Another day, another idiot...lol
I've been putting this off but I've got a minute so here it is...lol
1: So, I get a call from this tech. He says we sent him the wrong motherboard and he needs a replacement. I go to the EMachines web site. I verify that the motherboard we sent is in fact what EMachines lists as being in that particular system, not that model, I used the serial number and that gives me exactly what was installed in that particular box. I inform the tech that the part we sent is the correct part according to the people who built it. This is when he informs me that the customer said the motherboard had been changed before and they think a different board was installed at that time. [Rule 1: Don't tell me it's the wrong part just because somebody else put in a different one and you want the same as the new one. The warranty doesn't cover the new one it covers the one that was originally installed.] Then he goes on to tell me that the ports in the back wouldn't fit through the holes in the back plate...so he bent them to get the board in so that he could hook it up and see if it fixed the problem. [Rule 2: You never bend anything on a circuit board to make it fit and if you do you don't admit it.] Result: Tech has been pulled from the assignment, will not be paid for the job because he broke a part that was worth more than his fee, and may be permanently removed from our list.
2: A customer calls in to tell me that she is still having problems with her computer after having a power supply and a motherboard installed. Not terribly uncommon but let's troubleshoot and find out why. She proceeds to tell me that she needs a new processor. When I ask why she says, "That's what he said." At this point I hear someone talking in the background and ask if it's the tech. She replies, "Naw, that's my husband but he's the one that put the new parts in 'cause we didn't want to have to wait for somebody to come out and do it." Result: voided warranty. Since when are you allowed to work on anything that's under warranty yourself? Even if you do know what you're doing? It's unfortunate, but due to their own stupidity their pc repairs will now be paid for by them and only them.
3: A real winner. She calls in to tell me that she's having problems with her computer so of course I ask her to describe what it's doing. She is getting no video display at all. The monitor will show it's own internal menu operations so that's not bad. Various other troubleshooting confirms bad video card. We already sent a motherboard to fix this. This is when I find out that one of our people (not tech support, but someone who isn't even supposed to order parts) sent the motherboard without checking the system specs. This system comes stock with a separate video card. No problem, we'll send a video card and she can send the motherboard back at our expense and somebody's going to get ripped for it...not me, not my problem. In the meantime I'm reading the notes and I see where the tech called in about this. In the notes I see that he has asked for a new power supply. Reason: Power supply has water coming out of it. My first thought is, "That's not right.", my second thought is, "He didn't tell her not to turn it back on?", and my third thought is, "How is that even possible, especially in a non water cooled system? Are you living in a rain forest?" WTF? So I asked her about it. She said that she knows nothing about any water coming from the power supply. She said that she was having problems with the computer restarting itself. I asked her when this happened. "Well, my computer is under my desk and the cables are kinda jumbled up under there and if I kick the computer or bump the cables with my foot sometimes it'll restart itself. I was just thinking that since it's under warranty I would go ahead and get the power supply changed just in case that might fix it." WRONG!! So, I politely informed her that she's an idiot (without actually saying it) and explained to her that you are not supposed to kick your computer or it's cables and that doing so can cause the electrical connection to be interrupted and make the computer restart itself or shut off. She was not happy but in the end she accepted the fact that we do not send out parts for "just in case".
So, that has been my last week. There were several more noteworthy stories but rather than bore you all with a novel of my adventures I picked the ones that I thought were really amusing for me. I laughed so hard last week I nearly fell out of my chair. Some of it is "you had to be there" stuff. Some of it is just hilarious.
Until next time...
1: So, I get a call from this tech. He says we sent him the wrong motherboard and he needs a replacement. I go to the EMachines web site. I verify that the motherboard we sent is in fact what EMachines lists as being in that particular system, not that model, I used the serial number and that gives me exactly what was installed in that particular box. I inform the tech that the part we sent is the correct part according to the people who built it. This is when he informs me that the customer said the motherboard had been changed before and they think a different board was installed at that time. [Rule 1: Don't tell me it's the wrong part just because somebody else put in a different one and you want the same as the new one. The warranty doesn't cover the new one it covers the one that was originally installed.] Then he goes on to tell me that the ports in the back wouldn't fit through the holes in the back plate...so he bent them to get the board in so that he could hook it up and see if it fixed the problem. [Rule 2: You never bend anything on a circuit board to make it fit and if you do you don't admit it.] Result: Tech has been pulled from the assignment, will not be paid for the job because he broke a part that was worth more than his fee, and may be permanently removed from our list.
2: A customer calls in to tell me that she is still having problems with her computer after having a power supply and a motherboard installed. Not terribly uncommon but let's troubleshoot and find out why. She proceeds to tell me that she needs a new processor. When I ask why she says, "That's what he said." At this point I hear someone talking in the background and ask if it's the tech. She replies, "Naw, that's my husband but he's the one that put the new parts in 'cause we didn't want to have to wait for somebody to come out and do it." Result: voided warranty. Since when are you allowed to work on anything that's under warranty yourself? Even if you do know what you're doing? It's unfortunate, but due to their own stupidity their pc repairs will now be paid for by them and only them.
3: A real winner. She calls in to tell me that she's having problems with her computer so of course I ask her to describe what it's doing. She is getting no video display at all. The monitor will show it's own internal menu operations so that's not bad. Various other troubleshooting confirms bad video card. We already sent a motherboard to fix this. This is when I find out that one of our people (not tech support, but someone who isn't even supposed to order parts) sent the motherboard without checking the system specs. This system comes stock with a separate video card. No problem, we'll send a video card and she can send the motherboard back at our expense and somebody's going to get ripped for it...not me, not my problem. In the meantime I'm reading the notes and I see where the tech called in about this. In the notes I see that he has asked for a new power supply. Reason: Power supply has water coming out of it. My first thought is, "That's not right.", my second thought is, "He didn't tell her not to turn it back on?", and my third thought is, "How is that even possible, especially in a non water cooled system? Are you living in a rain forest?" WTF? So I asked her about it. She said that she knows nothing about any water coming from the power supply. She said that she was having problems with the computer restarting itself. I asked her when this happened. "Well, my computer is under my desk and the cables are kinda jumbled up under there and if I kick the computer or bump the cables with my foot sometimes it'll restart itself. I was just thinking that since it's under warranty I would go ahead and get the power supply changed just in case that might fix it." WRONG!! So, I politely informed her that she's an idiot (without actually saying it) and explained to her that you are not supposed to kick your computer or it's cables and that doing so can cause the electrical connection to be interrupted and make the computer restart itself or shut off. She was not happy but in the end she accepted the fact that we do not send out parts for "just in case".
So, that has been my last week. There were several more noteworthy stories but rather than bore you all with a novel of my adventures I picked the ones that I thought were really amusing for me. I laughed so hard last week I nearly fell out of my chair. Some of it is "you had to be there" stuff. Some of it is just hilarious.
Until next time...