[rachelbythebay]

No, I’m the one missing something. It tends to make people assume I don’t know what’s up technically.

Based on your experiences, I am going to assume you are not in the same situation. You will likely have better results for an otherwise identical request.

Have a good day.

[haihaibye]

I've never had technicians be sexist to me but they've definitely been condescending and think I don't know what I'm talking about.

They didn't refuse you service, because you never explicitly asked. I think if you just said "please just take my money and replace the battery like I ask" they almost certainly would have.

[slownews45]

I actually have had people be condescending to me as well. I've found it simplest to just say - sounds great! Could we try X first? I'll pay. Oh, that worked, cool!

Even better, if it doesn't you haven't annoyed someone too much who now has to do the fix they suggested.

Flip side - union workers at some telecom co's are hilarious -

me: "why are you here?" them "I don't know, they told me to roll the truck." me: "OK - but this is a software thing and they fixed it online yesterday?" them "OK - I'll sit in my truck for 2 hours reading. Can I run some diagnostics after that so it logs my visit as a success?" me: "Sure!"

Reality though - I love that they actually send someone - because then if it is not fixed yet it tends to get fixed if their guy is sitting there!