Regional Director Doesn't Understand Computer Reboot, IT Patiently Enlightens Them

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mattstaff
Jan 28, 2021 9:00 AM EST

The more tech support tales that we come across, the deeper our appreciation becomes for all the cluelessness that IT wizards encounter on a daily basis. They really cross paths with some folks that genuinely don't know how to turn off their computers. Take this regional director for instance. The poor tech support employee involved in the painstaking interaction is forced to patiently guide them through the proper way to actually reboot their computer. And for the record, no, a black computer screen does not necessarily mean that the computer is in fact off. 

Check out some more juicy tech support drama with this tech support employee who got fired and unfired on the same day. What a trip. 

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  • 01
    Font - r/talesfromtechsupport + Join u/Oricu · 1y "I shut the computer down every single night!" Long Whenever a user puts in a ticket about their computer being slow, the first thing I do is check the uptime. Nine times out of ten, there's a system uptime (on Windows 7 at that) of well over 40 days and a reboot clears up all their problems. Occasionally, a user argues about this and today was one of those days.
    via u/Oricu
  • 02
    Font - This particular user was one of our regional directors so not really anyone I could report her to for her completely terrible behavior because the VP that oversees them is just as bad but, whatever, I got a sysadmin job offer from a different company yesterday and am putting in my notice tomorrow so I don't honestly even care at this point.
    via u/Oricu
  • 03
    Font - As I was explaining to her that we recommend rebooting computers once every 7 days just as a maintenance thing, she interrupts me with, "No, no, do not even tell me to reboot the computer, I shut it down every. single. night." Okay. We also commonly see users who think logging off is rebooting or turning the monitor off is shutting the computer off (and none of the computers are all in ones, so it's not an iMac case where there could be confusion as to the difference between the screen an
    via u/Oricu
  • 04
    Font - I tell her Windows is reporting an uptime of 41 Days 19 Hours 52 Minutes. "Well, the computer is lying, because / LITERALLY shut it down every night!" Okay, sure, let's pretend the OS is lying and trying to make you look bad. I'll play along. I asked her to walk me through how she shuts the computer down, as I was remoted on to the system. One big, heavy, pretty sure she was rolling her eyes at me sigh later and I get, "There. I shut it down."
    via u/Oricu
  • 05
    Font - "The computer is still on. If it were off, l'd have been disconnected. I can still move around and open programs. The computer is definitely not shut down." "Yes it is, the screen is black!" "...did you press the button on the monitor?" "That's how you shut a computer down, are you new?" Ah. No. I'm not new. I've been doing jobs like this since 1997. I've also been in the position at my soon to be former employer for just over a year, so definitely not new. I try to explain to her the dif
    via u/Oricu
  • 06
    Font - Different tactic: "Okay, well, let's move on; let me walk you through how IT recommends shutting a computer down." She agrees along with a snide comment about how we're always telling them to do things "incorrectly" somehow. Whatever. With her watching, I walk her step by step through just rebooting the computer and add in, "If you want to turn it off, click on Shut Down instead of Restart." Mostly, I didn't want to shut it down because I wasn't entirely confident I could convince her to
    via u/Oricu
  • 07
    Font - That should be it but, nah, I'm not that lucky today. Instead she FLIPS and starts yelling at me about how I broke the computer because Windows went away and now there's this black screen with all kinds of words (just--the POST screen) and how she'd be talking to the IT director and CIO if I "got her documents deleted". Mid-freak-out-at-me the computer finishes rebooting and drops her back at the Windows logon screen. After she logged in, I showed her the system uptime again, which was no
    via u/Oricu
  • 08
    Font - IT director threw out the 1 star review she gave me trying to state that I was "rude to her" and "acted like she didn't know how to use a computer" primarily because he overheard my half of the conversation. 4.8k O 518 ↑, Share
    via u/Oricu

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