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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday November 19 2016, @09:02PM   Printer-friendly
from the facepalm dept.

Some lighter weekend fare:

If it's Friday it must be time for me to file On-Call and then start drinking so you can start the last day of the week with one of our always-amusing tales of nasty jobs done at nasty times.

This week, reader "Kevin" shared a story from his time working a hell desk late shift.

With just a few minutes to go before quitting time, Kevin took a call from user complaining her computer "was stuck". Kevin couldn't remote in, so asked her to turn it off and turn it on again.

The user claimed to have done so, but also reported the machine was still stuck on the same screen.

Kevin felt the user had probably flicked the wrong switch, so asked if there was a PC-shaped box under her monitor.

"Yes, there's a grey one," was the response.

"Can you hold down the power button for about 10 seconds until all the lights go out", Kevin asked.

At which point the user asked where to find the power button

Kevin explained it would be at the front of the PC, have a power symbol and should respond to a quick prod of an index finger.

"I can't find it," said the user.

Kevin asked what lettering, if any, was on the machine, in an effort to figure out the maker and model. As luck would have it, the Compaq model on the user's desk was the same one on Kevin's. So he spent the next 15 minutes describing its case, the grey bezel on the front, and using baby steps to direct her to the power button.

To which the user said the following:

        "Oh you mean the button I use to switch it off with?"

Please, share your hell desk stories. We all need a good laugh.


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  • (Score: 1) by purple_cobra on Sunday November 20 2016, @12:53PM

    by purple_cobra (1435) on Sunday November 20 2016, @12:53PM (#429881)

    I've had to explain the former to a consultant surgeon; it wasn't a cat in that case, just a habit of dumping paperwork on the desk, but I did get a second phone call from the same person about the same thing about a week later. Worryingly this is a person who is allowed to cut you open and poke around inside.