detail, or software that does not work; or new hardware/gadgets that won't work? How about holding on the phone to get Customer Service (more than one corporation each day, usually for me), when no option for a call back, and no indicator of how many minutes to hold? How about calling Amtrak for schedules, and having "thirty nine people ahead of you" on the phone? But let me say also that some companies – Amazon and Netflix are shining examples – that have beautifully competent and free customer service. Some companies even have 24/7 customer service. So my question to the universe is, "Is this just 'something I have to live with', that about 20% of my life is going to spent on figuring out, talking on the phone, etc for the incompetent policies of these corporations - such as not hiring enough people to field calls in a timely manner? Or maybe saving money by hiring less-competent programmers? And we all know by now, that companies and inventors do "beta testing," I think it's called, where they sell -- YES, SELL -- brand new inventions to unsuspecting customers -- when the company is USING the customers as their testing process. And how about some – not all! – of the customer service people who know nothing about the situation you are calling about, hold you on the line for an hour talking about things and repeating processes and getting nowhere?e phone? So my question to the universe is, "Is this just 'something I have to live with', that about 20% of my life is going to spent on figuring out, talking on the phone, etc for the incompetent policies of these corporations - such as not hiring enough people to field calls in a timely manner? Or maybe saving money by hiring less-competent programmers? And we all know by now, that companies and inventors do "beta testing," I think it's called, where they sell -- YES, SELL -- brand new inventions to unsuspecting customers -- when the company is USING the customers as their testing process. And how about those responsible for denying training to some – not all! – of the customer service people and then putting them on the phones when they know little or nothing about the situation you are calling about, hold you on the line for an hour talking about things and repeating processes and getting nowhere?
@Marian42,
It is supremely frustrating, and you are not alone. I have no solutions.
I have often thought that instructions for electronic gizzerblinkers were written for people who already knew how to use them.
I must be lucky; I generally get on all right with gadgets. if the manual does not help (sometimes they aren't clear) then a sensibly formulated Google search turns up the answer. Yesterday I wanted to find out how to record my cat's meow and use it as the alarm tone for my Android phone. Took me about 3 minutes. The hard part was persuading the cat to 'speak'.
@Marian42,
You're not doing it right.
Seriously, and I'm sorry if that sounds flip.
You need to search for online solutions or chat. For example - Amtrak. I (no exaggeration) contact them every single month. Their online system is rather good. You can buy or change tickets and you can check train status. That is what most people need to do. The only time I ever call them is if I want a partial refund for a delayed train. And, while I have them on the phone, I make the next reservation, thereby leveraging my wait time.
Same with customer service. You usually don't need it. Look for FAQs online, or YouTube demos. Only use customer service when the FAQ is absolutely useless (or YouTube fails you) and/or you want a refund, because dealing with money usually means dealing with a person.
This is how I learned to use Adobe Premiere - YouTube videos. I don't even know if there is an owner's manual for it.
Seriously. Look for online solutions and stop calling people and spending your life on hold, and stop reading manuals which are mainly written as exhibits for lawsuits.
@Marian42,
Mar I've been criticized for the suggestion, and no offense; but but you might get more response by 1. dividing logically into paras (separated by carriage returns); by 2. summarizing the probs as well your q's
@dalehileman,
3. not SHOUTING in capital letters.
@jespah,
Hello jespah and all, I missed all your posts - guess I didn't get subscribed to my thread! jespah, you are recommending several solutions that work for you. They don't work for me, and you know why? I don't have the vocabulary to understand what these people are talking about. There is a psychological term/condition called Cognitive Dissonance. That means that if a person has a deeply held belief, and something comes into their life that is counter their belief, they CANNOT accept the new situation because to do so would cause extreme emotional pain. In my case, I call the electronic/technical world immersion we are mostly all in, Cultural Dissonance. It's the same thing as culture shock. I'm in culture shock. My world view, the deeply held belief, is that language is for communication. I find that in many of the technie world situations - phone support, chat, email, google explanations, and whatever else since I refuse to learn how or to participate in texting, facebook, twitter or any of these other new type things -- I'm in culture shock because the people and machine that try to "talk to" me do not use the same language I do. I have already had to learn a lot of new communication styles in my life. Remember when we used to say "Don't do..." or "Go here...and here.." and now we have to say, "It would be a good idea to...."? And if one actually uses direct language it's considered a rude imposition? That's unless you are in law enforcement, which I was for a short while as an assistant in a wilderness park. The head ranger told me to speak plainly and directly, not to use the flowery language I had spent years learning to use. I told him that I'd been criticized for not speaking feminine. He said, "not here."
@dalehileman,
Hi Dalehilman, yeah, what you are saying is part of my frustration. It seems like a lot of people can't interpret. This is part of the "newspeak" I am being forced to learn. Summarizing. As for paragraphing, that's a good idea except a lot of programs do not allow carriage returns/enter, and will erase what I've written if I try to paragraph. I'm good at paragraphing -- we started training in paragraphing in 3rd grade in 1951, and all the way through high school. I'm a semi-professional, published writer.
@Tes yeux noirs,
I don't know if all caps for emphasis is considered shouting. Many people only consider all caps shouting if it's a whole post. A lot of programs/sites do not have capability for italics, underline, or bold, so all caps is the only way for emphasis. I don't know, but maybe this is a gender thing. A lot of women use a lot of voice inflection, and that is what I am writing when I use all caps for a few words. I learned it from a black woman poet.
@Marian42,
Quote:I'm a semi-professional, published writer
Well Mari, surprise, so am I (or so consider myself) tho don't know just how prof
Also was an electronics type. "Was" 'cuz at 85 I haven't kept up. So as Rog says you're not alone by any means; a2k fulla experts of every sort
A2k paras okay and even allows return 'tween. Lazy bastards in the crowd (me) skip the OP with long para
Anyhow welcome
Shouting okay
@Marian42,
Here ya go: Amtrak schedules:
https://www.amtrak.com/train-schedules-timetables
No flowery language. No fat.
Again, I put it to you - you aren't looking. You are assuming things are going to be impossible to understand.
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