The printer was broken. The printer was unplugged.
Posted by Tru-Fate@reddit | talesfromtechsupport | View on Reddit | 133 comments
A ticket came in from one of the ladies in the accounting department. Subject line: "Printer not working, URGENT, need to print contracts today." I've worked here long enough to know that "urgent" usually means "I haven't tried anything yet," so I grabbed my coffee and walked over.
She was standing next to the printer with her arms crossed, genuinely upset. Told me it had been broken since morning, that she'd already restarted her computer twice and even "reinstalled the printer" which I later found out meant she deleted it from her devices list and then panicked when it dissapeared completely. So now we had two problems. I asked her to show me exactly what happened when she tried to print. She sent a test page, we both watched the printer do absolutely nothing. No sound, no lights, no movement whatsoever. I looked at the printer. Then I looked at the wall. Then I looked back at the printer. The power cable was hanging freely about four inches from the outlet. Not half in, not loose. Just fully unpluged, dangling there in plain sight.
I plugged it in. The printer beeped, warmed up, and printed her test page and the backlog of about 11 documents that had been sitting in the queue all morning. She stared at it for a second and then said "well I didn't think to check that because it's always been plugged in." I told her that was completely fair, closed the ticket as resolved, and walked back to my desk. I have no idea how it came unplugged. I didn't ask. Some mistieries are better left alone.
BZ2USvets81@reddit
I recently read a post by an IT service person who had a good way to deal with these scenarios. Rather than asking the complainer to verify the unit is plugged in (because they will say they did that when they did not) the service person will ask them to unplug the unit and plug it back in.
AngryCod@reddit
They will always say they did that. Always. Instead, tell them you need to replace the power cord and ask them to unplug it and read you the serial number off the end. "Oh, no serial? Go ahead and plug it back in and then check the other end. Maybe the serial number is on that end."
SavvySillybug@reddit
I love contacting support because I know how to do basic and reasonably advanced troubleshooting.
When I have to contact support, shit's really fucked, or it's something I already know how to fix but they need to pull the lever for me.
Last time I contacted support was to point out a bug in their cloud solution. It was a remote desktop thing with installed software they had built. They also had a layout editor that was clearly third party and it was buried ten menus deep.
I'd tried to alter the layout of a print and found that hidden thing and when I went to open a file through it... it let me see every user folder. Not access, but see. It was like 100 users all properly named to be traceable to companies and individual people.
I sent them an email with a screenshot showing their own test accounts on the system and steps to get there. I never received a reply, but they fixed it within a month. I hope they panicked. XD
Stryker_One@reddit
Sounds like someone pulled....., the wrong lever.
Ancient-End7108@reddit
Kronk!
eeyoremarie@reddit
Our off-site IT guy drove 3.5 hours to my building, during some kind of internal outage to fix an issue.
It turned out to be simple. A button needed to be pushed. The IT guy strung together a stream of not quite swear words like I have never heard before or since. My favorite --- he called the boss man a bag of overcooked cabbage walking inside a skinsuit.
Much later, it came out that Mr. Cabbage swore he had pushed the button.
BoulderNerd@reddit
It’s been pretty rare for me to have to call a support line. Once I had to do it for a piece of consumer networking equipment. I’d already done the basic troubleshooting, restarted it, verified local connectivity with my systems, etc (I’d been doing that type of thing professionally for decades at that point).
When I called up I related all the testing I’d done to that point, to absolutely no effect. The support person started reading from a script, ignoring what I just told them. Decided it wasn’t worth it to argue about how useless it worked be so I just pretended to do the steps with appropriate pauses until we finally got to the point they had to transfer me to someone with actual knowledge.
Ich_mag_Kartoffeln@reddit
At one point I was having a lot of problems with my internet connection, had to ring TS a lot. Go through the basic troubleshooting nonsense (which I'd already tried), eventually get transferred to somebody who could actually help me.
After about the fourth time speaking to the same bloke, he gave me the direct number to call the higher level techs 😁.
I truly treasured that number 😍😍.
