Remote that doesn't work when wife is home Tech Support |
- Remote that doesn't work when wife is home
- I had firemen kick down a door to save a mans life.
- Customer is "always right", even when wanting you to break the law.
- Flabbergasted: an older and more polite word for "Are you f--king kidding me!?"
- The Best Dam engineer
- Can I please get my data back?
- The 3 Week Saga of the Broken Wifi, and a Hero Named Jeff
- Supporting the techs
- I'd like to sign up for the childbirth classes, please
- G1 and the two-way street again..
| Remote that doesn't work when wife is home Posted: 01 Aug 2019 05:23 AM PDT I was working for a TV distributor with both cable and dish channels. They had their own brand of TV box/decoders. When the customer in question called in and started by saying that I had to believe him, I knew it was going to be a great call. The log showed he had called several times before. Customer: When my wife is at home, the remote control to the decoder doesn't work. Me: Yes, it does, but I'll hear you out. Inner Me: I bet she takes the batteries. Customer: Your colleagues all guessed that she takes the batteries.. Inner Me: Darn it. Customer: ..but she doesn't! I can be holding the remote control and it works fine. She comes home and ten minutes later it doesn't work any more. I haven't let go of the control, and even tried changing batteries when it stopped working just to be sure, but it doesn't make a difference. We go back and forth for a long time, thinking of different things that could be an issue. He's being nice about my inability to help him, and though I started out thinking he's just another customer who thinks that the reply to "Did you check if the cable is connected properly?" is always "Yes, I did, I even tried five different cables.", even though they didn't, I quickly realise he's tech-savvy and we test and discard a dozen theories. In the end, 45 minutes later, we solved it. When his wife got home, she pulled the curtains apart to let in light, and the sunlight was directly on the IR reciever, interfering with the remote control. When his wife left, he pulled the curtains to see the TV better. They'd tried to lower production cost of the new line of decoders, so the dark plastic in front of the IR reciever was just that - dark plastic instead of a filter to block other light. Figuring that out was the most satisfying tech support moment I've had. [link] [comments]  |
| I had firemen kick down a door to save a mans life. Posted: 01 Aug 2019 07:55 AM PDT This was in 2013, and i was a complete rookie at my job, i had worked as a tech support for maybe 3 months when a call rolled in and i answered. Me: Hello! This is OP how can i help you? An old man answered with h-h-hello? He sounded like he was 200 years old or had some disability that cause his speach to become stuttering and mumbled. Me: Yes hi! You're talking to OP at *Company* support. How may i help you? Old man: incoherent noises phones not working.....more incoherent noises... Note: the incoherent noises were not disturbances in the call but rather something he did, like rolling around his tounge in his mouth. Giving me an impression he was not 100% healthy from the start. Me: Do you have a problem with your phone? Can you give me the number to the affected phone? He gave me the number and i started to troubleshoot. He was about 56 years old and I didn't find any problems. Me: What kind of problem are you experiencing? Old man: incoherent noises... I.... I can not call.... Me: So you cannot make any calls? Old man: mmhm... incoherent noises Me: What happens when you try to make a call? Old man: pfffffhhhnnnnn iiiiii cant rrRRRrreach mme me me me my b b.... Rother r r r. At this point i starter to think that he have had a stroke at some point. Me: I understand, so when you're trying to reach your brother what happens then? Old man: incoherent noises.... Dott... Doottt.. Dot.. It sounds. Me: Aha, is it a fast doting sound or slow? Old man: ssssssSSS S ll l loow, slow. I thought the number he is trying to dial was wrong or something has happened to the number. Me: which number has your brother? Tge old dude could not say, or i didnt understand at this point. So i asked for his name. I got his name and searched him in our system, i found him and tried to make a call. Old mans brother: Hello? Me: This is OP from *Company*, its about old man. Old mans brother: Has something happened? Me: Well he says he cannot reach you but his phone seems to work. Old mans brother: well so what you can about it. We talked for a bit and i found out that he indeed have had a stroke and that he is reliant on his phone to be able to call his brother and the hospital. I got back the the old man. Me: Hello! Thank you for your patience. I got hold of your brother so his number seems to be working. Old man: I i i n n nnnneeed to call m m y brother! He sounded distressed all of a sudden. Me: I understand, can you just try to call him again, and please repeat the numbers you dial so i can confirm that it is correct. Old man: HNNNN m most c c ch call brother!! Now he seems very stressed. Me: Is it something urgent? Do you need me to call him? Old man now shouting: HHHHHOOOSBITAL.... (i heard something hit the floor). Me now freaking out: Hello? hello?! Are you there? I was thinking what the F? Did he just fall?! A heart attack?!! I maxed out the sound on the headset, the call was still ongoing and i could hear a faint breathing. Me: Hello?! Can you hear me? Are yiu conscious? He did not answer... I freaking out, a light panic gripped me and i froze like a deer in the headlights. I could not think straight. I called his brother because idk, maybe he knew what just happened. (panic) Me: Hi again this is OP. I was just in a call with your brother and all of a sudden he became stressed out and yelled hospital and then i think he fainted. He seemed to want to cone in contact with you? Do you know what just happened? Old mans brother: Oh dear.. I think he just might have had a stroke again, the doctors had warned about this. I cannot check on him im 10 miles away! Me freaking out even more: We must get an ambulance! Old mans brother: Ofc we do! But i don't know his exact adress! Me: i have all of the information infront of me. I can call them. So i called the emergency number and asked for an ambulance to the customers adress, they asked me to hold the line with them and the old man if i heard him stop breathing and keep trying to contact him. The police and ambulance came to the customers door and tried to open the door after failed communication attempts. 