# Sack not justified!



## UncleNorm (May 1, 2005)

Passed on from a friend...


There's always one. This has got to be one of the funniest things in a long time. I think this guy should have been promoted, not fired. This is a true story from the Word Perfect Helpline, which was transcribed from a recording monitoring the customer care department. Needless to say the Help Desk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the Word Perfect organization for 'Termination without Cause'. 


Actual dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee. (Now I know why they record these conversations! ): 


Operator: 'Ridge Hall, computer assistance; may I help you?' 

Caller: 'Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect.' 

Operator: 'What sort of trouble??' 

Caller: 'Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away.' 

Operator: 'Went away?' 

Caller: 'They disappeared.' 

Operator: 'Hmm So what does your screen look like now?' 

Caller: 'Nothing.' 

Operator: 'Nothing??' 

Caller: 'It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type.' 

Operator: 'Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out??' 

Caller: 'How do I tell?' 

Operator: 'Can you see the C: prompt on the screen??' 

Caller: 'What's a sea-prompt?' 

Operator: 'Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?' 

Caller: 'There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept anything I type.' 

Operator: 'Does your monitor have a power indicator??' 

Caller: 'What's a monitor?' 

Operator: 'It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on??' 

Caller: 'I don't know.' 

Operator: 'Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that??' 

Caller: 'Yes, I think so.' 

Operator: 'Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall. 

Caller: 'Yes, it is.'

Operator: 'When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one??' 

Caller: 'No.'

Operator: 'Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable...' 

Caller: 'Okay, here it is.'

Operator: 'Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer.' 

Caller: 'I can't reach.'

Operator: 'Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is??'

Caller: 'No.'

Operator: 'Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over??' 

Caller: 'Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle - it's because it's dark.'

Operator: 'Dark??'

Caller: 'Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window. 

Operator: 'Well, turn on the office light then.'

Caller: 'I can't.'

Operator: 'No? Why not??'

Caller: 'Because there's a power failure.' 

Operator: 'A power....... .. A power failure? Aha, Okay, we've got it licked now.

Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in??' 

Caller: 'Well, yes, I keep them in the closet.' 

Operator: 'Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from.'

Caller: 'Really? Is it that bad?' 

Operator: 'Yes, I'm afraid it is.'

Caller: 'Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them??'

Operator: 'Tell them you're too bloody stupid to own a computer!!!! !' 


 :roll: :lol:


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

wordperfect, C prompt that must be an old joke I think. It does not matter though its still very relavent today and I bet call centres still get such calls :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## tattytony (Jun 29, 2009)

I remember a few years ago a certain charity that we did support for called us on new years eve as its their busy time to get all the computers in their office fixed as they had all stopped working  so two of us went to site and was told they must have had a power surge to blow them all :roll: but the cleaners had switched them off at the mains and forgot to switch them back on :lol: 

That was not the only time I had been called out as another elderly lady called me out to replace her printer, she bought a new one from pc world as hers had stopped working, but the grand kids had just turned it off  

You get some fun ones in this line of work :wink:


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

IT support is a really tough job, you have to have real patience. In the 90's the company I worked for had a help desk which I would occasionally get involved with (I tried to avoid it). A classic was people would ring up and ask "which is the Any Key" when the manual or the computer asked them to press any key!

The best one ever though was when I was on site and this girl was talking to the help desk. They asked her to "Go to My Computer" and she actually got up and walked across the room to her desk!

You couldnt make it up.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

I managed a network for a while, some years ago now.

More often than you could possibly imagine I was able to enjoy my "Buster Keaton" routine! :wink:

I would go to the call-out, usually *about an hour after work should have started*, and listen to all the protestations about "_did this, tried that, *it was working OK a few minutes ago* ( 8O ) . . . etc., etc.,_ " then without a word and with a completely blank face throughout, I would lean forward and switch on at the mains. (Cleaners, last evening!)

I then turned and walked away without a word, trying not to giggle at the spluttering denials that followed me out. :lol:

Nowt wrong with being a computer numpty . . . but don't try to con them as knows what they are doing!! :wink: :lol: :lol:

Dave :lol:

Edit - corrected "Senior Moment".


