Help-Desk Questions
So you think you're computer-illiterate? Check out the following excerpts from a Wall Street Journal
article by Jim Carlton --
1. Compaq is considering changing the command "Press Any Key" to "Press Return Key" because of the
flood of calls asking where the "Any" key is.
2. 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 was packaged in.
3. 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 labeled the diskettes then rolled them into the
typewriter to type the labels.
4. Another AST customer was asked to send a copy of her defective diskettes. A few days later a letter
arrived from the customer along with Xeroxed copies of the floppies.
5. A Dell technician advised his 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 the phone down, getting up and crossing
the room to close the door to his room.
6. 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.
7. Another Dell customer needed help setting up a new program, so a Dell tech suggested he go to the
local Egghead. "Yeah, I got me a couple of friends," the customer replied. When told Egghead was a
software store, the man said, "Oh, I thought you meant for me to find a couple of geeks."
8. Yet another Dell customer called to complain that his keyboard no longer worked. He had cleaned it
by filling up his tub with soap and water and soaking the keyboard for a day, then removing all the keys
and washing them individually.
9. 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 the computer's "bad command" and "invalid"
responses shouldn't be taken personally.
10. An exasperated caller to Dell Computer Tech Support couldn't get her new Dell Computer to turn on.
After ensuring the computer was plugged in, the technician asked her what happened when she pushed
the power button. Her response, "I pushed and pushed on this foot pedal and nothing happens." The
"foot pedal" turned out to be the computer's mouse.
11. 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?"
12. True story from a 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, but did you say a 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 anything about a promotional. It just has '4X' on it."
At this point the Tech Rep had to mute the caller, because he couldn't stand it. The caller had been using
the load drawer of the
CD-ROM drive as a cup holder, and snapped it off the drive!