Well,we all have had the laughs at the mistakes made by so-called computer-illiterate or just plain stupid computer users allegedly calling in to tech support. Using the mouse as a foot pedal, the cd tray as a drink holder, holding a page to the screen to fax it, etc. Well Yuk yuk . . . . there is another side to this.

I have been on both sides, and believe me, the support end is not without fault. The help desk has a duty, it seems to me, to offer solutions that at least make sense. The good ones also get a sense of the level of expertise or the caller, and tailor the response accordingly. For instance if the user calls in about an advanced topic, like registry keys or security rights, they don't start with explaining where the start button is. In many cases the help desk simply doesn't listen or try to understand the real problem, so can not resolve it.

Here is the example that got me going on this.

I needed a remote control utility. I downloaded several shareware trial programs, and intended to buy the one that worked the best.

The best one disqualified itself. It had a window on starting that said "You have 30 days left in the trial period" ,"You have 29 days left in the trial period", "You have 28 . . ." I used it for a week, then suddenly it jumped to 9 days, and would not let me continue without "registration" i.e. paying. I sent them an e-mail as follows:

Subject: radmin evaluation
Sirs:
Just thought you should know I am moving on to another product because of the nonsense of your registration.
I have V2.1 for win9x on trial period, I have used it one week, but it won't let me continue. It comes up with:
Server side reports:
Your 30-day evaluation period will expire in 9 days.
Remember to register before then.

Then it locks me out. What's with that? do I have 9 more days or not?
rgb
The ignorant response from them?
Hello
This means that server trial perion will ent in 9 days. You should register it. (sic)
Best Regards
Denis Senin
Famatech Support
Duh? I won't even list the many problems with this reply, including the typos.