Customer Service

I’m sure everyone has a tale of tedium while dealing with customer service. Here’s a run-down of my recent attempt to troubleshoot my new static IP address.

• Phoned Ihug technical support to find out what my static IP address was, and if I had to request that it be enabled (which I did).
• Noticed that the PPP connection on my modem/router was failing to be established. The DSL link was OK.
• Phoned Ihug again to ask for help. Checked settings: username, password, VPI, VCI, etc.; all OK. Anyway, it was all working yesterday. Ihug staff are not trained for my particular model of modem (Nokia M1122) (even though it was the only model available when DSL started here), so I was directed to Nokia customer services.
• Dialled the Nokia 0800 number I was given. Disconnected number!
• Dialed directory services and was given the correct Nokia 0800 number (1 digit out).
• Talked to someone from Nokia Asia support, who informed me that they only deal with Nokia phone products. They gave me the (again, wrong) 0800 number to try, and also a branch office number in Wellington.
• Called the Wellington Nokia branch number, only to find it was a residential number.
• Dialed directory services to confirm the Wellington number, and to find an Auckland Nokia branch number to try instead.
• Called the Auckland Nokia branch number, and navigated the menu system to “modem support”.
• This got me through to someone at DataComm, who informed me that they no longer do technical support for Nokia modems, and forwarded my call to another number.
• This got me to an identical sounding menu, but this time choosing the modem support option got me a “not in service” message.
• Called the Auckland Nokia branch number again, and opted to speak to an operator, who told me that Nokia no longer have anything to do with the modem business here, and that they no longer provide support for any modem products.
• Called Ihug technical support to tell them of my fruitless search. The support representative tried to find someone who knew something about the M1122, but couldn’t. They suggested I consult the user manual.

So, I don’t have any Internet access at the moment, but I feel I should do Nokia a favour and tell them about the wrong telephone numbers they are giving out. However, I believe the following M1122 command should help me determine whether the problem is with the ATM link:

atmping 0 100 segment
atmping 0 100 end-to-end

I will try these out when I get home.