Does anyone... (vent)

[goofyintoronto]

I have the opposite problem. I always take note of error messages, what I was doing when something stopped working, detail exactly what happens, then send the whole thing to tech support and they always ask "did you turn it off and turn it back on?"

Uh, yes. Read the ticket and get back to me.

OOOMMMGGGG I get this too! All the time!! Most of the time I have to tell them what not to do, cause i've already done it! Our I.T.dept is completely clueless.

 

[Hoodie]

OOOMMMGGGG I get this too! All the time!! Most of the time I have to tell them what not to do, cause i've already done it! Our I.T.dept is completely clueless.

We contract out our Help Desk. The last group we had was AWFUL. I was working remotely once and couldn't access email. Called our help desk and they acknowledged it was a connection problem with Verizon and they'd let me know the progress. I called back 2 hours later and they say that they are working on back ups. OK, fine. Then total radio silence. Came in the next day and logged into my email to see a lengthy email that said "to resolve the issue with your email, please go to our back up site and do this......"

So, to "help" me access email, they sent me an email, which of course I couldn't get to.

needless to say, we ended their contract. The group we have now is MUCH better.

 

[goofyintoronto]

We contract out our Help Desk. The last group we had was AWFUL. I was working remotely once and couldn't access email. Called our help desk and they acknowledged it was a connection problem with Verizon and they'd let me know the progress. I called back 2 hours later and they say that they are working on back ups. OK, fine. Then total radio silence. Came in the next day and logged into my email to see a lengthy email that said "to resolve the issue with your email, please go to our back up site and do this......"

So, to "help" me access email, they sent me an email, which of course I couldn't get to.

needless to say, we ended their contract. The group we have now is MUCH better.

Wow, thats amazing. Our work sent out an email to everyone indicating there's no access to email because of a network issue. Nice.

 

[mco65]

I think a good tech support person needs to fish out more clues even if they person on the other end of the phone explains what is wrong. You have to ask very detailed questions in order to get very detailed answers and you have to lead them to the answer your looking for... its a gift that some folks have and some don't.. those that don't shouldn't be in tech support.. JMO

 

[Kevin108]

I work on houses, cars and computers. Very few end users have any clue about anything from how door locks work to how to properly close a gas cap to anything beyond their Facebook updates. I don't understand people who lack a healthy level of curiosity.

 

[shortbun]

I used to know a lot about cars. I had done my own tune ups, repacked my own wheel bearings, helped do brake work, replaced hoses, etc. I could even diagnose simple things for other people and their cars-vacuum leaks, electronics, fuel system problems and so forth. Now, I know so much less. Some of the systems look similar but so much goes on the diagnostic machines now and have to do with 'the computer'. I'm much less adept at talking to a mechanic than I used to be. I read my owner's manual, open the hood and look around to familiarize myself with what I can. It rarely helps. I notice most of the intake people just tell you they'll hook your car up to the diagnostic machines and let you know what's happening. Mechanics are not the experts they used to be. I miss the old days when an engine was an engine.

 

[Bob NC]

Take their car to the shop, hand them the keys, say "it doesn't work" and walk out?
Go to the doctor and simply say "it hurts"?

So why do people tell tech support "my computer doesn't work"? And when support asks for details, act like it's a huge imposition to supply the details?

Sorry, rant over.

Well, in my experience, IT and tech support people are usually such big headed, know it all boneheads that I don't really want to talk to them any more than they make it seem they want to talk to me.

I can only be belittled and made to feel like an idiot so many times before I just do the "my computer doesn't work" deal.

 

[NotUrsula]

The point is "help me help you". At my work, if someone says "the computer doesn't work", that could be:

1) Can't get internet
2) Can't get email
3) Can't print
4) Can't run server program
5) Can't connect to another computer

Why is it so hard to say "I can't get on the internet" or "my computer won't print"? At least then we don't have to play 20 questions to figure out what the problem is.

It *IS* hard to avoid having attitude when the same people keep coming to you with the same problems, despite teaching them how to prevent the problem in the first place.

A user emailed me yesterday "I get an error message when I do a search sometimes." (Proprietary program). So I send her a list of questions...

"How often?"
"Does time of day affect whether you get the error?" (I'm think too much network traffic)
"What kind of subject are you looking for?"

These are all questions that will help troubleshoot and fix the problem. Her answer in response...

"I don't know what else to say."

HOW ABOUT ANSWERING THE BLOODY QUESTIONS?

Now, is there a problem? Yes. But simply saying "there's a problem" doesn't help get it solved.

