Monitor-eating office cat
Posted by OinkyConfidence@reddit | talesfromtechsupport | View on Reddit | 23 comments
Small office customer. Sold a new, bezel-less 24" LCD monitor to said customer. Customer takes it on-site and hooks it up, all works well. It sits on a counter by a large window.
Customer calls me a few days later. Says the new monitor is dead. The power light is on, but no signal. I have him try a different cable, different port on the PC, etc., but nothing. So we process a replacement, swap it out, and chalk it up to being DOA.
Customer calls me again a few days later still. Says you're not going to believe this, but this second new monitor is doing the same thing as the first. At this point I'm thinking their office must have a power problem or something that's killing monitors. But I decide I'll take a truck roll and see for myself.
I go on-site and bring a third new monitor with me just in case. I open the door and see a very pretty cat walking on the floor. I look at the old, original monitor which was replaced by the new 24". It's an old 17" LCD from a decade ago and had thick, beefy bezels as monitors from that era did. I see some bite marks at the top corners, but they're just on the bezel so no actual screen damage.
It's beginning to add up. Their office cat had been chewing the corners of the old thick-bezel'ed monitor. Which was fine, until they got a new monitor that had no bezels at all, and all it took was one bite from the cat to pierce the LCD itself. Twice. Once they were made aware, it was easy to see the teeth mark in the corner of the LCD of the new monitor.
Customer ended up getting a used 22" monitor with thick bezels. Cat still chews the corners.
lesbara1@reddit
"My ~~dog~~ ate my ~~homework~~ 24" monitor"
GolfballDM@reddit
Offtopic, but my first dog really did eat my eldest son's homework many years ago.
My wife & I had to write a note to the teacher explaining that our dog a) really did eat his homework, b) the dog was not induced to do so, but did so of her own accord, and c) we offered to send the remnants of the homework after it had finished going through the dog, as proof, if required.
The teacher declined the offer of sending in the homework. The dog lived for several years after that incident, and many other "taste treats." One more visit to the ER, and we would have gotten a free toaster. (/s)
The dog has gone off to the Great Daycamp In The Sky. I still miss the dog, I do not miss her culinary adventures, nor the resulting vet bills.
gadget850@reddit
I had a customer with one of those old monitors and she had Post-it notes all around. She was not happy to get a new monitor. And no, Sticky Notes was not viable for her.
Rathmun@reddit
If she's still a customer, try some lengths of plastic angle stock and command adhesive strips. DIY bezels for people with a sticky note addiction.
gadget850@reddit
LOL
db48x@reddit
Cheaper to replace the cat.
katmndoo@reddit
There's reasons why "Do you have a cat?" has been one of my oft-used troubleshooting questions.
tabicat1874@reddit
BAD KITTY
Hot-Win2571@reddit
Wait until cat decides to spray.
capn_kwick@reddit
Cats biting monitors (free-standing or laptop) are continually being bitten in the sub /r/catsareassholes. Kitty starts biting on the corner and one of several things can happen
the screen goes black and does not return
the screen suddenly has strips of various colors (horizontal or vertical)
the screen suddenly has random multicolored pixels all over
This is where a decoy monitor is needed for kitty to bite.
androshalforc1@reddit
Posted pics of the monitor but not the culprit (catprit?).
OinkyConfidence@reddit (OP)
Hah! I never thought to take a picture of the feline felon!
dickcheney600@reddit
And somehow, both times, it was in the exact right (or wrong) spot to cause the display to be completely black (whether the backlight / raster was still present probably wouldn't be all that noticeable to a layman unless they dimmed the room lights)
Usually when an LCD is physically damaged, the ones I've seen would have a black mark where it was damaged, that can be seen even with the screen off (albeit sometimes having to shine a flashlight at it to see the black mark) and then when you turn it on, there's usually a rainbow pattern on part of it.
OinkyConfidence@reddit (OP)
I probably have a pic of it somewhere still. I remember the distributor wanted to see pics, even if they couldn't warranty or return the chewed screens. I was surprised too that the screens just up and died at a bite (crack) at the corners of the screen itself, instead of just deadening that particular area.
Loading_M_@reddit
You totally can upload pictures and link them here. The sub requires them to be optional for reading and understanding the story, but this case is totally fine.
OinkyConfidence@reddit (OP)
Done!
ASK_ME_AB0UT_L00M@reddit
Upload it to imgur!
spaceraverdk@reddit
Cat tax!
bobarrgh@reddit
A "cat-tax-trophy", if you will.
DolanUser@reddit
Bezel = frame… if you’re wondering what the cat was biting on.:) Private thesaurus. First time I see this word.
harrywwc@reddit
hey kitty, I'm thinking of taking up the violin and heard that I need some catgut for the strings...
K1yco@reddit
Cat-astrophic outcome
beerbellybegone@reddit
Should thank that cat for drumming up repeat business