Complaint Review: Belkin Corporation

I'm having problems with the settings in my Belkin wireless router, and the answers weren't found in the user manual.

Upon inspection of the manual I found their tech support number and attempted to call.

My first call, I was on hold for 20 minutes before speaking to someone whose native language was obviously not english. She wanted my phone number, name, address, email address, and place of business...I'm guessing she meant job. I stopped at my name and refused to give her any more information.

She asked for the model number, so I gave it to her. She asked for the 'version' and I didn't know where it was. "Look on the box" she said. Well, I can't. The box got sent to the recycling center about a week after I got it, 6 months ago. "Look on the bottom of the router, it is on a small sticker". Nice try. No 'version' sticker, and I asked if there was anywhere else I could check.

She hung up on me.

I called back.

I got another non-native english speaker person, and she talked so fast with such a heavy accent, i kept having to ask her to repeat herself.

I again gave my name and phone number but refused any more information. I'm trying to get help for a router here, not apply for a mortgage. I told her my model number and explained how there is no version sticker, the box is long gone, and there has to be another place to find that information other than in those two places, oh and by the way, the first girl hung up on me.

She said she could fix my problems without the version and didn't know why the first rep got rude with me.

We start discussing the first problem (router not letting me change the time zone...error message saying the password needs to be longer than 3 characters, and i have no password set up), and she tells me that it is set by my time zone, that i can't change it. Well, how do i get my time zone to change when i keep getting the error message? She tells me again that I can't.

Ok, so here is the Captain Obvious question of the day: If I'm not supposed to be able to change the internal time zone on my router, then why do I have the (supposed) option to do so?

She didn't know, so she was going to transfer me to someone else.

I sat. The phone on the other end rang, and rang, and rang...10 minutes of ringing later (I do try to be patient) there was still no answer, so i hung up.

Never mind that I'm having other issues, and the time zone was just the first. Apparently THEY don't know how to run their product any better than anyone else does, and they will give you all these flashy buttons and settings but they don't do anything but sit there and look pretty.

I think in another 6 months when this router dies on me (my last two linksys routers only lasted for a year before they locked themselves up, and dont even think about calling linksys for tech support on a locked up router, they lock up because they are now out of date and linksys wants you to pay $35.99 - same cost as a new router - to talk to someone that will give you the code to unlock it) I'll be looking for a new company, that isn't belkin.

Ishme
topeka, Kansas
U.S.A.