Why?

[dusktodawn.livejournal.com]

We built a brand new system for this guy...
he gets it home and installs AOL
he starts getting error messages and locking up, something , SOMEHOW got corrupted
we format and reinstall everything, even AOL, it works fine

he gets it home and tries to upgrade from the version we had on there to a new one
random error messages and locking up
he brings it in, we fix it and THINK we talked him out of AOL (mind you, he has broadband....)

He gets it home, installs it ANYWAY and gets error messages, AOL won't work, freezes up, tries to uninstall but you know AOL there's still a random file that HAS to be on there that the computer says is still running or gives an error about...
brings it in, we FIX IT. it works, it's FINE
He gets it home and it mysteriously starts giving him errors about something. Turns out he was dicking around with AOL.
Again we fix it...again... the boss tells him ALL of AOL is off of there and for him to reinstall when he gets home (unknowing of this guys previous AOL shenanigans)

He brings it BACK because of error messages about his printer. mentions that instead of using his disks, he tried to download AOL online. LOW AND BEHOLD, he's still having problems.

Note: every time he brings it in he says, "i know it's probably AOL..." then why keep up this bullshit you ask? I don't know but here's the kicker...

You know what he has the nerve to say on this LAST time bringing it in......?

GUESS?

"Maybe I should get a refund and go get an HP?"

Sure :D we service HP's too, and since we courteously did ALL of that work under warranty, with the HP, you'll HAVE to pay for it when it fucks up, AND IT WILL FUCK UP BECAUSE IT IS AOL:D

Comments

[jimbojones.livejournal.com]

You know, as much as I loathe AOL, it's not that buggy.

There is something else going on here besides AOL.

[natertots.livejournal.com]

agreed. but that said, this person deserves it for installing aol.

And, man, back in the day, I remember when that version of aol came out that totally hosed your tcp/ip stack.... oy. it was the bane of the existance of all isps.

But, in this case... on broadband, I think there's probably something else up.

[dusktodawn.livejournal.com]

oh i don't doubt there's more going on, i have no doubt in my mind it's HIM doing something to screw it all up, but just the fact he has broadband and insists on AOL is still...just, ugh

[moopet.livejournal.com]

If it's software he's installing that's causing the problem, why are you fixing it under "warranty"?

[dusktodawn.livejournal.com]

because our boss would rather keep the customer happy than tell them they're idiots and make them pay. most of the work we've done has been more annoyance than time consuming. After this, though, the boss will sit him down and tell him any other work we do after this point is billable.

[lihan161051.livejournal.com]

I've often wondered how practical it would be to write something that loads at startup and specifically blocks attempts to install AOL.

Wouldn't stop a truly determined idiot, but might at least slow most of them down enough for a tech somewhere along the line to ask why they're trying to install it.

I hate people who sneak off and do stuff like this even when explicitly told not to, especially when they turn around and rant at their support that "it just doesn't work, I wanna new one" when they're actually the root cause of the problem. I hate them with a special passion.

[dusktodawn.livejournal.com]

thank you, you worded it better than I did, that was the exact point of my frustration.

[lihan161051.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's the "I'll just do it and not tell them" part of it that particularly bugs me, as well as the combination of that and "I'll blather at them and pretend it's all their fault when I break it doing what they told me not to do". In the first case, I really honestly wonder how it is that they think we won't figure it out, and in the second .. well, the second is just pure asshattery that some people just seem to get off on indulging in.

(Some days this sort of thing makes me wish I could remote into people's computers and actually fix what I'm quite sure they broke without having to argue with them over it. Other days I'm very glad I can't.)