Introducing myself....etc...
Jun. 1st, 2007 09:48 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
asbrand.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
techrecoveryGreetings! Just wanted to take the time to introduce myself, and give one of my own stories of "techsupport" hell. Found this community via a friend of mine (who I also happen to work at the same company with).
Some background on me: I am almost 40, married, kids, etc. I currently live in Atlanta (one of the suburbs, actually).
I work as a Network Engineer for a large ISP / Telephone / Cable company, who's name sounds very similar to those cloth things you put on your feet. ;-)
Before coming here a little over a year ago, I worked for HellSloth (figure that out) for 7+ years doing the same thing. Before that, I was a software installation tech for a Dental Insurance Claims Processing company. And before that, I was a desktop computer builder / tech at a little shop in Kingsport, Tennessee for about 4 years. I've been working in the "computer tech" industry since about 1993 or so, but been unofficially helping friends / family since the late 80's.
So...that's my background...now onto the amusing stuff...
(hope you guys get a kick outta this...I have plenty more from that shop....rednecks and computers make for funny stories!)
-Az
http://www.asbrand.com
Some background on me: I am almost 40, married, kids, etc. I currently live in Atlanta (one of the suburbs, actually).
I work as a Network Engineer for a large ISP / Telephone / Cable company, who's name sounds very similar to those cloth things you put on your feet. ;-)
Before coming here a little over a year ago, I worked for HellSloth (figure that out) for 7+ years doing the same thing. Before that, I was a software installation tech for a Dental Insurance Claims Processing company. And before that, I was a desktop computer builder / tech at a little shop in Kingsport, Tennessee for about 4 years. I've been working in the "computer tech" industry since about 1993 or so, but been unofficially helping friends / family since the late 80's.
So...that's my background...now onto the amusing stuff...
This particular story takes place back in the mid 90's when I was working at that little computer shop in Kingsport, TN. There were, at the time, only 3 of us who worked there. The owner, myself, and one other guy. We built custom desktops for users, gamers, schools, churches, and other non-profit corporations. We also did upgrades (memory, harddrives, etc.) This was (roughly) during the first year or two of the Pentium machines. We were just stopping selling 486's and the 586 machines (remember those?).
We had this one lady come in with a 486 machine that she wanted a new harddrive for. But, she didn't want to pay our labor fees (minimum of $50). So, she bought a brand new Western Digital 1.2g or 1.6g drive (largest at the time). A few hours later, she brought it back, saying it was D.O.A. Didn't even get recognized by the machine's BIOS. This was a brand new, still in the sealed static bag drive...so we took it, hooked it up to a test machine we had on the bench, and sure enough, it was toast. Didn't get too many of those back then, so we just kinda shrugged, handed her a new one, and setup and RMA for the dead one. No big deal...right?
An hour later, she calls back saying THIS one was dead on arrival too... HUH? Two in a row? Our owner / manager (a very good computer tech himself) told her to bring in her machine, and we'd try to figure out what was going on with it. We told her that so long as the problem was due to our drives, we'd not charge labor...we were just curious. So, she brought it in. We checked drive #2, and sure enough, it was dead too. Did we get a bad shipment of drives???
Our owner / manager decided he wanted to figure out himself what was going on...so he took her old original drive, reached around behind it, and plugged it in. It booted right up, no problem. Ok, so cool...the computer obviously works. Then, our manager pulls out the old drive, and takes another new one (this makes #3), slides it in her computer, reaches around behind it, and plugs in the power and IDE ribbon cable. He turns on the PC...and POW...there's a loud pop, and smoke comes out of the new (#3) harddrive. He quickly shuts it down, but it is too late... It's dead, Jim.
Getting sort of worried now, he takes a closer look at the inside of her computer...including the cables. We begin inspecting all of them. And then we discovered what had happened...
The lady, owner of this computer, had started to change out the old harddrive for the first one she got from us, and noticed that the power connector on the drive was "upside down" compared to her old drive. And, instead of just flipping over the power cable so it would go in...which any halfway logical human would think to try...this woman instead decided that it was "backwards" and the only way to make her power cable fit would be to take an exacto knife and *CUT OFF THE KEYED PART OF THE POWER CABLE* and shaved the corners to make it fit the "right" way. IE - swapping the 12v from one side to the other. :-| So, when she turned it on...poof. And, my manager, never even thinking this a possibility...had just reached around blindly and plugged in the power connector on drive #3, and since it went in, never gave it a second thought. I mean...who would, right?????
Absolutely livid at this point, our manager explains to this "lady" what she did, exactly how stupid that was, charged her for 2 of the 3 dead drives (didn't charge her for the one HE fried, even though it was her fault), and charged her like $100 labor to fix her "modification" of the power connector (by replacing it with one from a dead machine we had lying around).
Whatever posessed this lady to even think to try this is so mind numbingly illogical, I cannot even imagine how she arrived at it.
Yes lady...if you release the magic smoke...it is a bad thing.... :-|
We had this one lady come in with a 486 machine that she wanted a new harddrive for. But, she didn't want to pay our labor fees (minimum of $50). So, she bought a brand new Western Digital 1.2g or 1.6g drive (largest at the time). A few hours later, she brought it back, saying it was D.O.A. Didn't even get recognized by the machine's BIOS. This was a brand new, still in the sealed static bag drive...so we took it, hooked it up to a test machine we had on the bench, and sure enough, it was toast. Didn't get too many of those back then, so we just kinda shrugged, handed her a new one, and setup and RMA for the dead one. No big deal...right?
