# Customer service? I don't do customer service! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 4, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475 "2019-05-04T18:53:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/21 "2019-05-06T12:46:51Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > In the British sitcom _The IT Crowd_, “have you tried turning it off and on again?” is within the scope of Level 1 support. 😃 It’s also the only solution they have for any problem. And it’s also the only level of support they have. That is absolutely not true. They also sometimes ask “Are you sure it’s plugged in?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/22 "2019-05-06T13:00:49Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I’d love to see what she puts down on her income tax return and other formal documents that request the filer’s occupation. “Occupation: Sexy talker” would certainly be … unique. She would be a “Communications Specialist.” There’s checkbox for that. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/23 "2019-05-06T15:03:08Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > That is absolutely not true. > > They also sometimes ask “Are you sure it’s plugged in?” 😃 And it’s a question I have asked often. In 1998 I was an intro to MS-DOS class away from a certificate in microcomputer support. I asked the department head if I could substitute something more relevant, saying, “I could TEACH that course.” Nope. :rolleyes::mad: ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/24 "2019-05-06T15:22:49Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Asked Middle to get her mom’s old tablet out of mothballs so I can bone up on it. And root it since I have no idea its password and don’t need any old files cuz she used it for nothing but YouTube, Candy Crush, and window shopping for horses. According to That Company’s website I need to physically bring in the tablet and Wife’s death certificate and will to prove I really inherited it. She left no will–long story–so would it be okay if I brought in her ashes? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/25 "2019-05-06T23:40:53Z")
Middle can’t find the xP_d M_n\* 1 but that’s okay because it’s a dog. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/26 "2019-05-07T00:38:21Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > That is absolutely not true. > > They also sometimes ask “Are you sure it’s plugged in?” 😃 Which I, several times, followed up with “can you plug something else into that outlet and see if it works?” Yes, it was the outlet. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/27 "2019-05-07T00:56:18Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > That is absolutely not true. > > They also sometimes ask “Are you sure it’s plugged in?” 😃 Years ago, I worked for a company based in more or less central NJ that decided to open a teeny branch office in NYC. Our IT guy went in and set up the (sole) computer and made sure everything was working. The next day, the man who was going to run the office went in, moved the computer from the front room to the back room, and couldn’t get it to work. I think (I think) it booted, but he couldn’t get anything on the monitor beyond a black screen. He was very annoyed by this and tried to get our (sole) IT guy (who did the IT on the side to two other major responsibilities) to drop everything and get into NYC (which was at least 2 hours, each way) to _ **fix it** _ that day. IT guy runs him through the normal checks (“Are you sure it’s plugged in? On both ends?” and “Did you try turning it off and on again?”) plus “Are you sure you plugged in the video cable between the monitor and the computer?” The manager angrily replied that he’d checked all this already, yes everything was plugged in, and come fix it _now_. IT guy told the manager that he wasn’t sure what all he could do, since it had worked before it was moved and anyway there was no way he could get in before 2 days from now and maybe he (the manager) should call tech support for the company the computer had been bought from. So the manager did call tech support, and spent most of the day in the guts of the desktop, reseating memory cards and video cards and IDE cables and what have you, to no avail. Two days later, our IT guy is able to get into NYC. Just for S&Gs, he checked the power cord first to make sure it was plugged in, because he knew this manager. Lo and behold, the power cord from the monitor WAS plugged in. Standard 3-prong plug. And the manager had managed to plug the ground pin into a completely different outlet to the rest of the plug. When this was pointed out to him, he said something along the lines of, “oh, so that’s why it was so hard to plug in. I got annoyed and just forced it.” The amazing thing is that when a power cord with a non-bent-out-of-shape plug was plugged in, the whole thing turned on and worked just fine. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/28 "2019-05-08T15:20:35Z")
Cleaned up resume and forwarded it to Oldest who forwarded it to her friend. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/29 "2019-05-10T00:00:39Z")
Requiring a physical unplug/replug process for power cycling (rather than pushing a button) is a Level 1 support boon, because while people will often tell you that they are sure that the thing is plugged, some number of them didn’t check, and when you tell them to _unplug_ it and plug it back in, they’ll notice and just tell you that the “power cycle” fixed it. > [@Morgyn](#): > > Lo and behold, the power cord from the monitor WAS plugged in. Standard 3-prong plug. And the manager had managed to plug the ground pin into a completely different outlet to the rest of the plug. > > When this was pointed out to him, he said something along the lines of, “oh, so that’s why it was so hard to plug in. I got annoyed and just forced it.” Something… maybe got lost in the retelling here? Unless the electrical wiring involved was extremely unsafe, it shouldn’t matter. Like, ground is ground, and also ground isn’t involved in the normal operation of an electronic device unless something goes wrong. You can just hacksaw the ground pin off a plug\* and that won’t make the thing stop working. \*do not do this. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/30 "2019-05-10T03:50:02Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Requiring a physical unplug/replug process for power cycling (rather than pushing a button) is a Level 1 support boon, because while people will often tell you that they are sure that the thing is plugged, some number of them didn’t check, and when you tell them to _unplug_ it and plug it back in, they’ll notice and just tell you that the “power cycle” fixed it. > > Something… maybe got lost in the retelling here? Unless the electrical wiring involved was extremely unsafe, it shouldn’t matter. Like, ground is ground, and also ground isn’t involved in the normal operation of an electronic device unless something goes wrong. You can just hacksaw the ground pin off a plug\* and that won’t make the thing stop working. > > \*do not do this. I tell it to you as it was told to me. He’d plugged the monitor’s power cable plug into two separate power outlets at the same time. The same power cable had worked fine in the outer office when it was plugged into a single plug. When it proved impossible to straighten things out to the point that the three prongs would go into the same outlet, a new power cable was used, and the monitor worked again. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/31 "2019-05-10T10:18:02Z")
