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I actually had someone call about the any key once https://forums.windrivers.com/ and I told him that they must have sent him the wrong keyboard and to use a label maker to write the word ANY and place it on the long bar (space bar) on the bottom of his keyboard rather that replacing the keyboard because that is a $5.00 option. We all got a kick out of that one.
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Sometimes I fill my tub up with milk and blow bubbles
This topic offends me, and I think it's the reason we get no respect.
NEVER be afraid to say "I don't know."
Always offer to find someone who DOES know though.
This is what really pisses me off. Let's face it, if we walk off the job, EVERYONE is screwed. Not too many professions can say THAT. The main reason we techies don't get paid what we SHOULD get paid is the same reason we don't get the RESPECT we deserve:
There are way too many idiots out there that swapped out a few videocards and call themselves techs. These are the same people who give B.S. answers. These are the same people that give us a bad name. And lower our pay. And lose our respect. It just KILLS me. I strongly think that if you want to be in the tech business you must 1) Have a highly logical mind for troubleshooting, 2) Learn very quickly and have a good memory, and 3) learn when to say "I don't know. Let me ask ______."
Sorry if I offended anyone, but i'm sick of making a piss-poor 70k/year.
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That's me! > https://forums.windrivers.com/
[This message has been edited by techleet (edited November 14, 2000).]
This actually just happened last week while I was on the phone with a customer. Just one of many funnies i've had here...
I ask the customer for his name and he replies "Last name Hyde", to which i reply, "Alright sir, do you have a first name i can call you by?"..."No, that's why i gave you my last name, i prefer to be called Mr. Hyde.", and i swear, he was serious as hell! At this point i had to press mute and get a few of my idle buddies over to plug in. "ok mr. hyde, and what are we gonna be workin on today?", "my home network...my tech set up internet connection sharing on my network, which was working fine yesterday, and now only the host connects."..."hmmm...alright, and have you made any changes to the system since yesterday?"..."well, i enabled dns after reading up on it, because it seems like a really powerful tool." *mute, and we all snicker for a few seconds...then one of my buds gives me a good solution* "alright sir, let's just check one thing before we go any further...let's look at the back of your computer, and search for a small power cable coming from right around the phone line going into your modem."..."ok...don't think i see one."..."i didn't think so..." *another mute and more laughs...people are gathering at this point* "alright sir, we have two options here. MS doesn't support dns enabled internet connection sharing unless the host machine's modem is powered. like you mentioned, it is a fairly powerful tool, that dns, and requires more voltage to operate. when you have 3 machines running thru that one modem, you're gonna need to beef up the power on your connection. either we're gonna have to get a powered modem for the host, or disable dns unfortunately. i could suggest you talk to your tech about upgrading your modem there...i'm sure he'll know the best one for your machine." *i have to mute again because about 10 people around me are pissing their pants laughing* "oh...i think i read about that on that dns page. something about a dns server modem?" *i'm scared that my team lead is gonna investigate if we get any louder at this point...the buddies that were plugged into my phone tear their headsets off and double up in tears* "yeah, you might want to check that out some more."..."ok, well, thanx for your help..." *yadda yadda...i finish up the call, release and have the most refreshing laugh i've ever had...then changed the first name in his case from "Mr." to "Jeckyl"*
when opportunity strikes, take advantage of the situation...it's what keeps us sane. https://forums.windrivers.com/
-kornesque
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I just don't understand stop signs...aren't vehicles made to, well...GO???
Techleet: Please READ the article before you post a flame. You'll save yourself lots of embarassment if you do. If you go back, you will notice that the topic is not about techs who do not know the answer, it is about those annoying customers that only ask you what was wrong in order to make themselves look knowledgable, when in fact, they haven't the slightest clue what the tech is talking about, hence the BS answers slipping by. Normally these are your typical pain in the a** customers that you just want to leave and leave you to your work. So, if you want to continue to post here and be respected, please READ the posts. (see related post under RTFM) Most of the people who have poste to this topic have posted here many times before, and their opinions are respected by most of the people here.
Thank you for the oppurtunity to flame. https://forums.windrivers.com/
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What's this button d--
i noticed someone just had to rip mine off - lame...
what i love is when a whole department is down and someone wants me to stop what i am doing and help them print a document
- i tell them - ok - but i will have to tell the accounting department why they cant post thier quarterly, and when they ask why it wasnt fixed - i will let them know that you needed me to fix your printing issue because you felt it was more important.
I am here to help, but you have to wait your turn, please take a number and shutup. and just because you are next in line doesnt mean that you are next to have service - there are such things as higher priority.
thank you and have a nice day.
Kannibul
[This message has been edited by kannibul (edited November 14, 2000).]
One we use between techs but let customers hear, "It was an I/O error". Which means idiot operator.
