NightSurge
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- Fort Wayne, IN
Ok, so I went on vacation a few weeks ago to Kansas City. I stayed in a nice Comfort Inn that had wireless internet and in room LAN but was still free (wireless was only available in the lobby..). So I get to the room, unpack my things, set my laptop up on their desk (this is at 10PM, mind you) and plug in the ethernet cable.... What happens? Nothing. I get no connection, and when I try to repair it, I get "Could not connect to DNS." So I tried to release and renew my IP, that didn't work. Then I went down to the lobby to get a new cable since I had to give them a $20 deposit to take the cable in the first place (I would get the $20 back when I returned the cable). So, not only did they give me a new cable, but they gave me a number to call for their off site tech support and here is the conversation I had with him.
*Ring**Ring**Ring*
Lady: Hello, how can I help you?
Me: My internet isn't working for my room.
Lady: Ok can you tell me what hotel you are in?
Me: Comfort Inn on Parvin Road, Kansas City.
Lady: Ok thank you, one moment.
*Music while on hold for about a minute*
Man: Hi this is Roger (can't remember his name), how can I help you today?
Me: My internet isn't working in my room.
Roger: Ok, can you tell me what room you are in?
Me: 103.
Roger: Ok, so what seems to be the problem?
Me: Well, I plug in the ethernet cable to the wall jack and I get no internet. I try to repair the connection and I get an error that it can't connect to the DNS server.
Roger: Hmmmm. Ok, let me look this up.
*typing in the background as this dimwit probably searches some help thing or possibly even google*
Roger (whispering): Ok, so he can't clear the DNS cache... Looks like the cache is something that must be cleared on the laptop.
Roger (to me this time): It looks like you will need to take your laptop in and have the DNS cache cleared.
Me: I don't think that the issue is with my laptop. I had just been connected to the internet at home before I went on vacation and has never had any problems before.
Me (thinking to myself): This guy is an idiot! DNS is server related and is most likely an error with their network, NOT my laptop!
Roger: Hmmmmm... Ok, well it says here that you will need to clear your cache, but there are a few other things we can try.
Me: Ok, so what do I need to do?
Roger: Disconnect the cable from the laptop and the jack and replug it to make sure it is connected well.
Me: Ok. (in my mind I think... WOW genius, that's only like the first thing I tried!)
*fiddle with the cable for a few seconds*
Me: Ok still no internet.
Roger: Hmmmm... ok, try disconnecting the cable again, then restart your computer and reconnect the cable.
Me: Ok, one sec. (Why is it that every stupid techy's answer is "restart the PC"?)
*laptop restarts, I login, and try to connect the cable again*
Me: Still no internet.
Roger: Hmmmm... I guess we can try to restart the server.
Me: Ok, how long will that take (finally a plausible answer!)
Roger: Well, I just need to call into the hotel and have the staff there restart the server. We'll give you a call once it's done.
*click*
So I wait in my room for another 5 minutes and the lady from the front desk calls to tell me she just rebooted the server. Now this is the same lady that checked me in and gave me the ethernet cable. She's atleast 80 years old and would more than likely have NO idea what she was doing with a server. But I say thanks and hangup. I try the internet again.... nothing.
At this point it is 11:00PM and I am getting frustrated. I call the front desk and this time their only solution is to have me move rooms. SO I pack all my things and move to another room at 11 at night. Atleast the new room had a better smell and a fridge that worked.
I try the cable in the new room... nothing. At this point I just said screw it and went to the lobby in my pj's to use the wireless. And what do you know! The wireless works fine! So obviously there is just something wrong with their local network.
And now for my rant.... what ticks me off is that this "technician" I was talking to has no idea what he was doing!! I guarantee I could easily do his job and that I have atleast 10 times the knowledge and experience when dealing with computers and networks than he does! The sad thing is, that he probably makes more money than me too! I mean, I make decent money as a technician for my university, but seriously, if you are going to have overnight tech support PLEASE let them be competent and know what they are talking about! Maybe the genius hotel should hire a local technician so that they can get the internet fixed and not have to trust old lady's with server repairs! UGH!
I returned the cable next day and said the internet never worked. They said, "Maybe we need to get that guy in here to fix it again." No way! You think?
