‘I drove two hours just to turn their printer back on’: IT workers share the most ridiculous tech requests they had to deal with at work

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jun 16, 2024 7:00 AM EDT

Being an IT (information technology) worker has many challenges. First, many of us will admit we do not know much about the technological devices we use on a daily basis, and if we were to encounter any error with one, we would be lost with what to do. IT workers have to be able to identify every single technological issue that they might encounter and even to possess a way of fixing it. Second, Not only do IT people have to deal with these tech issues, they also have to deal with people, who usually stand between them and the technological problem they are trying to solve.

This AskReddit thread is a perfect example of the challenges, both funny and dramatic, that IT people deal with while they are on the job, and they can all agree that the main issue they have to deal with is not the technology, but the people.

Keep scrolling to read these stories. After that, click here for another funny thread of HR managers and wild stories about firing employees.

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  • 01
    "I drove two hours just to turn their printer back on"
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  • 02
    People who work in IT, what's the wildest thing you've discovered/had to do while at work?
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  • 03
    KhaosElement. 20 hr. ago Back when I first started ages ago, a woman called in and said "my mouse isn't working!" I asked her if it was wired or wireless.
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    "I don't know! Why would I know that?" "What do you mean? Is it wired or not? Is there a wire on it?" "I said I don't know! This isn't my job to know it's yours!"
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    So I asked her if she picked it up and walked away, how far would she get. I was the one that got in trouble.
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    Due-Aioli-6641 · 19 hr. ago . edited 19 hr. ago • One time I started suspecting that a machine wasn't plugged in the power outlet. I didn't want to ask them directly to double check as I could easily see that escalating and the person becoming aggressive, as I heard stories before.
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    So I said I think your power outlet may have problems, could you unplug this machine and plug a phone charger and check if it's charging consistently. That's when the line went silent for a long time until I hear an embarrassed voice apologizing because the machine wasn't plugged in.
    via u/Due-Aioli-6641
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    ouchmy burns · 21 hr. ago Walked all the way across campus in the Florida heat just to tell a PhD professor that the reason their monitor kept turning off every few seconds was because the computer was in fact turned off. Then got yelled at for her classroom not being ready for her when she came in.
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    Also was told to "make sure these projectors aren't in the building by the end of day. Don't care where they go, just that they aren't here tomorrow" by my boss. It was more expensive to buy new bulbs for them than to just buy new ones so that's how I ended up with 5 projectors that lasted years.
    via u/ouchmy**burns
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    Sherman 20 hr. ago Some of the dumbest people I've ever met are profs with PhD's. It's always amplified by the fact they blame others when things don't go there way.
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    Once had a PhD researcher activate a sprinkler system by accident and flood an entire hallway. It's clearly labelled and requires you to hold a pull- button.
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    All because he blamed maintenance for setting the temp too high (it was a hot summer day) and he thought it would be a nice gentle mist to cool off.
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  • 13
    Rambos_Magnum_Dong · 20 hr. ago · edited 16 hr. ago An outgoing software dev put an easter egg in our ERP before he left. Anyone who typed the word. "RAPTOR" in any text field, would have a Raptor from Jurassic Park fly across their screen with a loud screech. Only 3 of us on the team knew about it.
    via u/Rambos_Magnum_Dong
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    Little over a year later during a demo of our Asset Management module a manager asked about inputting vehicles, the trainer asked what kind of vehicle he drove, "An F150 Raptor". So the trainer, as a demo, input the vehicle description and BAM!
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    "RAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRR!!!!!!!" comes screeching with this Raptor flying across the screen in a room of 50-60 people, including our CBO, and most of our upper managers. My wife is one of those upper managers so she sees me in the back of the room trying so hard not to laugh. She gave me this look like "really?"
    via u/Rambos_Magnum_Dong
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    Our boss just calmly said "Well, that's not a bug or a feature. Looks like we'll need to fix that." He had no idea. The next day he went back through the commits and saw where it originated. During an after action.
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    meeting he kept it low key and just assigned it to me and this other dev who knew about it to take it out. He finished by saying "And please don't put easter eggs in our code."
    via u/Rambos_Magnum_Dong
  • 18
    togetheralone. 21 hr. ago Drive to an office for emergency oncall service charging the client $400+ dollars an hour to plug the power back into a switch which their cleaning staff had knocked loose.
    via u/t0getheralone
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    WYGD_Brother1987 - 21 hr. ago people on the outside looking in so to speak, laugh at this idea but this is actually what IT people do 98% of the time, it's easy money to charge 120 bucks just to turn a printer back on after a ticket that says "my printer wont print"
    via u/WYGD_Brother1987
  • 20
    gac64k56 21 hr. ago Got called to investigate unplug a laptop that had viruses detected on it. When I arrived, this laptop was in the open with the login information taped to the desk. This laptop was given local admin privileges by someone before my time for some application. This was in an office
    via u/gac64k56
  • 21
    area that was always unlocked and 10 steps from the entrance of the building. No one was in the office as they went home early, including management. On a laptop filled with everyone's information (SSN, names, addresses, and more), Limewire, games, , and more. The two
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    who worked on this laptop just used it like their personal laptop with occasional work being done on it. The laptop was promptly disconnected from the network, confiscated, and returned for analysis. Yes, there was spyware and we don't know how much personal
    via u/gac64k56
  • 23
    info got out. This was reported to higher management. The two who used it disappeared quickly and quietly after that.
    via u/gac64k56
  • 24
    HuuffingLavender · 20 hr. ago My husband does not work in IT but he should. He worked on a facilities team at an expensive private school, and one day got a ticket to remove/trash a 75 inch TV. He approached the head of the IT department asking why he needed
    via u/HuuffingLavender
  • 25
    to trash it when he had just installed it brand new. The head of IT told him it won't stop shutting off. My husband loaded it into the work van and dropped it at our house instead. Later he came home, plugged it in... and turned off the 10 min automatic power off timer. We got a fancy TV for free!
    via u/HuuffingLavender
  • 26
    laddsta · 21 hr. ago Take literal magnets off of the laptop so that it would work again.
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  • 27
    MrBenzedrine · 21 hr. ago Lady from the office downstairs borrowed my bosses keyboard whilst waiting for a replacement. When hers arrived she washed the borrowed one in the kitchen sink and left it on the draining board to dry out.
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  • 28
    YetiCincinnati · 20 hr. ago Other workers screen shot her windows screen, made it her background then moved her task bar off screen. She kept clicking start but nothing would happen.
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  • 29
    Illustrious-Ruin2099 20 hr. ago Got paged one night because of a data outage. Turns out one of our on-call response folks went into the server room, locked themselves in, and unplugged several machines. This caused several data outages,
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    which caused a page and thus someone driving in to resolve it. This was a major military mission critical system and this guy thought the best way to get someone's attention was to break a bunch of stuff.
    via u/Illustrious-Ruin2099

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customer support workplace-stories work customers technology it askreddit workplace reddit thread Reddit funny dramatic information technology
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