Firedcylinder@reddit
I work in a support role similar to the one the person you called does. We don't have enough autonomy in our positions to accept any troubleshooting you may have done before reaching out. Don't take it personally. We're just doing our jobs.
AngryCod@reddit
Why didn't you just say "shibboleet"?
vpsj@reddit
Did not know this. Guess I was 1 of the 10,000 today. Thanks for this. I doubt any company in my country would be xkcd/806 compliant but still good to know
frymaster@reddit
the UK ISP Andrews & Arnold are compliant https://www.revk.uk/2010/10/xkcd806-compliance.html
weaver_of_cloth@reddit
I'm a huge XKDC fan AND we use shibboleth for passwords, and I still didn't remember this one until I got to the last panel. Thanks for the memory!
Jwz401@reddit
You would be surprised the number of clients that swear they did x get their issue resolved when one finally gets them doing x. Sadly too many clients lie or are overconfident that sometimes people who genuinely know and did the thing have to suffer through our basic troubleshooting.
NotYourNanny@reddit
I'm so glad we have a premium support account with the vendors that matter. They know as well as we do that we know more than level 1 help desk, who we never talk to at all, and level 2 actually listens.
Harry_Smutter@reddit
This is why I like chat support. I have a doc I copy and paste all the info they're gonna ask me. If they start asking me, I say, "refer to the doc and then get me what I need."
PapaOoMaoMao@reddit
Not enough tech speak. You've got to make it sound official. "Ok, so first we have to bleed the capacitors. Pull the plug completely out of the wall to disconnect the neural bus and press the start button, the power button and the stop button at the same time."
333Beekeeper@reddit
I like that. Just like the tech that had people unplug their ethernet cables and take them out in the hallway to shake out the stuck bits; then had them plug it back in to make sure the cable was firmly seated.
pogidaga@reddit
Sometimes I'm tempted to ask them to unplug the power cord and blow the dust off the prongs and plug it back in.
jnmtx@reddit
just as long as you don’t tell them to lick the prongs
BZ2USvets81@reddit
I love it.
Pirkale@reddit
A friend once drove 3 hours to resolve a connection problem. He had ensured that the network cable was plugged in at both ends, and to the customer's credit, both ends were indeed plugged in. However, the customer's pet rat had chewed the cable in the middle :)
I once called the ISP's customer support, because my modem was a different model than they used and the settings were different. I was going through the settings, and finally got to one with two options. And the dude guessed and was wrong. After that I set up a network on my laptop using my cellphone's IR link (yes, it's been a while) and Googled the answer myself.
Mysterious_Peas@reddit
I was having trouble connecting to the big screen in the conference room one time. It kept going off when I would get connected and start working.
Yeah. I unplugged and plugged it in, then when I was adjusting my chair I was kicking a connection loose. Over and over. I’m just glad he has a sense of humor. 🤦♀️
geeoharee@reddit
"What do you mean, it only fails when Steve sits there?" That's fun to diagnose.
musicnerd1023@reddit
They won't actually unplug it and replug it if you ask them to do that. However, if you tell them something like: "Sounds like it might be a static build up causing interference. Can you go and unplug it from the wall and rub something metal along the cable for a few feet? Something like a stapler usually works well for this. After you rub the cable, plug it back in and restart."
I have no idea why utterly lying to them is effective when the truth seems to make them angry that you think they're stupid or something. I just do not understand, but the above has worked for me a few times with coworkers and family memebers.
BZ2USvets81@reddit
That's a good idea.
tylerderped@reddit
“I don’t know anything about g about cables or which one it is. Isn’t this your job?”
NotYourNanny@reddit
Friend of mine did support for gym equipment, like treadmills. He actually had this conversation once:
"Is it plugged in?"
"I don't know. I'm not technical."
Muscleheads are not notable for their intellectual prowess, but this one was at least smart enough to know his limitations.
OldPro1001@reddit
Cleaning crew had to plug in a vacuum?
lwbailey@reddit
Had one yesterday, ALL 5 trays out of paper and needed 2 ink cartridges.
pjshawaii@reddit
Too bad printers don’t have some mechanism, like a status screen, to let someone know to correct these problems.
