Customer Support - True Stories

Customer Support - True Stories

Following are actual excerpts from a Wall Street Journal article about
struggling computer users:

 1. Compaq is considering changing the command "Press Any Key" to "Press
    Return Key" because of the flood of calls asking where the "Any" key is.
 2. AST technical support had a caller complaining that her mouse was hard to
    control with the dust cover on. The cover turned out to be the plastic bag
    the mouse was packaged in.
 3. Another Compaq technician received a call from a man complaining that the
    system wouldn't read word processing files from his old diskettes. After
    trouble-shooting for magnets and heat failed to diagnose the problem, it
    was found that the customer labeled the diskettes then rolled them into
    the typewriter to type the labels.
 4. Another AST customer was asked to send a copy of her defective diskettes.
    A few days later a letter arrived from the customer along with Xeroxed
    copies of the floppies.
 5. A Dell technician advised his customer to put his troubled floppy back in
    the drive and close the door. The customer asked the tech to hold on, and
    was heard putting the phone down, getting up and crossing the room to
    close the door to his room.
 6. Another Dell customer called to say he couldn't get his computer to fax
    anything. After 40 minutes of trouble-shooting, the technician discovered
    the man was trying to fax a piece of paper by holding it in front of the
    monitor screen and hitting the "send" key.
 7. Another Dell customer needed help setting up a new program, so a Dell tech
    suggested he go to the local Egghead. "Yeah, I got me a couple of
    friends," the customer replied. When told Egghead was a software store,
    the man said, "Oh, I thought you meant for me to find a couple of geeks."
 8. Yet another Dell customer called to complain that his keyboard no longer
    worked. He had cleaned it by filling up his tub with soap and water and
    soaking the keyboard for a day, then removing all the keys and washing
    them individually.
 9. A Dell technician received a call from a customer who was enraged because
    his computer had told him he was "bad and an invalid". The tech explained
    that the computer's "bad command" and "invalid" responses shouldn't be
    taken personally.
10. An exasperated caller to Dell Computer Tech Support couldn't get her new
    Dell Computer to turn on. After ensuring the computer was plugged in, the
    technician asked her what happened when she pushed the power button. Her
    response, "I pushed and pushed on this foot pedal and nothing happens." The
    "foot pedal" turned out to be the computer's mouse. 
11. Another customer called Compaq tech support to say her brand-new computer
    wouldn't work. She said she unpacked the unit, plugged it in, and sat there
    for 20 minutes waiting for something to happen. When asked what happened
    when she pressed the power switch, she asked "What power switch?" 
12. True story from a Novell NetWire SysOp:
    Caller: Hello, is this Tech Support? 
    Tech:   Yes, it is. How may I help you? 
    Caller: The cup holder on my PC is broken and I am within my warranty
            period. How do I go about getting that fixed? 
    Tech:   I'm sorry, but did you say a cup holder? 
    Caller: Yes, it's attached to the front of my computer. 
    Tech:   Please excuse me if I seem a bit stumped, It's because I am. Did
            you receive this as part of a promotional, at a trade show? How did
            you get this cup holder? Does it have any trademark on it?
    Caller: It came with my computer, I don't know anything about a
            promotional. It just has '4X' on it. 
    At this point the Tech Rep had to mute the caller, because he couldn't
    stand it. The caller had been using the load drawer of the CD-ROM drive as
    a cup holder, and snapped it off the drive!