I'm not letting you pay for that
Posted by bawta@reddit | talesfromtechsupport | View on Reddit | 81 comments
I've got a wholesome one for you all today.
I work as an IT consultant mon-fri and work in a tech retailer at the weekends as a sales colleague. I'm by far the most technical in the store so whenever I'm on shift I get the 'technical' questions and issues. The extent of this really isn't technical at all, we're talking basic queries about Wi-Fi extenders, Routers, Laptops and simple troubleshooting. This particular instance is regarding a laptop.
On the Saturday and older guy came in looking for a decently powerful laptop to run large spreadsheets. We went through the usual sales process, talked specs, requirements and general chit-chat. I got to know that he was retired and these spreadsheets were a bit of part-time work he was being given from a friend to get a bit of extra money. We settled on a lovely laptop, somewhere around the £1000 mark which was quite pricey for somebody who is supposed to be retired I thought, but he was very happy with it. He asked about getting the laptop setup - something we charge a staggering £79 for (literally run through the basic OOBE and run updates. I didn't really feel comfortable charging a pensioner so much for such a simple service so I explained that it's a very simple next > next > finish exercise and he should be fine. He agreed and said he'd give it a go himself.
The next day he comes back in and finds me specifically and says "I'm sorry, I couldn't work it out. Can I please pay for that setup?" looking quite sad and a little embarrassed. I said "Absolutely not, take a seat over there and I'll be with you in 2 minutes". I sat with him for the next hour or so, going through his account details, setting up passwords etc and just generally made sure he was happy with using the laptop. I've never seen such a drastic change in a person's mood as I did that day. He was delighted and tried to force me to take some money personally as a tip which I respectfully declined. I just told him that I couldn't in good faith charge him so much money for something that simple, and that I just wanted to know he had everything he needed and was happy with the service.
I've done similar things since then for older customers who struggle with the tech and I don't even hesitate in offering my time to them. I value customer service and caring for those in need far above the profits of a multi-million £ company.
NoeticSkeptic@reddit
That wasn't the ending I wanted. I was hoping the "pensioner" was a retired multi-millionaire CEO. There are a lot of CEOs who don't know much "behind the curtain" IT stuff. Though I stopped working as a CIO, I had previously left the Army after 12 years.
In 2001, I stopped working because I had to buy a recreational vehicle. I took a two-year trip around America and Canada with my mini-Shnauzer to visit online card-playing friends. I did stop in Florida for six months to write an application program for a friend. I have since retired as a Business IT Consultant and a Sports Psychology and Mental Mindset Coach for Athletes and Poker Players.
Having just turned 68, I am embarking on my next career as a Freelance Copy Editor and Proofreader for Independent Authors.
I am confident the retirees you help appreciate it, and I am proud of you for doing it.
I just wanted you to know all of us retirees aren't old and feeble.
Majic1959@reddit
Be careful not to get caught. But I applaud your behavior. It used to be that making sure the machine had the latest OS etc was standard practice. But then someone said hey let’s charge for that, see what the market will bear.
As a now senior citizen, but a tech savy one I say thank you for your attitude.
bawta@reddit (OP)
Even if I get caught, it's a nothing job that is just for a bit of extra cash. I can easily get something else at the same level of pay so it's not a big deal if they decide to fire me for it. I doubt they'd do that though, given that I out-perform their full time staff in my 2-day week!
FormsQueen@reddit
You’d think that above a certain spend the store would toss that in.
Very nice of you to offer that service. Things change so fast that even if you were extremely tech literate in your field, but had been away from the latest upgrades for a while, it might feel like you were a rank newbie. Not that I would know, cough, cough…
agoia@reddit
I was looking for monitor upgrades circa 07/08 at an office/tech retailer with an outfit on from my day job that was unfortunately very similar to their uniforms. An older lady came up to me and asked about monitors and went on to explain how she wanted to get a computer to stay in touch with her kids/grandkids. So I helped her pick out an affordable 24" monitor so it would be easy to see and a decent PC that wouldn't absolutely suck running Vista but not cost a ton. I give her the tickets for the things we picked out and tell her she needs to find someone to ring her up. She then asks why I can't ring her up. "I don't work here, I was just bored and you needed help."
