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simon275
03-04-2008, 03:22 AM
So I went on an afternoon run to buy print cartridges at a major office supplies retailer in Australia. After finding my cartridges I went over the the networking section to see what they had. I asked a clerk who was stacking a shelf near by if they had any wirelesse print servers? He said he didn't know about that kinda stuff and paged a PC guy to come and help me. Ok fair enough I thought. So then there PC guy appears and asks me what I am after. I tell him I want a wireless print server. He looks at me puzzled and goes in a condesending tone you know you plug the printer into your computer using cables it doesnt work wirelessly. I just turned around and walked away.

Bopher
03-04-2008, 03:36 AM
ugh... people like that make me mad. I had to stop a guy at a store here one time cause he was completely in left field on wireless networking and how to set it up. The salesman tried to tell me I was wrong. I gave the guy my work number and told him to leave a message when he was ready not to have to spend money on things he didn't need.

b4i7
03-04-2008, 03:52 AM
heh....ive had the similar...cept on the reverse..

i had a lady ask me for a modem, i ask ok, dial up or cable...and she looks at me puzzled...so i simplfy...does it go inside or does it stay out? she responds with inside...

so i walk her to our dialup modems and she says " i see all your boxes(cases) for all this stuff over there...i need one of those.... with all of the stuff inside"

me"ok so you need a computer"
her- yeah... i need a hard drive
me *ignores last statement and takes her towards the computers*
halfway to computers:her-all i need is a modem
me- ok so you DO need a modem
her-yeah

so i walk her all the way back to modems and grab her a dial up modem and hand it to her

her- you must not get what im saying i need this and all the other things all in side one of those boxes
me-ok, so you need an ENTIRE computer*walks off towards computers*
her- yeah! one of these here modems is what i need*talking about a compaq model we had on the endcap*

me*walks off*


mind you, i found this lady standing next to computers:dead:

Bopher
03-04-2008, 04:10 AM
The kind of customers you want to stab in the eye with a USB stick drive and walk away. I feel the pain!! Sold tvs for CC for a while and wanted to kill somedays.

b4i7
03-04-2008, 04:26 AM
ive got a few friends that went to CC after comp closed down....but most shifted to the best buy down the street

Drum Thumper
03-04-2008, 05:41 AM
Ahh, this reminds me of the good ol' days when Montgomery Ward (similar to Sears, but crappier) was still in business. I would go to the store in Billings MT and harass the Computer salespeople by asking them about DOA rates, customer satisfaction, and other gory details for all the ****ty brands--Compaq, Packard Bell, IBM and the like. It got to the point to where they would see me coming and leave the department. :twisted::twisted::twisted:

I miss those days!

simon275
03-04-2008, 05:41 AM
Some people naturally don't understand tech fair enough they are the public. Like that old woman and the modem. But seriously if you are selling the stuff.

Bopher
03-04-2008, 05:56 AM
Some people naturally don't understand tech fair enough they are the public. Like that old woman and the modem. But seriously if you are selling the stuff.

I hear you on that one, one day while working for CC a couple of the computer guys or "SOHO" as it was called asked me to come over to their dept for a few. i was getting all sorts of questions about how this is done and that is done. we pulled the side panel off of a Viao and I was showing them where everything plugged into on the board.

After that I went to the store manager and asked about a transfer to SOHO but it was denied. I could see why they had such high return numbers and had to come to us little people in accessories (got moved there for not pushing the in house replacement plan enough in TVs) to ring in smaller ticket items to get something on their paychecks.

p0Pe
03-04-2008, 08:33 AM
well... we have to face it... mane of the "things" that walks around outside our doorsteps dont have a clue about computers... my dad once panicked beacuse i was on TBCS on his work comp...

