‘Dude, the printer is toast, just order a new one’: Tech employee reports printer that went up in smoke to IT contractor who strictly follows company script, refusing to order a new one

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Feb 29, 2024 12:00 PM EST

If a printer goes up in flames, you might want to order a new one, dude.

These were the exact thoughts of u/mattthepianoman who posted his funny workplace story to r/talesfromtechsupport. See, a printer had smoke coming out of it, and it was his job as a tech employee to report the issue to an IT contractor. This IT contractor had a few brain cells missing, and instead of doing something about it, he first asked the original poster to take him step by step through the diagnostics. What do diagnostics matter when the printer is unusable? They don't, but this tech employee was as rigid as they come. He even went as far as to tell OP that they were going to get their manager involved if he didn't begin relaying specifics that very instant.

Scroll down to read how the events unfolded, and then check out this remote employee who was left with no internet after falsely assuming his company was paying for it.

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  • 01
    "Listen, there's smoke coming out of it!"
    via Canva
  • 02
    Listen mate, there's smoke coming out of it, I don't think a driver update will fix this
    via u/mattthepianoman
  • 03
    Years ago I was working as an in store tech for a big electronics retailer in the UK. As well as dealing with customer tech queries I was given the job of reporting any issues with company IT equipment to our IT contractors. One day one of the sales staff came over to the tech desk looking worried. Sales: "Can you come and have a look at this receipt printer please? It's got smoke coming out of it".
    via u/mattthepianoman
  • 04
    Me: "oh wow okay, did you turn it off?" Sales: "I didn't want to touch it, it looked angry" I went over to the till and sure enough there was a receipt printer with smoke pouring out through the gaps in the case. I yanked out the power and opened the lid to see what was going on. It looked like the thermal head
    via u/mattthepianoman
  • 05
    had somehow gotten stuck on, as it had set the till roll away smouldering. I took the printer out the back of the store, put it on the floor of the warehouse and called facilities to report the incident. Facilities had a good laugh at the situation and put me through to IT so I could order a new printer.
    via u/mattthepianoman
  • 06
    The agent I got though to must have either been brand new or dumb as a box of rocks. The conversation went something like this. L1 Tech: "Thank you for calling IT, how can I help today" Me: "Hi, we've got a receipt printer here that's malfunctioning, it's overheated or something because it's set a till roll on fire"
    via u/mattthepianoman
  • 07
    L1: "Okay, are you at the affected workstation now? Me: "No, I've taken the printer into the back because it was making the sales floor smell" L1: "Okay, please can you return to the workstation so we can run some diagnostic checks?" Me: "Well I can, but there's nothing to diagnose there, the printer is with me here"
    via u/mattthepianoman
  • 08
    L1: "please can you take the printer back to the workstation and reconnect it so that we can run our diagnostic checks?" Me: "I'm sorry, but I can't plug this printer back in, I'm worried that it might catch fire again" L1: "I need to check that the correct drivers are installed, and if necessary install the latest drivers for this printer"
    via u/mattthepianoman
  • 09
    Me: "Listen mate, there's smoke coming out of it, I don't think a driver update will fix this. It was literally on fire 15 minutes ago. I understand that you have a script to follow, but this printer is toasted." L1: "If you are unwilling to go through the diagnostics with me then I will have to report this call to my supervisor and your manager will be informed"
    via u/mattthepianoman
  • 10
    Me: "Okay, fine, let's do the diagnostics then" I spent the next 20 minutes pretending to go through the diagnostics with him, giving him the answers that would guarantee an escalation. After 20 minutes he agreed that it was "likely a hardware issue" and a tech would be dispatched with a new printer.
    via u/mattthepianoman
  • 11
    Me: "just one thing before I go, can you send me a copy of the recording of this call? That way when my manager asks why it took so long to report a burned out printer I'll have the answer" My manager was a good sport about it, we had a good laugh listening to the call when it came through.
    via u/mattthepianoman
  • 12
    linksterboy 1 yr. ago Oh God How Did This Get Here? "sure please, report this to your supervisor that you wanted me to expose the store to a fire risk. Ill wait on the line." 1.6k Share now_you_see 1 yr. ago Yeah, why OP didn't take that opportunity is beyond me. 616 Share
    via u/linksterboy, u/now_you_see
  • 13
    Old Sir_9895- 1 yr. ago The way OP worded it, it sounded to me like the script reader was not going to escalate to the supervisor, but was going to end the call and report the refusal to the supervisor. 438 Share Marc1231231 yr. ago I would still take the chance. 156 Share
    via u/Old_Sir_9895, u/Marc123123
  • 14
    Purple10tacle. 1 yr. ago What possible harm could one insane, mutant tentacle do? It's like a reverse NOSMOKE.EXE 426 Share now_you_see · 1 yr. ago Man, that formatting and story brought me back to the good ol' days of customer tech tales pre social media. I could spend a solid 5 hours just going through tale after tale on sites like not always right etc.
    via u/Purple10tacle, u/now_you_see
  • 15
    I didn't realise how much the push to make money, advertise & being advertiser friendly ruined the experience of the internet until just now. 175 Share CaptainZippi 1 yr. ago I was musing the other day that Reddit (for me anyway) most resembles the experience using early sites, and even Usenet from back in the day. And it as a warm and comforting thought.
    via u/CaptainZippi
  • 16
    paradroid271 yr. ago Many moons ago I worked in a computer repair depot, I had a phone call for one of the early laptops we worked on. Verbatim she said "My computer started smoking when I plugged it in..... Is that bad?" I had a bit of trouble answering her for a minute, then told her that it isn't good, don't plug it in again and it would be for the best if she was able to bring it in to us. ↑ 199 Share
    via u/paradroid271
  • 17
    3 Equivalent-Salary357 1 yr. ago L1: "If you are unwilling to go through the diagnostics with me then I will have to report this call to my supervisor and your manager will be informed" I would have agreed to getting the managers involved. Oh the other hand, you did get the recording... 164 Share
    via u/Equivalent-Salary357
  • 18
    mattthepianoman OP 1 yr. ago SELECT * FROM USERS WHERE CLUE >0 - No results It was the kind of company that would reprimand you first and ask questions later. Much better to do their little dance 110 Share
    via u/mattthepianoman
  • 19
    zsrh 1 yr. ago PICNIC ERROR - problem in chair, not in computer Sounds like the person op spoke to in “IT” was probably just a call centre worker following a script and was not technically trained and /or not using their common sense. Why is the store on fire? IT advised me to plug the printer back in, to run some tests and it burst into flames. 73 Share
    via u/zsrh
  • 20
    kaynpayn 1 yr. ago .s like that I don't have the patience to deal with m dude. After the "unwilling to go through a diagnostic" i'd have likely called him something "soft" like an idiot and tried to escalate that immediately instead of faking a diagnostic. I've got better sh to do and I'm fine with people that aren't bots looking at my case. 171 Share
    via u/kaynpayn

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tales from tech support tech support retail tech employee workplace stories reddit IT contractor fire system electronics smoke driver update sales company contractor printer receipt printer
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