My horrible ATI tech support call

[Lydokane]

Here is a transcript of my call to ATI's technical support. Unfortunately,
I didn't have a recorder going at the time so much of this is paraphrased
but I am being as unbiased as possible.

I go to ATI's website and get the number for tech support U.S.A.

I dial the number and the voice recording welcomes me to ATI Canada!?
Already a bad sign.


Operator: What is the nature of this call?

Me: I'm having problems with my video card install.

Operator: Have you registered it?

Me: Yes.

Operator: What is your name?

I give it to him. I hear the click-clack of a keyboard

Operator: OK, you have the Radeon Powercolor 9800 Pro?

Me: Yes.

Operator: What kind of problems are you having?

Me: When I install the drivers the system fails to boot up then goes into
safe mode.

Operator: Do you have the latest drivers?

Me: Yes, I also have the latest 4 in 1 drivers for my motherboard as well
as the most current BIOS update.

Operator: Good. Did you install the drivers from the CD?

Me: At first yes then I also downloaded Catalyst 4.7 and the problem
repeats

Operator: Was your previous video on board video?

Me: No, I had a nVidia card but I made sure that all the old drivers were
removed through Add/Remove programs as well as using the Drive Clean
program. I have also since formatted and right now I have a fresh install
of Win XP. The problem still repeats.

Operator: What other hardware is installed on the machine?

Me: Just a networking card. Nothing else.

Operator: OK sir I'm going to give you a customer incident number. Please
refer to this number in all future communications regarding this problem.
Your number is -------. I am now going to transfer you to a Sr. Tech,
please hold.


This has been the most intelligent and hopeful part of my call to tech
support. I wait on hold for about 1 - 2 minutes.

Sr. Tech: (Thick Indian accent) Hello this is ------. What wsioeh ehthqhb
hgehaoipe hao.

Me: What?

Sr. Tech: Your incident number sir.

Me: ---------

Sr. Tech: aueauioe is u;apo eope0934 problem?

Me: What?

Sr. Tech: What problem are you having?

Me: I can't get the card's drivers to install properly.

Sr. Tech: aiueo o2jo;i43 ofvop jlkavho 9600.

Me: Pardon me?

Sr. Tech: Your card… you have 9600?

Me: No, I have the Powercolor 9800 Pro.

Me: (Thinking to myself) 'Shouldn't he have this information?'

Sr. Tech: ATI card?

Me: What?

Sr. Tech: Is this ATI card?

Me: (Thinking to myself) 'What the ****!? Why else would I be calling ATI
tech support?"

Me: Yes.

Sr. Tech: woayope voi eopey numb?

Patience is quickly waning.

Me: What?

Sr. Tech: What is part number?

Me: Part number of what?

Sr. Tech: Of card. What is part number?

Me: I don't know. It is in the machine.

Me: (Thinking to myself) 'Am I talking to the ****ing janitor?'

Sr. Tech: Could oe/;ao eufu093 faole

Me: Excuse me?

Sr. Tech: Could you take out… of computer.

At this point all patience is gone, I am actually seeing red.

Me: Yeah, hold on.

I hang up. Wait five minutes. Call back.

New Operator: May I help you?

Me: Customer incident number -------.

New Operator: It shows here that you were just transferred to a Sr. Tech.

Me: Yeah, I couldn't understand half of what he was saying and I hung up.

New Operator: Oh… Um… let me transfer you to another tech.

I think she got the hint.

Sr. Tech: (American) Hello, how can I help you?

Me: Customer incident number ------.

Sr. Tech: You are having problems with a Radeon 9800?

Me: Yes. When I install the drivers and reboot the system the boot fails
and Windows goes into safe mode with vgasave service.

Sr. Tech: Have you updated your motherboard drivers?

Me: Yes and the BIOS as well.

Sr. Tech: Did you install the drivers from the CD?

Me: At first yes then I also tried the Catalyst 4.7. I also found the
recommended BIOS settings on your website. I have a fresh install of
Windows XP and no on board video. And, I also downloaded the latest
Hyperion 4 in 1 drivers.

