Laughter, as the saying goes, is the best medicine. Every IT professional has had a hard day on the job, a client concern that is challenging to resolve, or a problem that just won’t seem to go away. Sometimes, a dose of humor — intentional or not — is the cure, giving IT workers a funny war story to share in the years to come.
These funny stories come from IT professionals around the internet, on places like Buzzfeed, Not Always Right, Bored Panda, Ranker and Reddit. You may throw your hands in the air, you might cringe. In the end, you will probably laugh, just like the IT workers who handled these issues the first time around.
Learning About Symbols
In this support call, the caller was writing their first email… ever. They called tech support because they ran into a problem and needed assistance.
Caller: “I’m writing my first email and I need help.”
Tech Support: “Okay, and what seems to be the problem?”
Caller: “I have the letter ‘a’ in the address, but how do I get the circle around it?
The Letter P
In another keyboard-related call, a tech support agent and a customer ran into a difference in the definition of words. While dealing with a customer issue the agent asked the client to key something into their computer.
Tech Support: Have you pressed Enter? Good. Now press the letter ‘P’ on your keyboard.
Caller: I don’t see a letter ‘P’.
Tech Support: On your keyboard, sir.
Caller: Huh? What do you mean?
Tech Support: ‘P’ on your keyboard.
Caller: How dare you? I’m not going to do that.
Tech Support: I meant press the letter ‘P’ on the keyboard.
Looking for Answers in the Wrong Place
This IT professional was working at a client-facing Helpdesk for an internet service provider. He got a phone call from a local restaurant owner who was quite upset. When the IT professional answered the phone, the restauranteur immediately started screaming, yelling and swearing.
The caller angrily reported that his internet was not working, to which the support agent was very sympathetic, saying he understood how important it was. He asked the caller if the modem had power.
Caller: “Are you kidding me? How could my modem have power? My #$!#ing electricity is out!”
The IT pro had to calmly explain that the restaurant owner had to call his electric company to figure out the problem and that modems require power to provide internet service. The caller ultimately hung up after saying that what he had heard from the support agent was the dumbest thing ever.
Peripheral Device Issues
Sometimes the peripherals that are the problem — or clients simply don’t understand how they work.
In one call, a support professional asked the client to move their mouse all the way over to the right. They took this very literally, picked up the mouse, and placed it on the right side of their desk before reporting that it didn’t seem to be an effective fix.
In an in-person situation, a customer showed up to a tech support desk with a device. They slapped it down on the counter and exclaimed, “My mouse doesn’t work!”
The IT pro picked up the ‘mouse’ and looked it over before putting it back down and letting the customer know that it wasn’t a mouse. In fact, it was the customer’s garage door opener. No wonder it didn’t work.
Here’s another keyboard problem, though not quite the same as the funny stories outlined above. In this case, a support professional was walking through their office when a user happened to call them over. They said, “At last! It’s taken you long enough!”
The tech had no idea what they were talking about, as there was no ticket, call, or formal request for help in any way. When they inquired as to how the user had reached out to them, wondering if they had missed something, the problem became clear.
“I pressed F1 over two hours ago!” F1, of course, was the help button.
We’re here to keep you laughing — in the best way possible. Our solutions will make it easy for you to handle client concerns and keep working efficiently, no matter how silly those concerns may be.
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.