from
Computer Tech Support
- Compaq is considering changing the command "Press Any Key" to "Press Return Key" because of a flood of calls asking where the 'Any' key is.
- AST technical support had a caller complaining that her mouse was hard to control with the dust cover on. The cover turned out to be the plastic bag the mouse came in.
- Another Compaq technician received a call from a man complaining that the system wouldn't read word processing files from his old diskettes. After trouble-shooting for magnets and heat failed to diagnose the problem, it was found that the customer had labeled the diskettes, then rolled the diskettes into a typewriter to type the labels.
- An AST customer was asked to send a copy of her defective diskettes. A few days later a letter arrived from the customer along with photocopies of the floppies.
- A Dell technician advised the customer to put his troubled floppy back in the drive and close the door. The customer asked the tech to hold on, and was heard putting down the phone, getting up and crossing the room to close the door to his room.
- Another Dell customer called to say he couldn't get his computer to fax anything. After 40 minutes of trouble-shooting, the technician discovered the man was trying to fax a piece of paper by holding it in front of the monitor screen and hitting the 'send' key.
- Yet another Dell customer called to complain that his keyboard no longer worked. He had cleaned it by filling his tub with soap and water and soaking the keyboard for a day, then removing all of the keys and cleaning them individually.
- A Dell technician received a call from a customer who was enraged because his computer had told him he was 'bad and an invalid'. The tech explained that computer's 'bad command' and 'invalid' responses should not be taken personally.
- A confused caller to IBM was having problems printing documents. He told the technician that the computer had said it "could not find printer". The user had also tried turning the computer screen to face the printer - but that his computer still couldn't 'see' the printer.
- An exasperated caller to Dell Computer Tech Support couldn't get her new Dell computer to turn on. After ensuring that the computer was plugged in, the technician asked her what happened when she pushed the power button. Her response, "I pushed and pushed on the foot pedal and nothing happens." The 'foot pedal' turned out to be the computer's mouse.
- Another customer called Compaq tech support to say her brand new computer wouldn't work. She said she unpacked the unit, plugged it in, and sat there for 20 minutes waiting for something to happen. When asked what happened when she pressed the power switch, she asked, "What power switch?"
- True story from Novell NetWire SysOp: Caller: "Hello, is this tech support?" Tech: "Yes it is, how may I help you?" Caller: "The cup holder on my PC is broken and I am within my warranty period. How do I go about getting that fixed?" Tech: "I'm sorry, did you say cup holder?" Caller: "Yes, it's attached to the front of my computer." Tech: "Please excuse me if I seem a bit stumped, it's because I am. Did you receive this as part of a promotional at a trade show? How did you get this cup holder? Does it have any trademark on it?" Caller: "It came with my computer, I don't know about any promotional. It just has 4X on it." At this point, the tech rep had to put the phone on mute because he couldn't stand it, he was laughing too hard. The caller had been using the load drawer of the CD ROM drive as a cup holder, and snapped it off.
- An IBM customer had troubles installing software and rang for tech support. "I put in the disk, and that was okay. It said to put in the second disk, and I had some problems with the disk. When it said to put in the third disk - I couldn't fit it in...." The user hadn't realized "Insert Disk 2" meant to remove Disk 1 first.
- In a similar incident, a customer had followed the instructions for installing software. The instructions said to remove the disk from its cover and insert into the drive. The user had physically removed the casing of the disk and wondered why there were problems.
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