In Which I Save Christmas
Dec. 25th, 2010 03:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
robotech_masterI've never been so proud to work tech support. I saved someone's Christmas today.
The fellow had a $1300 computer with a problem that was keeping him from using it. He was starting up his brand new computer and configuring Windows, but his USB keyboard wasn't working. He'd spent a couple hours on the phone with the computer's manufacturer (or at least, their India-outsourced tech support), who finally threw up their hands and told him he'd have to take it back to the store. So he figured he'd try my company instead and see if we could do any better for him.
As I listened to him describe the problem, I remembered a time or two in the past when I had a similar problem, setting up computers of my own—for some reason, Windows sometimes doesn't do USB device detection before it's been configured. I asked if he had another keyboard, and he did—an old PS/2 model.
So I had him try it. More importantly, I had him turn off the computer before plugging it in, which the computer manufacturer did not have him do. (It's been so long since those PS/2 connectors were used regularly that nobody remembers they're not meant to be hot-swappable.) And voila, his $1300 computer worked.
Thanks to me, that guy gets to spend Christmas playing games on his new computer. rather than grumpy followed by taking it back for a problem he didn't need to take it back for at all. I solved a problem that the computer's own manufacturer couldn't.
In short: I kick ass.
Merry Christmas, everyone. Even though I'm going to be working during it, it's already been one for me.
The fellow had a $1300 computer with a problem that was keeping him from using it. He was starting up his brand new computer and configuring Windows, but his USB keyboard wasn't working. He'd spent a couple hours on the phone with the computer's manufacturer (or at least, their India-outsourced tech support), who finally threw up their hands and told him he'd have to take it back to the store. So he figured he'd try my company instead and see if we could do any better for him.
As I listened to him describe the problem, I remembered a time or two in the past when I had a similar problem, setting up computers of my own—for some reason, Windows sometimes doesn't do USB device detection before it's been configured. I asked if he had another keyboard, and he did—an old PS/2 model.
So I had him try it. More importantly, I had him turn off the computer before plugging it in, which the computer manufacturer did not have him do. (It's been so long since those PS/2 connectors were used regularly that nobody remembers they're not meant to be hot-swappable.) And voila, his $1300 computer worked.
Thanks to me, that guy gets to spend Christmas playing games on his new computer. rather than grumpy followed by taking it back for a problem he didn't need to take it back for at all. I solved a problem that the computer's own manufacturer couldn't.
In short: I kick ass.
Merry Christmas, everyone. Even though I'm going to be working during it, it's already been one for me.
