Another stupid user moment

[lovemonster.livejournal.com]

So, working with this really nice, but ditzy, lady. I would log into her system remotely, only to be booted off it about 5 minutes into it. So, after the 5th time, our convo goes something like this:

Me: So ma'am, your screen went black, again. I've been booted off, again. So, what's going on on your side that I can't see?
Her: Well nothing that I can see. long pause Uhm, but I have been getting a strange message.
Me: Oh? And whas is it saying?
Her: Well, it says "battery power is low"
Me: palm to face Yes ma'am, that's probably exactly what is causing our problem

Comments

[nuadha-prime.livejournal.com]

"but I have been getting a strange message."

....why yes....that is a strange, cryptic message. Whatever could it mean?

:D

[jecook]

Shakes head sadly.

And to think that these people (probably) have a license/permit to drive a one ton peice of metal and plastic on four wheels and speed which some would call insane...

[cyrus7.livejournal.com]

Something I hear in my college's computer lab all the time.
Student: The internet's broken!
Me: What is the problem?
Student: It can't find it!
Me *goes over to their computer* Hmm "page not found". Well that website isn't there.
Student: But the teacher said to go here! It must be here! Fix it!
Me: I have no control over what is on the internet. Go talk to your instructor and see if she made a mistake on your assignment paper.
Student: No this is where she said to go! Fix it! Find the page!
Me: *sigh* I can't fix the internet. Talk to your instructor. *walks away*

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Hah, students and universities. Once we had a call from the Helldesk come through saying (in its entirety) "Internet broken". My collegue checked the proxy, which had hung, restarted it, and forwarded the call back to the Helldesk saying "Internet fixed".

It'd be nice if it were that easy.

However, with the idiot student, did you at least bring up some webpage (like the university homepage)? "See, the internet is NOT broken, there's something wrong with your instructions". Honestly, it's like 6 year olds - sometimes you really do need to Show and Tell.

[cyrus7.livejournal.com]

However, with the idiot student, did you at least bring up some webpage (like the university homepage)? "See, the internet is NOT broken, there's something wrong with your instructions". Honestly, it's like 6 year olds - sometimes you really do need to Show and Tell.
Yeah, the homepage you see when you click on "The Blue E" and pull up Internet Exploder is the college's home page, which of course is on "da internet". I also typed in www.google.com or something, to show them, but of course that was unimportant... The page they needed was "broken". *sigh*

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Jeeze. And yeah, some students are just resistant to Show and Tell as well. Tossers.

[redqueenmeg.livejournal.com]

Got that a lot here. Only usually it'll be "I keep getting kicked off your system; is anything going on there?" "Well, yes, I keep getting this strange message." (that phrase again) "What does it say?" "It says so and so is trying to control your computer. I have been hitting Cancel. That's what you want me to do, right?"

[klytus.livejournal.com]

I've had more than one case where we are half-an-hour or longer into troubleshooting before the user mentions "Oh, yeah, I have this error message..." Even after I had asked them at the outset if they were getting any errors.