Is it any indications of poor programming if the support staff for a given product requires you to clear the cookies in order to troubleshoot issues with their web-site?
As a point of example, if you’re trying to activate a new SIM on a tablet, and the carrier’s activation web-site is giving you an error message that their web-site is down, even though there is no problem with actually accessing their web-server, which responds with the our-website-is-down page just fine.
Subsequently, the support staff instructs the user to try clearing the cookies (even though this activation web-site is not know to have been accessed prior to the error message taking place).
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It’s just an example of tech support not knowing a lot about computers. I’ve had similar experiences with our tech support suggesting to customers that they turn of virus scanners, for instance. It’s very much a cargo cult, driven by a business desire to keep expenses down.
As a customer, it’s therefore a sign to avoid that company. They will be saving on QA too.
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If the user’s expectations is correct and the actual result is different then there’s a bug by definition.
You’re conflating programming with technical support. They’re not the same. Troubleshooting means identifying the problem and hopefully fixing it. If you’re calling tech support to register a SIM do you really care what the bug is or do you want to register your SIM? Tech support is trained to solve the problem and get you on your way, not debug the code.
Furthermore, you’re equating the web site with the web application. A web site can be up (and serving you the error page) while the application that lets you register your SIM is down. Providing you an error message that says the application is down is a lot more useful than keeping you in the dark — you can for instance call and have them register the SIM manually.
The support staff in this case seems to be unaware that the web application is down and thus they are making you jump through hoops unnecessarily. A good principle in tech support is never to trust the user, but it’s also a good thing to think for yourself and not always blindly follow the script.
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