Technology Challenges III: A Better Deal

As I outlined in my last post, I had software issues on my laptop.

The issue was related to Microsoft Outlook. For some reason, my junk mail filters were not working properly. I could never figure this issue out, even after spending hours of my personal time (a big no-no, I.e. the “Operational Black Hole”).

Also, reminders for appointments and tasks were not working properly. Neither of these issues is mission critical but they were a major annoyance. The straw that broke the camel’s back was a missed phone appointment.

Since my Outlook reminder feature was not working, the appointed hour for an important phone call slipped by and I missed this appointment. This was a major embarrassment and it could prove to be a potentially very costly screw up.

I decided to get both of these problems fixed. I called my on-call computer expert.

He tried to resolve both of these issues online by logging onto my laptop, but after 90 minutes, he finally gave up and said that I would have to reinstall Outlook. Well, that was $187.50 ($125 x 1.5 hours) down the drain. I could have installed Outlook without spending $187.50.

Frustrated, I went online to Google and typed in “Microsoft Office Outlook technical support.” Naturally, I got the Microsoft technical support website. This was $99 for each resolved issue. Since I had two issues, the cost would be $198--but at least I would get the issues resolved.

I was just about to sign up for this solution when I noticed another link for a company called iYogi. I clicked on the link and reviewed the iYogi website, looking for information about their service. I was intrigued with what I read. This service is subscription-based, and for a flat annual fee of $139, they provide unlimited technical support on any Microsoft Office software issue or any other computer software issues such as wireless configuration of a LAN small office network, computer optimization, etc.

I called the toll free number to discuss their service. It just seemed too good to be true. After a five minute discussion, I decided to try it out. After all, for $139, I could resolve my two Outlook issues and even have them optimize my laptop.

The experience was unbelievable.

Their technician spent nearly three hours troubleshooting the Outlook reminder issues and the junk email issue and fixed both of them. I will not bore you with the technical issues, but I will tell you that reinstalling Outlook would not have resolved the reminder issue because it was a corrupt Outlook database PST file, which a new installation would not have fixed.

I then requested that the technician optimize my laptop. All computers slow down after a period of time, and optimization improves their performance. The technician spent 45 minutes optimizing my laptop. It now runs 30% to 40% faster.

All of this for just $139.00--and I still have 364 days left on my unlimited technical support agreement. Is some other issue going to come up where I can pick up the phone 24/7 and have them resolve it for me?

Tune in for my next blog to learn what happened next.