10 minutes after i called the emergency number the old dudes breath became irregular and weaker, i told them that and the freaking firemen came and broke down hus door with heavy duty equipment!! I heard how they found him and tried to talk to him, and how they moved him around. I heard them saying that they have to take him to the emergency room at the hospital and brought a stretcher to lay him down on and carry him to the ambulance. I just sat there on my butt like :O the whole time untill the woman from the emergency number told me that we could hang up. After that i called the brother and told him what had happened. He was very upset and i heard his voice crack a little bit. He told me to call him tomorrow and we hung up. I had no freaking idea what to do. Am i in trouble? i thought. I told like EVERYONE at the office what happened and all of them encouraged me to contact the brother the day after. Which i then did. I was nervous and kinda scared when i called. I didn't know how to act because i was not in a situation i had traning for or had ever experienced. The brother picked up and immediately shined up in the voice when i introduced me. He said that he could not thank me enough for what i did. And that i probably saved his brothers life. He actually had a stroke!! He went unconscious and hit his head on the livingroom table in the fall. Luckily it caused minor damage, and his brother had woken up and was alive. He told me that he would personally call my boss to have a talk with her and tell her to give me a raise, lol. I was completely humbled during the entire length of the call, i could barely utter words. I didn't get the raise but... i got my face printed out and put up in the cafeteria with the text "Super supporten som räddar liv" Which means the "The super supporter that saves lives". And i fine with that... I barely wanted to think about if he didn't survive, or if i passed him off like a wierdo and hung up! Just to let him lay there and die... Nothing like this has ever happened to anyone i know, even after 6 years in the tech support. I don't know if i was unlucky or that it was luck. Please tell me if you have had a similar experience some time :) I typed this on my phone so please excuse any mistakes. [link] [comments]  |
| Customer is "always right", even when wanting you to break the law. Posted: 01 Aug 2019 02:37 PM PDT About a week ago I get a call from an employee of my company and she has a list of about 5 different things she needs done. The first 4 are easy enough (password resets, that sort of stuff), but the last is the reason for this post. $Me: Okay, since we got all that taken care of, is there anything else I can assist you with today? $Caller: Yes, I need to save some video to my desktop. $Me: (puzzled) All right, where is the video stored? $Caller: YouTube. $Me: Unfortunately we can't do that. $Caller: Well why not? I'm telling you I need it, so do it. $Me: Well the problem is there is copy-write laws that prevent it, so it's actually illegal to do it. $Caller: That sounds crazy. I just want to download them and save them to my computer. $Me: I'm sorry, but we can't do that. Yes, I do know there are ways you can, but they aren't fully legal & I'm not going to risk my job by having them do something they shouldn't and they say "well he showed me how." [link] [comments]  |
| Flabbergasted: an older and more polite word for "Are you f--king kidding me!?" Posted: 01 Aug 2019 03:05 PM PDT A trouble ticket got escalated to me after first level desktop support had already gone to the user's location and looked into the issue. A DeskJet 1220 (yes, it's an antique, no, this wasn't a decade ago, this was this morning!), the far left light was blinking and it wouldn't print. First level had rebooted the computer, repeatedly rebooted the printer, and reseated the ink cartridges. I looked at it, the blinking light is over an icon of the ink cartridge. Quick google search to verify, yup, it means reseat the ink, clean the ink contacts, or the ink is low. The user had spare cartridges right there at her desk so I swapped the ink and amazingly enough the light stopped blinking and it started printing. ... Seriously?! I had to drive to a remote (only 15 minutes away) site because a printer was out of f--king ink?! *twitch* [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2019 12:10 PM PDT I think that this tale needs re-telling due to the timeliness of this news story, and apologies for not having any I.T. angle. https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/ckoyy3/town_evacuated_as_dam_wall_collapses/ Disclaimer: It was a former colleague at a previous employer that is the hero of this tale. And the details were pieced together from office conversations and trade press. Approximately a decade ago there was a similar earth dam that was at imminent risk of overflowing / collapsing due to excessive rainfall, threatening to wipe out an entire town downstream. $hero was driving to a different dam to perform a routine examination a few hours away (a normal day for him), when he received a panicked phonecall from the onsite dam manager saying that due to the rain the water levels were too