The customers new computer will not power on! Tech Support |
- The customers new computer will not power on!
- She didn’t have a space bar
- Tablet issues
- My toughest assignment yet...
| The customers new computer will not power on! Posted: 29 Jun 2020 03:35 AM PDT Greetings all. So in my town, I am a locally known computer guy. On the side from my full time job (Not tech related) I build systems for people, fix systems, set up new systems, etc. So this happened back in 1998, when Gateway Computers were a thing. I get a call from a lady, who I had never worked with before. She had obviously gotten my name and number by word of mouth in the community. So this one evening, she calls. She starts telling me how she just bought a brand new Gateway PC and how she got it all hooked up, plugged in etc, but when she pushes "power" nothing happens. So I ask her the usual stuff, ya know, are you sure its plugged in, is the plug you have it plugged into controlled by a wall switch, etc. She assures me the wall switch has nothing to do with her power, and assures me that everything is plugged in. So I had nothing going that evening and I thought, what the heck, I can make some quick cash. So I get her address, tell her I can come right over. I get to her place knock on the door, and she greets me within a minute. I could tell on the phone that she was elderly and when she opened the door this was confirmed. So in the back of my head I was thinking something like, "ahhhh, old lady didn't hook something up right." --Come on dont judge you would have thought the same lol- So I get to the PC and from what I can tell by just standing there, she seems to have things set up on the desk correctly. The PC (Back then desktop model) was positioned nicely and the monitor was on it, keyboard, mouse, and speakers were all present. I was thinking, "Ohhh she probably does not have the monitor plugged into VGA or something like that. So i look behind the PC, hmmm, things seem connected just fine. I double checked them for looseness and all was good. I even saw that she had the power cable plugged in correctly. Hmmm, I though well damn, maybe a power supply issue? it is new but ya never know! So anyway, I start tracing power lines from monitor and desktop to the back of her desk. They went straight to a nice new surge protector and were securely plugged in. I was a little confused. So next step, make sure her surge protector was on, as they all have a switch. I find the switch, dont see the switch lit up as they usually are. I flip the switch, dont make a difference. So next step, check the wall outlet that she has the thing plugged into. I look up, see the outlet and see that absolutely NOTHING is plugged into it. I look a little closer and I do see that she does have the surge protector plugged in, however; the surge protector is plugged into itself - LOL - I sat under the desk, trying not to laugh. After I contained myself, I pulled the surge protector plug out of itself, plugged it into the wall socket, flipped the switch, and got a light. Came out from under the desk, hit power on the desktop, and bingo, we have power lol. So not wanting to make her feel like an idiot, I just told her it looked like the power cable was not fully seated into the socket on the surge protector. Then I offered to set the system up for her at no extra charge. She accepted. In the end, I decided not to even charge her. it was such an easy fix and I just did not feel right about it and was happy to just help. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2020 01:13 PM PDT This was about 2002, and I was working as tech support for a local dial-up ISP. It was an interesting time, because for many of our customers, they were using their first-ever computer. So this user calls and I'm walking her through some connectivity issue. Everything was going fine, and we were working through it. At some point the old "Press any key to continue" message popped up. Having heard "I don't have an Any key" too many times, I'd gotten into the habit of telling people to hit their space bar. User: "It says 'press any key'" Me: "OK, just go ahead and hit your space bar" All of a sudden this lady turns into Mr. Hyde for no reason User: "I don't have a space bar here, SIR!!!!!" Me: "..." Me: "..." deep breath Me: "Please look at your keyboard. Do you see that long button on the bottom?" User: "Yes" Me: "That's your space bar, go ahead and press that for me" I could just hear her deflate. The rest of the call went fine, but I died a little inside that day. Edit: formatting [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2020 09:17 AM PDT I work for a company that supports dental practice mangement software. We have an app customers can download to tablets that lets patients sign in to appointments, fill out paperwork, whatever, and the info gets sent right back to the patient database. Got an email from a bigger client complaining about how the app doesn't work for certain features, etc. The email came from the office's IT guy, who doesn't really work directly with the teams, so sometimes tshooting is difficult because he's not actually using the device. I sent him a list of questions to try to narrow down the issue (device type, device OS version, software version, type of document, etc). Two days go by, and I get this email (paraphrased but not by much): "Acrollo, Please disregard my last message. The staff who sent this complaint to me were trying to use the device in the radiography lab, which is shielded against radiation and cannot get wifi. The device works normally everywhere else in the building. Thank you for your prompt response and assistance but I now consider this matter resolved." [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2020 10:41 AM PDT While tech support isn't my official job title, my slightly above average computer skills are sometimes called upon to help right the wrongs of the world, one device at a time. On this occasion it was my upstairs neighbor Barry, a nice older dude who needed help installing one of those voice-activated home assistant gadgets. I said I'd see what I could do as I'd never set one up before (don't trust 'em personally), however it's always fun to challenge yourself and boy did he have one ready to go. You see Barry already had a corporate robot controlling various things in his flat but wanted me to make it so that his new Googlebot would talk to the first one and make it do stuff. I simply stood there in his living room for a moment, my mind buzzing with questions. Questions such as: 'Can this even be done?' 'Should this even be attempted?' 'What if I accidentally implode the universe?' There was only one way to find out. I sat down cross-legged on the carpet and began furiously reading instruction manuals, Barry's laptop at the ready for when I inevitably needed backup. Forty-five minutes later all I'd managed to do was turn said Googlebot on and connect it to the lappie. Just like I'd thought, these rival devices weren't exactly eager to communicate directly. As I started thinking I might have to swallow my pride and look it up online after all, Barry handed me a plate of the best home-made goat curry I've ever had, which perked me up considerably. Another twenty minutes passed while I tried everything I could think of to make two competing AI's realize they weren't so different from each other. I don't even remember what I did in the end but eventually you could say, "Hey Google, [insert command here]" and it would relay your instructions to the other one without creating any spacial anomalies. I left Barry's flat ten pounds richer and feeling rather god-like, another mission completed successfully. [link] [comments]  |
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