Why I sigh...

**slgrieb** · April 26th, 2011, 11:20 AM

See, this is where you are confused. What computer is safer than one that won't boot? How many cinder blocks have you seen with malware infections?

**Niclo Iste** · April 26th, 2011, 11:54 AM

I wager that the infection came from a cracked full version of a virus scan that they felt was far more superior than the scanner you chose. Being that it was cracked is always proof the software is infallible and capable of keeping you safe above all others. Given this information, why stop at one virus scan that is cracked? Truely 3 cracked virus scanners will keep you impervious times 3! The real problem is why didn't you do this for the user before you gave it to them?

**Green_Eyed** · April 27th, 2011, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by BOB IROC

...Now keep in mind I work in education with many teachers and administrators having masters degrees and some with doctorates.

I feel your pain. I work in a library. All these folks running around with masters degrees. I thought they would be smarter than that.

Originally Posted by Niclo Iste

Don't you hate users who think that PCs have the same warranties as cars.

You have to explain that the life cycle of the PC is like dog years are to humans.

**BOB IROC** · April 27th, 2011, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by Green_Eyed

You have to explain that the life cycle of the PC is like dog years are to humans.

I have to do that all the time. I have an age limit on what computers I will work on and it does depend on the job. I felt bad but I recently had to turn down an little old lady that got my number from a former client and wanted her computer upgraded. She said it was a tad old and when I had her on the phone I asked her for the model number and serial number so I knew what I was up against. The computer turned out to be a Pentium - 90 (P5-90) Gateway that she said she wanted upgraded because it was slow and her friend gave her a copy of Windows 7 she wanted installed on that.

I had to explain to her that there was nothing I could do to help that computer and no matter what was done it will never run Windows 7. I also found out that the copy of Windows 7 she got was pirated from a grandson of one of her friends gave her.

I used the dog years analogy to explain computer age to her and I think she understood.

**slgrieb** · April 27th, 2011, 06:04 PM

I had a client who brought me his parents Toshiba Satellite Pro something or other recently, and asked me to take a look at it and see if I could clear up some performance issues. He thought the hard drive might have been failing. I killed some unneeded stuff running at start up, and used scandisk (yes, not chkdsk) to repair some minor glitches, but didn't find any serious problems.

That was a big relief, because I'm not sure that I still have a copy of Windows 95 to reinstall if the machine had been really toasted. BTW, anyone remember Ami Pro?

**Guts3d** · June 29th, 2011, 11:46 AM

Latest fun time;

Customer: I need you to come over here NOW and fix this $#@! thing, I was surfing the web and reading E-mails, when all of the sudden I start getting pop ups for %$#@! Viagra and... other things... Anyway, when can you get here?

Me: Well, you still owe me $160 from the last visit, 3 months ago, we will need to clear that up first. I sent you three E-mails with an invoice, did you get them?

Customer: Ah... Yeah, but look, I need this fixed right now, I don't have time for all of this crap. When can you get here?

Me: Wow... O.K., I'll be there right after your check clears.

Customer: %$#@! ^%$#@!@! <click>

Me: That was so totally worth it!

**Green_Eyed** · June 29th, 2011, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by Guts3d

...Me: Wow... O.K., I'll be there right after your check clears.

Customer: %$#@! ^%$#@!@! <click>

Me: That was so totally worth it!

Love it!

**BOB IROC** · June 29th, 2011, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by Guts3d

Latest fun time;

Customer: I need you to come over here NOW and fix this $#@! thing, I was surfing the web and reading E-mails, when all of the sudden I start getting pop ups for %$#@! Viagra and... other things... Anyway, when can you get here?

Me: Well, you still owe me $160 from the last visit, 3 months ago, we will need to clear that up first. I sent you three E-mails with an invoice, did you get them?

Customer: Ah... Yeah, but look, I need this fixed right now, I don't have time for all of this crap. When can you get here?

Me: Wow... O.K., I'll be there right after your check clears.

Customer: %$#@! ^%$#@!@! <click>

Me: That was so totally worth it!

After getting screwed out of a couple pay side jobs I actually will not return computers or leave site without payment in most cases anymore.

Right now I am dealing with an old lady that will not leave me alone. While she is nice and all she is becoming a bother. I recently installed a USB Wireless card in her cheapest of cheap compaq laptop because the mini-pci slot on her laptop does not work. The card still works as I can put it in another laptop and it works fine and no other card is recognized in there. So I got a one of those USB Wireless ones that does not stick out too far and installed it.