CaseyG@reddit
"PC LOAD LETTER"? What the fuck does that mean?
frymaster@reddit
in fairness, I'm in the UK, so most people wouldn't know what that means here
wanderinggoat@reddit
Im in neither country but I know if I had a printer with that error I would take it out into a friend and destroy it with baseball bats
gotohelenwaite@reddit
Michael Bolton agrees.
Photog77@reddit
It means "PC load A4".
Ich_mag_Kartoffeln@reddit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wdpsen39Bo
ElfjeTinkerBell@reddit
You should write a letter on your personal computer.
BuyAffectionate2810@reddit
I have a printer that always says out of paper, even when it has paper, I just open and close the tray and it will print. Our IT says that the printer works.
RedHeadRaccoon13@reddit
Bad sensor, maybe?
gotohelenwaite@reddit
Funny true story: Early 90s, a critical Pentagon international comm link suddenly went dead. Tense hours of troubleshooting, landlines, microwave & satellite links, complete mystery. Finally the culprit was revealed: Some noob vacuuming behind an equipment rack stepped on a power cord, pulling it out of the socket and taking down the link.
sayoluf@reddit
reinstalled the driver, did not check the cord. a classic.
vinyljunkie1245@reddit
I'm not an IT support specialist but I've been treated as some kind of god because I could get things working by, you know, plugging them in and turning them on.
I started trying to train people how to do these things but soon realised it was far more prudent not to tell them and to revel in my omnipotent status. My value as the one person who could fix any IT issue meant my job was pretty damn safe.
pjshawaii@reddit
I can join that club for a different reason. I can fix the Keurig at our office when the thermostat trips. To be honest, though, I did it to my machine at home when I didn’t place my water container back evenly. Since then, I have fixed the work Keurig three times with the same symptoms.
Stryker_One@reddit
Is the bar just getting lower every day?
vinyljunkie1245@reddit
It feels that way. "I'm not good with technology" is a depressingly familiar refrain.
ThatUsrnameIsAlready@reddit
Not reinstalled, just deleted 😅.
W1ULH@reddit
monday morning ticket responses should always account for this possibility
Photog77@reddit
No, the user had to charge their phone.
Grillmeister5000@reddit
classic
KnoWanUKnow2@reddit
I once had a construction crew unplug a server rack so that they could plug in their electric table saw.
This was at a hospital.
The UPS kept it going long enough that when the network went down (for the entire hospital) the carpenters were on lunch break. So I plugged the rack back in to the mains thinking that they wouldn't be stupid enough to do that twice.
After lunch I found out that they were stupid enough to do that twice when the network went down a second time.
vinyljunkie1245@reddit
I remember reading about a ship in the US navy that couldn't launch because some vital kit wasn't working. The crew apparently tried everything then had to call a tech. The tech walked in to the ship's high ranking officer raging and demanding he fixed it as the delay in launch was a serious matter (it was).
The tech found the problem and called the officer over. When the officer got to the tech the tech bonked him on the head with a screwdriver and, before he could react, turned the power on for the kit and walked off.
When one of the crew confronted him and asked him how he thought he'd get away with it the tech replied "what's he going to do? Haul me in front of a court and have to explain the reason his ship launch was delayed was because he didn't turn the power on?"
Not sure how true it is but I like the idea.
KelemvorSparkyfox@reddit
According to something my dad wrote for me, one of his fellow conscripts once shouted that there was a fire drill just to avoid the queue for a cup of tea. So it's not out of the realms of possibility.
Then again, dad was like Garak. Full of stories, all of them true - especially the lies.
sadicarnot@reddit
My friends late dad was like that. He truly had been all over the world on big construction projects. Knew the King of Thailand from the 70s. Worked with Red Adair. Saw a disaster on the discovery channel? He had first hand knowledge of it. His friends said every story was true. My friends brother started looking into things towards the end of their dad's life and there were things that did not quite line up.