"NONONONONONONONO SHUT THAT DOWN! I DONīT WANT FRIGGIN VIRUS ON THAT ONE!"

i just looked at him, turned around and surfed on:banghead:
and another time he called me beacuse he wanted to know how to close the "internet thingie" -.-

and my grandmah :O... thats a chapter of itself... she thought the computer was broke beacuse "something in word kept on dissapering, and then came again... a little line after the letters she wrote -.-

xRyokenx
03-04-2008, 09:17 AM
One day on my quest for a cable for my new SATA HDD (OEM, lol... didn't see that when I ordered it) I went to this store about a half hour away and this lady was talking about how multicore processors catch fire easily, AGP video cards were the future, and SATA HDDs die really quickly, oh yeah, and if you put your HDDs in RAID they get viruses easier. Sad thing is, this woman owned the store. She must've been desperate for some sales or something... and apparently didn't want to "keep with the times"... guess who never went back?

Crimson Sky
03-04-2008, 09:37 AM
Look...just because these people are in "Tech sales" doesn't mean they know more about the stuff than hardcore enthusiasts. Just smile and walk away. :)

Zephik
03-04-2008, 10:07 AM
Look...just because these people are in "Tech sales" doesn't mean they know more about the stuff than hardcore enthusiasts. Just smile and walk away. :)

Yes but it feels sooo good to tell someone that they are wrong!

haha jk, well, no not really, but yea, its always better to just walk away and let them believe what they want. I have to do that with my parents on a daily basis. lol

Aero
03-04-2008, 10:29 AM
"NONONONONONONONO SHUT THAT DOWN! I DONīT WANT FRIGGIN VIRUS ON THAT ONE!"


To be fair, if you were on his office's server I could understand that. My dad has a server comp at his office, that if I come within 5 feet of I'm dead. But it makes sense, seeing as how all their work for the past 12 years is on it.

But as far as store tech people go, its fun to mess with them. I know what it takes to get those jobs...usually nothing. Any teenager can write down he "knows computers" because he can open up Norton and run a scan. Plus if you ask them a simple question like "what video card is in this syetem?", its possible to stump them. My favorite story comes from a friend who worked at BB. Some guy brought in a laptop to geek squad because it was running slow. They looked at it, gave it back... the reason it was slow?



"I'm sorry sir, your computer is running slow because you have too much porn on your harddrive."

Apparently the guy never cleaned his temp files, visited some sites that installed adware and stuff. *sigh* when will people learn.

xRyokenx
03-04-2008, 11:15 AM
I just played along with that lady just to keep from raising an argument. It was funny.

Airbozo
03-04-2008, 11:48 AM
....


.....*sigh* when will people learn.

And the million dollar answer IS;







NEVER!

Every time I go into Fry's to buy a big ticket item, I set aside 15 minutes to explain some technical crap to the onlookers. Like when I bought the eVga 680i for a customer. One older guy there (yes older than even me), made a comment about waste of money, when he was buying a $45 mobo. I had to explain to him that you do get what you pay for. Plus the fact that it was "overclockable" and it had room for more than one video card. He started to tell me that it was a waste because all the bits get stuck on the same lane anyway so 2 cards would only run slower. I lowered my head, shook it and started to walk away, but not before handing him a TBCS card and telling him when he was ready to learn something, pay the site a visit.

You lurking here Fry's customer?

.Maleficus.
03-04-2008, 07:38 PM
I'm jealous of all your funny stories.

SgtM
03-04-2008, 08:59 PM
I used to contract at a community support agency in hickville. I would go in twice a week, make sure servers and computers were ok, and stick around for any user problems. The most common question I heard was whether or not someone could get into your computer from the internet if the computer was turned off. They heard that leaving the internet (did you know that it comes in portable cables now?) cable plugged in overnight was a bad idea because of hackers.

vastonecat
03-26-2008, 07:50 AM
I work for a large firm in Virginia that sells internet service over the phone lines and competes with the cable companies here. I go into peoples houses all the time to set up or repair their service and you wouldn't believe how many times the customer has complained about their comp being slow to boot up, and blaming it on the internet service.

Eclecticos
03-26-2008, 09:26 AM
Before I leave the house. .I always do a little research on the particular item. .
See what problems if any other people are having.
Look for the best price. . see if its on sale, and and at what retailer.
"Know what you want and were to get it".

9 out of 10 times its cheaper on the internet.
Every now and agian I need something immediately and go the retail route.

