I think almost constantly about the degree to which technologies such as e-mail, chat, and instant messaging have changed our lives, and wonder whether the changes are a net positive or not. Today I needed a new keyboard for one of my machines, so I thought, I’ll try the vendor warranty support chat line to see whether it’s any faster than hanging on the phone and speaking with a helpful representative from India reading from a script from which he Must Not Deviate Under Any Circumstances.
I hop on to the vendor website, computer service tag at hand, and navigate to the chat page. I am informed that I am #2 in the queue. It takes 4 minutes to get to the “next in queue” position, and 3 minutes more to reach “Eric,” who seems to be an actual human. OK, 7 minutes to get to a human is not too terrible. I explain the hardware issue, provide the service tag number, and make my request for a replacement keyboard. It takes 4 minutes for Eric to determine that my machine is in warranty. (Gee, that only took me thirty seconds on the Web. Is my access better than his? More likely, he’s juggling multiple customers at once.) Next I’m told that I have to send the machine in for the repair. I reply that no, I’d rather just receive the part and install it myself. He says OK; but why wasn’t I offered that option in the first place?
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