In the end he was an incredible guy and while flawed was a good dad. So while we may never know the full truth, we choose to believe what he told us.
KelemvorSparkyfox@reddit
The last thing I said to my dad was that while he might not have been as good a dad as he wanted to be, he was better than he thought.
KnoWanUKnow2@reddit
I once had a construction crew unplug a server rack so that they could plug in their electric table saw.
This was at a hospital.
The UPS kept it going long enough that when the network went down (for the entire hospital) the carpenters were on lunch break. So I plugged the rack back in to the mains thinking that they wouldn't be stupid enough to do that twice.
After lunch I found out that they were stupid enough to do that twice when the network went down a second time.
Shinhan@reddit
How can just anyone gain access to the server racks?
KnoWanUKnow2@reddit
They were doing construction, technically in the room next door to the server room. But they knocked down the wall between the two and just had plastic sheets hung.
Also, the hospital was built in the 70's before dedicated server rooms were a thing. So it was stuffed in a former office. The rack that they took down had dual lines into the UPS, but those were just 110 volt standard plugs. The carpenters unplugged both lines.
sebassi@reddit
I feel like the second one is kind of on you. If they are stupid enough to do it once they are almost definitely stupid enough to do it twice. Especially if nobody tells them how stupid they are.
Managed the electrical on a large construction site. And we ended up fencing all the distrubution boxes off because the construction workers kept unplugging important stuff and tripping breakers of important stuff. If they needed power they could call us and we come and plug their extension cord in and then they could plug whatever they wanted in the extension cord.
FauxReal@reddit
Thankfully these days, at least where I work you'd have to unplug the dual twist-lock 240V from the UPS to the wall itself. And then alarms would start going off on the monitoring team's computers and I'd start getting emails complaining about it.
ohpico@reddit
This happened to me once, but the cleaning lady unplugged the temporary cable to the rack we were working on in the server room.
ScortiusOfTheBlues@reddit
lucky it wasn't a hospital bed.
igramigru101@reddit
Lol, my coworker did it with monitor, unplugged it to plug in the vacuum. Since it was a remote site, and she swore it was plugged in (hint, she didn't check) I had to bring whole new machine just in case.
Squeak_Theory@reddit
Yeah… I had a guy complaining that his laptop was suddenly unable to connect to his printer. Went over to his office to see what was going on and found that they had a non networked printer that is usually connected via USB. Said USB was of course not, connected to his laptop (a MacBook with only USB-C). Asked him how he usually uses the printer and he said that he usually plugs the cable into his USB-C adaptor, but today he forgot it, so he can’t plug it in. So now he doesn’t understand why it won’t print…
Even after making him say that again he still didn’t get it and I had to directly tell him he has to plug it in to print… He has a PhD by the way.
OhmHomestead1@reddit
Had an issue with a printer that every time it lost power (possibly from being unplugged) it would reassign the IP address which made the generated printed pick/pack slips. So due to this orders weren’t being properly closed out as scanning the slip in the shipping computer would write back to the system that orders closed.
So what was happening was fulfillment staff was manually adjusting inventory which meant that the designated amount was still being held against the available inventory.
It was brought to my attention when pulling reports for client and trying to figure out why the numbers weren’t matching up. So spent 3 days on-site going over their processes and finding the printer didn’t work. Ultimately had to get 2 other IT sources involved as it was outside my realm of support and access. New printer and new location is the outcome because previous location involved power fluctuations and possibly staff unplugging to plug their personal devices in.
u2125mike2124@reddit
I’ve done a fair amount of tech writing in my time, manuals on machine operations and such
And every single one of them the first thing after “the machine is not working” is “make sure machine is plugged in”
Parkour82@reddit
sounds like AI. what IT person would not glance at the printer first and notice it was off long before reinstalling the printer on her PC and telling her to print a test page.
MKInc@reddit
Usually it is the user that unplugs it to plug in their space heater
oloryn@reddit
That you can usually blame on the male suit-wearing executive who reserves to himself the right to set the thermostat. He sets it to where he (in his multiple layers of cloth) is comfortable, and the dress-wearing ladies in the building freeze.
