Computer literate?

When I first went to work in the shop, Keith's son made me laugh by saying that he thought people should not be allowed to buy computers unless they had passed a test first.
Now, however, I am beginning to think he might have a point, especially when you have someone telling you they need a monitor which will work with Windows 98, or you spend 10 minutes on the phone talking someone through the spec. of a laptop and they ring you 5 minutes later, complaining that they haven't been told any details about this laptop except the price, so before they come to see it, they would like you to fax them the details. Then there's the lady ringing up on behalf of her husband for a 'power supply.' What is it for? you ask - a tower, a laptop, a monitor? A tower. Do you mean the 'kettle lead' ? I ask. Yes, that's right, she says. The husband then comes on to tell me it's for a small tower and it's only 6 inches long. Eventually, we establish that it's a PSU that he is looking for. The best today was a lady who came in and spent several minutes scrutinising the computer systems on display. Eventually she wandered over to ask if the units (part of the shop fittings) they were displayed on were for sale as she is looking for a corner unit for her son's computer.
(Maybe I'm the one who needs to do a test!)

3 comments:

broomhilda said...

When I wanted to purchase a new computer (the last one I bought was in 1995)I called tha same company I had gotten the previous one from. I told them that I needed it to multi-task large data bases, hold lots of pictured, play games, movies, music, I needed to be able to copy files, movies and music to disks, I needed Dsl compatability, upgradeability, and customer service people who would not laugh in my face and would speak slowly and in plain everyday language. And the softwear that I wanted. I am very happy with what they sent. I could not have told them how much ram, rom, etc... though I know basically what these things are, I haven't a clue as to how much I would need to do what I want. I like helpfull professionals, we need you, please don't make us take a test. Be patient with us.

Jennytc said...

People like you are great.It's people who think they know everything about computers that are the real pains!
Just for you, we'll suspend the test! Lol

broomhilda said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you. :-)

Plaster board and dust

So, we're still no further forward on the British Gas smart meter front and I've given up making non-existent appointments with them...