Targa85@reddit
And that’s the story of how I became the manager..???
Leading-Force-2740@reddit
thats how he met your mother...
agoia@reddit
Nah I was a full time student and had a corporate IT internship that paid a whopping $10/hr that was at least enough for a couple of EvE subscriptions and plenty of beer.
Targa85@reddit
Haha awesome
SoundPon3@reddit
I had a similar position doing tech retail, it was fill in work and the staff discounts were good. I had so many repeat customers and while I definitely took too long/put too much work in beyond what I was supposed to (even designing simple circuits and telling people the parts that they need), people came back and asked for me by name.
Some places take KPIs way too seriously down to the dot instead of looking at the bigger picture.
rob-entre@reddit
Along a similar vein to your story, today I had an appointment with a family member of one of my customers. She was so frustrated with her old computer. The local ISP offloaded their email to Yahoo, and she couldn’t figure out yahoo mail. I spent a few hours with her cleaning up some of the mess left after the isp>yahoo migration, and helping her find some of the buttons she needed in yahoo mail. She treated me like I was her savior. In reality, she was just overjoyed that I was patient with her through all her questions when most of her family had given up on her. All in all, good day.
Timmibal@reddit
Firstly you're a great person. Bless you.
Secondly I weep that your company treats this as a chargeable extra. This is the sort of service that makes not only repeat customers but works wonders for word of mouth referral. (You know the thing that NPS has turned into a dogshit metric?)
curtludwig@reddit
Years ago I worked in phone support and my company got bought by another, larger company.
At the first company I was the tech lead for a product so I spent copious amounts of time with customers making sure their very expensive systems worked right. Many of those customers had direct access to me personally and I would respond to their needs.
For reasons I can't recall the new company made me a front line tech on the low end product line. In retrospect this was a really dumb idea but at the time I recall it making sense.
I treated these low end (as in the products were a fraction of the cost) customers the same way I treated anybody else. If I need to stay on the phone with you all day we'd do that.
I get called in by my new manager "It looks like your call times are really high, like off the charts really high." It turns out that nobody had ever told me that you were supposed to finish calls within like 15 minutes, lots of my calls went on for an hour or more. I had very few calls closed within 15 minutes.
"How many open cases do I have?" zero
"How many of my cases have been re-opened after I closed them?" also zero.
"Who has the highest feedback score in the group?" That'd be me. This one I had gamed, there was a deal where whoever got the most customer positive emails/letters to the boss would be "Tech support rep of the quarter" so I closed every call with "If I've done a good job today and fixed your issue why not drop a note to my boss..." and most people would. Previous tech support rep of the quarter had like 3 customers emails in a quarter I had like 90. Its amazing what people will do for you if you just ask.
Anyway I basically told him to shove his call times up his ass. If he didn't like it he could explain to the big customers I supported directly why I'd been let go and see what they thought about it.
Amazingly I kept my job, although in a few months I was allowed (encouraged really) to transfer into a position with the training org. I still did support on the side for like 5 more years until the products I'd supported had gone end of support. I've been in that job for 18 years now...
sir_mrej@reddit
I mean if you literally took pains to fix people's issues to the nth degree, and you built rapport with customers while on the phone, enough so that they ACTUALLY would email your boss? That's not gaming the system, that's having charisma and tenacity and being REALLY good at customer service.
Warrlock608@reddit
Having worked in call centers I can tell you the priority for your work is Call Volume -> Call Quality -> Customer Satisfaction
Churn out as many calls as humanly possible while saying your whole script is the #1 priority. I worked at one and blew away every metric they had in my first few weeks and some managers pulled me into a meeting accusing me of cutting corners or cheating somehow. I guess their star pupil can't type 100 WPM and have efficient conversations.