I spent 10 years in customer service in the IT business, but I'm a Librarian by profession, and I can tell you from three decades of personal experience and a couple of centuries of library history that playing 20 questions is pretty much a given. You really do have to ask open-ended questions to get to the root of the problem. When clients try to crawfish out of answering the questions, experience tells me that the solution is asking them in person if at all possible. IME the best approach for people like these is to stand right next to them and have them drive; if you are in the same campus, just pick up the phone and tell the person you are coming over, or better yet, if you know that this person is reliably at his/her desk, just show up unannounced.

Is it irritating? Yes, absolutely. However, in my experience some of the problem lies with IT culture. Please forgive me, but as a whole, your profession does have a tendency to behave rather in the manner of a secret society when it comes to interacting with non-tech co-workers. In some cases (not all, but some) that leads to a superior attitude that causes non-tech folks to in turn develop a pattern of actively trying to avoid prolonged interaction with IT staff because they have been made to feel stupid in the past. (The clients who I find tend to have the most difficulty in this regard are those who regard themselves as "people persons".) Again, the best antidote for this that I know is to try to physically interact with that person as much as possible; IME if they view you as a real person rather than as a disembodied voice or string of words in an email, you get better cooperation.

Good luck; I know it is frustrating. One of my colleagues used to have a little trick that he would do when he was at his wits' end -- he would put the client on hold and then bang the phone receiver against his desk a few times. It relieved the tension a bit and allowed him to restart the conversation without losing it. The rest of us used to make a game out of trying to guess who he was talking to; there was usually a fairly short list of possibilities.

 

[sam_gordon]

Is it irritating? Yes, absolutely. However, in my experience some of the problem lies with IT culture. Please forgive me, but as a whole, your profession does have a tendency to behave rather in the manner of a secret society when it comes to interacting with non-tech co-workers. In some cases (not all, but some) that leads to a superior attitude that causes non-tech folks to in turn develop a pattern of actively trying to avoid prolonged interaction with IT staff because they have been made to feel stupid in the past. (The clients who I find tend to have the most difficulty in this regard are those who regard themselves as "people persons".) Again, the best antidote for this that I know is to try to physically interact with that person as much as possible; IME if they view you as a real person rather than as a disembodied voice or string of words in an email, you get better cooperation.

You are correct about all of it. I've tried to teach/educate people about what they do, and how to fix their problems. A few will actually at least TRY to learn. Others don't care. It's not that I'm trying not to do my job, but I'm treating others how I'd like to be treated. There is a way to do it and not make them look like an idiot. I like teaching people new things.

But when you've had to explain the same thing to the same person time and time again, it gets frustrating.

 

[WDWBarb]

It sounds to me that some IT people need some Disney training.

IT person with extensive Disney training here.

And WOW, I'm shocked at the bashing of our field in this thread.

Sure, I've known IT people who didn't have the best people skills. Out of my daughter's 4 doctors, only one of them has any people skills. I work with lots of people in many professions and I'd say they are batting about 10% in having realy solid customer service and communication skills.

And just like any field, we get a lot of garbage thrown at us every day.

I understand that people are vague when discussing their computer problems because they aren't fluent in geek-talk and are often afraid of ridicule for using the wrong terminology (yes, people do that) or not understanding what they are being told. It's the root of the IT-person/end user breakdown. BUT, some mask this discomfort with rudeness or anger or just plain disrespectful behavior.

Not all, of course, but some.

I ran an IT help desk with the primary focus on customer service for many years. The crazy stories the team would share with each other were sometimes amusing, sometimes distressing. I have been screamed at because a woman came into work to find all of her computers AND her server down but when asked if the electricity in her building was on (this was during a city-wide power outage during an ice storm), she became angry and hung up on me (yes, her power was out).

I had one end user that insisted that I send someone to her office immediately because her PC had a virus and she had very important work to do for her boss and she threw a total fit until I agreed (we're a help desk - onsite work was not our thing). My guy got there to find her PC off and she told him that she was afraid to touch it to turn it on. Why, he asked? Well, because she heard about the Anthrax mail scare and she wasn't about to touch it until someone made sure Anthrax hadn't been emailed to her. Funny, yes, but she was very rude to my tech and there were many others who had to wait becuase he had to go onsite to address the problem. If she had been willing to explain to problem, we could have easily addressed it over the phone.

There are lots of great IT people out there who LOVE to help people. Many of us were drawn to the field so we COULD feel like we were helping. If you encounter a bad one (or two), please don't classify us all that way.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I work on houses, cars and computers. Very few end users have any clue about anything from how door locks work to how to properly close a gas cap to anything beyond their Facebook updates. I don't understand people who lack a healthy level of curiosity.