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

Its a hard life as a helpline worker

Once I rang up our IT department and got the helpdesk 

I needed some help converting a Lotus 123 macro to Excel


hmm I'll ring you back.

about half an hour later he rang back to say that he couldn't help but there was a note that said the expert was Frank at the Engineers Department .. and then proceeded to give me my direct line number.


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## camallison (Jul 15, 2009)

Eevn the great Microsoft get involved in the act ......

My grandson called me to his computer because it froze on boot up. The message on screen said something along the lines of "Keyboard not detected, press F1 to continue".

Clever grandson spotted that if the keyboard wasn't there then how could he press F1 :!: 

Colin


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

sallytrafic said:


> Its a hard life as a helpline worker
> 
> Once I rang up our IT department and got the helpdesk
> 
> ...


Did you manage to help yourself out :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

These calls still happen today - I have a s-i-l who works for a well know comuter help-line and they are frequently dealing with such callers - including those who try hard to convince them that the computer under warranty due to a manufacturing fault has failed as the screen is broken.........

and eventually admit they did sit on it shortly before they discovered the fault  

Dave


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## Daedalas (Nov 12, 2009)

Good One Uncle Norm 

As some one said it has been around a bit but it is so apposite!

OTOH I've come across the detritus that some so called professionals have left behind. 

Some years ago one local lady called for help with her new computer: she said she had the same fault she had had last week and when she called the seller he told her to take the processor box in to his town shop and he would fix it. She did just that and it cost her £50. So how could the same fault arise again so quickly? I asked her to leave it as is.

When I arrived it had the 'incompatable media' notice was on screen and there was a disc in the A drive. So explained briefly, asked her to remove the disc and retry. 

Another so called professional left a local lady simply formatted the HDD and reinstalled Windows including a new unasked for email client and address but not her apps and data - instead of sorting the problem ... and he charged £60.


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

The only time I left IT unsupervised at my work computer they introduced a virus from a disc they had - then proceeded to accuse me of harbouring the virus!!!! 

Luckily mine was the second computer they infected the first belonged to a director who never turned his on and it wasn't connected to the intranet or internet.


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## greenasthegrass (Oct 27, 2007)

Just feel sorry for me as a Debt Counsellor today's naf question "I am sat in XXX bank and am ringing to find out the address I should write to to complain about XXX bank".

I asked them to ask the person who gave him the phone. They didn't have one available. 8O 

Greenie


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

I remember trying to help a friend solve a PC problem over the phone.

One instruction was.....now right click..

His reply....how the hell is writing click going to help?


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

Whenever there's a change to telephone numbers, we need to put a changed number announcement onto the network, e.g. "Please redial using 020 7 instead of 0171". These announcements repeat a couple of times, and then used to finish off with "you have not been charged for this call, _please replace your handset_". That wording needed to be amended when we got widespread reports of people going to Dixons et al insisting that the message from the phone company had told them that because of the new numbers they'd needed to buy a new phone.

Mind you, we always did need to think a couple of steps ahead of how people would misunderstand:

- before 0870 there used to be 0990 instead. When 0870 numbers appeared, lots of people assumed that it was a typo and really they should be calling 01870 instead. Cue a few people in Benbecula (area code 01870) having to be given new numbers as they were being inundated with people wanting DVLA's 0870 who'd made up their number change.

- when the first 020 7 and 020 8 numbers (London) appeared, again people decided it was really 01207 and 01208. This time it was people in Consett and Bodmin getting calls for Wembley box office, amongst others.

Paul


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## tattytony (Jun 29, 2009)

A funny one this morning my internet went down at 03:06 so I called the info line at Oosha and the messages said "we are currently experiencing problems with our internet and email and web hosting services, our engineers are working to resolve the issue and we will put further updates on our status page as they become avaliable" :lol: :lol: duh an IPS that doesn't realise we can't see them :lol: :lol:


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