high and the spillway was taking the excess water away, but the flow of excess water was such that it was eroding away the spillway. For those that are not familiar, spillways look like giant versions of children's playground slides and they are built (usually of concrete) into dams slightly lower than the level of the tops of the dams, and act exactly the same a your sink overflow mechanisms at home, just a million times larger. And can cope with a certain flow of water, but if that flow is exceeded then the spillway will erode away, and will continue to erode away through the body of the dam. $hero on hearing the news turned his car around rapidly, (I don't know if the car tyres actually squeeled, but imagine that they did for dramatic effect), and started heading for the failing dam as fast as the wet road would allow (rain flooding the dam remember). $hero kept pulling over the the side of the road on his journey to $failing-dam to make and receive phonecalls. The calls were to 1/ reschedule the routine exam, 2/ assess the condition of the failing dam, 3/ start the de-watering of the dam to reduce the pressures and minimise the chances of complete failure, and 4/ marshal the first responders to evacuate the town below (including the setting up of a temporary evacuee centre / commandeer a community hall). On the way to the failing dam, $hero heard on the local radio news with the local police chief giving an interview, where the reported actually used the pun "the best dam engineer/ best damn engineer". By the time $hero reached the police cordon around the control room / crisis command centre, the locally available pumps were already working and more lorries with additional pumps were on their way, the evacuation of the town was in progress, and barriers to control large quantities of spilt water if the dam were to catastrophically fail were being erected. When $hero reached the police cordon he was stopped and was denied entry by the officer manning the gate, so $hero calmly phoned the most senior police commander in his phone's address book (who he had been speaking to a few minutes earlier) and handed his phone to the officer on the gate. It was later said that the profanities from the police commander could be heard from 20 meters from the handset. The officer on the gate let $hero through as quickly as he could and $hero ran into the control centre, where he was greeted with a standing ovation from the assembled first responders, local government types and dam owners, as he had (without fully realising it) instructed / explained all the necessary steps to deliver, setup and anchor the pumps. Then as an anticlimax the dam was dewatered, and so saved then over the next few months was repaired and put back into operation. [link] [comments]  |
| Can I please get my data back? Posted: 01 Aug 2019 02:23 PM PDT This happened to a friend, a senior manager at a state agency. She was working the help desk for the state agency and was having trouble getting her data back to it. The following conversation took place while I was helping her. Me: So, we can't access your server? Her: Yes, we can get on but it hasn't worked in a month. Me: I see. OK, we can try a different server. Is it a virtual machine or a on-premises one? Her: Yes it is virtual. Me: OK, can you log into your Virtual Desktop? Her: Yes. Me: OK, do you see the Windows icon? Her: Yes. Me: OK, do you see the "Data Recovery Software" in the bottom right-hand corner of the virtual desktop? Her: Yes. Me: OK, do you see "The Backup Tool" in the bottom left-hand corner of the virtual desktop? Her: Yes. Me: Can you tell me what the "The Backup Tool" is? Her: Yes. Me: OK, go to "The Backup Software" and give me the URL you are trying to access. Her: Yes. Me: What do you see there? Her: the link I gave to you. Me: Okay, so you want to go to the backup you got in your email? Her: Yes. Me: Where? Her: The backup. Me: Yes? Her: Yes. Me: Right. She then proceeds to say she got a call once about how to access a program, but that the program never existed in the first place. When she found out about our company's internal IT, she asked my boss for help finding out the name of the software that she was trying to access. [link] [comments]  |
| The 3 Week Saga of the Broken Wifi, and a Hero Named Jeff Posted: 01 Aug 2019 08:16 AM PDT First time poster, long time lurker. I do not work in IT but I wanted to share a story of one of my IT problems as a token of my appreciation for all you fine folks do. I don't claim to be tech savvy or knowledgeable about this field in any way so if any of you think me stupid, I agree. Also I$P was literally my only option for internet if anyone is wondering. My story starts in late 2011. I had just moved to Houston after taking a new job and was anxious to get my apartment ready. Shortly after getting my Internet installed I started having trouble connecting any of my devices to the wifi so I called I$P support. What followed was three solid weeks of calls to resolve the problem and after a couple hours on the phone, being told that there is clearly not a problem on their end. I had techs from I$P come out twice only to tell me there wasn't a problem, though when one of them couldn't connect his own device to the wifi, he said, "Huh, that should be working", and left shortly thereafter. All together I, conservatively, spent about 20-30 hours trying to fix this problem over the course of 3-4 weeks. Then, after reaching my breaking point I took two days off work just so I could have an unlimited amount of time to spend on the phone with support trying to fix this. I called I$P with the number I had by then memorized, and told the tech support person that answered that my problem was beyond their capabilities and I needed to be passed on to next level. You can imagine how that went over. After going through the same troubleshooting issues I had