Show Notes from the WHO Radio Wise Guys

The WHO Radio Wise Guys
Brian Gongol

Here are a few suggestions for getting better help when you're dealing with tech support:

Understand that the first person who will answer your call is probably only trained to handle basic questions and problems. Remember that basic issues are probably 75% of all calls to tech support, so if your question is a little more complicated, keep in mind that you're an exception to the rule.
Think of the person on the other end of the line as a person. They might try your patience, but they're still people -- even if they aren't native speakers of English. And if you try to approach them in the right way, you may have a better chance of getting the service you want. Remember your mother telling you that you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?
Document, document, document. If you don't get the kind of help you want, write a clear letter of complaint. Tell them exactly what's wrong, exactly what you tried to do about it, and exactly what you want them to do to make you happy. It's always preferable to deal with a customer who's willing to give you a chance to make things better than to deal with someone who just wants to be angry. If you give them a reasonable chance to make you happy, there's a much better probability that you'll get what you want.

Why are so many websites so hard to read? Probably because many of them were designed with print in mind.

If you want to get rid of those relentless political phone calls, tell them that your time is valuable. Want me to answer a survey? Send me money. You'd never believe how quickly that gets you off the lists.

If you didn't file for your share of the Microsoft settlement by midnight yesterday, unfortunately you're out of luck.

Drug companies are getting a lot of bad press these days, but at least one of them is laying off staff because they're not making much money.

Ross discovered ForwardedFunnies.com this week, which includes all kinds of forwards and jokes, conveniently graded on a G, PG, and R scale so you know how family-friendly they are.