You know, someone once posted that they told a user that all magic smoke came out, so now their pc, monitor, printer won't work. I loved that one and use it all the time now. Makes most of the users laugh and forget about the whole problem.
I learned the finer points of tech support from my father, who used to work on the UYK-series computers used in US Navy ships in the 70s (or do they still use them?).
Apparently, there was a dummy toggle switch on the front panel that was put there "for future use" and never ended up being connected. Any time my father would encounter a PEBKAC error, he'd tell the user that their problem was that this switch was in the wrong position.
Even years later, he still would see users carefully making sure that that switch was in its "proper" position!
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The opinions expressed herein are my own and not those of my employer.
I Frequently Assure My Customers That I Would Be More Than Happy To Emerg From My Cave To Cleanse Their System(s) of Evil Spirits
I'm so blown away! I honestly thought that either (a) no one would post on this, or (b) I'd get flamed so bad my head would spin! LOL. Techleet, thanks for your post, you are correct about saying "I don't know." I have been in the biz professionally since '88 and I still say that at least once a day. It keeps me humble.
The Any key. My two favorite responses to "Which key is the ANY key?":
1. It's a typo. They meant "Enter"
2. Hold down the "N" key, then strike the "E" key, and release the "N" key. (N-E key!)
Later! You folks RULE! You too, Techleet!
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R. Bret Walker, CNE
Wondering what videos to rent this weekend? Check out The People's Reviews, movie reviews written for the people and by the people.
Thanks pcshark! I feel much better now after that much-needed venting session! :)
Revenant, sorry buddy. Like I said, I didn't mean to offend anyone -- or "flame" as you call it -- I just have heard a million stories about my girlfriend's IT department giving her B.S. answers all the time. I don't think I've ever done it personally, even if it was getting late in the day. Most of the time in that case I just say I'll get to it first thing in the morning if they'd like to call me, etc. I know I got a little off-subject, but I think it was still mostly relevent :)
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That's me! >:)
loose nut in front of keyboard needs tightening
thats still my favorite
Didn't mean to come down too hard... https://forums.windrivers.com/ It's just that when the topic is the topic of the day on the front page, we get a lot of people who read the title and post a response based on the title without bothering to read the actual messages posted under that topic. It gets a little annoying seeing pointless flames that are off topic. As far as techs giving BS answers when they do not know the answer, I agree. They should find someone who knows. Most of us here go by that philosophy. But I have given BS answers before just to get someone off of my back, esp when they have no idea what I would be telling them anyway. For example: one of the shops I used to work at was run by a complete moron. Someone who had no clue what was involved in taking a computer apart, much less fixing them. One day, after fighting with an HP vectra, running NT, whose owner wanted to add 2 extra LPTS (in NT, on a Vectra, with nothing but PCI-this was like 2yrs ago, before PCI manufacturers really started giving good NT drivers) for several days trying to get this thing to work properly, he asked me what I had done to fix it. I could have gone into a long discourse about the lineage of HP Vectras and goats, the benefits of a non PNP OS trying to establish correct IRQ addresses and memory address for a purely PNP device with very little NT support (I believe the company's webpage laughed when you asked about NT support) and the many headaches I had until I finally got it to work. But no, I just told him, very bluntly and frankly to his face: "You see, I took this chicken, you see. And I cut it's head off. I started to dance like this" (Insert spinning motion) "And lo and behold, it started to work!" He got pissed and walked away, but it took far less time than trying to explain to him what an IRQ is, much less how to map a good DOS memory range to a PNP PCI range so that NT could recognize it. (let alone two pci ranges-did I mention it was a PCI Dual LPT port?)
Other times, I find agreeing with customers to be the best course of action: Was it my dial up networking settings that caused my virus program to delete my win.ini file?
Sure, it was along those lines...
Man I knew it... Those support guys at AOL suck! I can't believe they made me delete that!
(It's quicker than trying to convince them that, yes, stupid, you deleted it-they never believe they are at fault anyway.)
Sorry for the length. Have fun and happy hacki-... I mean computing. https://forums.windrivers.com/
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What's this button d--
What are you talking about???Quote:
Originally posted by kannibul:
i noticed someone just had to rip mine off - lame...
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WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO TODAY?......Not that it matters, because Microsoft will crash on the way there!!!
I've given dumb answers, I'm sure, but my favorite was when I went to look at a printer for a boss of a friend of mine's.
I went over re-installed drivers, and fixed it right up. As I was leaving, his wife was saying how pleased she was with my fast repair and that she had spoke to the person who guy who bulit the computer system for her the day before, and he told her that when she gets printer errors, she should shake the printer cable, because sometimes the signal gets stuck.....I was howling when she told me this !!!
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WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO TODAY?......Not that it matters, because Microsoft will crash on the way there!!!