Whether it’s an immediate laugh-out-loud situation or the kind of thing that becomes funnier in retrospect, there’s no denying that laughter is a part of every IT tech’s life. We are sure that some of these IT pros didn’t think their war story was all too hilarious at the moment they occurred. But they — and you — can get a chuckle now!
We hope these stories remind you that, in the end, being an IT professional can be a lot of fun, especially if you’re willing to laugh.
Microphone Mute-Worthy Revenge
This IT pro managed a help desk call that came in to the top tier of tech support for a large ISP. This is usually reserved for major, high-level internet, phone, and app issues. Sometimes, they received calls for other departments if those techs were busy. In this instance, the tech picked up a call about a TV problem.
The caller explained, simply, that their TV was not working. The tech asked which set-top box was having the issue as they noted several indicated on the customer’s profile. The customer said they had to explain something first…
Their neighbor had stolen the TV cable from their window and ran it into their home. The customer, angry, cut the cord back down, tied it to their car bumper, and drove down the street until they saw the TV hit the window. With no way to fix the cable from the help desk, and with the microphone briefly on mute to hide their laughter, the IT pro sent out a field technician.
Problems with the D4
A military IT professional received a help desk request from a department having computer troubles. Every time they put a CD in the computer tray and closed it, the disc would fall off. The tech asked what kind of computer they were working with, and the department responded with “d4.”
Unfamiliar with this particular type of setup, the tech decided to go check it out in person. The problem was easy to see on arrival. It wasn’t a d4. It was an hp computer tower, upside down!
The Wrong Kind of Windows
A tech was helping an elderly customer connect to the internet. They were starting from the basics, and had to ask the customer what version of Windows they had. The customer thought about it for some time, saying under their breath, “What windows I have…”
After a beat, the customer confidently responded that they had two in their living room, one in the bedroom, and one in the kitchen.
Lost in Translation
Sometimes it’s not the hardware or the software that’s the problem, leading to much frustration and much hilarity. This user failure had the IT professional laughing!
A caller needed help with their password and had already spoken to a different technician about having it reset. The caller insisted the new password still did not work. When the technician copied it from the help desk notes, it worked perfectly. They hung up but called back again a few hours later, insisting that the password was not working. Again, the tech copied it in and it worked just fine. What was the problem?
The tech had the customer type their password into a word processing document, then pasted in the password from the notes to compare. The customer typed in something like p@ssword, while the technician’s notes read like p&ssword. So, the real problem came to light — the customer thought the @ symbol was called an ampersand.
Manager with Two As
An IT pro took a call from a customer who couldn’t log in to their account. They first checked that the caps lock was not on, then went through the rest of the regular routine. Everything that was supposed to fix this common problem was not working.
After two hours, they uninstalled and reinstalled. At hour three, they did a new install on a new PC at the customer’s site. Finally, the tech heard the customer say, “Are there two As in manager? I’m in!”
Then they hung up.
The customer had misspelled the same word for three hours.
Want to keep your days full of joy? At GroupLink, we offer cloud-based e-workflow and work from home solutions that benefit organizations of many kinds.
Our solutions include GroupLink everything HelpDesk, SafestSchools and Workflow Process and Incident Tracking. With these platforms, you can increase efficiency, collaboration, and accountability. Connect with us online or call us at 801-335-0700. You can also email us at info@grouplink.net for more information.