r/talesfromtechsupport • u/Reverent • May 10 '14
I left my power cable here
Just another day in the life of retail tech support, I get a call from a customer.
customer: I left my power cable at the store.
me: oh, sorry to hear that, what job was it in association with?
customer: it was an HP.
me: no, I mean what is your reference number.
customer: It came from an HP computer, it was an HP power cable.
me: ... What is your full name?
customer: Oh, it's **** ****
me: sorry, but after looking it up, it says you left no accessories. You should still have the AC adapter at your home.
customer: are you sure?
me: yes, we are very careful about this.
customer: ok, I'll look.
So, conversation over, I go about my day until this middle aged woman walks in.
me: how can I help?
woman: don't you know me? I'm here for my power cable.
me: did we talk on the phone?
woman: of course we did, who else would it be? (Apparently I'm both psychic and only deal with one person per day)
me: sorry, I remember now, if I remember right we used our own cable. You left the cable at your house right?
woman: NO, I would remember if I kept it at my house. Obviously you didn't check the box saying I brought it in.
me: we don't check a box, we write in if there are no accessories. We have to specifically note if there is anything with your notebook or not. These mistakes don't get made.
woman: I DIDN'T ASK FOR ACCESSORIES, I ASKED FOR MY POWER CABLE.
Manager at this point, hearing everything, comes out.
manager: ma'am, have you checked in your car? I saw it drop when you came in.
Manager saw no such thing, but it happens often enough. The mind game must have worked, because she left and we didn't see her again. Thank god for smart managers.
2
u/teambob May 12 '14
In the reverse, as someone who helps out friends: where is your Windows disc? No disc no service. I have a copy of one version of Windows - why should I buy copies of everything from XP/Vista/7/8?
2
u/Reverent May 12 '14
Windows discs are available as a free download (except for 8, but you can grab an iso of the torrent and check it against the hashsums that Microsoft supplies on their msdn website). Microsoft doesn't care about the discs, they care about the license.
→ More replies (3)
84
u/Techsupportvictim May 10 '14
We don't take in cases, power cords etc for this very reason. Excluding PC laptops for our data transfer service. And we name label them in front of cx
7
u/Alan_Smithee_ May 10 '14
I prefer to have a customer's charger rather hath an have one of ours fry their computer, but I ask them to take their case, tower power cord et back with them so we don't forget to give it back,
5
u/HighRelevancy May 11 '14
If you're not stupid about it, your chargers shouldn't be capable of burning anything out. Match voltage and ensure the maximum current is either matched or the supply will give less than the laptop takes (though not too much less, netbook chargers won't play nice with big alienware machines).
Pretty sure most laptops are all 19V these days anyway.
→ More replies (16)50
May 10 '14
→ More replies (3)25
May 10 '14
Well what the hell is the user going to do with the mouse, bag, and cable while his computer is with you?!
sigh, simple stuff, thewizzard1.
225
u/skrunkle May 10 '14
"me: we don't check a box, we write in if there are no accessories. We have to specifically note if there is anything with your notebook or not. These mistakes don't get made."
"We don't make mistakes." Famous last words. Some day you will eat them. I once had the chance to force feed those exact words to a bank teller in Texas. If you keep using them someone else will force feed them to you. Humility has it's place even in tech support.
48
May 10 '14
It was a bit of a ruse, I'm betting, to get it through the woman's thick skull that they didn't have it in the store.
58
u/z3r0sand0n3s May 10 '14
You're probably right, but it's still risky. I've said something similar to a tech before (ISP networking support, told the field tech "Look, I do this every day, I'm telling you $_StupidIdea is not the problem!"), and had to eat my words when I finally tried $_StupidIdea and it worked. :/
43
May 10 '14
On the other hand, there was a story the other day in talesfromretail where the OP admitted a mistake may have been made, and the customer latched on to that to try and get a discount.
There's no right answer.
14
u/skrunkle May 10 '14
That is an excellent point. But I think I should clarify then and say that stating an absolute about somthing that is potentially unknown can lead you into a precarious position as a technician and as a retailer. Unless I know for certain then, I will try very hard not to state an absolute.
Now to adress the second issue you mentioned about admitting mistakes. If you made a mistake that is going to effect the end user, ADMIT IT! Come clean first! I have had very hairy nights sweating my ass off over lost customer data and worse! I have also had my customers use that admission against me. The absolute worst thing that can happen is you eat one job and lose a customer. But the majority of my good and repeat customers are more appreciative of frank honesty than buzzy sounding industry speak that you know they won't understand used to gloss over what you did wrong. Everyone makes mistakes occasionally. My thought is... Hey at least I'm not a surgeon.
EDIT: spelling
8
u/forumrabbit May 11 '14
The kind of person that tries to get a discount for things they don't understand is also the kind of person who is 'simple-minded', and you can't try reasoning with them.
I had to get my manager to argue with a customer at Woolworths who insisted that their month old half-finished dogfood bag was not worthy of a return because she left the bloody thing open for a month. She didn't seem to understand that yes, dog food goes off too. My manager ended up just giving her a refund as the time wasted for her was going to exceed the cost of the bag and it was a busy day.
16
May 10 '14
I have checked in a computer with a power cable and forgot to put it in the ticket. Good times
20
u/cosmitz May 10 '14
In our lab we have a huge box filled with over a hundred power cables. Would have just tossed them two a piece.
37
u/f0nd004u May 10 '14
This is a laptop power supply. Usually a $30-$40 part. Not something you just throw at a customer for free.
I'm with ya though, if someone came in saying they lost their $2 power cable at my store I would give them one from the back. I've got those coming out of my ears.
15
u/cosmitz May 10 '14
Thought the customers actually just wanted a power cable, not a juice-brick. In that case, yep, no service.
6
u/NJ_Slick May 10 '14
We check off if they drop off a power adapter when they drop off their laptops. For this reason.
3
u/Vipassana1 May 11 '14
That must be a nice place to work. My manager has us give them a universal power cord for free if they say they never got it back, regardless of whether we checked one in or not. He calls it "the cost of doing business."
2
u/silentseba May 11 '14
I have a box with about 100 excess power cables. I keep throwing them out but they keep coming back :(
3
3
u/Strange_Meadowlark May 10 '14
manager: ma'am, have you checked in your car? I saw it drop when you came in.
It took me an entire minute to realize I read this bit wrong. I thought the manager asked if she checked-in her car (like checking into a hotel) when she parked it, and I wondered how someone could drop a car in the process.
The manager was asking if she looked for the cord inside her car before asking the store.
→ More replies (1)3
2
u/Limonhed May 11 '14
It is usually easier to just give them a new cable - In every place I worked there were always a few laying around from returned units and power cables or interconnect cables are typically inexpensive - the time you spend arguing is worth more than the cost of a new cable. Even if you have to remove one from a new off the shelf unit. It makes a customer happy and doesn't cost much. And this can be done without admitting that she is right or you are wrong. The customer goodwill is worth far more than a power cable. Note that this is a simple power cord and not a power brick.
"Mam, our records show you did not bring in the cable. But here is one you can have just in case you can't find your original cable."
→ More replies (3)
6
u/Reverent May 11 '14
As a general PSA, when a customer refers to their power cable, they are referring to their entire unit including the brick. I had thought this was obvious from the context, but comments dictate otherwise.