Tales from the helpdesk....

I thought it would be interesting to share some stories from your helpdesk/hardware troubleshooting experiences. I have only been in this situation about 2 months but I already feel like I have "seen it all" lol.

I just had a ticket request for "a new keyboard, as this one has had a liquid spilled in it". Device location: Medical Lab. Liquid? Urine.

"Yeah you can just throw that one in the garbage, I will be down shortly with a new keyboard...."

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

--chris--

ScrawnyRonnie wrote: »

User calls and says each day a different key on her keyboard wouldn't work. One day it's P and the next C. I went to look at it in person and I discovered a tiny bead that was rolling around under the keys.

I also love when I have to drive 40 minutes to another location to push a power button for someone.

Paid both ways? I would love it too

And a bead in a keyboard? Nice! That would drive a few people nuts around here.

The above screen cap was a MOBO that went kaput.

Russell77

As a telco field tech I had to work with our help desk for testing and updating tickets. After awhile we would get to know each other and you would build a bond of trust so we did not have to question the other techs skills or motives. One day I had to call in to a tech who did not know me and thought I was slacking.

I was called out to an aprtment that I had been to about a year before to check a phone jack for no dial tone. I remember fixing up the wire the last time I was there and wondered what could be wrong. This place was on one of the worst streets in the city but I remember it as being tolerable as far as being clean. When I got there I had found new people had moved in and the place was a stinky mess. They wanted a new jack in a bedroom. I started to go to the room and saw feces in more than one spot on the floor. I turned around, checked to make sure the phone could call in and out from the jack I put in last time, then went outside and called the help desk.

(Me) I can't do this job because the apartment is too messy. The customer has dial tone in the living room.

(Help desk) They have a wire plan you have to go in and do it.

(me) I can't the apartment reeks because there is feces on the floor.

(Help desk) Is it human feces?

(Me) How would I know? Does it matter?

They tried to send a contractor out the next day. I warned him about the apartment and told him not to go in if it was in the same condition. He saw kid in there when they opened the door. Refused the job and called social services.

RobertKaucher

tstrip007 wrote: »

Couple of years ago a request came into to helpdesk to put more toilet paper in the bathroom. That request was screen shotted and immediately inducted into the hall of fame.

I had a very similar call once, the men's toilets were all plugged up.

cg1967

Whilst working as a 2nd line tech I received a ticket from a Service Desk colleague - User reports can not access any network resources, tried to ping their workstation remotely without success. Wkstn number 12345, ip address 169.xxx.xxx.xxx. Please advise.

Ok, I will never claim to be the brightest in the IT world, but this is the sort of stuff I'd expect an entry level newbie to have. All the funnier as the individual, an experienced person with a lot of training thrown his way, is considered a high flyer in my company and someone who will be at the forefront of our IT organisation in the coming years.

jvrlopez

Had someone call requesting a new, larger monitor for a Chief Master Sergeant (most senior enlisted rank). When I asked why they needed one, the secretary mentioned to me that the Chief's desktop had run out of space for icons.

Once had someone call me and mention that they believed that they had a virus on their workstation. I asked them what the symptoms were and they mentioned that everything they clicked on brought up a prompt asking if the user wished to delete the associated file. I asked them if their delete key was stuck, to which they put me on hold, and replied back 20 seconds later, "It fixed itself."

A doctor stationed at Alaska once called me and asked for assistance in troubleshooting his smart phone's VPN connection to his office. I mentioned that we couldn't work on issues pertaining to his phone specifically (the VPN was set up by the book) to which he sadly replied, "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to drive through 4 feet of snow..."

More to come, just got to recall them. Glad my help desk days are behind me, but they sure did provide for some funny moments.

--chris--

cg1967 wrote: »

Whilst working as a 2nd line tech I received a ticket from a Service Desk colleague - User reports can not access any network resources, tried to ping their workstation remotely without success. Wkstn number 12345, ip address 169.xxx.xxx.xxx. Please advise.

Ok, I will never claim to be the brightest in the IT world, but this is the sort of stuff I'd expect an entry level newbie to have. All the funnier as the individual, an experienced person with a lot of training thrown his way, is considered a high flyer in my company and someone who will be at the forefront of our IT organisation in the coming years.

I have one very similiar, but a little different.

I started here just as the guy I replaced was going "internal" (Im a contractor). He had been helpdesk for three years and was promoted to a VIP helpdesk position inside the organization. He was helping me "move into" his desk and mentioned that the ethernet jack on the wall never worked, he used wireless just fine but if I wanted to be wired open a ticket for the networking guys and they can turn the switch port back on. I took his word, its a bad port...that is that.

I open a ticket with the network team, one guy comes out and starts troubleshooting. It took him about 20 seconds to figure that the cat 5 cable was toast. I was a little embarrassed, but then I thought...wtf, the guy that told me it was no good was the most "senior" tech here! I should be able to take his word for it! Replaced the cable, activate the port, right as rain.

Its not always funny or duh stuff though. Today I am working with the network team/server team/national firewall team as there eyes & ears trying to find two devices that are potential malware/worm sources. I am learning a lot about the inner workings of this system and meeting a lot of very bright people.

Moab

I was working a helpdesk position, and we decided to create a local intranet page with procedures, updates, and FAQ for the lower tiers. The site was local, only accessible within the IT dept. My boss, who was a retired AF Major, and had spent his military carrier in IT, informs our group that we have been hacked. Our new (still under construction) intranet site has been changed with vulgar language and disparaging remarks about him personally. I will never forget this as long as I live.

He proudly stood in front of our team and stated that he believed that the attack had to be either internal or external............... wtf?

The site had not been locked down because we were still adding input from lower tiers for the FAQs so anyone on the support team had access to change or update the web page. The smug look on his face .... it's got to be either internal or external.

xnx

Trifidw wrote: »

"User has accidentally killed *********, please can you revive them?"

How did you get a help desk position, did you have a CCNP when you started?

Anonymouse

I had a weird one that a co-worker was working on.

Manager reports that she never received an important email from two of her employees. This had a legal consequence. They have to send something to her like weekly. This week it never got to her. It had to have been an Exchange problem as she provided us the email which one of her employees forwarded from her sent box.

My co-worker does some troubleshooting. He also deals with our Exchange team. The only record of this email was the one forwarded to the manager from her employee.

In the end it turned out that the employees did not finish their work on time and had no documents to email their manager. So they made an email with fake timestamps. The intent was to make it look like they finished their work on time, emailed it to their manager, and that it got lost in the IT void.

They lost their jobs over that one.

Trifidw

xnx wrote: »

How did you get a help desk position, did you have a CCNP when you started?

I'm not on the help desk, never have been, I skipped 1st/2nd line and went straight in as a network admin. I started with a CCNA and got my CCNP after working for 4 years.

Clevernamehere

I had to post in this thread after the one I just got today.
Me: "Hello?"
Clerk at front desk: "There is a cockroach near one of the meeting areas, can you come and squash it?"
I had some downtime so I actually took on the job. The thing was barely as big as my little finger. So I smushed it but I did feel kinda like Milton in Office Space after they moved him to the basement.