Aero
03-26-2008, 12:58 PM
Before I leave the house. .I always do a little research on the particular item. .
See what problems if any other people are having.
Look for the best price. . see if its on sale, and and at what retailer.
"Know what you want and were to get it".

9 out of 10 times its cheaper on the internet.
Every now and agian I need something immediately and go the retail route.

Same here. Before I went into the Apple store to buy my Macbook I researched the crap out of it. I looked at forums, Apple FAQ's, recent driver updares, how often drivers are released, the different model updates that have occured, etc. I swear I knew more about this thing than any of the sales people in there. But I let him give me a 15 min spiel about why Mac's are awesome, just because he had that look of feeling accomplished that he was going to make a sale. Didn't want to ruin his fun.

Luke122
03-26-2008, 01:24 PM
I work for a large firm in Virginia that sells internet service over the phone lines and competes with the cable companies here. I go into peoples houses all the time to set up or repair their service and you wouldn't believe how many times the customer has complained about their comp being slow to boot up, and blaming it on the internet service.

Lol.. "Ever since we got the internet, this thing is so damn slow!"

My typical response: "That's because you are filling it up with porn."

chaksq
03-26-2008, 01:45 PM
Amazing how ill informed the average user is. What is worst trying to help my mother who won't let me do anything on her computers unless she is present, which would be fine except she insists I explain to her my expansive knowledge of computers she couldn't begin to comprehend. My attempts at converting her to use a setup super simplified Linux machine didn't work out so well, she though it was a web browser or something. I need to work on this...

Quakken
03-26-2008, 08:23 PM
I was once trying to a get a 1/4 inch to 3mm adapter for audio, and a midi cable.

I made the mistake of going to best buy. Not only did they not have it (you'd think they'd stock some meager audio equipement, but no) but when I asked the guy on the floor there, he just kind of looked... perplexed. He asked the floor managers on his headset, and nothing.

My dad went to radio shack on the way home, and he had to totally explain what a midi cable was to this guy there, too. At least they had the stuff, though.



...simple linux box


More people need these. A consumer linux box is pretty darn good at what it is made for, and will safely and quickly surf the internet and word process very well. As people get more accustomed to computers and see how cheap these things are, I think that they will start to get a much larger percent of people using them.

And, as more people use them, more companies will be making drivers, programs, and even GAMES for them.

Then it starts to take over, windows has to start working for customers, and we won't be tied to windows just for the games anymore! Whoo!

xRyokenx
03-26-2008, 09:00 PM
And, as more people use them, more companies will be making drivers, programs, and even GAMES for them.

Then it starts to take over, windows has to start working for customers, and we won't be tied to windows just for the games anymore! Whoo!

I just wonder how long it will be before they do so... EeePC's are a good start though. Nice little laptops good for surfing the web and all. I can't wait until I have enough money set aside for one.

vastonecat
03-26-2008, 09:25 PM
Amazing how ill informed the average user is. What is worst trying to help my mother who won't let me do anything on her computers unless she is present, which would be fine except she insists I explain to her my expansive knowledge of computers she couldn't begin to comprehend. My attempts at converting her to use a setup super simplified Linux machine didn't work out so well, she though it was a web browser or something. I need to work on this...

Having only just installed Ubuntu on my son's laptop to try it out, I could only suggest making it look more like windows if possible because someone of THAT mindset would not accept anything else. Dont know yet if it can be done without incurring the wrath of the penguin though....:banghead:

Quakken
03-26-2008, 09:40 PM
You can make linux look like anything. Heck, you can make it look like the envy of an aero desktop- beryl-project.org

I am so happy I am not the only person who knows computers in my family. Dad has been programming for like 27 years. Brother and mom though- well, they are pretty good. My mom is very happy with her pretty new vista laptop, and my brother just hates how slow his computer is because that thing has been through heck.

I help mom with the random computer problem every so often, and I live a pretty good life.

chaksq
03-27-2008, 10:59 AM
More people need these. A consumer linux box is pretty darn good at what it is made for, and will safely and quickly surf the internet and word process very well. As people get more accustomed to computers and see how cheap these things are, I think that they will start to get a much larger percent of people using them.

