Pushing buttons

[AdvancedFlea]

Maybe with all her degrees she thought she was buying Windows 7+1 instead of Windows 8.

hehehe. Windows 7++ ;D

...I don't care about your degree and years of experience in underwater basket weaving, honey, this ain't a basket and we ain't underwater.

We actually get it a lot from Electronics engineers for some reason. Yes, they DO understand the circuit boards and the nitty-gritty of the hardware, but they don't understand the software for shit.

Well, you know how it goes. They're important. And they have a degree that you couldn't possibly understand.

Oh I know!! What could I possibly know about anything? I stand behind a counter day after day dealing with exactly this. How could I ever understand anything? xD

Your coworkers should be lined up against the wall for cowardice in the face of the enemy.

My co-workers have seen me go from calm to nuclear in a split second so they probably didn't want to be the one to light THAT fuse

For those who prefer the 7 interface, there are ways to do that.

Oh there's fucking tons. Personally I think the windows 8 interface is great if you have a touch screen. Not so much if you have a keyboard and mouse. I really can't wait for Windows "Threshold"

I simply do not understand people like this. She had an attitude the second she walked in, yet she's adamant that it's you and your colleagues with the attitude problems.

The worst part is that it's not always the people who are Chavs (the british version of "Trailer trash") allthough, it usually is them, it's often people who genuinely are educated...or claim to be. If she genuinely did have these qualifications in psychology, she would surely know how best to treat people if you want them to do something for her.

Also, there's an icon on the intro screen that when you click it... hey presto, WinXP-ish desktop that is easy to navigate

and if you have 8.1 you can make the desktop your default start-up

I've been dealing with a lady who's a university lecturer with a PhD but can't read a letter than says 'You have 2 months from the date of this letter to raise a dispute'. I can't deny I felt a small bit of glee in sending her a copy of the letter with that section highlighted....

We've recently had a bunch of customers EXACTLY like that. Perhaps I should make another post about it but basically what's happened is that people have left their un-repaired computers with us for months on end so we send them out 3 formal letters saying "If you don't respond to us within [time frame] we will dispose of your computer under the TORTS act" They never respond so we put the computers for recycling. Then they will always come into store kicking and screaming when we tell them what's happened. They then invariably tell us they didn't receive the letters. Sadly for them; we ALWAYS send these letters Royal Mail "Signed for" which means I can get their signature up on the computer screen in about 0.1 nanoseconds. All I need is the consignment numbers, which we record on the job screen.

I'm not planning to break out my credit card just yet, either.

You should do what I do; Microsoft expert zone OR Technet (the latter you need to do through a business and it'#s cheaper if you can get buddies to chip-in with you) you can then get operating systems for PENNIES.

I detest customers like this. Basically, they are shooting themselves in the foot by being so aggressive from the start - I am more than willing to bend over backwards (almost) when the customer isn't a miserable harpy from the get go.

I actually basically said that to a customer once. He had ordered something and the order had expired so he wasn't charged and the item goes back into general stock to be sold. It then got sold. He came in and when he found this out, starts having a go at me. I out-right said to him "Well, I was just about to try to help you but you can forget it now" ...That shut him up.

[RealUnimportant]

I'm both proud of you and sad for you that you couldn't add the most obvious option - they could pick their POS machine up, bag it, & f___ off out of the store.

[MoonCat]

I hate it when people try to pull that "smarter than you" crap. Frankly I'd put my 35 years experience (excuse me, 36 if you count the year I temped) up against the degree they got probably about the time I entered the workforce--any day.

I'd be temped to ask, "If you're so smart, why is it you came to ME asking for MY help?"

[AdvancedFlea]

I'm both proud of you and sad for you that you couldn't add the most obvious option - they could pick their POS machine up

You know, for a second there I read "POS machine" as "Point Of Sale" Machine and I thought "But then she would see that Solar runs on Windows XP and her point would be validated in her head" XD

I have been tempted to say that to some customers. Particually when they come into store with a £350 Dell machine that they have fucked up and tell me that they "Have spent a lot of money" ... No. If you had spent £2300 on the highest-end machine we sell, then you can use that phrase. Until you have spent more than £500 and not bought a fucking DELL then don't use that phrase.

I'd be temped to ask, "If you're so smart, why is it you came to ME asking for MY help?"

Again, I have been so sorely tempted to say that to customers. One guy who used to work with us said it a number of times over the years I worked with him. How Rich ever got away with it is beyond me.

[EricKei]

Flea - Regarding TechNet -- When I worked at AccountingPlace, we had a MAPS subscription and I guess TechNet came with it. It was something like 10 keys to 90% of everything MS makes every year for a few hundred bucks. Well worth the cost for our smallish office. Intuit did/does a related thing -- If you certify under their program (meant for individuals ($4-500 a year I think)), you get a solo license for one of literally everything they make each year, subs to all of their online stuff, and top-tier priority tech support on a dedicated line (people without your code can't get through even if they knew the phone #), free training, and shit -- it worked out to a retail value skyward of two grand just for the software. If I had the money to fly solo in the field, I would have obtained my own solo cert after I left that job just for the software (boss paid for it while I was there) -- it would have been *cheaper* than buying the "Accountant" (almost-universal) edition at retail pricing.

