- Oct 30, 1999
- 11,815
- 104
- 106
I wanted to bitchslap this guy into next Thursday.
Oh my F'ing God type entity. If I don't rant about this geek, I'm going to explode.
He calls to tell me that he has a problem with either the motherboard or the CPU. He was getting Fatal Exception errors and had replaced every other part in the PC.
I looked at his invoice and saw that he had bought an Orb with his CPU and motherboard. Well, I knew of a good deal of clearance issues with the Orb and the Biostar board he had purchased and how the fins of the heatsink can actually come into contact with certain capacitors on the board. So thinking that the problem may be an incorrect mounting of an inappropriate fan, so I say to him, "well, we've had a problem with the Orb and that particular board..."
Do you remember those toy cars made by Zee that you'd pull back and then let go and the car would shoot off really fast? I think I just "pulled back" on this guy, because he "went".
Before I could finish my sentence: "Oh yes. I've read all over the internet how the Gold Orbs crush CPUs. The Gold Orb you sent me was the kind of Orb that crushes CPUs so I went out and bought a chrome Orb instead."
Now, I don't give a flying flip if the orb he bought was purple, but he's got his facts a little screwed up.
Sir, the fan we sold you is the TDUFR01. It comes in both chrome AND silver and does not crush CPUs. The one that crushes CPUs is a fan called the TFCFR02-1 and it only comes in gold and is often mistakingly used on Socket As and can crush the CPU. But you were not sent a TFCFR02-1. You were sent a TDUFR01. I use the TDUFR01 all of the time without incident."
He apparently didn't believe me. "I'm not a newbie here! You don't know who you are talking to! I went to all sorts of website that said that the Gold Orb crushes CPUs! That's why I bought a Chrome Orb somewhere else!"
"OK sir. The issue I was speaking of, has nothing to do with whether or not the orb is chrome or gold because the problem has to do with the heatsink itself coming into contact with several capacitors on the motherboard."
It seems as if I pulled back on the car again.
"No no no. I bought a chrome orb. Chrome orbs are made to fit on Socket A motherboards. The fan you sent me is known to break CPUs. I'm not using that fan."
"Sir, I'm not going to argue with you. If you want to send back the motherboard and CPU, I'll test it out and if anything is bad, I'll replace it."
"What if you don't find anything is bad?"
"Then you own it. Plain and simple. I'm not replacing good parts."
"I WANT SATISFACTION! FIRST YOU SEND ME A FAN THAT IS KNOWN TO BREAK CPUS AND NOW YOU WONT REPLACE MY BOARD AND CPU!?!?"
"Sir. I'm not doing ANYTHING until I see it."
Conversation ends.
Now, this guy is so brilliant that he wants to send an email to my boss complaining on how condescending I was, but instead sends the email straight to me. By this point, the other tech is laughing so hard he's got tears in his eyes. Meanwhile, I'm beet red.
Like a good employee, I forward the email to my manager without comment or edit. I won't go into everything it said, but it essentially said that he wanted everything replaced because he knew what he was doing and that he wasn't a newbie and knew the parts were defective and I was rude, yadda, yadda, yadda.
I then choose to respond to the email myself...
"Dear sir. I think we both lost control of our goals with the last conversation, so I'd like to clear somethings up. The fan you got from us is made for Socket A. It comes in both Gold and Chrome, but yet it is the same fan unit. There is a Golden Orb that is notorious for breaking CPUs upon installation, but I assure you that it is not the fan you received from us. The fan you are using now is probably a DUO462 which I admit is an improvement over the fan we sold you, but neither fan should cause damage to the CPU when installed properly. The problem I was trying to tell you about, can happen regardless of the model fan you use. There is an obstruction of capacitors on that particular board. If you like, send in the fan WITH the motherboard and CPU and I will personally check for such an obstruction during the troubleshooting process."
By now, the manager has responded to the customer's email:
"I don't want to get in the habit of replacing perfectly good parts just because the customer is being bitchy. Use your best judgement."
I sent my email to the customer, and he responded:
"OK. Fine. But I'm not some newbie. I know what I read and everyone was saying that Gold Orbs damage Socket A CPUs. As for the obstruction problem, I am willing to send the fan so you can check it for fitment."
