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This is part sighting, but since it happened in reference to a computer I was having repaired, I'm posting it here.
I have an old HP computer that's on its last legs. This computer, given to me by my father shortly before he passed, is a piece of crap as computers go. It's around two years old and has a number of problems, not the least of which (at the time) was a glitch caused by yours truly. It also happens to be the cheapest my dad could buy.
What happened? Long story short in sanitizing it after a brother of mine used it, I deleted one .dll file that the system needed to startup. The fix wasn't that hard really, just stick a windows repair/recovery disc in and let it do it's thing. There was just one problem.
I didn't have the disc.
With the computer as old as it was, I knew I had about as much chance of getting a disc as a rowboat has in a hurricane. This presented a few problems, prompting me to even go so far as to call Geek Squad. They listened to my problem and were pretty nice about it. Problem was there wasn't much they could do. The guy was really honest about it, saying that as old as the system was, that it really needed updated. However, due to them not doing fresh installs of windows (or something. It's been a while I forget the detail here) they couldn't really help me. They could recommend a few fixes for free, but that's about it.
My next course of action was to try a local guy. This is where the title of this comes from.
Now, let me say, I'm not professionally trained or anything on a computer; but by the same token I'm not an idiot. I do know when something is wrong, and the general cause of it.
I call up the local guy, whom I've never spoken with before, and ask if he does any kinds of repairs. The conversation is as follows:
T=tech
R=me
T=Thank you for calling Blah. this is T how may I help you?
R= Well, I've got something of a problem. I've got an older computer here that no one else will work on. I'd like to get it looked at and patched up if possible.
T=What model is it?
R= (rattles off type and serial) I think I know what's wrong, the problem is getting someone that can fix it.
T= Oh yeah, we see that with those kinds of computers a lot. It's windows. Not really stable, degrades over time. Yours is what? Five years old or so? Yeah, it's window's fault, but we can fix that.
R= (thinking) Five years old my foot. Thing's two years old idiot. ) Oh? And what is the cause of that? I never knew Windows to be unstable.
T= 125.
R= Wha?
T= One hundred twenty five dollars. It'll cost you one hundred twenty five to fix.
R= (mildly sucky, but also annoyed) You weren't listening to me were you?
T= I'm sorry, what?
R= You weren't listening to me. I asked (emphasizing) WHAT WOULD BE THE CAUSE OF THAT. Not cost you moron.
T=(backpedaling) Uh well, I mean it's the code and uh...and well you uh, know I uh...
I hung up shortly after that. Talking with some other people, I've found that every problem that comes into the guy, whether software or hard ware, is blamed on Windows. Furthermore his automatic fix for everything is to wipe the drives and reinstall windows.
I have an old HP computer that's on its last legs. This computer, given to me by my father shortly before he passed, is a piece of crap as computers go. It's around two years old and has a number of problems, not the least of which (at the time) was a glitch caused by yours truly. It also happens to be the cheapest my dad could buy.
What happened? Long story short in sanitizing it after a brother of mine used it, I deleted one .dll file that the system needed to startup. The fix wasn't that hard really, just stick a windows repair/recovery disc in and let it do it's thing. There was just one problem.
I didn't have the disc.
With the computer as old as it was, I knew I had about as much chance of getting a disc as a rowboat has in a hurricane. This presented a few problems, prompting me to even go so far as to call Geek Squad. They listened to my problem and were pretty nice about it. Problem was there wasn't much they could do. The guy was really honest about it, saying that as old as the system was, that it really needed updated. However, due to them not doing fresh installs of windows (or something. It's been a while I forget the detail here) they couldn't really help me. They could recommend a few fixes for free, but that's about it.
My next course of action was to try a local guy. This is where the title of this comes from.
Now, let me say, I'm not professionally trained or anything on a computer; but by the same token I'm not an idiot. I do know when something is wrong, and the general cause of it.
I call up the local guy, whom I've never spoken with before, and ask if he does any kinds of repairs. The conversation is as follows:
T=tech
R=me
T=Thank you for calling Blah. this is T how may I help you?
R= Well, I've got something of a problem. I've got an older computer here that no one else will work on. I'd like to get it looked at and patched up if possible.
T=What model is it?
R= (rattles off type and serial) I think I know what's wrong, the problem is getting someone that can fix it.
T= Oh yeah, we see that with those kinds of computers a lot. It's windows. Not really stable, degrades over time. Yours is what? Five years old or so? Yeah, it's window's fault, but we can fix that.
R= (thinking) Five years old my foot. Thing's two years old idiot. ) Oh? And what is the cause of that? I never knew Windows to be unstable.
T= 125.
R= Wha?
T= One hundred twenty five dollars. It'll cost you one hundred twenty five to fix.
R= (mildly sucky, but also annoyed) You weren't listening to me were you?
T= I'm sorry, what?
R= You weren't listening to me. I asked (emphasizing) WHAT WOULD BE THE CAUSE OF THAT. Not cost you moron.
T=(backpedaling) Uh well, I mean it's the code and uh...and well you uh, know I uh...
I hung up shortly after that. Talking with some other people, I've found that every problem that comes into the guy, whether software or hard ware, is blamed on Windows. Furthermore his automatic fix for everything is to wipe the drives and reinstall windows.
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