Office Depot Antics

[Hotfoot]

It would have been one thing if the OP's friend was talking about something complex for a newbie: downloading program drivers, getting a secure wireless network set-up, or something else that a person new to computers would have difficulties relating to.

But we're talking about knowing the difference between left and right - that's it. This is something that we all learn as small children, so you don't have to be a Mensa member or technically savvy in order to get the "concept" here.

It's not about dumbing things down for the customer in situations like this though, it's about translating it into terms they can understand. It's a fine distinction, but an important one. All too often, technical support people are so wrapped up in the technical jargon of computers that they don't understand how alien it is to outsiders. To a little old lady who has never bought a computer before, all this information is a lot to take in at once. She's afraid of a lot of things. She's afraid that if she doesn't do everything exactly right, she'll break the computer and it just won't work. When you're putting down $1000-$2000 of your money, you don't want to be in that situation.

The difficulty of right and left clicking is largely based on the fact that people don't understand why it is important, they don't understand the fundamental differences that have been coded in on the program level with it, because they have never used a computer before. It's like getting a teenager in a car who has never even watched someone drive and expecting them to understand all of the controls right off the bat. There is a huge amount of pressure and early on most people tend to make mistakes, especially as people are trying to learn by rote rather than by fully understanding the technique.

I have given lectures on the proper usage of the left and right mouse buttons to a wide range of individuals, ranging from mid-20's to late 50's, people who until this point had only ever used DOS-based systems and thus have never had to actually use a mouse in their day to day lives, but now were forced to because their place of business was finally upgrading their systems. They have been berated by tech support because tech support included guys just as rude as the OP's friend. This is why I can't discount this as false, because I've seen things like it happen.

Some tech support people get downright abusive to their callers. I can understand a level of frustration, because it takes a while for some concepts to sink in, and sometimes they just call because they want to hear a comforting human voice telling them that it's okay, sometimes computers just do stupid things, it's not all them.

See, when people get upset, they don't think straight, so it's not enough just to tell them what needs to be done, you have to get them to relax so they can listen. Even then, it doesn't always work, and there will still be assholes and morons out there, but I absolutely guarantee you that if you take the time to be polite, helpful, and most of all patient with people who aren't as familiar with technology, you will eventually be rewarded.

The short version is this. It's easy for someone who is technologically savvy to help maintain computers and computer networks. It takes a special blend of patience and creativity to make someone good at technical support.

And from a standpoint on computers, most of us here who ARE savvy with computers, we got that knowledge by being fearless and, frankly, a little reckless. Because our curiosity got the better of us and we hit every button in any order that we could, and that is how we learned. It's a great way to learn (though several computers are sore in places they didn't know they had), but not everyone is wired to explore that way. Try to understand and respect that. Just because you figured it out when you were twelve doesn't mean everyone did, and as you get older yoand your free time is split between your job, your family, your friends, and what little time you can carve for yourself, you might just understand why some people don't have the time to explore something as complex and mystifying as a computer.

I'm going to stop myself here, because otherwise I'm going to start postulating on the overall changes computers and networking have wrought on society, and that's another subject entirely, though obviously still interlinked.

[otakuneko]

My granddad has been using WinMe for seven years.

I've been trying to train him to right-click the entire time. I think he's finally getting it.

[bloodrose]

While I concede that telling the customer that she didn't "deserve" to own the computer was a bit much, I can understand where the OP's friend is coming from.

Perhaps a better response would have been, "Ma'am, you need in-person training. I am afraid I cannot walk you through this on the phone."

However, it sounds a lot like a "I wish I had said" than something that was actually said.

[Ree]

it can only be an Urban Legend. So, I call bullsh*t.

Excuse me, but we do not allow other members to call others out on the board. Comments like that are best left to one's self, or use the report button if you feel a member has posted a story that may be questionable or stretching the truth.

As for all three stories in general? This thread shouldn't be here since I fail to see the suckage factor here (notable exception for #2 and that's not the customer's fault). I think it belongs in the Technical Support section.

That's what the report button is for.

I am really disappointed at the way things have gone in this thread.
I agree that the "you don't deserve to own a PC" sounds familiar, and is in fact, an often repeated, possible urban legend among computer tech people, but did it ever occur to anyone that, just maybe the OP's friend had heard the story before and chose that opportunity to use the same line? Maybe it really DID happen, just as the OP has stated.
It upsets me when members jump right to the "I call BS" instead of giving another member the courtesy of the benefit of the doubt. I have read plenty of stories on this same site that cause me to shake my head and roll my eyes, yet they get lapped up like sweet cream by the members at large, and not one nasty word of doubt is ever written.
Why jump all over a new member and possibly chase them away from the one place where we are supposed to be able to come to vent and get support from others in the same boat?

That being said, I do not condone what the friend did at all. I agree with those who said it was the entirely wrong approach, even if it was a really frustrating experience to talk the customer through the tech support call.
When I first got my computer, I was really embarrassed to ask questions or seek help because of that same attitude that only people of a certain skill level should own a computer.
Mind you, after reading some of the really idiotic and annoying stories from the help desks, I can sympathize with the frustration level that would make a person want to say something like that.