The problem she has now is that her internet is terrible. She has Comcast for internet, voice and TV and even when I try to call her back I get a message saying her phone is unavailable all the time. So now every time her internet does not work she calls me. I have told her repeatedly that something is wrong with her internet connection either with the comcast modem/router or at the line to the home. Last time I went over there she gave me a hard time for me charging my minimum onsite visit of $50 just to reset her modem and she left me a voicemail saying I need to come back at no charge. Sorry old lady but you went from nice to pain in the ***.

**Guts3d** · July 1st, 2011, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by Niclo Iste

LOL yeah those are great, the one I remember most is the lady who made me dinner then had me do shots of tequila with her as we waited for her system to be cleaned of infections on site.

Perhaps she was after a little more than computer work???

I had a sweet young customer that, after I quoted a repair price, asked me if there was anything else I wanted instead of money, thrusting her chin to the side to allow me a view of the promised land. Being pretty naive and downright slow on the uptake, I told her no, I had enough bad art t-shirts and just wanted cash. After I repaired the computer, was paid and left, I figured it out. DOH!

**slgrieb** · July 1st, 2011, 02:26 PM

Guts, it would be safe to assume you are unlikely to ever work for this client again. Women take rejection (real or perceived) to heart, and generally can't let it go. If you showed up at the door drooling into her cleavage, you'd be a pig. By not accepting the offer, you've offered a serious insult. Who says the double standard isn't still alive and well? Perhaps you could send her a pretty card, and apologize for being a little confused due to the pain medication you were taking while your vasectomy healed.

**slgrieb** · July 1st, 2011, 02:40 PM

Originally Posted by BOB IROC

After getting screwed out of a couple pay side jobs I actually will not return computers or leave site without payment in most cases anymore.

For residential customers, I make that an ironclad rule, and the checks go to the bank ASAP. Texas law makes it almost impossible to collect a hot check for services. So, if there's a problem, I want to address it immediately. I'm more tolerant of business; I just nail them down on the day that the check will be cut and offer to pick it up and save the postage. Of course, for established customers, I'm willing to accept a check by mail, though I still prefer to pick it up. Hate U.S.P.S., hate U.S.P.S. very much.

**slgrieb** · August 3rd, 2011, 03:57 PM

7:30 A.M. and I'm already getting a call from a customer. "Hey, our main printer is still having paper jams after you serviced it."

Me: " I replaced the pickup rollers a week ago. Why didn't you call me earlier if there was a problem?"

Customer: "Well, it was working OK for me, but my daughter just got back from vacation, and she says it's still not working."

Me: "I'm confused. It printed for a week but is jamming again? Where are the jams occurring?"

Customer: "I don't know. My daughter would have to tell you. She's out of the office today, but you can ask her tomorrow."

Me: "Look, I'll just run by the office and take a look at the printer, and see if I can find the problem."

Customer: "Well, I'm out of town today. There isn't anyone in the office."

**Guts3d** · August 3rd, 2011, 05:12 PM

...Customer: "Well, I'm out of town today. There isn't anyone in the office."

Got burglary tools???

**slgrieb** · August 4th, 2011, 11:38 AM

The "daughter" in the previous post is a woman I've nick-named "The Computer Death Goddess". She can kill a system with a single glance. She's also infamous for calling me up and saying things like, "My printer won't print anything! It just won't print!" Of course, when I get on site, it turns out that everything but a single form prints fine, and the problem with the one form that won't print is that she's selected the wrong paper size for the document.

Anyway, I went to their office today, and replaced the feed rollers I put in last week. Maybe the rollers had sat in a warehouse too long and were old and hard. Perhaps The Computer Death Goddess had breathed upon them. For the cost of 4 feed rollers, there wasn't any point in worrying about it. Still could have done without the 7:30 AM call, though.

**Niclo Iste** · August 4th, 2011, 05:43 PM

I'll keep mine short and sweet, we support several thousand lawyers over the phone and my last call of the day is an angry lawyer who feels it's my fault outlook crashed on her 3 times when writing an e-mail that she's put 30 minutes into each time. I'm not going to go beyond that but I will say this.

You don't see anyone walk into their doctors office and punch their doc in the groin because they have cancer. So why do people want to yell at the technician who's there to fix their pc?

P.S. I said this with a lot more colorful words at work once I got done with that call.