Hmm... He still doesn't get it about the Gold vs. Silver thing. At least he "sounds" a bit more civil, so I'm going to run this by him one more time:
"OK... I think where we are having the communication break down is that you keep referring to these orbs by their color, which only proves how unprofessional you source of information is, because if they are going to accuse a particular fan of damaging a CPU, they should specify such a fan by it's part number. NOT it's color. The fans are the TFCFR02, which only comes in Gold, which is made for Socket 370 and has been known to break CPUs. There's the TDUFR01 which is the one you got from us which comes in both gold and silver and is actually just fine for use with the Socket A. The fan that I believe you have is the DUO462 and it too is made for the socket A. I think from this point on, you should stop calling the fans by their colors because you are only confusing the situation, and please send the fan you are using back with the motherboard and CPU."
He responded almost immediately:
"That's fine about the fan. I think I understand what you are trying to say about the fan. I jsut want you to replace the CPU regardless because the fan you sold me originally chipped the die on the CPU and that may be where my problems are coming from. This is when I hit the internet looking for information concerning the possibility of fans damaging the CPU and the golden orb was on the top of the list."
Hold on.
Wait a minute.
He said nothing about the chipped CPU in the past....
"OK, sir. This is the last email you're getting from me. You never said anything about the CPU having a chipped die. As I told you before, I have used that fan nearly a hundred times and never chipped a die, and it's not that "to error is human so cut me some slack" because if you had come right out in the first place and simply said that the die was chipped and this may be why you were having problems instead of arguing with me that the fan we sold you is some sort of chip killer because of what you read on some Tom, Dick and Harry's website, then maybe I would overlook the chip in the CPU and replace it for you regardless, but instead you will have your product gone over with a fine tooth comb and your parts will only be replaced if they fall into the fine line that lies between defective and physically abused. I suggest that you check out MY website on the subject at http://www.jonnyguru.com/socketAfan.html and then maybe you'll realize that if you need help from an experienced technician in the field of computer service you need to be quiet and listen and keep all of your assumptions and third hand information in your back pocket. Have a pleasent evening."
....And I closed my Outlook for the night....
Oh my F'ing God type entity. If I don't rant about this geek, I'm going to explode.
He calls to tell me that he has a problem with either the motherboard or the CPU. He was getting Fatal Exception errors and had replaced every other part in the PC.
I looked at his invoice and saw that he had bought an Orb with his CPU and motherboard. Well, I knew of a good deal of clearance issues with the Orb and the Biostar board he had purchased and how the fins of the heatsink can actually come into contact with certain capacitors on the board. So thinking that the problem may be an incorrect mounting of an inappropriate fan, so I say to him, "well, we've had a problem with the Orb and that particular board..."
Do you remember those toy cars made by Zee that you'd pull back and then let go and the car would shoot off really fast? I think I just "pulled back" on this guy, because he "went".
Before I could finish my sentence: "Oh yes. I've read all over the internet how the Gold Orbs crush CPUs. The Gold Orb you sent me was the kind of Orb that crushes CPUs so I went out and bought a chrome Orb instead."
Now, I don't give a flying flip if the orb he bought was purple, but he's got his facts a little screwed up.
Sir, the fan we sold you is the TDUFR01. It comes in both chrome AND silver and does not crush CPUs. The one that crushes CPUs is a fan called the TFCFR02-1 and it only comes in gold and is often mistakingly used on Socket As and can crush the CPU. But you were not sent a TFCFR02-1. You were sent a TDUFR01. I use the TDUFR01 all of the time without incident."
He apparently didn't believe me. "I'm not a newbie here! You don't know who you are talking to! I went to all sorts of website that said that the Gold Orb crushes CPUs! That's why I bought a Chrome Orb somewhere else!"
"OK sir. The issue I was speaking of, has nothing to do with whether or not the orb is chrome or gold because the problem has to do with the heatsink itself coming into contact with several capacitors on the motherboard."
It seems as if I pulled back on the car again.
"No no no. I bought a chrome orb. Chrome orbs are made to fit on Socket A motherboards. The fan you sent me is known to break CPUs. I'm not using that fan."
