A few of us once had a short conversation about the word "ridiculous" and how our customers love to use it. If you don't feel like clicking the link, the gist of it was that customers don't use "ridiculous" to mean what it really means, which is something deserving of mockery or ridicule.
I had a "ridiculous" winner yesterday.
Guy comes in and stares at our display of computer monitors.
I ask if he needs help selecting one.
Ridiculous Customer: No, I think I'm going to take that <brand> one there.
Me: That's a good one, and it's on sale this week. Do you need some help up to the front with that.
RC: Nah, I can get it. (picks up two of said monitors) I do have a question for you, though.
Me: Fire away.
RC: I'm going to buy these two monitors so I can set up a dual-monitor display on my computer. What else do I need to do that?
Me: Aside from two monitors, your computer just needs to have two video outputs. Two VGA, two DVI, or one of each.
RC: And if it doesn't?
Me: You would need to buy a video card upgrade so that it would have those two outputs.
RC: Can't I just buy a splitter or something?
Me: Well, yes, you could buy a VGA splitter. We don't carry them in the store, but I could get one ordered for you.
RC: And that would work?
Me: Sort of. It would get a display onto both monitors, but it would be a duplicate display. It wouldn't extend your desktop at all.
RC: That's ridiculous!
That's right, folks. It's "ridiculous" that the computer device he was looking for would do just what it was designed to do. (For those who are a little less computer savvy, this is like having two land-line phones in one house, both on the same line, and complaining that you can't call Grandma with one phone and the pharmacy with the other phone at the same time.)
He ended up buying a new video card anyway, but it made me wonder what other absurd complaints of ridiculousness are being made out there.
Stories anybody?
I had a "ridiculous" winner yesterday.
Guy comes in and stares at our display of computer monitors.
I ask if he needs help selecting one.
Ridiculous Customer: No, I think I'm going to take that <brand> one there.
Me: That's a good one, and it's on sale this week. Do you need some help up to the front with that.
RC: Nah, I can get it. (picks up two of said monitors) I do have a question for you, though.
Me: Fire away.
RC: I'm going to buy these two monitors so I can set up a dual-monitor display on my computer. What else do I need to do that?
Me: Aside from two monitors, your computer just needs to have two video outputs. Two VGA, two DVI, or one of each.
RC: And if it doesn't?
Me: You would need to buy a video card upgrade so that it would have those two outputs.
RC: Can't I just buy a splitter or something?
Me: Well, yes, you could buy a VGA splitter. We don't carry them in the store, but I could get one ordered for you.
RC: And that would work?
Me: Sort of. It would get a display onto both monitors, but it would be a duplicate display. It wouldn't extend your desktop at all.
RC: That's ridiculous!
That's right, folks. It's "ridiculous" that the computer device he was looking for would do just what it was designed to do. (For those who are a little less computer savvy, this is like having two land-line phones in one house, both on the same line, and complaining that you can't call Grandma with one phone and the pharmacy with the other phone at the same time.)
He ended up buying a new video card anyway, but it made me wonder what other absurd complaints of ridiculousness are being made out there.
Stories anybody?
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