The Troublesome Power Cords

[Twotall]

Customer calls. Man, in his early 30s, sounded ans spoke as if he had a certain education and was fully functional. His cable TV was out.

Me: Of course
Inept Customer: IC

Me: So, you are receiving the signals to the TV, but it never goes past the "update" window. What I'd like to try is to reset the central. Could you unplug the power cord and leave it out for about three minutes? I'll hold.
IC: Ummm, how do I do that?
Me: Just pull the power cord out of the wall socket.
IC: Hmm, I'm not sure... There are so many wires back here. I don't know much about wires and such, so I'm not sure I should be doing this.
Me: Just follow the power cord from the central and to the power outlet on the wall. Just pull it out, it will be all right.
IC: Hmm... no. There are too many wires. I don't want to try anything fancy.
Me: *he had a grand total of three cords going from the central, and could not find the one that was plugged into the wall?*
Me: OK, how about the decoder? Let's try to restart that, at least.
IC: OK.
Me: Is it plugged in in the same place as the central?
IC: No.
Me: OK, so if you would just pull out the power cord to the decoder...
IC: Whoa! Unplug that, too? I told you, don't talk to me about wires and such! I don't know how to do this!
Me: Sir, if you don't unplug those cords and restart the devices, I can't really help you any further.
IC: Can I call you back later, then? I'll just get someone more technical to help me.

Sad now...

[phillippbo]

I get these... Every. Single. Day.

Me: "Okay, I need you to pull the power cord from the modem for a couple of seconds and then let me know when you've plugged it back in."

SC: "Which one's the power cord?"
"I don't know how to do this."
"What do you mean by 'power cord'?"
"Don't use that technical jargon with me."
"I need to wait until my husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/child/etc gets home."
"Oh, do you mean I have to be in front of the modem...?"
"How long do you want it unplugged?"
"What's a 'modem'?"
"I don't have a modem, but I do have that there internet box you folks gave me."

*After waiting a few minutes with no input from the customer*

Me: "Sir/Ma'am, is the modem plugged back in?"
SC: "Oh, I was waiting for you to tell me when to plug it back in..."

And they wonder why all of us are just about to pull all of our hair out...

[protege]

Quoth Twotall

IC: Can I call you back later, then? I'll just get someone more technical to help me.

Sad now...

Are you effing kidding me? Did he want you to draw him a picture? Some people should *NOT* be allowed to have any sort of technology more complex than a Bic pen

[Twotall]

Quoth protege

Are you effing kidding me?

Nope, there do exist modern-day people, who really are this helpless. Just take a look at Phillippbo's quotes above.

The worst part is that he still had the gall to ask for credit for the time he had been without TV. He was unwilling to do even the slightest thing to fix the problem, but he wanted credit for it. I just told him to take it up with our financial dept., after he had gotten the "technical person" to help him restart his appliances.

[BravoOrig]

Careful on the Bic pens. Some people would get confused when you tell them to put or pull the cap off. I realize alot of people think it's high technology, so they block their brains out and don't think about what a power cord is. Somedays I wonder if they've ever unplugged a lamp, because that is all we're asking them to do.

[Phone Jockey]

Quoth Twotall

Nope, there do exist modern-day people, who really are this helpless.

They act helpless anyway. I've also had lots of women (so much for women's lib) telling me they couldn't possibly unplug something & would have to go find their husbands to do it for them. OMG, I suppose we haven't made it past the "damsel in distress" phase after all.

[Slave to the Phone]

I can remotely access the stores' computers. I can run reports and find data. Exporting and printing to my printer is a very long, painful process, so I usually print my reports on the store's printer and then call and ask that it be faxed to me.

When I hear a new voice, I just grab my water and a ciggy to carry outside because it takes so long to teach someone how to use a fax machine