Page 1 of 1
Email I received this morning from a user...
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 7:23 am
by GM
Note: this is translated from Italian
Giuseppe wrote:
Dear GM,
I'm having trouble with my computer. I don't seem to be able to receive email when my computer is switched off.
Can you help me?
Giuseppe
My response:
GM wrote:
Hi Giuseppe,
I've asked around the office, and we all seem to be having the same kind of problem. I'll let you know if we manage to resolve it,
Regards,
GM
Anyone here have any dealings with the users that have caused mirth or merriment in the IT dept.?
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:32 am
by themurph
I used to be the lone support gun at my former job.. only around 50 manned PCs... I don't
miss the ID-10-T errors that much. I've heard some crazy crazy stupid things from that time.
Now I've got my own business, and it's web based so my user support is alot different.
Lately, I have been getting alot of these calls:
*ring*
me: hello, this is *****, can I help you?
user: hey.. yes.. one second.. I'm trying to.. ummm.. hold on.. I need to... oh well crap there it goes..
ummm.. well this is working so I guess we are good to go.
me: glad I could help!
user: ok thanks alot, bye.
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:33 am
by MrPotatoes
my boss isn't nearly that bad lmao. and he loathes computers but at least he has a central'grasp' around it. i had to show him how to open an email and open a compressed file. it was cute
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:40 am
by Chris Corbyn
I used to work in the RMC for EDS (huge IT support company).
We regularly got people calling up saying that the monitor doesn't work, the screen is "just black".
The next question would always be "Can you see a little orange light underneath the screen?".... "OK, now can you press the power button and see what happens?"
We had people calling who didn't know what the SHIFT key was or what CAPS LOCK does. Oh, I miss that job
One thing with working in IT support is you spend half your time resetting passwords.
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:52 am
by themurph
Another fav from the past:
(standing right beside the user in their office in front of their computer)
me: ok close all your open windows
user: (confidently) OK.
me: now you see the "my computer" icon on the desktop
user: your computer?
me: no.. it's an ICON on
your DESKTOP
user: (meekly) my desktop?
me: YES, your desktop.
user: <looks around on the top of her desk, shuffles some papers, then looks up at me with a blank stare>
me: <wonders if Darwin was full of crap>
By the way, this woman was responsible for managing direct marketing projects for customers that
involved hundreds of thousands of pieces of direct mail per month. All mostly coordinated from
the computer.
Scary

Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:59 am
by MrPotatoes
themurph wrote:Another fav from the past:
(standing right beside the user in their office in front of their computer)
me: ok close all your open windows
user: (confidently) OK.
me: now you see the "my computer" icon on the desktop
user: your computer?
me: no.. it's an ICON on your DESKTOP
user: (meekly) my desktop?
me: YES, your desktop.
user: <looks around on the top of her desk, shuffles some papers, then looks up at me with a blank stare>
me: <wonders if Darwin was full of crap>
that was actually extremely funny
you do have to understand tho is that most people are scared or intimidated by the IT group. i don't know why but they are. some people represent it in a different way from others. like one of my bosses thinks that now that he hired me (i'm aprogrammer mind you not sys admin) that all the computers should work flawlessly. for instance his mouse was acting up and he was yelling at the computer and frustratedly he get me. i clean the gunk out and walk back to my desk. annoying really but still. you know
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 9:58 am
by TheMoose
I love these things! I, too, experience these all the time.
One of my favorites:
I designed, programmed, and unfortunately currently support an automated faxing solution for my company. It basically allows users to fax in packages with a designated coversheet (that has a barcode), and the software I wrote automatically uploads the file to our SQL server. The user can then go back to our member area and check to see if their file was received successfully. Once the fax is sent, it takes less than 1 minute for the file to show up on the website. Well, one lady calls me everytime she faxes in a package and asks the exact same question everytime:
User: "Hey, this is ***, I just faxed in a package and was wondering if you received it yet."
Me: "Have you checked the status page yet?"
User: "Yes, I did, and it's not showing up."
Me: "When did you fax in the file?"
User: "It's still being sent right now."
Me: (wanting to cry at this point) "Ok, well it takes about 1 minute after the fax has sent for it to show up. If it doesn't show up within 5 minutes after you get a fax confirmation, call me back."
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:06 am
by GM
I swear on my mother's life that this is true:
I once had a guy ring me saying he couldn't log in to network (at my old job). I reset his password for him, and talked him through it:
Me: Put your username in where it says "username"
Him: OK.
Me: Put your new password in where it says "password"
[at this point I hear banging on the keyboard for about 10 seconds]
Him: I can't. My keyboard has stopped working again.
Me: Again?
Him: Yes. Every time I get to this point, my keyboard stops working.
Me: [Thinking the computer is blocked somehow] How is it not working? Can you type anything?
Him: Yes, I can type, but it keeps coming out as asterisks.
Apparently, he left his computer switched on all the time, never locked it, and therefore never had to put in his password.
I patiently explained to him that the password fields are protected to stop other people from seeing your password. His answer was "Well, can't you change it? It's very confusing."
Some people.

Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 10:30 am
by Skittlewidth
Yesterday I had a user call up saying she couldn't post in the forum for her company website as she had forgotten her admin username and password.
I looked it up and gave it to her.
She replied "Does it make a difference if I'm in Maidstone?".
At this point I was tempted to tell them to prefix their password with an area code and then hang up.
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:12 pm
by Roja
I used to work in tech support for a massive ISP. I had the same "haha, silly users" train of comments.
Then one day, I taught my mother to use a computer. My mother was an incredibly intelligent, well spoken, hero for most of my life. I knew she was the polar opposite of a "dumb L-user".
I showed her the mouse, and she *twisted* the mouse, intending to turn the cursor to point up, instead of towards the upper left hand corner of the screen. She was completely confused by the fact that the cursor didn't 'turn' with the mouse. Once she had explained what she was trying to do, I realized that there was no way to do so on the computer. More importantly, I realized that it was a completely reasonable thing to think - given her inexperience.
A small child asking why the sky is blue isn't stupid. They are learning how things work.
Why are brilliant, intelligent adults learning computers and their illogical behaviors for the first time held to a different standard?
Computers do not operate logically. If you honestly think so, go click your start button to shutdown, before explaining why people who don't use 'puters are DUMB.
Lets flip the conversation to something more positive and humorous. Talk about illogical things that computers do.
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:42 pm
by Moocat
Roja wrote:Lets flip the conversation to something more positive and humorous. Talk about illogical things that computers do.
Would illogical, humorous things programmers do be sufficient?
http://thedailywtf.com/
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:47 pm
by MrPotatoes
Roja wrote:Why are brilliant, intelligent adults learning computers and their illogical behaviors for the first time held to a different standard?
exactly
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 12:50 pm
by Roja
A favorite of mine for many moons now. Definitely a welcome contribution.

Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:44 pm
by Luke
I used to work at a computer repair store, and I got an email from somebody that went like this:
some lady wrote:
Dear Sierra Tech,
I am unable to send or receive emails. What could be wrong?
-Some lady
So I responded to her explaining that I would need to know more information, like what the malfunctioning email address is
She replied
some lady wrote:
This one
WOW. (this is not a joke)