I feel terrible for...

[liber-cogito.livejournal.com]

the consumer support folks. Really, really terrible. And oh-so-happy that I'm not one of them. [I'm hardware support for a company that manufactures notebooks, servers, and desktops, among other things.] Usually I deal with large companies, schools, universities, government, etc's IT people. Occasionally, I end up talking to an end user.

Me: Thank you for calling $Company Hardware Support, my name is my name, how may I help you?
Confused: Uhm. I think I need a tech.
Me: You're speaking with one.
Confused: Oh. My computer isn't working right.
Me: Okay... may I have your name please?
Confused: Its under *Husband's name* .
Me: And YOUR name, please?
Confused: *name*
Me: And may I have the serial number of the PC in question please?
Confused: The what? Where's that?
Me: Okay, is it a desktop or a notebook?
Confused: I don't know.
Me: Does it fold shut?
Confused: I don't know! It just has a keyboard and a screen!
Me: Okay... if you were going to watch a movie, where would you put the DVD?
Confused: In the box.
Me: Great. Is there a name on the box?
Confused: $Company Name
Me: Is there a name on the box other than $Company Name?
Confused: Oh. *name of consumer model I don't support, thank god*

So, I apologized for her reaching the wrong queue and transferred her. :-D

Grar.

[kageneko.livejournal.com]

Hi. I'm new here. Before I go on, I'll give a little background on myself. I currently work for a company that develops enterprise software. I only deal with IT departments and usually with people who are qualified to work with Active Directory, group policy management, and fun stuff like that. So, while for many people these questions many not sound entirely dumb, please, consider the source.

The calls have been stripped down to protect the innocent.

Well, today seems to be "Ask a Help Desk 101 Question" day.

Call #1:
Caller: So, how do I remove (insert product name here)?
Me: You can remove it using Add/Remove Programs. This is outlined in the Administrator Guide on page (insert page number here).
Caller: Well, I see it there, but it doesn't give me the option to remove it.
*pause*
Me: Are you logged in as a local administrator on the machine?
Caller: I'm logged in as the service account for (insert product name here).
Me: Is that account a domain or local administrator on this machine?
Caller: No. Hang on and I'll login as the local administrator.
*wait a few minutes*
Caller: Well, what do you know? I can remove it now.

Um... duh?

Call #2:
Caller: (insert file name) cannot be found.
Me: Okay.
Caller: How do I get around this?
Me: Have you tried copying the file from a working system?
Caller: No. But I'd need to get into Windows, right?
Me: Have you tried Safe Mode? This error occurs when Windows is loading, but after our pre-boot authentication screen.
Caller: Oh, no, I haven't tried Safe Mode. I'll do that and copy the file.
Me: If for any reason that doesn't work, we can edit the registry entries.
Caller: How can I get edit the registry entries? Don't I have to be in Windows for that.
Me: Safe Mode.
Caller: You can use regedit in Safe Mode?
Me: ...
Me: Yes.

Because they aren't annoying ENOUGH!

[mouser.livejournal.com]

You know those emails where they send a picture of a text message to defeat spam filters? They are now sending out MP3s of text-to-speech as well.

Mice woes

[geekgrrl-ca.livejournal.com]

I deal with people that don't understand the concept of clicking and double clicking... and the people with multi button mice who don't understand that you only right click when told and not to double right click and never write click on your monitor where the icon for my computer is.


Is it vacation time yet?