WebMaka@reddit
This is a huge issue in attorneys' offices because the bosses all wear layered suits at all times but the paralegals and support staff don't, so they freeze because of being underdressed for the office climate control settings compared to said bosses.
bstevens615@reddit
This actually makes sense to me. You can always put more on. But there is only so much you can take off.
compb13@reddit
But wearing gloves while using your keyboard slows you down.
Until our VP got involved because she was freezing as well, maintenance claimed because we're close to windows. that's why it was so cold.
But it didn't explain why we weren't all hot in the summer too. Maintenance came in there one day and everyone's wearing jackets, some were wearing stocking caps and gloves. And finally they got it fixed because the VP insisted.
Rathmun@reddit
The solution there is wire snips.
MKInc@reddit
lol, but then you have to get facility management involved because the breaker trips
TheJesusGuy@reddit
Why would a breaker trip cutting a cable?
Rathmun@reddit
Not sure why the breaker would trip there.
ScortiusOfTheBlues@reddit
had a user helpfully place a compressed air duster can on their desk in front of their little space heater. It blew up and injured her arm. I found this out when I went down to facilities to grab some stuff and their rolling trash carts had been filled with dozens of space heaters as they'd all been confiscated.
NotYourNanny@reddit
Could have been worse. Compressed air isn't flammable. I had an assistant store manager try to blow the paper dust out of a (hot) laser printer with electronics cleaner. Loudest scream of terror I've ever heard.
Arctos_FI@reddit
What you mean isn't flammamble. There is three differnet substances that are generaly used in those (from which none is just air): Difluoroethane, Tetrafluoroethane or Butane (could also be some other hydrocarbon gas, but those are most common as propellant). Out of these only the tetrafluoroethane isn't flammamble and the other two is highly flammamble (for example that butane is commonly known as lighter fluid).
You can feel that when you use those air duster bottles as thise hydrocarbons are refrigerating (meaning they get colder when they change from liquid to gas), so the bottle gets cold when used. This is also the same stuff used in spray deodorants or ashtma inhalers and almost any other aerosol, and you can try it with any of them that they are indeed flammamble
fyxxer32@reddit
Butane. I had a box of old tax documents that I needed to get rid of safely. I decided to shred them in my home office. After an hour I thought it was squeaking and needed lubrication. I went out to the garage and got some Teflon dry lube. Goes on wet the dries. Gave the shredder a good spray then let it dry. Still squeaky. Ran it a little and sprayed it again. It flashed on me burning the hard off of my legs , my foreams, my eyebrows and the front of the hair on my head. I immediately went into the bathroom across the hall to look in the mirror to see my face and I was ok. My yell had gotten the wife's attention and she was asking if I was alright. I said I was I think and she reported it's still on fire. Unplugged the shredder and took it out the front door and tossed it into the yard. Returned to examine my possible injuries. After a couple of minutes she said still burning out in the yard . I had to get the garden hose to put it out which was kind of ironic as I was a veteran firefighter of 25 years then. I wasn't really burnt. More like a sunburn. The only real damage was to the shredder and the burn spot in the grass. Caught it burning on the security camera!
ScortiusOfTheBlues@reddit
This user was special. She also once drove out of the parking garage with her laptop still on top of her car. We died laughing watching the footage with the facilities guys. She couldn't remember where it was and wanted to report it stolen.
MezzoScettico@reddit
One time on a programming project with an imminent major deadline, management had the whole team working long hours in the same big conference room.
There was something I wanted to show one of my colleagues, so I stood up with my laptop and started walking around the table.
A few steps later I reached the end of the power cord that was still plugged in and was yanked backward off my feet. As I lay on my back on the floor and everyone stared at me in stunned silence, I held up the laptop and announced, “Computer’s OK!”
I unplugged it, continued on to my colleague, and nobody ever commented on the incident, then or after.
Ha-Funny-Boy@reddit
One place I worked was VERY cold all the time. I convinced my manager to get me a space heater for under my desk. After a few months another manager from an entirely different department waled by and heard the fan motor. She said, "It is against company policy to have space heaters at desks." I said I was certain that policy did not apply to me. When she asked why I thought that I told her "Because the company bought it for me."
