Any type of information is now readily available online. We can access any book, paper, article, or even blog we want with only one simple click of a button. Consequently, given how simple it is to access all of this information, one might assume that everyone—including you and me—would be more cautious about what we publish online. The following is the story of a frustrated tech firm customer support representative. The Original Poster (OP) describes a terrible boss from back in the early 2000…

If a printer goes up in flames, you might want to order a new one, dude. These were the exact thoughts of u/mattthepianoman who posted his funny workplace story to r/talesfromtechsupport. See, a printer had smoke coming out of it, and it was his job as a tech employee to report the issue to an IT contractor. This IT contractor had a few brain cells missing, and instead of doing something about it, he first asked the original poster to take him step by step through the diagnostics. What do diagn…

Instant karma is the best kind of karma. Nobody wants to see destiny play out slowly over time… We want karma now. One remote worker called up tech support on a Friday, just as the IT employee was about to head home. The worker was livid that their internet wasn't working, and they completely flipped out on the poor IT employee who hadn't done anything wrong. The worker explained that their internet wasn't working, and demanded IT fix it right that instant. After a couple of questions, the prob…

Why does IT always get blamed? Employees always expect them to read minds, to predict the future… But they're humans with a lot on their plate, and they don't bow to snobby managers from various departments who are trying to cover for their incompetent employees. One such employee approached OP (who was working in IT) after she failed to receive emails. OP immediately began troubleshooting and found the problem relatively quickly. The issue was a rule that she had set up, and OP pointed her to…

One IT contractor got paid thousands after a senior attorney stubbornly refused to give up his laptop for a new system installation. The law firm had hired OP to install new systems on 800 field laptops after a major data breach, and OP admitted it was a complex logistical operation that required a lot of time… and work. After fixing all the laptops, OP had one laptop left to refurbish. The senior attorney was taking his sweet time and driving OP crazy, which eventually led to inevitable curios…

IT people really have it hard out there. It is a genuine surprise how they manage to keep a civil conversation with people while having to fix their constant silly tech problems they could have fixed themselves in less them two minutes. Honestly, the term ‘Technophobic' has lost all meaning when you hear what people need help with. No ma'am, you are not technophobic, you are simply too lazy to learn. And why would you learn if all you have to do to fix your tiny problem is to call the IT person…

One IT employee resolved a huge financial issue for their company that left unchecked, would have resulted in fines amounting to millions. You would think that the employee would get rewarded, but remember, this is corporate we're talking about… Nobody ever gets rewarded for being a good worker. If anything, it's quite the opposite. Continue being a good little bolt in the machine, and you'll get some pizza. Gee, thanks, boss. People often blabber on about how 'Nobody wants to work these days',…

Don't store important files in your email. There, I said it. The chances of something happening and them all getting deleted are slim, but never zero. This advice applies even more so if you are working in a company with a mail retention policy. These employees were furious when they learned from the IT guy that every email that was older than 2 years was gone, permanently deleted, and irretrievable. They had some important financial documents that they wanted to check out again, but alas, ther…

People working in technical support have seen a lot of funny cases over the years, and this case is definitely one to remember for the IT manager involved. OP was working for a large pub company based in the UK, in which their chief role was second-in-line support for retail applications. One client opened a ticket after an engineer had come and checked the facilities of their establishment, only to send out a faulty report, leading to the website displaying a facility that the establishment cl…

Life is comprised of a series of rules, rules that, throughout our lives, are imposed upon us and, maybe, even set for us by ourselves. Some of these rules are paramount, and our ability to follow them will determine who we are, how we're perceived, and the effect on the world. Other rules are really quite silly, and one feels silly following them. Chances are that these silly rules were written and enacted by someone who really had no idea what they were doing or were imposed by someone who wa…

Everyone who has ever been stuck working on a company laptop that is frightfully unsuited to its task knows the pain of receiving a decrepit hand-me-down of a machine from the IT department, and anyone who has ever been issued a company computer will be able to tell you they've had this exact experience. So, there you are, desperately attempting to remain efficient whilst enduring higher load-processing times than when you tried to play flash games on your parents' dial-up internet and navigati…

At this point in the story of the history of the office worker, it should be common knowledge that being a productive worker doesn't mean being tied to a desk for 8 hours a day between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM. In the yesteryear of the evaluation of working performance, previous generations would have sat stoically at their desks and, whether or not they were actually doing anything of merit to contribute to the company, their ability to have their behind in that seat for eight hours a day wo…

We've all imagined at one point or another during a bad job, quitting and leaving with the most dramatic exit possible. You tell everyone you hated off and you throw everything off you desk and you reveal any secrets you know to everyone and you march out and slam the door and everyone is crying and regretting treating you poorly. Funny thing about that fun run-on sentence though is that, that's not how it happens. If you leave like that in the slightest way, you're burning a bridge and that ca…

You should treat every single person with respect, especially all of your coworkers. The hierarchy of the company comes second to just being a decent human being. However, some people are filled with entitlement and forget that when it comes down to it, we're all just flesh and bones. So when one of these entitled colleagues disrespect a branch of the company that they think they're better than, you better believe they're gonna get a taste of their own medicine. This happened recently with an e…

Pulling far greater than your own weight at work—or in any team—is a common frustration to experience and can make you feel like you're carrying an incredible burden on your shoulders. What's worse, it can make you wonder whether any effort is even worth it… Why bother working so hard if your coworkers are just going to refuse to do their fair share (and get away with doing less) anyway? This is something that you first encounter in grade school in the form of group projects, with some members…

As a sales person, this employee still has to field a lot of customer service calls . Due to a mix up with the phone systems' phrasing, lots of confused customers get sent to u/d**nknife's phone line. They shared one story of a customer who just could not understand what they were paying for on their phone plan . I guess the customer isn't always right after all. If you've ever talked to someone who's worked a customer service phone operator job, they'll tell you that it takes some strategy. Th…