So the rest of my stay was wonderful, but anytime I needed the internet I had to leave the comfort of my room and walk downstairs to the lobby. Cmon, people... wifi isn't new! Get on board and spread that wireless network to the rest of the hotel! It won't even hardly cost more than 3 people's 2 night stay ($109 per night so roughly $600)....
But that's hotels for ya. And that's my rant. ENJOY!
*Ring**Ring**Ring*
Lady: Hello, how can I help you?
Me: My internet isn't working for my room.
Lady: Ok can you tell me what hotel you are in?
Me: Comfort Inn on Parvin Road, Kansas City.
Lady: Ok thank you, one moment.
*Music while on hold for about a minute*
Man: Hi this is Roger (can't remember his name), how can I help you today?
Me: My internet isn't working in my room.
Roger: Ok, can you tell me what room you are in?
Me: 103.
Roger: Ok, so what seems to be the problem?
Me: Well, I plug in the ethernet cable to the wall jack and I get no internet. I try to repair the connection and I get an error that it can't connect to the DNS server.
Roger: Hmmmm. Ok, let me look this up.
*typing in the background as this dimwit probably searches some help thing or possibly even google*
Roger (whispering): Ok, so he can't clear the DNS cache... Looks like the cache is something that must be cleared on the laptop.
Roger (to me this time): It looks like you will need to take your laptop in and have the DNS cache cleared.
Me: I don't think that the issue is with my laptop. I had just been connected to the internet at home before I went on vacation and has never had any problems before.
Me (thinking to myself): This guy is an idiot! DNS is server related and is most likely an error with their network, NOT my laptop!
Roger: Hmmmmm... Ok, well it says here that you will need to clear your cache, but there are a few other things we can try.
Me: Ok, so what do I need to do?
Roger: Disconnect the cable from the laptop and the jack and replug it to make sure it is connected well.
Me: Ok. (in my mind I think... WOW genius, that's only like the first thing I tried!)
*fiddle with the cable for a few seconds*
Me: Ok still no internet.
Roger: Hmmmm... ok, try disconnecting the cable again, then restart your computer and reconnect the cable.
Me: Ok, one sec. (Why is it that every stupid techy's answer is "restart the PC"?)
*laptop restarts, I login, and try to connect the cable again*
Me: Still no internet.
Roger: Hmmmm... I guess we can try to restart the server.
Me: Ok, how long will that take (finally a plausible answer!)
Roger: Well, I just need to call into the hotel and have the staff there restart the server. We'll give you a call once it's done.
*click*
So I wait in my room for another 5 minutes and the lady from the front desk calls to tell me she just rebooted the server. Now this is the same lady that checked me in and gave me the ethernet cable. She's atleast 80 years old and would more than likely have NO idea what she was doing with a server. But I say thanks and hangup. I try the internet again.... nothing.
At this point it is 11:00PM and I am getting frustrated. I call the front desk and this time their only solution is to have me move rooms. SO I pack all my things and move to another room at 11 at night. Atleast the new room had a better smell and a fridge that worked.
I try the cable in the new room... nothing. At this point I just said screw it and went to the lobby in my pj's to use the wireless. And what do you know! The wireless works fine! So obviously there is just something wrong with their local network.
And now for my rant.... what ticks me off is that this "technician" I was talking to has no idea what he was doing!! I guarantee I could easily do his job and that I have atleast 10 times the knowledge and experience when dealing with computers and networks than he does! The sad thing is, that he probably makes more money than me too! I mean, I make decent money as a technician for my university, but seriously, if you are going to have overnight tech support PLEASE let them be competent and know what they are talking about! Maybe the genius hotel should hire a local technician so that they can get the internet fixed and not have to trust old lady's with server repairs! UGH!
I returned the cable next day and said the internet never worked. They said, "Maybe we need to get that guy in here to fix it again." No way! You think?
So the rest of my stay was wonderful, but anytime I needed the internet I had to leave the comfort of my room and walk downstairs to the lobby. Cmon, people... wifi isn't new! Get on board and spread that wireless network to the rest of the hotel! It won't even hardly cost more than 3 people's 2 night stay ($109 per night so roughly $600)....
But that's hotels for ya. And that's my rant. ENJOY!