Sr. Tech: Hmmm…

Long pause.

Me: The only thing that I haven't yet tried is to use a set of earlier
drivers. I have heard of people having limited success by using older
drivers.

Sr. Tech: Do you have another machine that you can test this card in?

Me: No but I don't think it is a bad card. This is the second card I've
tried and the results are always the same.

Sr. Tech: It could be a bad batch.

Me: I doubt it. The first card came from a retailer in California and the
second card came from a retailer in Indiana.

Sr. Tech: OK, I'm sending you a link to a set of an earlier version of the
drivers to see if that helps. But, without having a second machine to test
the card we can't really pinpoint any problems.

Me: (Thinking to myself) 'What, am I supposed to do, rush out and buy a
whole new machine just for the purpose of testing this damn card?'

Sr. Tech: I'm going to keep this report open and if the older drivers don't
help, don't hesitate to call back. OK?

Me: Yeah, I'll give it a try.

Sr. Tech: Thank you for purchasing ATI.

We hang up.

Now I have to ask, why didn't the tech ask me to poke around my machine and
look for anything I might have overlooked or not be aware of? For instance,
the first thing a friend of mine asked is if there were any IRQ conflicts.
At a very early point there was but I took care of it. Why didn't the tech
have similar concerns? Maybe the tech felt I had covered all my bases.
But, I can't help but think that the tech either just wasn't trained very
well and didn't know what to ask or just didn't care very much (I was
calling at the end of the business day). I just think that ATI could and
should do a little better in the Technical Support department. ATI should
be aware by now that there are unsolved issues with their drivers. I have
done a lot of research and I am not the only one who has had problems
getting an ATI card to work properly. They should stick with a problem
until it is solved or an RMA has to be issued but don't dump a set of
drivers on the customer and terminate the call

I know that some of you die hard ATI proponents might have a few irate words
to say about this post but I'll bet none of you had to call tech support to
get your card working either.

Respectfully,

-Lydokane-

 

[JTS]

Nothing like connecting to pure computer geniuses!!

 

[Ben Pope]

Nothing like connecting to pure computer geniuses!!

Hehe, well, I doubt they could afford me

Ben

 

[Kev]

Powercolor have drivers?

 

[First of One]

You have a Powercolor-branded card and ATi even made an attempt at helping
you?

 

[Lydokane]

I don't know if you would even call it an attempt. I'd hate to see how they
treat the customers that they REALLY don't like.

-Lydokane-

 

[Ben Pope]

I don't know if you would even call it an attempt. I'd hate to see how
they treat the customers that they REALLY don't like.

OK, I'll paraphrase your conversation too:

You: Hi, I have a card that you didn't manufacture. And it has a problem.

blah, blah, blah...

You: The only thing that I haven't yet tried is to use a set of earlier
drivers. I have heard of people having limited success by using older
drivers.

Sr. Tech: Do you have another machine that you can test this card in?

You: No but I don't think it is a bad card. This is the second card I've
tried and the results are always the same.

blah, blah

Sr. Tech: OK, I'm sending you a link to a set of an earlier version of the
drivers to see if that helps. But, without having a second machine to test
the card we can't really pinpoint any problems.

You: (Thinking to myself) 'What, am I supposed to do, rush out and buy a
whole new machine just for the purpose of testing this damn card?'

Sr. Tech: I'm going to keep this report open and if the older drivers don't
help, don't hesitate to call back. OK?

You: Yeah, I'll give it a try.


So they gave you a link to earlier drivers, at your request, even though
they should have told you to piss off (since it's a Powercolor card and ATI
only support ATI branded cards), then happily said feel free to call back if
you have further problems.

Also, instead of going out and buying a new computer, could you not find
maybe a friend with a computer to temporarily test it, or have you alienated
them all by getting pissed off, demanding help they have no obligation to
give, and then flaming them when they do help?

Perhaps your PSU is crap. (voltages please)

Perhaps your RAM is crap or overclocked (memtest86+ test please.)

