phone support

Take notes during tech support calls to keep your provider accountable

1:06PM Sarah Stokely | While many call centres these days record support calls, it can help you to keep them accountable (and keep track of your account details) if you keep notes on any support calls you make.You don’t need a word-by-word transcript, but here are some basic facts you can note down: the date and time of your call the name of the operator  any specific details related to your call such as dates, times, or payment amounts discussed if they say anything which seems odd or wrong to you, make note of it. For example, a staffer at one ISP told me it didn’t matter what phone provider I used, I’d be able to get their internet regardless. It seemed odd, and sure enough, when I rang back the next day to connect, I was told that I had to be with Telstra or a Telstra wholesaler to get their service. Having these notes to hand can make any followup support calls much easier for you and the company you’re calling. My other advice is to ask questions to clarify anything complex, and repeat it back to them. Saying “So if I understood you correctly, the situation is…” can help make sure you’re both on the same page. More »

Track Down Whoever Keeps Calling with 800Notes

1:00AM Kevin Purdy | US-centric: Tired of getting phone calls from the same 800-type phone number, but have no idea who’s calling? 800Notes, a free user-submitted reverse phone directory, lets you see who might be ringing, whether it’s a sales firm, debt collection agency, or other cloaked caller. Whether or not you find a match depends on if anybody else has reported the identity of the caller, but many of the matches have useful information, like a caller’s experience in trying to get the other end to stop calling. For those who’ve recently changed numbers or seem to attract false debt collection calls, it’s definitely worth a bookmark for when Google searching fails. 800Notes [via MakeUseOf.com] More »