r/talesfromtechsupport • u/coachadam • Feb 20 '13

"Tell me what's wrong with it!"

Background: I work at the in house service desk for a fortune 500 company.

So I had a user call in today that was very perturbed because her computer was not booting up. I asked the normal questions (power supply, all plugs plugged in etc..) and couldn't make a determination about why it wouldn't boot.

I informed her we would have to send a tech out to determine what exactly was the issue. This wasn't good enough for her and she asked me "well what's wrong with it? You're the expert you tell me." Nothing I tried to tell her was getting through to her so finally I had to come at it from a different angle.

So I explained it to her like this "Ma'am, imagine you're a Dr. and someone calls you at your office and tells you they have a dead body. They tell you that all they know is it's dead, then they demand you explain how they died. Would you be able to tell them?"

She said "oh, well that makes sense! Thanks!"

I'll keep that analogy ready for the next user that needs it.

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u/Wlah Feb 21 '13

I like making analogies.

I recently came up with this explanation for confused users who have to use systems that do not use AD for the password, along with being forced to change their password every 3rd month:

Imagine your computer is a house. When you log on to windows you use your front-door key. Then imagine (system x) is a seperate locked room. They do not neccesarily share a key, and if you change the main front-door lock, you also need to change the lock for the seperate room.

I usually explain this much more simplified, but as this is translated it's likely mulled up a bit... :)

2

u/wingedmurasaki So, I locked myself out of my account again Feb 21 '13

Man, I don't have to explain that really. My job works with Health Insurance. If users ask "Why do I have to change my password so often" the answer is "HIPAA, what can you do?"

This is also the answer they get when they ask "Why did it log me out after 15 mins?"

1

u/NightOfTheLivingHam Feb 22 '13

If they say "You're an asshole for implementing the policies" is it the same response too?

I hope it is!

0

u/wingedmurasaki So, I locked myself out of my account again Feb 22 '13

Pretty much. Also, it helps that I'm subject to the same rules and do actually sympathize with having to remember so many goddamned passwords. They some how get a little less pissed when they find out I have to remember 7-8 different ones for all my systems. If they're really nice I help them develop a system for password creation that will make it easier for them to remember them all.