And, as more people use them, more companies will be making drivers, programs, and even GAMES for them.

Then it starts to take over, windows has to start working for customers, and we won't be tied to windows just for the games anymore! Whoo!
I've been trying to figure out how the basic user interacts with a computer and frankly most people only use the bare minimum of interaction with their machines. My mother typically does 3 things browse the internet, occasionally uses word type programs to make things like fliers and stuff, and plays simple what i categorize as desktop games like card games or mahjong.

All of these things can be found in a very simplified install of linux. Lastest versions of Fedora I've used come with the desktop games my mother usually uses.

The biggest problem I've found with teaching computers is most users that struggle with computers do not understand certain critical basics of how computers operate and are used. Things such as the operating system, programs, file system are concepts that they just don't understand. Most just learn what to click to do what they want, if they want to do more they are stuck and have no way of intelligently deriving how to solve their problem. This is a problem because people cannot determine important things or how to properly use updates, a lot of my relatives refuse to install updates which then leaves their computers at risk from attack.

I've been thinking since I saw this thread that I want to look into possible setting up and maybe teaching one of those Adult Education evening computer courses that is really intuitive in the way people learn things. Or maybe I can write a book and corresponding website that can help people learn to use computers better. I think I'm going to try some techniques with my mother and relatives and if it works well then it's class time.

Quakken
03-27-2008, 01:53 PM
I say go for it. An adult education "how to use your computer- beyond pointing and clicking" class would be great. You'd get many, many questions from inexperienced users, but more people learning to correctly use their computers is always a good thing.

CorsePerVita
03-27-2008, 04:43 PM
This reminds me of some of the crazy people who don't read up on what they buy. I work for an ISP and find that often people buy stuff because "someone said i needed it" but didn't check.

I had a lady once that wanted me to help her set up her wireless router, and we don't do that (for "liability purposes"...) but we'll help them with the basics.

I go to ask the lady what cords she has plugged into it because she said it has no lights on it and she got smartass on me like i was stupid and said "Sir, it's a WIRELESS router, nothing is plugged in, that would defeat the purpose of it being WIRELESS wouldn't it? Hello!" and i spent the next 5-10 minutes explaining to her how wireless routers work and that we have yet to invent modern day technology that allows wireless power plugs from her wall so she /will/ need to plug it into the power source.

Don't forget the people that buy HDTVs but don't understand they have to set **** up.

vastonecat
03-28-2008, 11:52 AM
I had a customer complain that her phone didn't work. Ok, no problem go out to her house and Plug my buttset ( test Phone) into the jack in question and viola! Dial-tone. I inform her that her phone line works and without unplugging my buttset and plugging in her base station for her cordless phone she tries it and says it doesn't work. to which I respond Ma'am you need to plug the base station into the phone jack as well as power. She responds with "Duh! It's Cordless!"
When I was a generator mechanic in the Army a General called down to the mechanics shop during a field exercise to complain that his generator didn't work. I get to his trailer and talk to the Sgt. (when you were as low as I was you don't actually talk to the higher ups.) He informed me ...... It won't work in the OFF position.
All this to say that in general people don't want to learn about things that make their life easier, because that defeats the purpose of making it easier. If they learned all these things they would start to worry about how things are working at thier own home and maybe start taking it apart to see if it is working at its full potential, and heaven forbid! They may EVEN try to make it better then where would thier weekends and evenings be spent? I'll tell you where In the garage dremel in hand ripping the guts out of some poor unsuspecting piece of equipment and and throwing it back together with better shinier parts and before you know it they will be worshipping penguins!

Omega
03-28-2008, 12:37 PM
I've mad stupid employees a sport. It's easy.

1. Figure out what you want.
2. Find the most technical term for it
3. Memorize term
4. Go to Radioshack/etc.
5. Ask for it.
6. Most of the time, you'll get a puzzled look from everybody.
7. Walk over to the item, grab it, purchase and leave



But yeah, there are times when incompetent employees are just a pita...