An hour later, she calls back saying THIS one was dead on arrival too... HUH? Two in a row? Our owner / manager (a very good computer tech himself) told her to bring in her machine, and we'd try to figure out what was going on with it. We told her that so long as the problem was due to our drives, we'd not charge labor...we were just curious. So, she brought it in. We checked drive #2, and sure enough, it was dead too. Did we get a bad shipment of drives???
Our owner / manager decided he wanted to figure out himself what was going on...so he took her old original drive, reached around behind it, and plugged it in. It booted right up, no problem. Ok, so cool...the computer obviously works. Then, our manager pulls out the old drive, and takes another new one (this makes #3), slides it in her computer, reaches around behind it, and plugs in the power and IDE ribbon cable. He turns on the PC...and POW...there's a loud pop, and smoke comes out of the new (#3) harddrive. He quickly shuts it down, but it is too late... It's dead, Jim.
Getting sort of worried now, he takes a closer look at the inside of her computer...including the cables. We begin inspecting all of them. And then we discovered what had happened...
The lady, owner of this computer, had started to change out the old harddrive for the first one she got from us, and noticed that the power connector on the drive was "upside down" compared to her old drive. And, instead of just flipping over the power cable so it would go in...which any halfway logical human would think to try...this woman instead decided that it was "backwards" and the only way to make her power cable fit would be to take an exacto knife and *CUT OFF THE KEYED PART OF THE POWER CABLE* and shaved the corners to make it fit the "right" way. IE - swapping the 12v from one side to the other. :-| So, when she turned it on...poof. And, my manager, never even thinking this a possibility...had just reached around blindly and plugged in the power connector on drive #3, and since it went in, never gave it a second thought. I mean...who would, right?????
Absolutely livid at this point, our manager explains to this "lady" what she did, exactly how stupid that was, charged her for 2 of the 3 dead drives (didn't charge her for the one HE fried, even though it was her fault), and charged her like $100 labor to fix her "modification" of the power connector (by replacing it with one from a dead machine we had lying around).
Whatever posessed this lady to even think to try this is so mind numbingly illogical, I cannot even imagine how she arrived at it.
Yes lady...if you release the magic smoke...it is a bad thing.... :-|
(hope you guys get a kick outta this...I have plenty more from that shop....rednecks and computers make for funny stories!)
-Az
http://www.asbrand.com
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-02 02:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-02 02:35 am (UTC)And welcome aboard!
no subject
Date: 2007-06-02 02:38 am (UTC)Here's a few jems:
Had a guy bring in a machine because his sound card wouldnt work. The sound card was ISA, and the machine he was trying to use it on had no ISA slots. So he cut the back out of a PCI slot to get the card to fit, then wondered why it wouldnt work.
Another lady brought in a notebook. We noticed right away that it smelled kinda funny. Opened it up, and sure enough, there was liquid under the keyboard. We called her to ask her about it, and she said that no, she didnt spill anything on the machine, but she did regularly clean the keyboard with disinfectant to keep it from getting any computer viruses. True story. Swear to $deity.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-03 12:59 am (UTC).......there are no words to describe that much stupid......
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Date: 2007-06-02 02:40 am (UTC)Good to see ya bud! ( Think the old guy behind ya on first shift at your last job if ya cant figure out who this is ).
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Date: 2007-06-02 03:09 am (UTC)So, no, I have no idea which one you are. *grin*
-Az
no subject
Date: 2007-06-02 08:08 am (UTC)Welcome to the group. Newbie here myself (still lurking, haven't posted yet).
no subject
Date: 2007-06-02 09:10 am (UTC)Thanks for the amusement! :))))))))
-Az
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Date: 2007-06-02 02:51 am (UTC)There's a reason we get paid the big bucks. ;-P
no subject
Date: 2007-06-02 02:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-02 10:40 pm (UTC)Although I'm not in Atlanta, I'm in central Georgia (Dublin). I have a significant amount of family in the Kingsport area, and in fact was born in Holston Valley Hospital (although I lived in Johnson City). At which store did you work? I may have paid it a visit at some time or another (although in the mid 90's, I had already moved to Texas, I may have dropped in for something or another when I was back visiting).
Wish some of those nice ISPs, et al, existed down here in Dublin, or even Macon (45 min away). Heck, I'd even take a mean ISP, heh. There's very little job for a geek in this area. I wind up having to do contract work with whoever will route work to me.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-03 01:57 am (UTC)I used to work at CompuWorld Systems in Colonial Heights, a 'burb of Kingsport. It is right on Ft. Henry Drive.
Small world, 'eh? :)))))
-Az
no subject
Date: 2007-06-27 05:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-28 08:16 am (UTC)Hawkins County... is that Erwin?
no subject
Date: 2007-06-28 02:19 pm (UTC)Hawkins is host to Rogersville, Surgoinsville and Church Hill to name a few... ...home to a whole hell of a lot of spooky places, and in 2003 or so played host to a piece in the mystery of several deaths (a man missing, his body was found just a few feet from where my father and I used to walk together, and some other disappearances, who were recovered in a refrigerated storage container, evenly cut into manageable pieces for several boxes courtesy of two old ladies from just outside of Jonesborough).
I don't like it here, but when I'm just out in the countryside, no rednecks in sight... ...the land just feels blood soaked, if you know what I mean.
This is massively off topic for techsupport, but I am once again typing from a student help desk at least (while browsing the hauntedcities community you're in).