Never heard anything more about it.
Ill_Cheetah_1991@reddit
I used to support several major call centre sites - the on site IT support had been wound down over the years as things became more and more networked and controllable from the Head Office
So this site only had the ex Computer Room Manager left that was a proper experienced IT technciain - but she was now management most of teh time.
ANyway - she put aside a few hours a week to fix small problems but one week things were getting bad so she spent the whole day just fixing simple thing that had built up.
She was gettign stressed but got through it excpet for one terminal
Eventually she rang me - I had worked with her for many years so she rang me ratehr than central support because she trusted me and knew me - she was THAT stressed
I told her to switch it off and on on teh front
no help
try typing a character
nothing
check the power cord is pushed in right
I HAVE TRIED THAT!!!
Check the comms cable
OK OK - I've done that AS WELL!!!!
OK - follow the cable down the back of the table and check it is plugged in
YES IT IS!!!
OK - check the switch is on
F***
and teh phoen slammed down!!
she rang back a few minutes later to apologise
by which time I had just about stopped laughing
her brain was just frazzled by that time and just not working properly
she was lovely -
AngryCod@reddit
I love when they have to spend ten minutes explaining to you why it's so URGENT!!!!1! As though I give a shit.
SuperHarrierJet@reddit
Well if they do that, you'll just aparate out of their ass ready to fix it with your magic wand.
AngryCod@reddit
Oh my god, Janet! Not CONTRACTS! You have to print CONTRACTS??! Well fuck, JANET, why didn't you say so?! I better hurry my ass over there so I can show you how to use ONE OF THE OTHER TWENTY FUCKING PRINTERS IN YOUR DEPARTMENT. JANET.
Zeero92@reddit
You're living up to your username! 😆
binaryhextechdude@reddit
I love how it's urgent but not urgent enough for the user to ask their coworker who isn't having any issues printing to print the contracts for her. It's never that urgent.
AngryCod@reddit
Users are incapable of adapting to minor inconveniences. If they were capable of adapting, they'd be techs.
NotYourNanny@reddit
I've had users who literally could not read a plain English error message on the screen in front of them.
SuperHarrierJet@reddit
This one just happened; person I'm on a remote session with complains their emails aren't updated. I ask them to show me, she circles her sent items folder.
paulcaar@reddit
Oh god
MallusLittera@reddit
"I'm pretty good with computers" or
"I know my way around just tell me what to do"
Always the most computer illiterate users in the entire company.
I much prefer the users that admit they know nothing.
SuperHarrierJet@reddit
oh I love those ticket. "It gave me an error." Good for you, thanks for all the detail.
paulcaar@reddit
Ah yes, the generic "customer has problem, please respond".
binaryhextechdude@reddit
What baffles me the most is not the ridiculous behaviour as you just described but when you show them the icon is right here they never show any shame or embarrassment. It's as if they think their carry on is just normal.
AngryCod@reddit
"You must have moved it on me. I don't know why you techies can't just leave things alone."
anothersip@reddit
That's always so wild, to me.
Like, even if you have zero background in anything IT/tech-related... Isn't the first thing you check... The power to your electronics? Like, make sure it's turned on, or plugged in?
On top of that, it was just danglin' there like some grotesque appendage of insanely-obvious sadness.
I had one ticket come in where the employee's laptop "wouldn't turn on, they tried everything."
I walk over to their office and I see the laptop on their desk. No power cable in sight. "Hey! Let's see here..." I press the power button. Nothing. Hold it down. Nothing. "Alrighty. Have you got your power cord?"
"Uhhhhh, yeah, I think so?" fiddles around backpack for a sec "Here it is!"
I plug it in, orange light appears, and I and power it on.
"Ahhh, wow, thank you! I thought I'd charged it? Do I always need to keep the power cable plugged in? I thought that was bad for the computer."
