Hi, With all due respect I find this account somewhat confusing. It is unclear whether you were researching providers of this sort of service or something other. Either way I can’t fathom why you’d call any number that would be offered to you via a pop-up. And given that both Microsoft and Apple both have help desks offering support to those with vision impairments using assistive technology why one wouldn’t start there when seeking a resolution is beyond me. Either way I hope post incidents all security scans turn up normal and that there’s no other nefarious activity associated with your accounts. Robin
From: Bill Outman Sent: Friday, August 11, 2017 7:04 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: Word of caution, remote computer repair Good evening. I realize this may not be strictly on topic, but it’s an issue we could face with our technology. This applies no matter what operating system our technology is using, or no matter whether we are in the U. S. or overseas. Having remote repair and tech support is an attractive idea, but it is frought with operators who are less than top flight in their business dealings, even if their work has technical merit, or in some cases are outright fraudulent. The company I dealt with last weekend appears to fall into the former category, but was such that they missed a chance to earn my trust and money. It all started Saturday when doing a Google search on my Windows laptop, which had been giving me difficulty with crashes during the last couple months and had been sluggish for a good while. I got a pop up directing me to call Ms Tech Support at a certain toll free number, but when I called it turned out to be an independent firm called Itech Services, also going by, I found out later, by the name Agile. They said they were both MS and Apple certified techs. They then aggressively sold me into a tech support contract and took a larg lump sum payment for everything before doing the repairs, entailing malware removal, correction of application errors and firewall installation. These seemed to go smoothly, though the attention to accessibility was rather lacking, and they left my email disabled the first time, requiring a Sunday session with them. While giving me an invoice with the basics of the transaction, they did not provide contract terms or fully document their work for me so I could have it double checked both for quality and fair market value. During the follow up they were unclear about their location, saying they were headquartered in Virginia, but not specific about where and immediately saying email and phone were the only available contacts. They also couldn’t clearly explain the law for data protection they said they operate under. All of this is to say that all these factors broke trust to the point it negated their potential work quality and trustworthyness. So I sent them a cancellation email yesterday detailing the types of problems I’ve listed here, went to my bank to put in a claim on them, and got a temporary credit to my account. Today Itech called back and I further explained my reasons for cancellation, and eventually got an agreement for a full refund, though at first they wanted to retain the technician charge. I said though their other issues had negated the value. The rep I spoke to today didn’t seem at first to understand fully my objections, saying that the more detailed information I wanted had been sent to me, perhaps I hadn’t checked my email. I said no, all I had gotten was the follow up emails and the digital signature message. He also dodged around my objection that they said in the pop up they were MS Tech Support, which was the original sin, focusing on the idea the phone number was localized. While it isn’t a problem in itself, everyone I had spoken to during my dealings with them spoke English as a second language, though using American names,and I noticed some of the emails had portions that were not standard American English, though signed under an American sounding name from the customer service department. If they had been better at adhering to what should be standard business practice, especially in this sensitive field, I may have been willing to negotiate with them. So while this appears to have not caused any serious harm, caution is clearly advised. Bill Outman Daytona Beach, fFlorida, U. S. A. I might have been willing to negotiate with them if they had been more above board, rather than sloppy and perhaps borderline illegal. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. 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