Nah, physically can’t be done. The ground prong is too short to reach that far and the neutral prong is too wide to fit in the live socket. Either the user found another way to mangle the cord or the tech was greenin’ you. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/32 "2019-05-10T12:05:53Z")
I’ve told this story before, but my mother was out of state for a year and had her phone disconnected during the time. I visited her from Japan on the second day she was back. She had had her phone reconnected, and while it could place calls, incoming calls only got the fast busy signal. After swapping phones around and such, I quickly surmised that the phone company had simply neglected to click the button allowing incoming calls when they restored service. I called the company service line and was able to get a live customer support and reported the problem. Apparently, this was a low-level customer service rep who was only able to read off the script. After I explained the problem and my guess at the issue, the service rep had to go through the entire checklist, including questions such as: Service rep: “Is the phone plugged in?” Me: “Of course, as I said, I’m calling from the phone, so we wouldn’t like be having this conversation if the phone weren’t working.” I did manage to keep the sarcasm out of my voice, at least. She wasn’t allowed to escalate the call for some reason, but did take careful notes, or so she said. A couple of hours later, we got a call from the technician who had solved the problem – by changing the setting on their side to allow incoming calls, of course. I asked and apparently the service rep didn’t write up the problem correctly. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/33 "2019-05-10T13:21:11Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I asked and apparently the service rep didn’t write up the problem correctly. I can do that! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/34 "2019-05-10T17:13:17Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I tell it to you as it was told to me. I’m sure you did, but it doesn’t make any sense. As **dropzone** points out, it’s probably physically impossible unless the guy is The Hulk. And even if it were possible, I can’t think of a reason it would break anything. Something got lost in translation here. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2019, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/35 "2019-05-11T07:11:52Z")
The manager was an impatient man who didn’t pay attention to things when he was in a hurry, and while he wasn’t Andre the Giant by any means, he was a larger than average, athletic man. I have no problem believing that he was able to force the plug into two sockets. This was back in the 90s, and as I recall, a lot of plugs (and outlets) back then were still not polarized, even ones for computer desktops. I may even have a few of those power cables lying around still. Plus, the plug WAS mangled. If I didn’t make it clear before, my buddy the IT guy said that the ground pin was badly bent in order to get to the other socket. He couldn’t believe the manager had managed it without breaking it off entirely. They had to use a new power cable, because the old one was done. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2019, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/36 "2019-05-11T10:20:04Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > The manager was an impatient man who didn’t pay attention to things when he was in a hurry, and while he wasn’t Andre the Giant by any means, he was a larger than average, athletic man. I have no problem believing that he was able to force the plug into two sockets. This was back in the 90s, and as I recall, a lot of plugs (and outlets) back then were still not polarized, even ones for computer desktops. I may even have a few of those power cables lying around still. > > Plus, the plug WAS mangled. If I didn’t make it clear before, my buddy the IT guy said that the ground pin was badly bent in order to get to the other socket. He couldn’t believe the manager had managed it without breaking it off entirely. They had to use a new power cable, because the old one was done. It doesn’t make sense electrically. If you have two outlets that close, such as in a power strip, then the grounds are tied together. As has been said already, the grounds are not involved in normal operations so it wouldn’t matter if they were plugged in anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/37 "2019-05-11T20:20:44Z")
\ Look, I wasn’t on site. I didn’t see this for myself. I don’t know if the monitor was plugged into a power strip or into a wall. What I know, second-hand, is that it was plugged into a single socket in one room where it worked, got moved into a different room and somehow plugged into two sockets and didn’t work, and when it was given a new power cable and plugged into one socket, it worked again. That’s all I know. The story was about the manager and his idiocy, not about the bloody electrical wiring. \ I know we’re all about getting to the facts of a situation, but way to beat all the humour out of an amusing story. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/38 "2019-05-11T20:35:11Z")
I need to escalate this hijack to Tech Support. I’m going to put you on hold. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2019, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/39 "2019-05-11T20:49:43Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I need to escalate this hijack to Tech Support. I’m going to put you on hold. As long as there’s decent music. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475/40 "2019-05-11T21:15:02Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Who the fuck lets you work from home and set your own hours??? I work for the Federal Government; I’ve been working from home and setting my own hours for the past five years or so. In my case, the agency allots a certain amount of time for each action performed and keeps track of when we’re logged in. As long as the allotted time is at least 97% of the time claimed on our time cards, they don’t mind. I’m typically around 120%. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-service-i-dont-do-customer-service/833475.md?page=3)