Stupid Tech Support – Then I used the pliers…

Customer: “I got this problem. You people sent me this install disk, and now my A: drive won’t work.”

Tech Support: “Your A drive won’t work?”

Customer: “That’s what I said. You sent me a bad disk, it got stuck in my drive, now it won’t work at all.”

Tech Support: “Did it not install properly? What kind of error messages did you get?”

Customer: “I didn’t get any error message. The disk got stuck in the drive and wouldn’t come out. So I got these pliers and tried to get it out. That didn’t work either.”

Tech Support: “You did what sir?”

Customer: “I got these pliers, and tried to get the disk out, but it wouldn’t budge. I just ended up cracking the plastic stuff a bit.”

Tech Support: “I don’t understand sir, did you push the eject button?”

Customer: “No, so then I got a stick of butter and melted it and used a turkey baster and put the butter in the drive, around the disk, and that got it loose. Then I used the pliers and it came out fine. I can’t believe you would send me a disk that was broke and defective.”

Tech Support: “Let me get this clear. You put melted butter in your A: drive and used pliers to pull the disk out?”

At this point, I put the call on the speaker phone and motioned at the other techs to listen in.

Tech Support: “Just so I am absolutely clear on this, can you repeat what you just said?”

Customer: “I said I put butter in my A: drive to get your crappy disk out, then I had to use pliers to pull it out.”

Tech Support: “Did you push that little button that was sticking out when the disk was in the drive, you know, the thing called the disk eject button?”

Silence.

Tech Support: “Sir?”

Customer: “Yes.”

Tech Support: “Sir, did you push the eject button?”

Customer: “No, but you people are going to fix my computer, or I am going to sue you for breaking my computer?”

Tech Support: “Let me get this straight. You are going to sue our company because you put the disk in the A: drive, didn’t follow the instructions we sent you, didn’t actually seek professional advice, didn’t consult your user’s manual on how to use your computer properly, instead proceeding to pour butter into the drive and physically rip the disk out?”

Customer: “Ummmm.”

Tech Support: “Do you really think you stand a chance, since we do record every call and have it on tape?”

Customer: (now rather humbled) “But you’re supposed to help!”

Tech Support: “I am sorry sir, but there is nothing we can do for you. Have a nice day.”

Stupid Tech Support – I have been working at a local…

I have been working at a local national chain computer store for the past few summers as a salesperson in networking hardware.

Me: “How can I help you today, sir?”

Him: “Hi, I’m looking for a router.”

Me: “Ok. What are you looking to use it for?”

Him: “Actually, I was looking to tap into a network”

Me: “You mean in hotspots?”

Him: “No, my neighbor three houses down has a network that I want to get into.”

Me: (blink) “What? Uh. What you would need is an adapter.”

Him: “Yeah, I have one of those, but I can’t get the signal from my house. I can only get it when I’m standing right outside their wall, but if I move away I don’t get it.”

Me: “Sir, without knowing what kind of router your neighbors have, I can’t definitively tell you if you can tap into their network, assuming it’s insecure.”

Him: “Oh, it’s unsecure. I got into it and figured out what they have. They have a 54mbs G router.”

Me: “Ok, sir, you’re not going to be able to get into their network.”

Him: “But what if I get this card?” (grabs a Pre-N card) “Don’t I get more range?”

Me: “Yes, but you’re still not going to get into their network.”

He proceeded to ask about four more wireless adapters until he got it that there was no possible way for him to get into their network. Then came the topper.

Him: “Maybe you should give them a new router for a present.”

Me: “That would be just a little creepy, sir.”

Stupid Students – One of my duties as a teacher…

One of my duties as a teacher at a respected university’s computing department is to assess students’ practical laboratory exercises. One day, a student proudly asked me to mark his work, a short programming exercise involving the development of around ten lines of code. Upon inspecting the code listing, it was very difficult not to notice the considerable preamble which was present at the top of the file. It consisted of a lengthy email header which had originated from a friend of the student and was followed by the line: “Here is the stuff you need to pass the exercise.” He didn’t.

Stupid Customers Story – Iomega tech support

I work for Iomega tech support. One day, when I was answering the AOL message board questions, I ran across a letter complaining that this person’s zip drive had ejected a zip disk clear across the room and hit her dog in the eye. The dog supposedly lost vision in that eye and wanted Iomega to pay for the vet bill. I wrote back asking for a picture of the injury. I got back a picture of a dog wearing a pirate patch.