A short and amusing tale of tech support...

[Duthomhas]

I guess it is true that the dumber you are, the smarter you think you are.

V: V joined

M: Where did my website go? https: Connection refused. 
   http: Displays the standard 'site doesn't exist' kind of page. 
   I cannot dial in via SCP. 

V: Hello Michael. My name is V and I am happy to help you.

snip (standard user validation stuff)

V: Which is the effected site?

M: Both. https://michael-thomas-greer.com is the main site -- I just 
   activated SSL today. https://michaelthomasgreer.com simply redirects 
   to the main site. Neither connect.

V: Let me check it, give me 4-5 minutes please.

M: Okay
 

about 20 seconds later...

V: Did anyone help you to write a code for your site?

M: No, I wrote it myself.

   The site worked fine earlier today, and works fine on my local 
   machine Apache server.

V: Okay, the you need to find the below path and you need to modify 
   one line from "http" to "https"

   This line is in "http"  A form with the action of 
   "http://www.google.com/search" exists in the source code of 
   the tested page.

   Please modify it to "https"

At this point I know that V is useless to me.

M: Not to be rude, but you clearly have no idea what you are talking
   about. Can I escalate to someone who can help me?

V: The issues for the ssl would be either the ssl is not enabled
   properly, or the padlock is not set up properly. But in your case,
   both are fine. I even cleared the server cache

   When I checked here, it is showing me to change a path.

Now I'm annoyed. V has ignored my request for escalation to a higher tier of technical support and is now lying to me.

M: That is a LINK to ANOTHER site. It has nothing to do with the
   ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED problem [provider] is serving me.

   Can I please speak with someone in a higher level technical
   support ring?

V: Sure, But  you will be getting the same solution from them,  I can
   see that the link that I have mentioned above exists in your source
   code.

   By checking that, I suggested you to modify it.

   I clarified with my higher team now, and I got the same answer.

M: O my goodness you guys are idiots. I'm done with you today.
  

To be clear: I am actually very happy with my hosting provider. I am not happy with some of their tech support people on the other side of the Earth.

The last time I talked with one of them (earlier today) she was very knowledgeable and helped me quickly. This time, though...
Just had to share.

In any case, whatever V did (clearing the server's cache?) fixed it. Thankfully.

[helios]

So they cache outgoing responses from the customer's server? Does that have any chance of working?

[Duthomhas]

LOL, looks like it, doesn't it? I have no idea. My pages use html includes for header and top-body stuff, but they don't use any other CGI, so IDK.