I $@%^ hate giving tech support to my gf over the phone

[maziwanka]

have fun not getting frustrated

 

[Doboji]

Dude... this is a fantastic predicament... You're actually very lucky.

You have something to hold over her head... think about what you want from her, and negotiate tech support time. If you find yourself in a losing argument with her, and she's telling you ( like all women do) that you don't do this or don't do that. Remind her about your patience on the phone with her.

Eventually she'll stop calling you for tech support, but you're bound to get her into lingerie, a threesome, lewd pictures, and win at least 2 arguments.


-Max

 

[Mookow]

God damn I too hate doing tech support over the phone. At least it is for your girlfriend*. Usually I'm stuck helping my family (my dad just keeps referring them to me, and they act like they did me a big favor by buying me a 6 pack of beer as payment for me working on their PC for 9 hours).

Frankly, I've gotten to the point where I just say "I'll try to fix it for 15 minutes, after that either you find someone else, or I'm reformatting and reinstalling the OS. Oh, and you'll have to install all your own programs by yourself."

It takes a while to do a fresh install, but generally ends up being quicker in the long run. There is a lot of whining about my new policy, but f***'em, if they are setting the pay scale at kid-down-the-street-who-'knows about computers'-rates, they're going to get crappy service. It wouldnt be bad if it was just one or two relatives, but you have to draw a hard line when it is both sets of grandparents, brother, sister, and 6 sets of aunts and uncles.


*Since this is tech support for your g/f, I recommend you set a standard rate, something like "for every hour I work on your PC, you owe me (insert number here) BJs".

 

[Geekbabe]

Hehehe,I'm the tech support for my household

 

[blakeatwork]

Don't you know girlspeak for "Come over here and do me you big stud!" ??


...


err...


nevermind...

 

[blakeatwork]

Originally posted by: Chiboy
I dont blame you, that is the worst feeling when you know people are to dumb too do what you say & you cant do anything about it.

You've missed a lot of threads in ATOT, haven't you??

 

[Confused]

Erm, if she's your GF, why are you giving her tech support over the phone?

You should be there with her, and get her to give you a BJ while you're fixing it (like in Swordfish)


Confused

 

[Anubis]

just go over there install a few codec packs, and zoom player, never have any issues again

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: Modeps
you may try going to your girlfriends house to help her with her computer. you become her knight in geeky armour, then probably get a little su'm su'm afterwards. Now, if it was a relative calling you up....

I would except she lives an like 2 hours away.

Originally posted by: Gurck
Also not a bad idea at all to install a non-IE browser and a remote desktop app on her pc.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=38&threadid=1255796&arctab=arc :| I did however manage to teach her how to run adaware once a week and installed spyware blaster. But I'm sure a few viruses have slipped by.

 

[CRXican]

Originally posted by: loki8481
the worst thing about giving tech support, I think, is dealing with people who refuse to try and figure it out for themselves. I mean, I wasn't born with an innate knowledge of all things computer-related... when i got my first computer, I didn't have a sibling or friend (or hell, even the internet) to rely on for advice. I had to figure it out the hard way.

That's what is such a mystery to me when it comes to computers. My first "real" computer was a 650Mhz PIII from Circuit City of all places. Only computer class I ever took was typing yet somehow I've managed to succesfully learn to manage your basic computer operations and then some. I sometimes find myself wondering, how do I know all of this? People are just too lame to take the time to figure things out on their own. It's much easier to give up and ask someone else.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: CRXican

Originally posted by: loki8481
the worst thing about giving tech support, I think, is dealing with people who refuse to try and figure it out for themselves. I mean, I wasn't born with an innate knowledge of all things computer-related... when i got my first computer, I didn't have a sibling or friend (or hell, even the internet) to rely on for advice. I had to figure it out the hard way.

That's what is such a mystery to me when it comes to computers. My first "real" computer was a 650Mhz PIII from Circuit City of all places. Only computer class I ever took was typing yet somehow I've managed to succesfully learn to manage your basic computer operations and then some. I sometimes find myself wondering, how do I know all of this? People are just too lame to take the time to figure things out on their own. It's much easier to give up and ask someone else.

Shhh....you're about to talk all us IT people out of a job.

 

[imported_FishTaco]

Originally posted by: fivespeed5

Originally posted by: Modeps
you may try going to your girlfriends house to help her with her computer. you become her knight in geeky armour, then probably get a little su'm su'm afterwards. Now, if it was a relative calling you up....

I would except she lives an like 2 hours away.
*snip*

At least get some phone sex out of it.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Trente

Originally posted by: loki8481
the worst thing about giving tech support, I think, is dealing with people who refuse to try and figure it out for themselves. I mean, I wasn't born with an innate knowledge of all things computer-related... when i got my first computer, I didn't have a sibling or friend (or hell, even the internet) to rely on for advice. I had to figure it out the hard way.

:thumbsup:

Here here. :beer:

 

[Jeff7181]

What I hate about giving tech support to people on the phone is trying to get information out of them...

Me: "What's the problem?"
Them: "I clicked the thing and it said it couldn't do something because something was missing."
Me: "What were you trying to do?"
Them: "Print a letter."
Me: "So you clicked print, and it gave you an error message?"
Them: "I don't know."
Me: "Ok, describe exactly what you did again..."
Them: "I clicked the thing and..."
Me: "Wait... what's the thing?"
Them: "You know, the printer button."
Me: "Ok, so you clicked print, and then what happened?"
Them: "It said it couldn't do something cause something was missing."
Me: "Ok then... lets try and print something and see what it says."
Them: "Ok... it still says something is missing."
Me: "What does it say is missing?"
Them: "I don't know, I closed it."
Me: (sigh) "Ok, try printing again, this time leave the message up and read me exactly what it says."
Them: "Ok... hold on, let me turn the printer on."
Me: "You didn't have the printer on?"
Them: "Well at work I never turn it on, it just starts printing when I click the thing."

:roll:

 

[Fenixgoon]

i know the feeling man... my mom does her school's yearbook (she's a teacher) and she doesn't know the first thing when it comes to computers.
i try and help her with adobe photoshop... and it kills me.... she asks how to open a file!!! its the same in almost every damn program you use "file--->open"
at least yearbook is done now. at least you can exploit your g/f and say "i gave you tech support, now you give me...." j/k.

 

[Brassman]

yes