Clouds / Corrales / Sunset / Trees

A Problem With Pryia

Timothy Price48 Comments

I started working on a post almost two hours ago. I was having trouble moving photos around. I tested my Internet speed, and while the download speed was normal for WiFi at 750 Mbps, my upload speed, which is normally 40 Mbps, was only 0.22 Mbps. I restarted my modem, but that didn’t help. I went to the troubleshooting bot, and it only tests download speeds, but after 30 minutes of doing whatever it does, the bot said it found some problems with my configuration, but couldn’t fix them and gave up.

I got back on and finally got on a live chat with Pryia after 15 minutes of typing “Chat with live person,” “Live chat,” “Real person” between the bot asking if I wanted to change my question. I told Pryia my problem, she tested my modem and said she had to reprovision my modem, add some new features to my service, and it would only cost me $10 a month more than I pay now. I said no, and she typed “let me explain for you…” I tried to explain why she needed to reprovision my modem and increase my monthly bill. I said no, again, and that I would check to see if there were any new services in the area I could switch to before I made a decision that would increase the monthly bill of my current service. Then I typed, “In the meantime, you need to fix my upload speed!”

She said she understood, changed her tone of writing, and asked how my day was going while she worked on the problem. I told her it was great until my upload speed went to hell and I couldn’t upload photos. In an attempt to appear nicer, she asked how my new year was, how my family was, how work was, etc., with all kinds of smiley and heart emojis. In the end, it took about 30 seconds for her to fix the problem. Why she couldn’t have simply done that from the start instead of giving a bunch of scammy BS trying to increase my monthly payments really pissed me off. After all that, I ran out of steam to post more photos.

48 thoughts on “A Problem With Pryia”

  1. The result of your shots are amazing if that’s any consolation, Tim but how frustrating. Do they have the finger emoji to send? 🖕🏽 Hope this is close enough to give you a laugh. You deserve it after a spam bot! 🤖

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  2. A relatable scenario that can deplete energy and resources. Seems to be standard operating practice. Your photos are lovely. Tomorrow will be a new day, hopefully void of internet issues.

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  3. Try arguing with the Verizon Bot with a compound question sometime (why is this event happening and who made this decision after the problem had been fixed the previous month). A person costs $10 unless you strenuously object to said person.

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  7. I had a similar situation with a bot and then (I think) a real person on a live chat the other day. I just wanted to pull my hair out!
    Nice photos and here’s to a better day tomorrow.

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  10. Sometimes I wonder whether the ‘real persons’ in these companies are actually real! They all have a default way of replying as if reading the same scripts no matter what they hear on the other side of the call. At least you got to speak with a ‘real’ person! I nearly smashed my computer or the phone several times while repeatedly asking to speak with a representative [real person] and getting the “Great, what is it you’re interested in?” to get on a never ending loop [even if I state why I’m contacting them!]! We’re living in the times of A.S. [Artificial Stupidity].

    Glad you managed to post these two shots for my daily dose!

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    • We are using the AI on Duolingo, and it’s very good. When I talk to Lily, she understands me and responds appropriately. The tech companies need to get their AI shit together and make it so their stupid bots can understand people and do what they are asked to do. If Duolingo’s AI can understand my bad Spanish and carry on an intelligent conversation with me, that means the same thing can be done with help desk bots. I don’t think the companies want to spend the money to make it work the way it could and should. Thanks, Marina.

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  11. I have to say this happens a lot to a lot of people. I always take revenge by going on Facebook and posting a scathing complaint or sending a DM in the same tone. I have complained to supervisors and left nasty responses to reviews. Every chance I get i tell them all the bot’s do is infuriate people. I’m old, retired and have time for it.

    From forcing the support people to tell me where they are I have learned that these people are mostly young, educated and in foreign countries where it’s the best job they can get. They are required to stick to a script, do anything to prevent disconnect and sell add-ons. They have quotas for everything and loose the job if they don’t meet them because there are plenty more like them waiting for a chance.

    I had a supervisor tell me I was the first person to say how the stupidity of the bots probably made their jobs worse because by the time they got the caller they were in a rage. He said there really is no sorting and the bot interrogation was an attempt to avoid sending callers to the center to keep down costs.

    Sorry to go on, it’s a pet peeve of mine on steroids. Pryia is not to blame, it’s the scum that has floated to the top who set it up this way, not the minions struggling at the bottom

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    • Thanks, Angela. I don’t have social media, so I can’t do the FB or Instagram shaming that often seems to get results. However, I did give them one star, they asked why and I let them have it. Will it make a difference? Probably not. But if we all keep after them, maybe they’l get the message.

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  13. Ugh! Growl! I’m sorry that happened to you, Tim. I’ve been through far, far too many similar Internet issues like that in the past four years… Yes, it really is exhausting. (My Internet has been even slower than usual for a couple of weeks — and that’s no matter which device I’m using. I had wondered if other providers were also being problematic.)

    However, these two photos are utterly gorgeous. Posting more would have only distracted from their beauty. I love the combination of the brilliant gold light against the muted colors. I hope you have a fabulous Friday. Hugs.

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  18. Ugh, I am so sick of any form of support these days, especially the ones fronted by absolutely worthless chatbots. As soon as a tech support weenie tells me to reboot my computer I demand to speak to someone that knows what they are doing. If they really piss me off I turn them over to Linda who will run them into the ground on any networking or security questions. I also find saying the name Starlink will immediately get you better and more cordial service when it comes to networking companies. By the way, got to see the Boca Chica launch last week – absolutely amazing.

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    • You understand the frustration. I know how people hate Apple, but I had an issue I couldn’t solve at work. I got on with an Apple tech, and when she couldn’t figure out the problem, she had a higher-level tech call me, who helped me solve the problem. The Apple techs were friendly, efficient, didn’t treat me like a dweeb, and understood that the reason I contacted tech support was because I had exhausted all the options I knew. The techs were pleasant and didn’t try to sell me anything. It was a nice experience for a change.

      That must have been fantastic to see the launch. Do you know why they launch rockets early in the morning? Back when they launched them around noon, they would count down, “2, 3, 1, launch!” and all the techs would go to lunch. Stupid joke by me, I couldn’t resist. Thanks, Brian.

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