"I mean - doesn't hurt! These things gotta' be charged up... Batteries, and stuff... But yeah, you're good to go! :)"
NDaveT@reddit
After thinking about this I can only conclude that these people do not own toasters, microwaves, stand mixers, or hair driers. Someone set up their TV for them, and probably their coffee maker as well.
OR
In their minds, computers are in a completely different category than "appliances and gadgets that use electricity".
jfrancis232@reddit
That has been my experience with users. Because it is more complicated than a toaster, they are afraid to try anything.
anothersip@reddit
For sure. Yeah, it's like, the battery in the device is some kind of never-ending source of magic. And if it dies, it's a huge mystery.
I think I went, "So, you know how your phone's battery goes down, and you gotta' charge it eventually? Yeah- Yeah! So, like, laptops are essentially the same way. They're portable, for sure - but they also need power, from the wall socket - to charge the batteries back up. Just like your phone. Yeah!"
subhuman_voice@reddit
I'll quickly educate them with the work out analogy.
You have to fill it up and let it drain, like lifting weighs. Exercise your battery by charging to 100 then let it drain out.
anothersip@reddit
Absolutely.
It's like, especially with really expensive devices, like smartphones and laptops/tablets and such.
You pay good money for these things - you want 'em to last you a while. Drain the batteries, and then charge back to full. Especially for the first few cycles.
Lots of folks don't exercise their devices' batteries. They work 'em out a little - to like, 69% - and then go, "Oh man. I'm way under 98%. Better plug in and top it off..."
Cremageuh@reddit
One of my users, an employee that had been working for the business for the better part of 30 years, had been handed a laptop when we had to send people home because of covid. (I swapped her old desktop for a new laptop, in the middle of the afternoon on Monday).
Next day, the employee comes to my office, all angry and bothered, and is basically telling me that the new computer I gave her is a piece of crap and is not even working properly. It doesn't turn on anf she can't work. Huh.
So I follow her back to her office, and press the power button, to no avail. She's still bitching about her piece of junk computer.
Then I noticed that the charging cable is not plugged in the computer. So I plug it in. Couple seconds after, power button. Lo and behold, it turns on.
She proceeds to complain and whine that since it has a battery, it shouldn't have to be plugged in to work.
Believe it or not, I spent a good 5 minutes trying to explain that the battery needed to be charged every once in a while.
anothersip@reddit
Good lord. That's kinda' wild. I'm sorry that you had to experience that, heh.
Like, I get that sometimes we catch clients/employees on a bad day or whatever sometimes. I would usually tell them that they're free to take a break or do whatever they want while I work (I've already got their PW/login, as I was the one who created it).
But it was also kinda' fun to have them sit behind/next to me and watch while I pull up Task Manager or download/update drivers for hardware/BIOS or run spyware scans or whatever and they're left thinking I'm pulling some kinda' magic IT-master moves - when in reality, the fixes are often very simple.
I particularly loved working with the older folks in the office. They were usually the ones with the least familiarity with tech - which makes sense. Not their wheel-house. But it's pretty wholesome when you can explain something in like an ELI5 fashion and have them go, "Ohhh, okay! Yeah, I can do that! Lemme' write that down here, so I can remember..."
I found that if I set people up for success, simplified their experiences (bookmarks bar, lookin' at you) and told them only what they actually needed to know to get their work done... I had way fewer emails/tickets, heh.
Meterian@reddit
Mysteries*
wanderinggoat@reddit
"this printer is too urgent to waste time checking things like is the power plugged in, just send a technician immediately,"
MizukiYumeko@reddit
My predecessor at reception told me the front desk phone was “broken”. I took a look and then turned up the volume on the ringer. Worked fine.
Ex coworker had his Internet “broken“ for a month, couldn’t do anything about it. Our boss told me and I had the guy video call me over the phone so I could try and help… his Internet access had been locked by ISRM and it told him very clearly what to do about it in the pop-up message he kept ignoring.
Rossco1874@reddit
I once had someone phone me saying needed new toner. I asked if it was black toner or colour so I could raise it. The reply was it's a black and white printer but not sure if it's the black or white toner that needs replaced.
