This didn't happen today, but the young lady in question certainly did take the word "Unsupportable" to a completely new level.
As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I work in a call center and do support on various web-based applications. I'm closing in on my two-year mark working there, so I pretty much know the solutions to most problems like the back of my hand.
'Lo and behold, on a lovely winter's eve where it was quiet all through the house, I took a call where the lady on the other end of the line was having problems opening a PDF document from one of the aforementioned websites. I asked her if anything happened when she tried, and after a lengthy silence (assumingly searching her screen), she told me no.
Me: Alright Ma'am. It might be a pop-up blocker causing the problem. Can you-
Caller: Wait, a what?
I explain what a pop-up blocker is, after closing my eyes and thanking whatever deity was listening that it wasn't a busy night. This was obviously going to be a long call.
That done, I try to guide her to "View" -> "Toolbars" in her browser menu, since the blocker in the Yahoo! toolbar is usually what's causing problems like this.
Of course she had no clue where to find this strange "menu". And what was a "browser"?
A few more minutes using very simple words like "Top of the window" and "The blue 'e'". Because I'm nice and we had the time anyway.
Once I get her that far...
Caller: Oh, wait, there's this yellowish stripe up here saying something about Internet Explorer and security?
Me: Does it say "Internet Explorer has blocked this website from..." (You know how it goes I'm sure)?
And indeed it did - halleluja! Apparently something new did happen when she tried to open the document.
Since this is problem is usually fixed by adding the website to Trusted Sites in the settings, this cheered me up. It's a quick and usually permanent fix (unless they forget why the site was added and delete it, then call back when it doesn't work one more and here we go again!), so I figured I could get this done swiftly. No such luck.
First, I had to guide her to "Tools"" in the dreaded "browser menu". Which, in case you were wondering, was simply refereed to as "top of the page". And how?
First by getting her to find "File" in the upper left corner. Because as some may have noticed, we never made it quite that high up last time. Then she and I read through the menu in a way that honestly reminded me of my 4th grade English classes.
Me: "File."
Caller: "...File."
Me: "Edit."
Caller: "...Edit."
And so on. At this point I had my elbow on the desk, my forehead in the palm of my hand and my eyes shut tight.
Then we finally made it to the "Internet Options" and, after I've mimicked choking myself with the cord to my headset a few times, into "Trusted Sites" and the field where she needed to enter the URL (which I of course didn't call it). I'll spare you the painfully slow process of typing in the "https://*" bit.
Me: Okay, and now a period.
Caller: ...
Me: ...
Caller: ...
Me: ...Ma'am?
Caller: ...Where's the period key?
Me: It's the same one you used to make the two little dots (also known as a "colon" to those more worldly types) earlier, Ma'am. Just don't hold down the thick arrow (shift) on the left this time.
Silence hung in the air yet again. I muted the call and thumped my head against my desk a few times, much to the amusement of my coworkers.
Me: Ma'am, could you locate the wide button at the very bottom of your keyboard for me?
Caller: Um.... Yes, okay.
Me: Above the right side of that button, there is a smaller botton with a comma on it.
Caller: Yes, I see it.
Me: Just beside that button, on the right side, is the period.
And the cows came home at long, long last. It solved the problem, thank heavens.
In short, a good 45 minutes spent on a call that really shouldn't have taken more than three, at most. Nice lady, polite and all, but good lord... At least I got kudos from my coworkers because my voice never wavered from my usual cheerfully polite tone.
I swear, some people really shouldn't be allowed within 100 feet of a computer, let alone sign up for anything online until they've learned how to use the thing.
As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I work in a call center and do support on various web-based applications. I'm closing in on my two-year mark working there, so I pretty much know the solutions to most problems like the back of my hand.
'Lo and behold, on a lovely winter's eve where it was quiet all through the house, I took a call where the lady on the other end of the line was having problems opening a PDF document from one of the aforementioned websites. I asked her if anything happened when she tried, and after a lengthy silence (assumingly searching her screen), she told me no.
Me: Alright Ma'am. It might be a pop-up blocker causing the problem. Can you-
Caller: Wait, a what?
I explain what a pop-up blocker is, after closing my eyes and thanking whatever deity was listening that it wasn't a busy night. This was obviously going to be a long call.
That done, I try to guide her to "View" -> "Toolbars" in her browser menu, since the blocker in the Yahoo! toolbar is usually what's causing problems like this.
Of course she had no clue where to find this strange "menu". And what was a "browser"?
A few more minutes using very simple words like "Top of the window" and "The blue 'e'". Because I'm nice and we had the time anyway.
Once I get her that far...
Caller: Oh, wait, there's this yellowish stripe up here saying something about Internet Explorer and security?
Me: Does it say "Internet Explorer has blocked this website from..." (You know how it goes I'm sure)?
And indeed it did - halleluja! Apparently something new did happen when she tried to open the document.
Since this is problem is usually fixed by adding the website to Trusted Sites in the settings, this cheered me up. It's a quick and usually permanent fix (unless they forget why the site was added and delete it, then call back when it doesn't work one more and here we go again!), so I figured I could get this done swiftly. No such luck.
First, I had to guide her to "Tools"" in the dreaded "browser menu". Which, in case you were wondering, was simply refereed to as "top of the page". And how?
First by getting her to find "File" in the upper left corner. Because as some may have noticed, we never made it quite that high up last time. Then she and I read through the menu in a way that honestly reminded me of my 4th grade English classes.
Me: "File."
Caller: "...File."
Me: "Edit."
Caller: "...Edit."
And so on. At this point I had my elbow on the desk, my forehead in the palm of my hand and my eyes shut tight.
Then we finally made it to the "Internet Options" and, after I've mimicked choking myself with the cord to my headset a few times, into "Trusted Sites" and the field where she needed to enter the URL (which I of course didn't call it). I'll spare you the painfully slow process of typing in the "https://*" bit.
Me: Okay, and now a period.
Caller: ...
Me: ...
Caller: ...
Me: ...Ma'am?
Caller: ...Where's the period key?
Me: It's the same one you used to make the two little dots (also known as a "colon" to those more worldly types) earlier, Ma'am. Just don't hold down the thick arrow (shift) on the left this time.
Silence hung in the air yet again. I muted the call and thumped my head against my desk a few times, much to the amusement of my coworkers.
Me: Ma'am, could you locate the wide button at the very bottom of your keyboard for me?
Caller: Um.... Yes, okay.
Me: Above the right side of that button, there is a smaller botton with a comma on it.
Caller: Yes, I see it.
Me: Just beside that button, on the right side, is the period.
And the cows came home at long, long last. It solved the problem, thank heavens.
In short, a good 45 minutes spent on a call that really shouldn't have taken more than three, at most. Nice lady, polite and all, but good lord... At least I got kudos from my coworkers because my voice never wavered from my usual cheerfully polite tone.
I swear, some people really shouldn't be allowed within 100 feet of a computer, let alone sign up for anything online until they've learned how to use the thing.
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