Via NYT
My father, who at 83 is no technophobe and has a better computer system than we do, says it is not age that makes him reluctant to try new or improved gadgets, but the inability to get fast, efficient responses to queries.
A recent e-mail problem, he told me, took about four hours to clear up — the first two hours on the phone to someone who fouled things up even more, and the next two hours with another “technician” to straighten it out. “And that’s not the exception,” he said. “I’ve spent as much as 10 continuous hours, including holds, to work out a problem.”
Maybe, as we all get older, more cranky and even less willing to spend precious hours with unsupportive “support,” companies will realize that we do not need yet another feature on our cellphone or high-definition television, but rather a helpful and knowledgeable human at the other end of the phone when things inevitably go wrong.