Put them on hold to laugh at them.
gottabook@reddit
🤣🤣
subhuman_voice@reddit
The cost of white toner these days..... sheesh
Equivalent-Salary357@reddit
Lots of places don’t carry white toner.
--7z@reddit
I had one similar. Front desk lady pointed at the malfunctioning printer and said that one. I asked her to sign the service ticket because I had already solved it on my way out. I then pointed at the data jack from 30' away and said, "I just need to plug it back in". Then she said, "oh yeah, we moved the printer last Friday".
Polar_Ted@reddit
One time I collected my 4 hour minimum OT for a 30 minute drive and flipped on a power strip. I asked them to check before I drove out but they yelled at me that they were too busy to do IT work.
1meandad_wot@reddit
I had to send a tech on a 3 hour drive to address a Teams room issue. The power cord to the table top unit was unplugged.
The local staff of engineers failed us.
Dramatic_Mixture_877@reddit
I've seen my father-in-law (when he was a private contractor on large and small phone systems for businesses) ask not once, but two and three times if they were sure the system was plugged in. More than once, he picked up an easy (if you call driving 50+ miles easy) $100 because he got there and plugged it in. It was in the contract that he got $100 minimum on service calls, no matter how long it took (or didn't, in these cases). That's why I always make sure whatever is giving me issues is plugged in.
jeffrey_f@reddit
Literally had that with a computer this morning. Plug was in the receptical on the computer, but not all the way in and therefore, not "Plugged in"
Tenzipper@reddit
"Can you see if the power cord is plugged in?"
"No, I can't."
"Well, can you look under/behind the desk right now?"
"I can't see if it's plugged in."
"Can you pull the desk out from the wall, or otherwise get access so you can see?"
"I can't see it. The power is off in the building, and it's dark in here."
Toratchi888@reddit
Brain: There! Did that make the lights go on?
Buster: I don't know. It's too dark to tell.
Starfury_42@reddit
Had a call once for a specialty photo printer that wouldn't print. Get to the office and there's a blinking red light on the printer. I open the paper tray and it's empty. Ask if they have any paper...
Dr__-__Beeper@reddit
I would have told her that we have to order a new printer, and then it will take several weeks, before I plug it back in.
binaryhextechdude@reddit
Ticket last week "Printer offline" one of our desktop techs went over and discovered the printer unplugged and on the floor beside the table it was meant to be sitting on. There was none of this information in the ticket of course.
NDaveT@reddit
Offline and off table.
binaryhextechdude@reddit
If only we could see it and then walk away.... We didn't move it so whoever did should be the one to move it back. We can dream.
AshleyJSheridan@reddit
And the user has absolutely no idea how it happened, or even that it did happen, despite having probably tripped over it half a dozen times...
wannaliveonmars@reddit
I wonder if computers have a way of checking if a printer is unplugged. Maybe add a camera that watches it and connect it to OpenCV or something...
Or they could at least display a message "Printer offline or not plugged in" if they don't detect it at all on the network...
BigWhiteDog@reddit
Mine tells me if it's offline
NotYourNanny@reddit
"The whole store is offline."
Drive down there, find the power for the network switch for the entire building is unplugged. The outlet it was plugged into had a cheap fan plugged in.
"It's hot. We needed a fan."
Not the stupidest waste of time - for that location, even - but close.
DestinationUnknown13@reddit
Come on man...I'm sure if their calculator stopped working they would have called too. 😆 Some of us will survive when the satellites drop out of orbit, these people will not.
gromit1991@reddit
I'm an engjneer not a tech and more of a 'teach a person to fish' type than a doer. I'd have pointed at the plug and waited until the user plugged it in!
CloneClem@reddit
The problem is, this type of person cannot think for themselves.
I would have immediately looked at the printer, the cables and figured it out way before anything on my computer.
In fact, if she knew anything, her computer would have clued her in before she went to those extremes.
Special-Original-215@reddit
It's AI but still mostly relevant.
I mean what tech doesn't check for a jammed page and not twice the printer was off