NerdEmoji@reddit
My first non-restaurant job was in a call center for a company that sold things like truck placards and lab supplies. The gasoline placard was by far the most ordered so within a few days I had the basic one's part number memorized, then within a week I had all types of it memorized. Then I started memorizing other part number just because I'd see them so often. I got taken to task because my call times were too short. I also typed at least 50WPM at that time. My boss was basically like pad your conversations, ask about their day, etc. but I refused. Customers don't want to sit on the phone talking to you when they have better things to do. Ordering was only one part of these people's jobs, they had much more important things to do.
kythyri@reddit
What kind of call center dislikes *short* call times? Especially after they presumably checked on what you were doing!
lioncat55@reddit
It really depends on the call center. I've worked for 3 companies doing call center work. 1 of them was that order. The other 2 was the other way (thankfully). You still had average call times to try and hit, but they were very reasonable and I never felt like I can to rush someone off the phone, and very thankfully there was basically 0 scripts for either of them.
curtludwig@reddit
I think you were supposed to just organically get praise from customers, like you did such a great job they sent a note for you. I added the "If you liked the service you received" part. Not sure anybody else ever thought to do that...
sir_mrej@reddit
Eh their loss
I did phone support for a while. I dont think most of my users would have emailed my boss if I asked. I was only OK lol
MasterClown@reddit
I agree it should be offered as part of a purchase. Perhaps, at least, the OP's store would consider something like a "pensioner discount" (30 to 50% off of regular charges).
Where I live we refer to pricing as a Senior Discount and is mostly seen as positive.
eragonawesome2@reddit
Someone saw them charge at a store where the clerks make commission and went "that's a great idea!"
AnxietySpecific7828@reddit
The world needs more people like you
CantankerousBusBoy@reddit
Would have been a wonderful story if he turned around and added £79 to the till from his own pocket. But he didnt, making him a thief.
I find it incredible this post get so many upvotes and adulation from people who have zero concern that he stole from his employer.
"But-but-but it's a evil giant corporation!"
Yea, it's an evil giant corporation that pays the salaries of thousands of employees. Plenty of giant chain stores have gone out of business due to petty theft and guess who loses out? Local workers that needed the job to pay their bills.
agent-squirrel@reddit
You understand that it many instances stupid fees like these are waved to ensure a repeat customer? A faithful customer who tells their friends is much more valuable than someone who realises they have been shafted and tell 20 of their friends that shopX is expensive untrustworthy.
$40 might have been ok, $75 is robbery.
sfsmiley@reddit
I waive or discount all the time, but typically not for brand new customers. Also a break fix shop , and im 129. all day everyday for a new pc setup, never had one complaint on $, and most of my biz is from referrals. But I include a yr sub of malwarebytes, and transfer data from an old pc (if they have one).
Leberkassemmel2@reddit
Dumbest take I've read in quite some time.
CantankerousBusBoy@reddit
not even worth having a dialogue with people who think theft is fine
Careless_Wispa_@reddit
What do the undersides of your bosses boots taste like?
Downtown-Sun8075@reddit
Impossible to tell due to where else his tongue has been.
Miffy92@reddit
Please list, in detail, items that were taken in order to juatify your usage of the term "theft"
LowlySpirited@reddit
At worst, the only thing you might consider "stolen" is a little bit of time. Do you freak out when employees go to the bathroom?
ApplePieForLife@reddit
It’s not stealing as the worker never did setup alone he walked the end user through the task which the company does not need to charge for the could charge a consultation fee but large business don’t do that. And you are a fool if you think the local workers will lose out due to this. If anything they guaranteed a new customer that will come back if they need anything else. I’m only now reading your name and realize the troll that you are. Have a nice day baby boy!!
Dustquake@reddit
Any giant chain store corporation that goes out of business for "petty theft" was doing a whole lot more wrong. Retail literally budgets for shrinkage from theft, damaged products, etc.
He disappeared for an hour. So maybe he took lunch and spent his personal time helping. Like this customer could theoretically have rounded up someone else to do or OP would have done for his own family. Is it still theft?
Maybe OP disappeared for an hour on the clock. So does that mean he's the manager that gets to make calls like that, his manager ignores that he disappeared for an hour, or that his manager approved this action? OP doesn't say. But I can say this. OP bought that man's loyalty and that man dropped a grand on a laptop basically from boredom.
You jumped the gun way too quick here.
espositorpedo@reddit
List the chain stores that have gone out of business due to petty theft.
joe--totale@reddit
Username checks out.
