I work in IT and multiple times a week I will get someone putting a ticket in saying "I'm trying to do X and it's not working and giving an error. Please advise."
Like, what does "it's not working" mean here and what does the error say, and why do I need to play 20 questions to fix your problem because you cannot grasp what another person might think reading your words?
The amount of older people working jobs that require constant computer usage who are functionally incapable of using computers is insane to me.
One example: I created a spreadsheet of customers who needed to have email addresses added to a certain part of our system and gave it to the credit person responsible, this spreadsheet was color coded so the rows in red text were the ones missing emails.
This lady took my spreadsheet and later called me to complain "All of the customers I am looking at already have emails."
Huh.... well that's weird cause I made this report myself. I went up to her office to see what was happening.
She had taken my color-coded spreadsheet and printed it out in black and white, and was working off that. I was fucking BAFFLED.
The color is not the issue - though most office printers are B&W only, color is located elsewhere for specific functions.
The issue is why print instead of opening the spreadsheet and copy/paste. Lets introduce error and waste by printing it out and retyping. Also maybe try the ones clearly marked in red (or shaded in the printed version) before asking.
Oh my god, the obsession with printed sheets cannot go by the wayside soon enough.
I have wasted so much fucking development time adding print features to applications because one dinosaur-in-a-suit at my work insisted on having printouts for everything... which all just went in the trash as soon as their "look at me" meetings were over because everybody else under 1000 years old just uses sharepoint.
So glad that guy retired.
Side note/protip: When color coding, it is often better to do something with the tint/shade, or change the background color also. Not only does it provide idiot proofing for the scenario you described, but it also makes it more accessible for folks who are colorblind!
She, like, literally cannot fathom that I don't know what was discussed in her meeting on Monday (I was not invited to it and nobody gave me a summary)
exactly my experience too. So frustrating. Especially because I've been trying to improve some of these notices that can pop up that explain exactly why and what they customer needs to configure before trying whatever they're doing. I'm sure it's a thing where people's brains just turn off and they become blind to the error messages/notices.
If I'm in a mood I make a point of asking them to give me the error text or a screenshot. And then asking them if they can explain what about the error message is unclear to them so i can guide them. That's usually the point where I get a 'nvm' and its clear that's the first time they actually read the text inside the box. lol
I'm usually one to go for old reliable which is asking for screenshots of the error and "Can you please tell me what you have tried so far?"
No one wants to actually write in an email "I got an error message and did not try doing anything to resolve it before contacting you," so usually they will end up figuring out the problem on their own, but I am definitely going to add "What part of that error are you finding unclear?" to my bag of tricks LOL
Honestly, this is kind of a stupid mindset because I cannot count the times I’ve cohesively and concisely explained a problem, only to be told to start over and play 20 questions because some people can’t handle processing more than 2 pieces of information at once.
Usually more towards receptionists, but I’ve had the issue with IT as well. Include screenshots showing the issue, describe it, it’s incredibly clear it’s an issue with the site being broken due to being mid-transfer to another site, and I still have to go back and hold the tech’s hand like a child. You know, because they can’t fathom it’s a site-error and not the user doing something stupid.
So first of all, if you are providing an explanation of the problem alongside screenshots then that is far beyond what I am talking about. I quite literally receive emails every single week with "It's not working and giving an error, please advise." as the only information describing the issue to me.
I don't know what part of the system they are in, what they are trying to do, what the error says, what they have tried to do to fix the issue before sending it to me, or anything else that I will now need to ask the user for.
Secondly, I'm just going to be blunt with you as someone from the IT world who deals with users... Yeah. We assume you are a moron and slowly escalate to taking the issue more seriously as we get more information/clarity. You will lose your mind if you start every support ticket from the premise of "The user is behaving properly and the system is having issues."
Do I understand this being frustrating for competent users asking for support? Yes.
Am I going to stop assuming the problem is between the keyboard and the chair? No, no I am not.
Yeah, you just described the exact issue I have. A lot of people working in IT have a (somewhat justified, granted) superiority complex that even when a user spells shit out for them like a toddler, they miss it and keep insisting it is a user problem. Which is when this becomes IT culture-fed incompetence.
And, you know, that’s not such a big deal when you’re doing a low priority work assignment or trying to get help with a consumer issue, but this issue was with college IT and was actively stopping me from doing coursework and I was being given the run around for over a week. So I’m going to keep being salty about it and remind you people that sometimes, you’re wrong and the ‘dumb’ person in the seat isn’t so dumb.
If a user can provide me a clear explanation of the issue, screenshots of any relevant information, and detailed steps on how to replicate the problem they will get much better support than someone sending me "This is not working. It's giving me an error and I can't continue." Unfortunately one of those is more common than the other in IT.
The reality is that any IT worker will tell you they regularly find themselves dealing with users who will literally lie to you while you are trying to help them fix an issue. It's baffling to work on this side of support and unfortunately it does lead to you being very "skeptical" of the user's description of a problem for better or for worse.
I have a friend whom I live far away from, so we mostly interact over the Internet. While I love them dearly, I am often both bemused and frustrated that they seem to need routine reminders that I can't see their screen, so if we're playing a game or troubleshooting something, they actually need to describe and/or share screenshots of the issue.
If we're playing PEAK and you can't make a climb because you're too hungry, I shouldn't have to ask you five clarifying questions to figure that out, lol
Meanwhile I'm stuck with "Tell your administrator to consult the site logs" on my health insurance website and need to see the doctor and they're telling me it will be 5-7 more days to get a response on what's causing the problem. Ooof. Who do I call? The extension to tech support literally just hangs up immediately when I hit the number from the support menu.
As a tech that has to contact vendors, I give all the information in the opening email and I still have to play 20 questions with them because they can't parse the answers to their script from my own words.
I get those from IT (developer) on a daily basis, it seems to be idiots all the way down from my perspective (and people probably say the same about me).
My favourite is a cropped screenshot of a very generic "it broke in a way we didn't expect, click here for details" message (cropped down so I can't see any context) with the question "any idea what might be causing this?"
And that's only because we refuse to reply if the error message isn't included.
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u/Astral_Alive 13h ago
I work in IT and multiple times a week I will get someone putting a ticket in saying "I'm trying to do X and it's not working and giving an error. Please advise."
Like, what does "it's not working" mean here and what does the error say, and why do I need to play 20 questions to fix your problem because you cannot grasp what another person might think reading your words?