How many people does it take to fix a phone?

[nite_monkey]

How many people does it take to fix mms on a cell phone? Three!
One customer service, and two tech support.
Recently I had been having problems with my phone (pantech slate if you would like to know)
I couldn't send or receive any picture messages (mms)
Yesterday, I called AT&T and asked if they could help me out. I would like to point out that this is the first time I have ever called anyone for tech support on anything, so I had only heard about how bad tech support was. Now I know from first hand just how bad it can be.
I was on the phone for over an hour... but on the bright side, I got a nice picture of the tech support guy's desk phone. (He sent it to see if I could receive picture messages.)
So I first called the only number I could find from AT&T's website. I got to the customer support after about 8 minutes of listening to free music and ads. She wasn't much help, but I did get the tech support number from her, and then got transfered to the first tech support person. She was of no use, and said she was going to transfer me to the tech support... I thought she was tech support...(who was I just talking to then?) After a two minute wait, I got to the second tech support (the guy that gave me the free picture of the desk phone). This guy was pretty helpful. After making me load up the internet browser on my phone and goto the homepage to see if I could connect to the internet (which is bad, because I don't have a data plan on my phone) he finally did something on his end, and then said that he was going to send me a picture message to see if I could receive messages. That is when I almost crapped my pants, because I read out on the internet, that other ppl had the same problem as I had, and to fix it, they had to replace the phone. He then wanted to make sure I could send picture messages before he let me go. (that doesn't work verywell, because at my house, I get bad cell signal, so sending the mms took a looong time). So in the end, what ever he did, it fixed my phone, and now I can send and receive picture messages again.

The purpose of this story is just because I experienced my first tech support call, and I just had to share it with the world. If you want to share your first tech support story with me, that would be great. I am curious to hear some pretty funny/annoying tech support stories. (I love to read about random ones that I find on google)

[p3lb0x]

Hah, the wonders of tech support!

But actually, it only takes on person to fix a phone..... and his name is scancode

[nite_monkey]

lol, if only I knew his number I could have given him a ring and have my phone fixed in probably less than an hour.

[herneith]

Just buy a cheap  phone and use pay as you go cards.  Chuck the phone when it breaks down and purchase another one.  I've had a cheap phone for two years and it's still working.  You will not have to contend with customer services.  Mind you, I hardly use my phone.  I use it for purposes for brief communication such as meeting someone, calling a cab or for security reasons; potential emergencies.

[nite_monkey]

I can't really do that tho, because I don't pay for my phone.
I got the phone free with a new contract, and my dad pays the bill.
Plus, I don't really have problems with my phone much, that was the first time.

[SKesselman]

Just buy a cheap  phone and use pay as you go cards.  Chuck the phone when it breaks down and purchase another one.  I've had a cheap phone for two years and it's still working.  You will not have to contend with customer services.  Mind you, I hardly use my phone.  I use it for purposes for brief communication such as meeting someone, calling a cab or for security reasons; potential emergencies.

-herneith (April 14, 2009, 09:16 AM)

I'm getting close to doing this, it's just that if I did, I'd really have to admit that there is no hope for the $500 POS I have now.
I wouldn't even trust this thing to help me out in a jam, & isn't that the main purpose of a mobile phone, anyway?

For tech support, I have AT&T. This means I have to be sick in bed or something when I call, so I can nap during transfers (being on hold) to the next available agent.

I put off calling tech support for as long as humanly possible, no matter what the problem; it is almost as frustrating as the software/computer/phone itself.
Thankfully, I do not remember my first tech support call. 

[herneith]

Sell your phone to a business that refurbishes them and resells them or try and trade it in for a cheaper model with pay as you go cards.  I'm always getting fliers with refurbished phones and electronics.  Unless you need it for business purposes I don't see the need for some of these phones.  Usually if you use these Blackberries or other similar phones the company pays for them.  If that's the case then keep it.  Some of these phone are costlier than a computer! 

[SKesselman]

Sell your phone to a business that refurbishes them and resells them or try and trade it in for a cheaper model with pay as you go cards.  I'm always getting fliers with refurbished phones and electronics.

-herneith (April 17, 2009, 06:21 PM)

That's a great idea, thanks! Didn't know there were any businesses that bought used phones. 
Maybe I could sell my POS Treo, too!!! I'm sure they don't pay too much, but hey, one less unused object in my apartmentand and a few dollars wold be nice.

[herneith]

Just Google businesses which buy and resell refurbished phone.  They are in the appear to be infinite!