Early on in my career I used to deal with a lot of helpdesk type support from end users in my company. Luckily I can say that I am no longer in that position and I don’t know how anyone could deal with a helpdesk job for more than 2-3 years. Anyway since my current job functions deal substantially with the web I still find myself directing common users to go to certain sites on the web and that is what prompted my to write this entry.
I cannot begin to count the times that I have told Bob (real name to remain anonymous) to go to the address bar and type in a site and then hit enter. Unfortunately, instead to typing the address into the web browser Bob types it into the search box of whatever page comes up as his default homepage. Then Bob then tells me well it says that it found 0 results, so something must be wrong with the website. After I ask him assure me that he did indeed type the address where I told him to, he explains that yes he did and the site just must not be working. Well that conversation usually goes on for about another 5-10 minutes and then all of the sudden a surprised Bob finds that “magical address bar” that must of just appeared all of the sudden. His next comment for me usually is something like “Oh so that is where you wanted me to type the web address in at”.
Maybe some people might think I am being too harsh on Bob as he may not be a very web savvy user. Well I don’t think so because the whole situation could have been avoided if he had just listened to the clear explicit directions that I gave him. Does anyone else get to have fun experiences like this?
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Salesman: Hey Jason, how is it I delete more than one email at a time? I know I have asked you three times this month but I forget what you told me.
A Boss: Can you show me how I load my Ipod again.
Random End User: Can I take my keyboard home and put it in the dishwasher?
Thanks for your post, now I gotta head back to therapy.