techrecovery | Jun. 27th, 2010

So I do tech support for a university. If you have a problem with your computer, we'll help you out or point you at someone else who can.

Now, most of the calls we get are either issues with somebody's account or problems connecting to the campus wifi. Whatever, right? That's the sort of thing that we're uniquely able to help with. Heck, we even get questions that have nothing to do with our college's IT services, and we do the best we can because there's really nobody else they can consult.

But why, for the love of god, WHY, do people call us about their home internet connections? No, I don't know why you can't connect to your DSL. The real question is, why the fuck do you think I know? And some of them get angry about it! Well gee, hold on a moment while I ask Verizon to let me use their network testing tools to see if you've got sync or not. Then I'll get in touch with Comcast and ask them if you're authenticating properly!

I understand if they have problems with some device or program that doesn't have a dedicated support line. But problems with their ISP? What on earth possesses these people?