Glass-Shelter-7396@reddit
even if we don't deserve them.
mafiaknight@reddit
Especially because we don't deserve them
jacle2210@reddit
That's great OP, though, I'm surprised your boss didn't have kittens or a stroke, etc. with you spending so much company time helping a single customer for free.
bawta@reddit (OP)
I can say with 100% certainty that she had no idea I even did this. She sits out the back in the office for the whole day and rarely sees anything that happens on the shop floor. She's not a good manager.
jacle2210@reddit
Thats cool; guess as long as your numbers are great, then no worries.
Screwed_38@reddit
Ha, you work for Tech Guys by any chance?
bawta@reddit (OP)
It's a certain purple-shirted retailer in the UK. IYKYK 😉
Mr_Gin_Tonic@reddit
Ah yes, the tech reseller ~Comet~ ~Currys~ Sainsbury's!
No_Negotiation_6017@reddit
erm, isn't Sainsburys orange? *runs*
Mr_Gin_Tonic@reddit
Shirts are purple ;)
handyandy727@reddit
This is what IT is about. It's often frustrating as hell. But...there are those times that warm your heart.
This is one of those times. It makes it all worth it.
Good on you.
Stryker_One@reddit
Also, if he is really happy with your service, you'll probably make WAY more on repeat business and referrals.
Redzero062@reddit
2024 president
GrumpyGlasses@reddit
You’re a good soul.
dedokta@reddit
Way back when Y2K was still a recent fever dream I worked for IBM when they were still producing personal computers.
We ran a project to get basic computers into the houses of blue collar workers at a discount. Part of my job was handling the phone tech support for the installers, but every now and then I'd get a call from an end customer, who I wasn't really meant to support.
Got a call from a lady who had issues connecting to the phone line internet. I decided to help her because I wasn't very busy that day. After I got her sorted out she asked "Now what do I do with the thing?"
I had nothing else to do, so I spent the next hours explaining what you could do on the internet, how to use email, search websites and run the basic software. She was just so happy that I'd taken my time to help her when she knew I wasn't even meant to be talking to her at all.
24 years ago and it still makes me feel good to have helped just that single person. Be nice to people. It pays for itself.
agent-squirrel@reddit
I used to do this exact same thing when I worked retail. Charging $140AUD to send "Geekz2U" out only for them to fumble at the first hurdle (Seriously I had someone call crying because the "support" she got from them couldn't fix her computer and she was failing uni even though she paid for a support service. Wireless switch was off...) was beyond uncontainable. My manager used to crack the shits but I was the only one their that understood networking and other such "Techy complex" (Actual quote) topics.
Shadow5825@reddit
This reminds me of something that happened when I worked at the local grocery store.
An older gentleman had bought a cheap flip phone as his wife had gone into the hospital, and he needed to be reachable. I don't know when or where he bought the phone, but he came into the store and asked the lady at customer service for help setting it up. She didn't know anything so she called me. Once he explained that he'd inserted the Sim card, but the phone was displaying an error saying there wasn't one present. Turns out the card wasn't seated properly and just needed a little nudge, I put the phone back together and told the gentleman if he had any further troubles to come back and we'd fix it for him. I never did see him again, though.
MrDeeJayy@reddit
Reminds me of the days of the Windows 10 free upgrade. Worked similarly to what you were doing, elderly woman comes in with a 7yo laptop threatening to jump to Windows 10 in the next 5 minutes. It would certainly have had no compatible drivers. I wanted to cancel the updates I would have charged no more than $20 AUD.
I refused the boss when he told me to run virus scans on her computer so he can bill her an extra $100 AUD.
thetimehascomeforyou@reddit
You are not only sought out for harder problems because you are more technical. You are also sought out because you take the time to ensure a person is able to operate with the equipment you have provided them. You give enough information but not too much that a person is overwhelmed.
I can’t tell if you give yourself enough credit, but you should. Coming from someone who also thinks that taking the time for people that need it is just a given.
CantankerousBusBoy@reddit
Everyone calling you a great person seems to have forgotten that you are a paid consultant and you just stole from your boss. The money isn't yours to decline, although the tip is.
Did I miss something here? How is this a wholesome story?