Ben

 

[Lee Waun]

OK, I'll paraphrase your conversation too:

You: Hi, I have a card that you didn't manufacture. And it has a problem.

blah, blah, blah...

You: The only thing that I haven't yet tried is to use a set of earlier
drivers. I have heard of people having limited success by using older
drivers.

Sr. Tech: Do you have another machine that you can test this card in?

You: No but I don't think it is a bad card. This is the second card I've
tried and the results are always the same.

blah, blah

Sr. Tech: OK, I'm sending you a link to a set of an earlier version of the
drivers to see if that helps. But, without having a second machine to test
the card we can't really pinpoint any problems.

You: (Thinking to myself) 'What, am I supposed to do, rush out and buy a
whole new machine just for the purpose of testing this damn card?'

Sr. Tech: I'm going to keep this report open and if the older drivers don't
help, don't hesitate to call back. OK?

You: Yeah, I'll give it a try.


So they gave you a link to earlier drivers, at your request, even though
they should have told you to piss off (since it's a Powercolor card and ATI
only support ATI branded cards), then happily said feel free to call back if
you have further problems.

Also, instead of going out and buying a new computer, could you not find
maybe a friend with a computer to temporarily test it, or have you alienated
them all by getting pissed off, demanding help they have no obligation to
give, and then flaming them when they do help?

Perhaps your PSU is crap. (voltages please)

Perhaps your RAM is crap or overclocked (memtest86+ test please.)

Ben

Well put. I was wondering why he took his powercolor card and asked ATI to
help him. He should be calling powercolor to help him since he was too cheap
to buy a ATI card he should not expect them to help him.

 

[Ben Pope]

Well put. I was wondering why he took his powercolor card and asked ATI to
help him.

So was the Senior Tech, if you read the original conversation. At which
point the OP lied and said it was an ATI card.

Ben

 

[First of One]

Have you tried Powercolor tech support? Is the company even based in North
America? Any chance of calling them on a toll-free number and actually
getting to talk to a human?

 

[Lee Waun]

So was the Senior Tech, if you read the original conversation. At which
point the OP lied and said it was an ATI card.

Ben

That is low. I have a built by ATI card and the quality shows. I could have
saved 40 dollars buying one of the powered by ATI cards but I want the ATI
warranty. No problems with this ATI 9800pro and none with my old ATI 9500
card. I had that one for almost 3 years.

 

[STE]

Here is a transcript of my call to ATI's technical support.
Unfortunately, I didn't have a recorder going at the time so much of
this is paraphrased but I am being as unbiased as possible.

<entertaining story snipped>

I rarely ever bother calling tech support, it's usually a frustrating
waste of time.
A bit of research on the internet is much more likely to yield results,
and if you are not confident/competent to do that, your computer is
probably a hotbed of conflicts, spyware, background tasks, and all sorts
of shit. And what chance have tech support got dealing with a problem in
those circumstances? Less.

I don't mean to sound arrogant, but the myth of computers being easy and
intuative to look after is just marketing bullshit.

Besides, support is quite a drain of resources for a company, and the
turn around of staff in support centres is well documented, so as soon
as they get competent off they go looking for a new job anyway.

The book "Bad Software" is an interesting treatment of the subject of
support:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...9182/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_10_8/026-2698483-0084467

 

[Ben Pope]

That is low. I have a built by ATI card and the quality shows. I could
have saved 40 dollars buying one of the powered by ATI cards but I want
the ATI warranty. No problems with this ATI 9800pro and none with my old
ATI 9500 card. I had that one for almost 3 years.

Indeed. However, they pretty much all use the reference design from ATI.
It has also been suggested that ATI get Sapphire to make ATI cards.

I have a Crucial, and am led to believe it's a rebadged Sapphire (literally,
pulling off the Crucial sticker on the fan reveals a Sapphire badge!)

Thats not to say that manufacturing and component choice cannot make a HUGE
difference to reliability, of course it can. For the sake of a few quid I
think I'll go Sapphire (since they pretty much do the whole product line and
are clearly the preferred European distributor for ATI).

Ben