For me, the worst part of my job is when I have to call back customers whose computers are unfixable. For the most part, they're understanding, and willing to listen to my suggestions on what to do next. This guy, however...
He brought in a vintage Toshiba TE2000 laptop a few days ago. One which he had purchased as refurbished, and which he'd gotten a couple of years out of before it started acting weird on him. When I plugged it in, it actually managed to start booting, and attempted to load Windows XP. Unfortunately, about the time it was to finish loading, a blue screen popped up for a split-second, the screen reverted to the Toshiba splash screen, and then disappeared. I told him that there wasn't much I could do, but we'd charge him for a diagnostic, and see if I could get it to boot. He paid the money, and left.
A few days later, after over 20 attempts, I could not get the old thing to boot at all. Seeing as I don't have unlimited time or resources to go in and attempt work on the innards of the thing, I had to call him up and tell him the bad news. When I called, he was quite upset. he claimed that I'd known all along that nothing could be done, and that he'd paid $50 for nothing. In fact, he claimed that he felt as if he were robbed!
I told him over and over again that I'd tried numerous times to attempt to get some sort of spark of life from the machine, but still he persisted, wondering if there is any way he can get some sort of refund from a manager for the money he spent for the diagnostic (doubtful). Going into an area where I'd tried not to go into, I told him flat-out, "Sir, time costs money." Amazingly, this seemed to calm him somewhat, to the point that he backed down from his ranting. He finished the conversation by saying that he'd be by on Monday to talk with our managers about it; I just hope he doesn't bring a gun... 
-Adam
He brought in a vintage Toshiba TE2000 laptop a few days ago. One which he had purchased as refurbished, and which he'd gotten a couple of years out of before it started acting weird on him. When I plugged it in, it actually managed to start booting, and attempted to load Windows XP. Unfortunately, about the time it was to finish loading, a blue screen popped up for a split-second, the screen reverted to the Toshiba splash screen, and then disappeared. I told him that there wasn't much I could do, but we'd charge him for a diagnostic, and see if I could get it to boot. He paid the money, and left.
A few days later, after over 20 attempts, I could not get the old thing to boot at all. Seeing as I don't have unlimited time or resources to go in and attempt work on the innards of the thing, I had to call him up and tell him the bad news. When I called, he was quite upset. he claimed that I'd known all along that nothing could be done, and that he'd paid $50 for nothing. In fact, he claimed that he felt as if he were robbed!


-Adam
Comment