done dozens of times, she said, "I'm sorry I'm unable to help you, let me pass you on to someone who might have a better idea of the problem." No shit. Next comes our level two guy, we'll call him Sparticus. Sparticus actually does a few new things with me that the other dozen or so level two guys haven't. We go into the back end, change a whole bunch of stuff that I don't recognize, and my wireless begins to trickle to life. It is by no means working, but my devices recognize that there is in fact a router somewhere. Sparticus and I work till about 11am and then, exasperated and defeated, he says, "Look Muckman, I've tried everything I know and I'm really frustrated, so I'm passing you on to a specialist." I knew I was in good hands when, instead of a "This is Blahblah at I$P tech support, etc", I hear, "This is Jeff." I quickly go over what's been happening over the last month and he joins me in my nearly irate state. He says that he's going to stay with me until we get this resolved. I like Jeff. We start going through things I don't comprehend and giving him access to my computer and such. Jeff starts to get frustrated. About an hour into the call he starts asking me really random questions. "You're googling this aren't you", I ask. He replies, "This is mostly what we do to fix things that don't make any damn sense". I like Jeff. Around hour 2 or 3 we've reached a level where we're both comfortable with him working in total silence, occasionally telling me to change or try something. We even took a short break and ate lunch together. Suddenly, around hour 4, he asks, "Do... do you by chance have the brand new wireless gaming headset from Brand X?" I do in fact have this wireless gaming headset, this is something I have mentioned to a several people over the course of the month but never raised any flags. "Unplug it. Don't turn it off, don't disconnect it, remove power chord from the wall." I'll be damned if my internet didn't surge to life right then. At this point I'm feeling a strange mix of relief and frustration at both myself and everyone I had talked to for not having solved this seemingly simply problem earlier. He mentioned that he's heard of interference coming from them but never directly cancelling out the signal. He seems excited to log this into the system as as possible problem since apparently no one has ever encountered this before. We say our goodbyes and he comps me 6 months of internet for my troubles. Wherever you are Jeff, you are a hero. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Aug 2019 07:33 AM PDT This is another story from my time with the cable company in California. Occasionally, the company would perform audits of apartment complexes. The tech assigned the audit would go building-to-building, verifying that people were connected to the services they were paying for (or disconnected if they weren't paying). Every tech at the company performed audits from time-to-time. As a backup tech, sometimes I would be sent to remote areas that received few work orders (trailer parks, condos). Often, we would find someone hadn't been disconnected on their disconnect work order (lazy tech didn't do it, or disconnected the wrong person who got reconnected on a later work order, that sort of thing. Then, there were the thieves. Bobbie (Roberta) had found such a thief. Catching cable thieves is hard to do. You must catch them in the act or they will get away with it. At the time, we would just disconnect them and move on. Beyond a sticker on the (locked) service box explaining that it was a crime, it wasn't worth any further effort. This story is about a time when extra effort was made. She came into dispatch fuming about someone she had disconnected in an audit a month ago, and today when she was in that same service closet - the guy was connected again. I looked up the unit and confirmed, no service. Bobby had an idea to fix this guy. The next day, she went back to that complex and cut his cable back to 3 inches of the wall where it emerged. Not enough cable to reach the service panel, and just enough cable that we could splice onto it if we needed to. She was satisfied that he was finally cut off for good. A few days later, Bobbie fumes into dispatch again "HE HOOKED HIMSELF BACK UP AGAIN!". I said, "how? you cut his cable". The guy had used trash bag twistie ties to build a makeshift cable to the service panel. He stripped the paper from the ends, tied them together end-to-end making 2 conductors, stripped back his stubby cable and tied himself back in. This guy wasn't taking no for an answer. She had returned late that night, and it was almost time for me to be off work. I suggested "do you want to hang out in the service closet and catch him in the act?" She wasn't sure if it would work, we didn't even know if the guy was home - but she was game for it. So we grabbed a 6 pack of beer, went to the apartment complex, ripped out the trash-tie-wiring, and sat down on the floor of the service closet cracking jokes and drinking beers in the dark. It didn't take long at all. The closet door swings open and a guy steps inside with a flashlight and a screwdriver prying at the door of the service box. Bobbie and I turned on our flashlights, spotlighting the guy, and I said "It's a $10,000 fine for stealing cable". The guy nearly jumped out of his skin, he turned to us - caught...hand in the cookie jar. Bobbie said to him, "It's $12 a month. Just order service and stop messing up our equipment and we'll forget we saw you doing this." I can't say for certain, but I think he ran back to his apartment. I don't recall if he ordered service after that, but we didn't have a problem with him again. [link] [comments]  |
| I'd like to sign up for the childbirth classes, please Posted: 01 Aug 2019 08:08 AM PDT It was my day off, and I was busy wrestling the engine out of my riding mower when my phone rang.