"Sir, I'm not going to argue with you. If you want to send back the motherboard and CPU, I'll test it out and if anything is bad, I'll replace it."
"What if you don't find anything is bad?"
"Then you own it. Plain and simple. I'm not replacing good parts."
"I WANT SATISFACTION! FIRST YOU SEND ME A FAN THAT IS KNOWN TO BREAK CPUS AND NOW YOU WONT REPLACE MY BOARD AND CPU!?!?"
"Sir. I'm not doing ANYTHING until I see it."
Conversation ends.
Now, this guy is so brilliant that he wants to send an email to my boss complaining on how condescending I was, but instead sends the email straight to me. By this point, the other tech is laughing so hard he's got tears in his eyes. Meanwhile, I'm beet red.
Like a good employee, I forward the email to my manager without comment or edit. I won't go into everything it said, but it essentially said that he wanted everything replaced because he knew what he was doing and that he wasn't a newbie and knew the parts were defective and I was rude, yadda, yadda, yadda.
I then choose to respond to the email myself...
"Dear sir. I think we both lost control of our goals with the last conversation, so I'd like to clear somethings up. The fan you got from us is made for Socket A. It comes in both Gold and Chrome, but yet it is the same fan unit. There is a Golden Orb that is notorious for breaking CPUs upon installation, but I assure you that it is not the fan you received from us. The fan you are using now is probably a DUO462 which I admit is an improvement over the fan we sold you, but neither fan should cause damage to the CPU when installed properly. The problem I was trying to tell you about, can happen regardless of the model fan you use. There is an obstruction of capacitors on that particular board. If you like, send in the fan WITH the motherboard and CPU and I will personally check for such an obstruction during the troubleshooting process."
By now, the manager has responded to the customer's email:
"I don't want to get in the habit of replacing perfectly good parts just because the customer is being bitchy. Use your best judgement."
I sent my email to the customer, and he responded:
"OK. Fine. But I'm not some newbie. I know what I read and everyone was saying that Gold Orbs damage Socket A CPUs. As for the obstruction problem, I am willing to send the fan so you can check it for fitment."
Hmm... He still doesn't get it about the Gold vs. Silver thing. At least he "sounds" a bit more civil, so I'm going to run this by him one more time:
"OK... I think where we are having the communication break down is that you keep referring to these orbs by their color, which only proves how unprofessional you source of information is, because if they are going to accuse a particular fan of damaging a CPU, they should specify such a fan by it's part number. NOT it's color. The fans are the TFCFR02, which only comes in Gold, which is made for Socket 370 and has been known to break CPUs. There's the TDUFR01 which is the one you got from us which comes in both gold and silver and is actually just fine for use with the Socket A. The fan that I believe you have is the DUO462 and it too is made for the socket A. I think from this point on, you should stop calling the fans by their colors because you are only confusing the situation, and please send the fan you are using back with the motherboard and CPU."
He responded almost immediately:
"That's fine about the fan. I think I understand what you are trying to say about the fan. I jsut want you to replace the CPU regardless because the fan you sold me originally chipped the die on the CPU and that may be where my problems are coming from. This is when I hit the internet looking for information concerning the possibility of fans damaging the CPU and the golden orb was on the top of the list."
Hold on.
Wait a minute.
He said nothing about the chipped CPU in the past....
"OK, sir. This is the last email you're getting from me. You never said anything about the CPU having a chipped die. As I told you before, I have used that fan nearly a hundred times and never chipped a die, and it's not that "to error is human so cut me some slack" because if you had come right out in the first place and simply said that the die was chipped and this may be why you were having problems instead of arguing with me that the fan we sold you is some sort of chip killer because of what you read on some Tom, Dick and Harry's website, then maybe I would overlook the chip in the CPU and replace it for you regardless, but instead you will have your product gone over with a fine tooth comb and your parts will only be replaced if they fall into the fine line that lies between defective and physically abused. I suggest that you check out MY website on the subject at http://www.jonnyguru.com/socketAfan.html and then maybe you'll realize that if you need help from an experienced technician in the field of computer service you need to be quiet and listen and keep all of your assumptions and third hand information in your back pocket. Have a pleasent evening."
....And I closed my Outlook for the night....
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