I hate doing tech support

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N

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
so, back around christmas time, I built my mom a new computer. mostly just spare parts that I had laying around, but her computer was pretty old and it was a nice upgrade.

2 weeks later, my mom decided that she didn't want it, gave it to one of her coworkers, and bought herself a laptop. whatever.

fast forward to 7 months later, though, and said coworker is having problems with it (spyware and shit). because I built it, my mom's ambushed me into spending my weekend providing tech support for this person that I barely know :rolleyes:

I've been on the internet for 15 years and have never had a major problem with a virus, trojan, or spyware... I don't understand why it's so hard for people not to be dumb. and I don't get why I'm supposed to give up one of my nights off to help someone I've never met just because my mom gave away her computer to someone else. it's not like I have special, mystical computer knowledge. all I'm going to do is type whatever the problem is into google and cross my fingers.
 
n7

n7

Elite Member
Jan 4, 2004
21,281
4
81
People are dumb, so dumb, so very dumb, so horribly annoying stupidly dumb.

/hater also D:
 
SpunkyJones

SpunkyJones

Diamond Member
Apr 1, 2004
5,090
1
81
She gave it as a gift? Sorry, no tech support for you. Direct her to the nearest Best Buy.

I do tech support for my parents, my wife, and that's pretty much it. Otherwise I play stupid.
 
guyver01

guyver01

Lifer
Sep 25, 2000
22,135
5
61
Tell them.. "Of course i'd be happy to provide you with support and assistance.... Here's my hourly price.."
 
Wyndru

Wyndru

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2009
7,318
4
76
Tell him how to get malwarebytes, explain to him how to run a scan, and be done with it. Fixing these problems isn't rocket science, I never help people with these kind of issues until they need a format.

Most people these days know how to at least scan their pc's.
 
alfa147x

alfa147x

Lifer
Jul 14, 2005
29,307
106
106
+1****228984: One of my friends computer doesn't let him play youtuve videos or any sort of music videos in his computer 1:39 AM
Me: Sorry bro, call text support 1:40 AM
+1****228984: Aite 1:46 AM
Click to expand...

This is what I do ^
 
C

chusteczka

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2006
3,399
3
71
There is nothing like hard, personal effort on your part being disregarded and given away by the recipient. Tell her since she supplied the computer, she can handle the tech support.

Or you can charge them. I would say $100-$125.
 
G

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
This is why when my family and friends ask about buying computers I direct them to www.dell.com. And instruct them to get the 3 year in house warranty.
 
dfuze

dfuze

Lifer
Feb 15, 2006
11,953
0
71
Want it to be the last time? Go through their web history with them around, telling them it's part of figuring out the problem, and read the sites out loud. Embarrassment will be enough that they seek someone else the next time.
 
Jeff7

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
My dad's tech support can be a bit rough.

My mom though....I get some nice e-mails there. (These came in while I was at work, so I didn't see them until about 6pm.)

2:31 - an e-mail about Mozilla Thunderbird having updated itself, and it evidently changed the way things looked. Included in this was the phrase, "In sorting it out, I looked at my various settings..." :)

2:36 - Settings still not quite the way she wanted them.

2:41 - She got it all figured out on her own. :)


But I guess it does take awhile to get a feel for what you can and can't do without breaking something, or getting stuck. I was thrown for a loop when I accidentally double-clicked the CPU usage graph in Task Manager, without realizing it. Right away, all menus are gone. So now what the heck can you do? Menus lead to settings, and right-click did nothing, nor did Alt+Anything. I don't remember if it took a Google search or forum post to solve it, or if I just tried double-clicking.

(Though I can see the horrors of a poorly implemented "universal undo" button: Tell the computer, "Wait, undo whatever you just did!", at which point a list of 10,000 things comes up as events that "just happened.":D)
 
GagHalfrunt

GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
25,284
1,997
126
loki8481 said:
so, back around christmas time, I built my mom a new computer. mostly just spare parts that I had laying around, but her computer was pretty old and it was a nice upgrade.

2 weeks later, my mom decided that she didn't want it, gave it to one of her coworkers, and bought herself a laptop. whatever.

fast forward to 7 months later, though, and said coworker is having problems with it (spyware and shit). because I built it, my mom's ambushed me into spending my weekend providing tech support for this person that I barely know :rolleyes:

I've been on the internet for 15 years and have never had a major problem with a virus, trojan, or spyware... I don't understand why it's so hard for people not to be dumb. and I don't get why I'm supposed to give up one of my nights off to help someone I've never met just because my mom gave away her computer to someone else. it's not like I have special, mystical computer knowledge. all I'm going to do is type whatever the problem is into google and cross my fingers.
Click to expand...

You're doing free tech support for a person you don't know and you think other people are dumb? ROFLMAO!!!
 
X

xSauronx

Lifer
Jul 14, 2000
19,582
4
81
I wouldnt help. Ive turned down a couple of people that my mom sent to me...its annoying as hell, nevermind awkward, to get random calls from strangers about tech support.

Im busy, its $50/hour, and it could take a while for me to even get you in my schedule.
 
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