Nice tech guys - still drive me nuts

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I don't know where this belongs, but it is about technical issues, so I guess here?

We have, at our compay, 'the tech guy'. The tech guy isn't technically an employee of our company, he isn't even one guy, he's whichever one of the 4 techs at the local computer repair shop we have an account with that happens to answer the phone that day. Despite this handicap our 'tech guy' does a very good job. Rarely is a problem left unsolved for more than an hour, and never for a whole day. They still manage to drive me completley insane though.

I have a lot of sympathy for some of this, based mostly on reading the posts on this very board, however it is sometimes hard to retain my sympathy.

I am not a computer person. Once, long long ago, I took computer classes, and it is possible I could still program in basic a if you asked me, but it recently took me (off and on) 9 business days, with much help from google, to program three radio buttons in an open office database that would make a specific report based on a database query (seriously, I am that bad at computers). This does not however make me a stupid person in general, and I often get the feeling that 'the tech guy' thinks I am. Take today for example I had to phone them:

Me: I am having problems with the printer. No matter what I tell it to print out, it just prints whatever stupid thing it wants, and none of it makes any sense.
Ttg: Well what are you trying to print?
Me: It's the same for everything, I have tried estimates, work orders, inventory reports and A/R reports
Ttg: Ok, to print out an estimate you go to program and...
Me: No, no, no. I haven't, overnight, spontaniously forgotten how to print out reports I need weekly, it just isn't working right! (I have been with this company for years, seriously WTF, why would I just wake up no longer knowing how to do this? It is much more likely that something isn't working right on the computers end, no?)
Ttg: Ok, I'll log on and check it out (he can log into our computers over the internet to provide remote support - yeah)....mumble mumble pause type pause, mumble....Ok I've printed out a report, can you fax it to me?

So I fax him the report that prints out, and not 30 seconds later my phone rings

Ttg: I told you to fax over the report I printed! What is this? This is just nonsense!
Me: ...? Do you remember why I called you? It was about 4 minutes ago.
Ttg: .... Uh, I'll try to fix that for you

Problem solved in another 10 minutes. Things like this happen all the time with these guys.

New goal: learn to speak tech guy.

[csquared]

You don't need to learn to speak tech guy. Tech guy needs to listen. I understood perfectly what you said in the first sentence.

In their defense, they have probably listened to so many stupid descriptions that they have started to tune out what is said. They heard "Blah blah blah blah blah blah printer" and assumed you need to be told how to print as that solves 90% of the issues with "printers".

[Chromatix]

Obligatory: http://xkcd.com/806/

[Jay 2K Winger]

You don't need to learn to speak tech guy. Tech guy needs to listen. I understood perfectly what you said in the first sentence.

In their defense, they have probably listened to so many stupid descriptions that they have started to tune out what is said. They heard "Blah blah blah blah blah blah printer" and assumed you need to be told how to print as that solves 90% of the issues with "printers".

Yeah, listening goes both ways, although agreed that Tech Guy wasn't doing it.

The disconnect between the tech-savvy and the non-savvy, in terms of understanding at least, is why when Mom finally makes that appointment with Apple to get her MacBook fixed, she's taking me along to decipher what the Tech Guy behind the Genius Bar is saying.

[Web_Pict]

We got a newer printer to pur office. The guy took old of, put new on and did the set-up by configuration sheets he printed first. Then he could not send a scan to mail, and called his helpdesk.
- It needs DNS here? Where do I find that?
*plaaplaaplaa*
- Command line? Where is that?
*plaaplaaplaa*
(Okay, my start-button is not on down-left but still...)
I typed "CMD" to open dos-window.
- Oh... what should I write here?
*plaaplaaplaa*
After some questions how to write "ipconfig", I typed the "/all" part. And there we had all important numbers.
- Oh, we have some smart people here.

Should I have told him I have a degree from computers and networks?

[dalesys]

... I have a degree from computers and networks?

Most of us get degrees from schools.

... or virii ...

[Web_Pict]

Have I misunderstood something? How do you say when someone goes to school and learns to do things in some area so well one can say that is proffesional in that?

English is not my first language.

[dalesys]

English is not my first language.

We understand what you said.
The common English phrasing would be: ... a degree in computers ...

"Virii" refers to the fever inducing effects of viruses raising a person's body temperature several degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius.

[Web_Pict]

I see. Thou working with computers usually rises ones bloodpressure... specially when there is viruses included.

[Geek King]

I see. Thou working with computers usually rises ones bloodpressure... specially when there is viruses included.

I think I've found something even worse than dealing with viruses. Some jerk has been sending spam emails spoofing our Executive Secretary's email as the sender. The mails are not originating from our server, but they're bouncing the undeliverables back to her. We're talking about thousands of bounce-backs every hour.

It would be easier if it was a zombie or mail account hack, but its just a spoof from outside our systems, so its causing fits trying to get it stopped.

[aulocksmith]

I think I've found something even worse than dealing with viruses. Some jerk has been sending spam emails spoofing our Executive Secretary's email as the sender. The mails are not originating from our server, but they're bouncing the undeliverables back to her. We're talking about thousands of bounce-backs every hour.

It would be easier if it was a zombie or mail account hack, but its just a spoof from outside our systems, so its causing fits trying to get it stopped.

Ouch, that's gotta hurt. SPF records would normally stop that, if only it was a compulsory config option in all mailservers. Unfortunately, only a small fraction pay attention to SPF.

[ender]

I think I've found something even worse than dealing with viruses. Some jerk has been sending spam emails spoofing our Executive Secretary's email as the sender. The mails are not originating from our server, but they're bouncing the undeliverables back to her. We're talking about thousands of bounce-backs every hour.

Happened to me years ago, I responded by setting up a filter that returned the message to postmaster@ and abuse@ at sending server with a threat to submit them to RBLs (there's almost never any reason to send a NDR to an outside server - you should simply refuse to accept the message during initial connection, which would cause the sending server to send a NDR if applicable [since spam with spoofed sender address is normally sent by bots directly to the recipient servers, this would simply make the bot move to the next victim]).

[dalesys]

Those who can... do tech.

Those who regularly pick up the wrong end of the soldering iron... do tech support.