Showered With Support
Geez, so it comes down to me picking up the phone and talking to someone? Social action I don’t want. But more annoying, dealing with technical support in this age of anemic help over the telephone. A quick recap of how I got here. The diverter on our two-year-old shower column was stiff. When I say “stiff,” I mean you really had to reef on the knob to get it to turn past the detent positions for shower, tub fill, and massage. I was sure the cartridge inside was broken. Google’s AI assistant failed to help me figure out how to get to the cartridge. A call to the plumber who installed the shower column didn’t get this action off my to-do list either, when he said the unit was non-standard and he couldn’t get the replacement cartridges. He told me the column was likely still under warranty, and I should call the manufacturer. Hence, I had to talk to a stranger.
With trepidation, I dialed the number printed on the installation manual. After a short auto attendant message, I pressed the button to connect to technical support. To my surprise, I connected immediately. And to someone who spoke English. The support specialist asked me to explain my problem. I relayed what was wrong. He needed proof of purchase for the warranty. So he sent me an email that I could reply to with a copy of the purchase receipt. To my further surprise, he waited on the telephone until he’d received my return email. He then explained that I should remove the cartridge and inspect it. He sent me a video link that showed in clear steps how to remove the diverter cartridge from the shower column. To my continued surprise, he waited on the telephone to see if I had any questions while I watched the short video. It was self-explanatory. I said I’d give it a try. The goal was to remove the cartridge, soak it in vinegar to remove any deposits, and see it that fixed the problem. If it didn’t, he’d send me a replacement cartridge. He said he’d look for an update from me by the next morning, and we closed the telephone call.
I followed the video instructions and had the cartridge out in a few minutes. I popped it into a mug of vinegar. An hour later, I blew compressed air over the cartridge, attached the knob, and tried it out. No more binding! I reinstalled the cartridge and knob. It was as good as when the plumber first installed the shower column.
The next morning – Good Friday – I sent a follow-up email stating that the procedure had worked. I didn’t expect a reply until the following week. But within a couple of hours, I had a response from the support specialist to say he was pleased I’d resolved the issue.
Wow! That’s the standard of technical support we want: an actual human, responsive, and quick to follow up. I was delighted to resolve this issue easily. And if you happened to be a fly on the wall in our bathroom, you might even have noticed my wife popping in to turn the diverter, to relish the smooth-turning action we’d been missing lately.
