When you are in small business IT support, there are about a million excuses you hear on a regular basis about things you have done with your computer.
We’ve heard them all before and we know which ones legit, and which ones are most definitely not. Often, we can even check the system and know if you are actually being honest with us or not.
If you are guilty of saying any of the following, best believe we’ve had our lie detector going off like crazy:
1. “I don’t know why my keyboard isn’t working”
A few years ago, my brother asked me to come look at his keyboard. He described some strange behavior that seemingly came out of nowhere. I took one look at it and asked him what he spilled on it. He immediately responded with “How did you know?”
This is an issue we see nearly every day. The main reason for a keyboard suddenly acting strange: liquid.
It’s easiest to just fess up and let us know exactly what you have done to the computer so we can best find a solution. Whether it’s that your toddler dropped your laptop on the ground or you spilled Diet Coke all over it, just tell us. We’re there to solve problems, so best to be upfront about the problem.
2. “I don’t know how I got this virus”
Okay, I’ll admit that this one is sometimes true. You really don’t know what you were doing when you got the virus, but as soon as you got it, you knew.
It could be from a phishing email, a pop-up telling you that you already have a virus (which is usually just a scare tactic to get you to install one) or from browsing around on sketchy websites. You likely had that moment of “Dang, I shouldn’t have clicked that.”
Please let us know about a possible virus immediately, so we can figure out exactly what kind we are dealing with. Some viruses can infect the entire network of computers, so it’s best to be honest with us about it.
3. “Yes, I rebooted before I called you”
A system reboot can usually fix a plethora of problems and is likely the first thing we will have you do when you get on the phone with us.
If you let us know that you have already rebooted, we will move on with troubleshooting the problem with other methods. When those methods fail, we will decide to reboot the computer again, just in case. If that fixes the issue, we will look up the last time the computer has been rebooted and know that you haven’t been truthful with us.
So please, if you haven’t rebooted, let us know so we can take care of that first and then move on if it doesn’t resolve the issue.
4. “I verified everything is plugged in properly”
I once worked on a printer issue for almost an hour, trying to figure out why it wasn’t working, only to realize that while the printer was plugged into the computer, it was not plugged into a power source.
With this one, you may not be actively trying to deceive us. We understand that you may not understand what needs to be plugged in where. Again, just be honest with us and let us know that you aren’t positive everything is plugged in properly and we can walk you through checking.
The truth is, the more honest you are with us—no matter how embarrassing—the faster we will be able to resolve your issue. We promise not to judge you for it. Believe us, we’ve seen it all a hundred times before, and we’ll see it a hundred times more in our career.
BRITECITY offers local businesses support in areas like Cyber Security, Cloud Services, Strategic IT, and Managed IT Services in Orange County.