And finally, I have had to edit down a lot of excessive quotes in this thread. Please, for crying out loud, people, edit your quotes!!!

[Evil Queen]

I remember trying to teach my grandmother how to use a computer. She's still not very good at it, but she practices every day and is getting better.

More then once she's asked me what the right click was. But at least I was patient and helped her out. Heck, she probably went looking for a button marked "right click" like I did when I first learned how to use a laptop!

Please, for crying out loud, people, edit your quotes!!!

But we don't want to! Oops! I edited a quote! Bad EQ! Bad!

...Mama Ree, have we mentioned we love you?

[Pagan]

I would imagine it's like asking some folks to rotate their foot counter clockwise, and then rotate their hand clockwise at the same time. Try it some time, the signals get mixed up in the brain.

Ok, is it weird that I have no problem doing this?

Some tech support people get downright abusive to their callers. I can understand a level of frustration, because it takes a while for some concepts to sink in, and sometimes they just call because they want to hear a comforting human voice telling them that it's okay, sometimes computers just do stupid things, it's not all them.

This is why, even though I could get a more inexpensive ISP, I stay with ZiaNet. They are absolutely the best whenever I've had to call. Not to mention that they're a local company (office is in Las Cruces) and when I call them, from ABQ, it's a local call.

Even when they haven't been able to help me, like when my sound card and modem decided to go awol after having a trial of Office 2007 installed (surge after a power outage reset them apparently), they were really nice. Never once talk down to you or talk to you like you're stupid.

EDIT: evilhippy, you now have to take my certification exam for me. Because the 1st and 3rd stories broke my brain!

[Snowbird]

Ok, is it weird that I have no problem doing this?

Not to me it isn't, I think that's awesome!

I however could not get that motion to work. I might have also missed a step in explaining it too, I think it has to be the dominant limbs used and the hands motion is started after the foot.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Ok, is it weird that I have no problem doing this?

I can do it too!

I can also pat my head and rub my tummy at the same time. Just one of my many talents.

[Ironclad Alibi]

A rather large and aggitated woman came in to the store one afternoon with a CRT monitor...

quite a few of us our still stuck with our old CRTs
and some businesses are just too damned cheap to get real monitors

About the CRT Monitors

I am glad that my computer is a flat screen. I hate those god awful CRT montitors

I like my 10 year old boat anchor of a CRT monitor (See my avatar for my opinion of another type of monitor ).

I had a LCD monitor when I was working that I had no choice about using. Its native screen resolution was 1600x1200, but that made the on screen print too small for me to read comfortably. So I set it down to 1024x768 which was slightly distorted. I managed, but I didn't like it.

I do have an LCD monitor for my older computer that runs MSDOS 6.22, but since it displays in a multiple of the native screen resolution, it works fine for me.

[Samaliel]

Actually, that one makes me highly suspicious. I've heard this particular story so often from different sources, it can only be an Urban Legend.

I remember listening to a recording of a call from an End User to the Apple Tech Support that ended up pretty much that way and did sound genuine. Still could have been forged, though. As so many stories here, this one may or may not be true.

But if it is true, I totally agree with the uproar : while people failing to understand that computers need power to run seems to me as beyond Brain Burps, the concept of right-clicking can be confusing to some people, especially the elderly who never ever used a computer before. Such a snarky retort is very rude and should lead to unemployment.

[Pagan]

I however could not get that motion to work. I might have also missed a step in explaining it too, I think it has to be the dominant limbs used and the hands motion is started after the foot.

Ah, that might explain it....I tend to be somewhat ambidextrous. I think all those years of piano might be to blame. >.>

[Canarr]

Excuse me, but we do not allow other members to call others out on the board. Comments like that are best left to one's self, or use the report button if you feel a member has posted a story that may be questionable or stretching the truth.

Sorry, won't happen again. And you're right, of course; this is hardly the only unlikely story here.

[LostMyMind]

There are alot of stories that we tend to think (hope) that are unlikely. However and sadly, it's usually not the case. I really thought that the "coffee holder" story was a joke.... Until I actually got the complaint myself.....

[Hotfoot]

My apologies for not culling the quotes in my last post, I thought I had, but it appears I was mistaken.

As far as if the person actually told the woman to her face that she didn't own a computer, yes, it could have been him blowing off steam and telling the story of what he wished he could have said, but again, I have seen techs be downright abusive when helping clients, and it's the mentality that clients are idiots for not understanding something "so obvious" that results in things like people being afraid to do anything for fear of calling down the wrath of tech support.

When I worked at a hospital to help train the staff on the usage of their new patient record system, I encountered this on a regular basis. People in my lessons would tell me about the abuse they got from their on-site tech support staff. I was skeptical until I actually MET the staff when I was moved over to on-site tech support once the system went live. I never thought I'd see the stereotype so vividly. They were irritable, nasty, and downright rude, not all of them, but enough that I could see why the staff was afraid of them.

So I just can't assume that someone wouldn't actually say something mean, or at the very least treat the person they are helping like an idiot and make them feel horrible about themselves, because I've already seen it be done by others.