Often times sales people struggle with rejection and their own self-esteem. They often struggle to find ways of gaining respect for themselves so they can continue to cope with rejection. I think it is part of human nature, I understand your point, but the reality is that many sales people can not function without "demanding" respect. There are exceptions of course, but don't judge everyone's weaknesses by those who are strong.

The problem is that most of the tech support people are sitting in a call center in India and all they are doing is looking through a computer database of problems and solutions. If you're tech savy at all, you would have already been looking at the same information on the manufacturer's website. If the solution is not there, then you are stuck. It sucks, because you cannot ask the tech support person a real question and get a real answer, its just a canned response that is unhelpful.

I agree. I've been on both ends of those calls, and knowing the skill level of the customer is vital. It would also help to measure your staff's performance, as certain calls take a LOT longer than others, when the users knows very little.