Oh yeah, and the direct lines to their Regional guys. Not that I ever used that to drop hints about desired features or bugs that they desperately needed to patch. Ever.

Slightly back on track...They do sell a POS suite. Last I checked, it was really a POS.

[Legacy_of_Torment]

Oh geez I love it when they break out the resume like a piece of paper in some totally unrelated subject is going to make you back up and rethink how you're going to proceed. Because of COURSE nobody in retail could possibly have or be studying for a degree /sarcasm.
You did well to hold your patience as long as you did!

[AdvancedFlea]

It was something like 10 keys to 90% of everything MS makes every year for a few hundred bucks. Well worth the cost for our smallish office.

Yeah. Technet gives you 10 keys and you can activate those keys on 10 different machines. If you have just a few machines in your household then it works out worth it. I got my subscription from work but back in the days of Vista, when Vista cost £220 for 1 lisence of home premium and technet was £250 for...everything

yes, back on track...I've seen that POS machine. And yes it is ;D

You did well to hold your patience as long as you did!

Thank you

Yeah, I don't get why people feel the need to break out their CV. I wanted to tell her "That's great that you have all those qualifications in working with humans, but we're talking about a computer you ugly skank"

[Cranky Cabbie]

I really hate people like this. I had them all the time as a supermarket minion at the Big Apple, in the taxis now and even in the professional office job between the two (of which I shall not speak. Major MiM baggage there). I found the best way to dealso with them is this go stone faced, stop what you're doing and say "And?" Stops all but the most deluded narcissist.

[AdvancedFlea]

I was kind of hoping my repeating my question to her would do just that. I think she was one of the more deluded ones.

[EricKei]

The strangest thing with our TechNet/MAPS was that -- depending upon whom you asked at MS -- It may or may not have been legal to install the on the office's computers o_O (Note that the documentation said quite clearly that it IS kosher). Some people at MS acted scandalized when we said that we were doing just that (we never got in trouble for it, I wonder why? ), and claimed that the licenses were intended to be installed on comps meant to DEMO the OS/software to clients/potential buyers ONLY...As if the commish they paid out on sales was worth that solely for that purpose. Jeez.

Intuit/Sage never cared about that -- you could (unofficially) install their stuff on as many comps as you wanted (save for POS), as it only cared about how many copies were open *simultaneously*, and it would enforce this over the network by checking how many comps were attempting access to the "server" system (not necessarily the network server, but it was best to actually do so).

[AdvancedFlea]

We used to get the same thing with Technet. SOME people from Microsoft are like "D: !! you can't run that on the computers in the office!!" where as others would say "Of course you can. That's the whole idea"

It sounds like intuit are running application servers. Universities often use those. they hold a license for 600 users for something like word. Of course, there are more than 600 students but they won't all be using that application at the same time. You log in, try to open the program, the PC goes to fetch the license from the license server. The server basically says yay or nay. Job done.

[Silent-Hunter]

She did have two other options. One, fix it herself, I doubt the missing keycaps would be THAT hard to find. Two, get a Windows 8 laptop, and put Linux on it. That shouldn't have the hardware issues that downgrading to Windows 7 would, although she may want Linux even less than Windows 8!

[Silent-Hunter]

I do have to admit that, when I first saw Win 8 (release time, prior to the 8.1 megapatch), I looked at it like I had been offered a plate of fried weasel. Now...well, I'm not radically opposed to the idea of using it, but I'm not planning to break out my credit card just yet, either. If my next monitor is a touchscreen....sure. Then again, I tend to upgrade OS's/monitors only when the old model just won't do what I want anymore (I bypassed Me & Vista entirely, I stuck with 2000 for a loooong time), so holographic displays may very well be available by that time ^_^

I know what you mean, I actually stuck with Windows 3.1 up until 2009. Not by choice, although I must admit I liked it better than 7. It's just that I couldn't afford a new machine, and the old one was working still. But even still, Windows 8 doesn't look THAT bad. People sure know how to overreact.

[fireheart]

The credentials thing reminds me of some douchebag on the very first season of Hells Kitchen who tried to pull that crap on Jean-Philippe. The sad thing is, that his PhD (in music) wouldn't have helped him!

[raudf]

It gets worse when said idiot brings in a desktop computer whose keyboard is missing the space bar key. Yes, I had that. Yes, they threw their credentials at the computer guy when he told said idiot that all they needed was the keyboard.

"But how can you tell what's wrong without the computer?!"

"Your only complaint is the broken space bar, correct?"

"Yes, but how will you know it's broken if you don't have the computer? I'm a PHD in (insert completely unrelated field that I hope had little to do with computers) and I know that you need the computer to diagnose this!"

Tech picked up keyboard, looked at it and said, "Space bar doesn't work, correct?"

"Yes."

Tech turned the keyboard toward the customer and said deadpan, "Yeah, it can't work without the key, now can it?" (This guy was a contractor and our manager didn't care what he did as long as computers got fixed and we got our cut.) I had to go to the back to check on a mower for a customer, but when I got back the tech turned to me, "What do you wanna bet that the reason the guy brought his whole computer in was because he couldn't figure out how to unplug the keyboard? Because I just had to explain that part to him too."