WTF I thought, that's a pretty strange wrong number. I didn't think anything of it and carried on disassembling the mower. A few minutes later, my hands are nice and greasy again when the phone rings. It's $Hospital. I wipe my hands and answer it.
Two calls in a row? I'm willing to bet it wasn't a coincidence. I was tempted to message our phone guy and ask him to have a look, but before I got the chance, the phone rang again.
Then, I realized, hey dummy, this has happened before. I caught my phone number on the $PhysicalTherapy phones before, and strangely enough, got overflow calls from the switchboard routed to my cell phone once or twice. No coincidence here, there is a ghost in the machine. Message time!
Fair enough, we've been stupid busy. I was just relieved that none of these calls was my boss calling me in for more overtime. A while later, I'm almost ready to start my repaired Franken-mower when $Hospital calls again.
So I message again
I'm a little steamed. PhoneGuy is busy and Cx is MIA. I called Cx but didn't get an answer. After another wrong number, I grabbed my phone, went to contacts, tapped Hospital and checked 'Send all calls to voicemail' Minutes later, I get a call from $ContractorX.
Next thing I know, it was fixed, and it never happened again. Was definitely worth a laugh on my day off. PS: Many months later, we were searching the PBX and discovered something. Turns out that $PG was using a helpdesk phone as a template, so all of the new phones had my cell number as the default call forward. You better believe I yeeted that out of the PBX with the force of a thousand suns. [link] [comments]  |
| G1 and the two-way street again.. Posted: 01 Aug 2019 07:35 AM PDT What is it with personnel? They take care of themselves and shit on everyone else. Backstory- after blowing through 700 hours of correspondence courses online, I decided that the education aspect of my 201 file needed to be updated. I made an appointment to have this done. I show up with my binder of certificates and request that my 201 file be updated to reflect the continuing education I've completed. The personnel SGT looked at it and said " no way, I'm not adding this in, it's too much work". Ooook... I walk out without a word, knowing this will be coming back to haunt G1 yet again. Fast forward 3 weeks later. I get a work order to fix a desktop down at G1. I walk in, talk with the user and start to come up with a solution to their problem. As I'm sitting in their cubical, I'm suddenly surrounded by 4 personnel clerks, all saying "I need my computer worked on". None of them have work orders, but yet they feel they are entitled to skip the line. I spun around in the chair, looked at them and pointed to them all and said "FUCK YOU! I came in a couple weeks ago to get my 201 file updated and you couldn't even do that ! Fill out work orders and I might be back down here in 3 weeks." The clerks realized they messed up. And here comes the bribe.. "We could update your 201 right now..." "Really. Amazing! I just happen to have all of my paperwork to update it with me, right now." I said. With speed I've never witnessed from a G1 minion, They had my 201 file out, one clerk reviewing what was being updated, one clerk typing the updates on the record sheet and one clerk inserting the updates into my file. It would truly amazing how fast milpo can can work when given incentive. They were done with over 150 certificates in 15 minutes flat. They brought the 201 back over me to review and check, it was good. I told them it was good. Faster than a speeding bullet, they closed my 201 file and put it back into the cabinet. My 201 was updated, and 4 G1 minions got their computers fixed. Hmmm.. These are kind of fun... 20 years working Army IT has brought forth lots of gems... Stand by for more... [link] [comments]  |
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