I have to tell you, my favorite television show (and I have only a very, very basic knowledge of how tv transmission works - from seeing Willy Wonka ) is Science Channel's "How It's Made".

 

[kaytieeldr]

Cause I am clueless and yes I would go to the dealer with my car and say fix it and walk out cause I am also clueless about that
SOOO guess who deals with the computers and the vehicles....hubby

But wouldn't you at least be able to tell them in what way it doesn't work? "Won't start"; "Won't stop "; "When I turn the steering wheel righ the car goes left "; "The wheels fell off"...

My brother gave me an old computer of his a few years back. I came home one day and turned it on - nothing. Okay, not nothing exactly - the infamous "blue screen of death". I called 'the IT guy' aka my brother, and after a less than sympathetic "What do you want me to do?", he made some suggestions - and finished with, "...or you could just buy a new computer".

 

[badblackpug]

Yes, people do walk into the hospital and the doctor and say "I'm sick," or, "my leg hurts," and yes we have to drag the whole story out.

Here is my complaint about IT, and I will preface it by saying that it relates only to my employer.

When I call and tell you what the problem is, I do not want to spend 2 hours attempting to fix it. If it is a quick fix, fine, but I do not want to stand on my left foot, while my head is wrapped in tinfoil and my right arm is touching metal and type in a series of 1000 character codes, while my co-workers do a rain dance.

I didn't sign on to fix computers because I don't know jack about computers. Beyond telling you "the screen is frozen" or "it won't print" or "I can't access archives," I am completely useless.

 

[Coconut36]

Take their car to the shop, hand them the keys, say "it doesn't work" and walk out?
Go to the doctor and simply say "it hurts"?

So why do people tell tech support "my computer doesn't work"? And when support asks for details, act like it's a huge imposition to supply the details?

Sorry, rant over.

Yes I think they do both things (Dr and mechanic) but I totally understand. My best friend is a computer tech and has been for a long time and I have heard him vent many times. His "favorite" (heavy sarcasm there) is when people called and said "it's not working" and he would show up and find they had say..dumped an entire cup of coffee on the keyboard or dropped the laptop down the stairs or some other very very obvious thing and could have saved him time and effort by explaining what they did up front rather than making him come out there..see what they did and trek back for a new keyboard, laptop..etc. One person insisted he must have a "dryer" of some sort that would magically fix his soaked keyboard and make it OK again (and yes I know some wet electronics can be salved but the users generally did all the wrong things when it got wet making them irreparable).

 

[2girls4me]

Anybody ever see that Jimmy Fallon skit where he's the IT guy, Nick Burns?

"'Move!"

 

[joviroxx]

A user emailed me yesterday "I get an error message when I do a search sometimes." (Proprietary program).

".

Here is a requestto all end users. If you are getting an error and you contact IT, there will be 2 questions you will be asked always. 1) what is the error and 2) what were you doing when you got the error.

Please, please, pretty please...just try and be as specific as possible.

Yesterday I had someone get me saying that their email wasn't working. In fact, her email WAS working, she just couldn't forward an email. She left for lunch, I sat at her computer and had to wait for her to return, making me lose so much time.

Its my job to figure out the why, but I can't without knowing the what....

 

[Grog]

Love this show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeL1VJPuk98

I don't work in IT, but I fix medical equipment and water treatment systems for a living. We get the same type of thing. A little bit of info on what happened when your equipment goes down can go a long way to making your job and mine a lot easier, and get your equipment back online that much sooner. I had a guy call me about an error code on a piece of equipment the other day. I tried to talk him through resetting it over the phone (should have been as easy as pushing two buttons). He couldn't get it to reset. I drive over to his location only to find out that the error code was completely different from what he had given me. When I asked why he gave me the wrong code he said "Well, the last time we had problems it was the other code so I just assumed it was the same thing again". We call that an ID-ten-T error.

 

[chobie]

Love this show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeL1VJPuk98

I don't work in IT, but I fix medical equipment and water treatment systems for a living. We get the same type of thing. A little bit of info on what happened when your equipment goes down can go a long way to making your job and mine a lot easier, and get your equipment back online that much sooner. I had a guy call me about an error code on a piece of equipment the other day. I tried to talk him through resetting it over the phone (should have been as easy as pushing two buttons). He couldn't get it to reset. I drive over to his location only to find out that the error code was completely different from what he had given me. When I asked why he gave me the wrong code he said "Well, the last time we had problems it was the other code so I just assumed it was the same thing again". We call that an ID-ten-T error.

The IT Crowd is a really funny show. Everyone on this thread should watch it (can get it on netflix).

I'm guilty of being a complete Luddite when it comes to my computer, which is why I am go out of my way to be friendly with my IT people at work.