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No one listens to IT guy

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by jfuller05 2 views

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Don't you love it when the users and their management think they know more than you? It's great isn't it? :\

User calls me one day, telling me she can't get into her system. I ask her a few questions, find out she her PC will not boot into Windows 7 then tell her I will be at her desk to help her out in a few minutes. On the way to her office I remember her PC is about 5 years old, hardware hasn't ever been changed, so the hard drive is about 5 years old as well.

I arrive at my destination, i.e. her office. Fire up the PC, gets to the Windows 7 load screen (screen before login screen) and it locks. Restart, f5, boot into safe mode...doesn't even get to the windows pre-login screen. I run a few troubleshooting tasks while the user huffs and puffs behind me and her coworkers are telling her she needs a new PC, which is all great convo to hear while you know this is a hard drive problem only (99% sure).

Nothing is getting me into windows. I know the quickest way to fix the problem is to replace the drive, copy her working image file and data files and she will be "good to go" in about a hour (I've done this before in that amount of time for other users - this department's PC use is outlook, excel, and word, not heavy use). I tell her the plan, but she doesn't like the plan. She and her coworkers think she would be better off getting a new PC (since they're the IT techs, they would know right?) instead of just replacing the drive. They told me she'll just encounter another problem down the road.

I tell them it's my professional opinion that a new drive will fix her problem. I did exactly the same thing for another user in that department last year and she's been good since (aside from the occasional user error her hardware has been fine) I replaced the drive. Even after telling them the cause of this problem and how to fix it, they insist on purchasing a new PC. I was overruled by my our boss even. How great is that? It gets better. They told me to go ahead and install a new drive in that PC so someone else can use that PC. What?

So I purchase a new PC for the user against my will and then put in a new drive in the "old" PC, install all the good stuff, and now a user is plugging along great on that system. I wonder why I'm even on the payroll if they're not going to listen to me?

Has something like this ever happened to any of you?

23 replies

by slayer_

You take the computer, come back with it later and say you replaced all the insides with new parts, and that its now a brand new computer. With the hard drive wiped they can't tell the difference anyways.

You just need to learn how to white lie.

by markp24

your soo right thought, just put a new OEM sticker on the fron from some other manufactuer and your golden...lol

by gsg

We used to repair the pc, clean all of the gunk off of the case, give it a different workstation name, and swap out the asset sticker. We'd hear the user bragging to their co-workers that they got a "brand new" pc and that it runs faster than theirs.

There's such a thing as too much information when fixing a user's workstation.

by jfuller05

ha, I never thought of doing either one of those solutions. I most likely do give the users way too much information about what I'm doing to their computers as I'm fixing them. I'm learning. I've learned a lot from techs here at Tech Republic (I've only been in the biz 2 and a half years).

by slayer_

I fooled one once by just changing the theme from XP blue to XP Silver and I told them that was the look of the new system.

by charliespencer

My boss would have backed me up. But then, I try to replace most desktops around the 4-year mark.

What would really frost my shorts is the bit about how replacing the drive isn't good enough for the original user but is good enough for someone else. I'd replace the drive, take all but about 256 meg of RAM, drop the video down to 640 x 480, and set the virtual memory for about 64 meg. Then you can tell them, "Yep, you were right; it needed to be replaced!", reset everything, and use it somewhere else.

by ansugisalas

A bit like Radar's "post order service" in *M*A*S*H* :)
Want not, waste not - the pack rat's motto.

by jfuller05

I need to be more assertive and only tell what is needed to know to the users. I just found this out today after talking with my boss: he said he was on my side, but if they want to use their budget on new computers, then that's pretty much their call. What? That wouldn't fly in the private sector I'm pretty sure. My friends who work for private businesses said if one of the higher ups gets a new computer then the "old" computers get passed down to those lower in the hierarchy.

by jfuller05

Person who was going to get the refurbished computer said she didn't want to inherit someone else's "problems" and wants a new computer instead. I told her multiple times (in succinct detail) that the problem was in the hard drive, I replaced the hard drive and now the computer will run like a dream. She insists on getting a new computer.

Well, my boss asked me about it and I told him what you guys suggested: changing the case on the computer and giving it to her as if it's a new computer. He loved the idea. So, that's what we're going to do.

Thanks guys!

by purpleskys

i'm often amazed at how gullible some ppl are. I requested a new computer myself back last spring and i'm sure they gave me someone elses' pc (wiped and reloaded with win 7 pro) but it was a whole heck of a lot better than the old xp box i was working with.

by darryl~

Give her a new keyboard & mouse (new computers always come with them)....

Put a little more RAM in it than her co-workers have....just for fun :D

by av .

I've had what you describe happen to me several times over my 25+ year career in tech support. I think its more about their "axe to grind" than it is about challenging your abilities. Lucky you. The user wanted a new PC for years and now is their chance to get one. Co-workers chime in to support, even if it means you get thrown under the bus. It sucks, but it happens.

Users always want a new PC if anything goes wrong with it. Even if it can be fixed easily. I just tell them I have a similar PC that works and that's they're new PC. I commiserate with them a little about their inconveniences, why the budget doesn't allow for it, yada yada yada, and then I replace their existing PC with a new "old" PC that works. They're usually happy with that, except if they work for someone really important. In that case, buy a new PC and avoid the headaches.

AV

Edited: Who knew there was only one "s" in commiserate?

by markp24

Maybe buy the new pc,

set the specs up to make it crwl slower than the original pc before you replaced the HDD. that user will scream for their old pc back, give it back to them and setup the new pc correctly for another user that deserves it. LOL

by ansugisalas

It's easy for them to think it's just faulty if it's slow.
But if it's erratic you can say "Yeah, this is a bleeding edge machine - they're always going to be a bit flaky. Not like the tried-and-true, you know. I can get your old one back, but I expect they'll issue patches for the new one in six months or so, so you can just hang in there."

After all, they never take the advice of "IT Guy" :D

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