AbhishMuk@reddit
Man you sound like you’d cheer for the machines over at r/orphancrushingmachine. How do you make helping an old man sound bad?
CantankerousBusBoy@reddit
its his job, and he has to charge for the service. I guarantee if he owned a business of his own he wouldnt appreciate a worker doing this,
Miffy92@reddit
Says the guy who wants to be paid in pizza instead of actual money
bawta@reddit (OP)
The bit that you missed is that this was not as my job as a consultant, this was at a nothing retail job for a massive company who absolutely don't need the money more than this guy did.
CantankerousBusBoy@reddit
So I missed nothing. You are a thief and everyone upvoting you demonstrates the odd moral decline society is in.
bawta@reddit (OP)
If you think helping a pensioner without charging them an extortionate amount of money is a decline in society, sure. Doubt many people will agree with you on that one though.
VexingRaven@reddit
What's with the idea that pensioners need money more than anyone else that came in to buy a laptop?
bawta@reddit (OP)
They generally have less money as pensions are very low compared to working wages. Obviously not always the case if they were putting away a big private pension but considering this guy was still working to have some money in this shitshow of an economy, I'd say he's most likely the former.
Also these people have worked and paid into the system their entire life and have helped fund most of the things we use on a daily basis and take for granted. I'm all for helping them out where I can, the least I can do to help them in their final few years.
PSGAnarchy@reddit
Your right! Why do they get discounts, cheaper tickets/entre fees, deals? /S
RiceKrisPSquares@reddit
He didn't do it for the man, he helped the man do it himself.
CantankerousBusBoy@reddit
Took an hour of company time. I wonder if he clocked out during that time /s
kunaan@reddit
OP out here showing that humans can still be kind.
Appreciate the story!
darthgarlic@reddit
You a truly a good human being
HazelNightengale@reddit
The optimist in me says cultivating referral business is more profitable in the long run, and yes, act like a reasonable and decent human being. The pessimist in me wonders if he'll direct a lot of higher-maintenance customers your way and you get the "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" situation.
Maybe I've been in IT for a while... still beats a lot of other jobs I've had.
NotYourNanny@reddit
My 40 years experience in retail agrees with you.
Maybe, but those are customers who spend money, too.
ChaosAndBoobs@reddit
Not necessarily; it's amazing how people will try to cadge free-to-them tech support from unaffiliated sources. For actual customers, the line in the sand should be easy to enforce though: With Click Next, Next, the store staff are working with a clean install, a new machine- the customer hasn't had the chance to fuck it up yet. Once that OS is up and running, any subsequent request has to be paid for, because you have to figure out what changed in the interim. It's actual troubleshooting. There still may be tantrums, though, which could alert Management. :-/
bawta@reddit (OP)
Most weekends when I clock in I get told that they had a customer during the week that was asking for me specifically by name. I do tell people that I only work weekends but I guess they forget sometimes. I don't mind, honestly it's nice to feel so in-demand 😂
hardrockclassic@reddit
upvote for kindness.
StuBidasol@reddit
When I worked at Walmart in electronics we would always have older folks coming in for issues with their phones. Technically we were strictly ring up the item do the initial setup and send the customers on their way, we weren't any kind of service center. The older people would come in with problems, usually a quick fix (for us) but occasionally we'd have to contact tech support for them. Never a charge as much because we didn't have anything setup for it as we would have ignored it if we did.
I saw something online many years ago that reminds me of this. "I never get upset when my mother has trouble with technology. She once taught me how to use a spoon."
Sdmf195@reddit
Thank you for being you,and for sharing this ❤️
Floresian-Rimor@reddit
One nice thing about this work is you keep your consumer side knowledge up to date.
I have no idea what the state of consumer market is. If I’m not working on enterprise stuff, I’m on my used ipad.
ThndrusNew@reddit
This is the kind of thing I do for the customers who work with me and actually help in the resolution process. Those who are a PITA get links to the KB and a fend for yourself attitude.
throwawayb195ex@reddit
OP was a good guy that time. (Insert Chuck Norris thumbsup gif here, im too lazy to look it up)
worstpartyever@reddit
You are a great person, OP
seguedad@reddit
Totally agree - service above self