MetaFilter posts tagged with TechSupport

Thanks for two hours of your time

the man of twists and turns — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 03:34:40 -0800

"I am calling you from Windows": A tech support scammer dials Ars Technica Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission

launched a major international crackdown on tech support scams in which telemarketers masquerade as major computer companies, con consumers into believing that their computers are riddled with viruses, spyware and other malware, and then charge hundreds of dollars to remotely access and “fix” the consumers’ computers. At the request of the FTC, a U.S. District Court Judge has ordered a halt to six alleged tech support scams pending further hearings, and has frozen their assets.

More Ars: How To Troll A Tech Support Scammer

A good troll is a prepared troll, and Ted was ready. He dragged out the call by pretending to connect his Windows 95 and Windows Vista computers to CompuServe via dial-up Internet, by providing an expired credit card number, and by providing absurd answers to basic questions.

After FTC crackdown, users chronicle tech support scam calls: Recording of Scam Telemarketers (Video) Trolling The Windows Indian Phone Call Scam (Youtube) Scamming the scammers -- catching the virus call centre scammers red-handed (Youtube)

Tech support for your parents (so you don't have to)

peacheater — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:40:23 -0800

Google presents: TeachParentsTech.org (via the official Google blog). You'll never have to teach your parents how to copy and paste, attach a file to their email or transfer files again.

Computer Genius

Artw — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:24:35 -0800

Why it's better to pretend you know nothing about computers

Found You

netbros — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:02:59 -0800

Seemingly, customer service isn't what it used to be, if you can even find them. Well, no more hiding. Enter Hard to Find 800 Numbers, an alphabetic list that eliminates the scramble for contact information. Waiting on hold for customer service or tech support is painful enough.

The Website Is Down!

achmorrison — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:09:01 -0800

The Website is Down! is a short movie based on tech support horror stories. (Movie may have NSFW language and imagery)

Fish Calling

GernBlandston — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:00:06 -0800

This is the Fish calling from Microsoft Support Santro. No, not that fish.

It's a mouse, sir, not a foot pedal.

brain_drain — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 11:47:10 -0800

Stupid Computer Tricks. Photo array of one computer service employee's favorite customer problems. Don't miss the intense AOL user, the sealed floppy, the floating hard drive, and the extreme case mod.

Bastard Operator From Hell, compleat archives

BlackLeotardFront — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:51:59 -0800

The latest BOFH, or Bastard Operator From Hell. If you read The Register you're familiar with him... It's the story of an abusive IT guy basically doing whatever he wants to users and getting away with it. It's been going on for about 10 years, all of which is archived, so if that one doesn't tease your fancy, maybe some of those will. If you're not familiar with basic IT stuff some of it may be foreign to you, but once I started reading I couldn't stop. Try a couple years back, 2002 is a good vintage. >clickety<

Nothing--you're screwed.

sohcahtoa — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 14:11:23 -0800

Safe Personal Computing. Bruce Schneier, cited frequently on Metafilter, has a new article on his blog in which he gives home users concrete actions they could take to improve security. As the holidays come and I make the rounds to disinfect and repair all my family's computers, I'll be printing this out and sticking copies to their monitors.

Partial Template Specialization help was never this sexy

qDot — Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:20:04 -0800

AskTheTechGirl.com : Because not everyone gets off on calling India for tech support
via something positive, who also has a funny comic thread on this

huh?

Espoo2 — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 20:29:39 -0800

A collective "I told you so" from all the layed-off American tech workers. Dell to Stop Using Indian Call Center for Corporate Customers. Apparently, there was a high volume of complaints about thick accents and scripted responses. You don't say? You mean explaining complex technical issues to end users over a phone are further complicated by mixing in large dialect and enunciation differences?

Life Support

oissubke — Thu, 05 Jun 2003 09:37:28 -0800

Life Support is an online help desk for everyday life. It operates like a tech support web site (with tickets, responses, etc.), but the issues are about religion, love, and politics instead of printers and device drivers. I got some interesting and/or entertaining responses to the issues I posted.

Where White-Collar Jobs Are Going

bureaustyle — Tue, 15 Apr 2003 18:09:39 -0800

Elocution lessons are helping staff working at call centres in India neutralise their accents and make their sales pitch more effective
call-center workers, computer programmers, these and other positions are being transferred to countries like India. We all know why. Only one reason, they call it Tight labor markets.

This is great news for India, but what exactly will the current call-center workers, programmers and other white collar workers in US do if their jobs will be gone to India ?
Are you worried that your position will one day be replaced by someone on the other side of the world working for 1/3 of your salary ?

Tech support war stories

dr_dank — Mon, 12 Aug 2002 10:00:26 -0800

Tech support war stories compiled by category for your viewing pleasure. Every nuance of hardware and software is represented in this extensive collection. This is why the tier 1 techs wake up screaming at night.

Humorous experiance

arnab — Wed, 01 May 2002 06:15:28 -0800

Humorous experiance of a lady with Microsoft Technical Support Staff in relation to Klez worm.

Havening (sic) a lousy day?

machaus — Tue, 30 Apr 2002 18:26:40 -0800

Havening (sic) a lousy day? Whenever the IT industry gets me down, I look to this oldy but goody of a link to help me realize that I don't have it all that bad. Have you ever been on any tier of computer support? This is a classic (albeit somewhat cruel) chronicle of working alongside a useless help-desk drone we'll call George.

jonmc — Tue, 16 Apr 2002 17:04:09 -0800

Matt Besser of the Upright Citizens Brigade has a home phone number one digit away from tech support for a major ISP. Rather than fight it or change the number he's decided have some fun with his clueless callers. If you've spent as much time doing tech support work as I have this is some good cathartic fun.This one is my favorite. (A few dirty words, so probably NOT work safe. Requires RealPlayer.

Microsoft Tech Support vs. The Psychic Friends Network

paladin — Fri, 27 Apr 2001 17:33:14 -0800

Microsoft Tech Support vs. The Psychic Friends Network - so who gives better support for MS Access?

Bangalore tech support

paladin — Wed, 21 Mar 2001 16:05:26 -0800

Bangalore tech support (NY Times, free reg. req.) try to convince callers that they're actually nearby in the US, like one who "conjured up a fictional American life, with parents Bob and Ann, brother Mark and a made-up business degree from the University of Illinois."

kindall — Mon, 26 Feb 2001 20:26:31 -0800

New to computers? Confused by that message telling you to "hit any key"? Get professional help here. Now, aren't you glad you bought a Compaq?

"Ask Maxwell" -- Microsoft's New Support Database

metrocake — Thu, 24 Aug 2000 14:26:09 -0800

"Ask Maxwell" -- Microsoft's New Support Database Am I the only one who finds something a tad sinister about this thing? He looks a bit odd, and considering it's supposed to be automated support, this profile of him is damned creepy. By the way -- the profile states that he/it is an English major. Uh, Bill? -- wouldn't it have been a smoother move to say that the "guy" was a Comp Sci major? Geez...

Do you really want to ask Tech Support a stupid question?

mathowie — Fri, 22 Oct 1999 12:46:35 -0800

Do you *really* want to ask Tech Support a stupid question? I've heard my fair share of silly, stupid questions, and most of the tech support questions I've been asked could have been answered by the user reading the manual. Apparently this tech support guy couldn't take it anymore and stabbed his coworker for asking a question, then was shot by police. Nuts.