r/Talesfromtechsupport "My Computer is Literally on Fire" 

"HELP MY COMPUTER IS ON FIRE OMGGGGG" "have you tried turning it off and back on again?"

"She already sucked the dirt off of it the first time; it's clean now!" That's such a dad-response omg rslash 😂

I fielded a "my laptop's battery is smoking... Wait, it's on fire! Oh god hold on a second... Yeah, I threw it out the window. It landed in my pool." call once. It was fun. Not as fun as "my computer's on fire!" followed by someone screaming, "NO GARY THAT'S A FIREPLACE SCREENSAVER. STOP DRINKING ON THE JOB!"

I love the story about the old guy, not everyone's a piece of trash

“It’s clean now 😊” I can literally hear your wife’s expression😡 😂

Mr Smith is my greatest fear, to live so long that there is no one left. How sad that must be. :(

"Mine (my kid) can troubleshoot." LMAO.

As SOON as he said "While we're on the topic f being proud of our kids-" a big ol' grin spread across my face-Lily's so cute! Wish yall the best :D

I remember once I was on the phone with tech support and I clearly and distinctly heard in the background *"A MONKEY CAN DO THESE TASKS!! WHY CAN'T THE IDIOTS THAT CALL?!?"* I busted out laughing and the tech tried to apologize but I told her that her co-worker's comment was the best that I've ever heard and to give him a hi-5 for me. :-)

The Mr. Smith story was so wholesome🥺❤ bless OP's soul for actually going out to visit him.

Former tech support here. Once a user sent us a "screen shot" of an error. Hand-drawn on a paper, scanned, and e-mailed.

Plot twist: the keyboard was possessed by an annoyed tech 👻

I love Rslash being a proud dad for lily Slash sucking his finger.

I Love the mini updates we get on RSlash and his growing family - it brings a smile on my face every time - thank you for letting us in on your joy ☺️ and thanks as well for daily content it's awesome!

"I'm now a priest" dfkm😂😭😭😭😭

The story about the old man with cable issues reminds me of a call I had when I worked for ' Billing Department. This was 10+ years ago. I get a call and it's this elderly woman. She was incredibly friendly - and her voice, I remember it to this day. It had that lilt that's incredibly stereotypical of the elderly - and she had that tone that makes you think of the kindly old Grandma from a sitcom who would reply to shocking things with an "oh my!" and admonish you for saying things like "Dang it!" Her bill was in the rears by 2 months - with her service disconnected in the Data Base, but not yet disconnected at her home. So with a payment of past due her service could just be turned on. But her situation wasn't that simple. She was between Social Security Checks, and just had enough for food and her medication. It'd be at least 2 weeks before she could pay. I let her know I was really sorry, but that I had no way of restoring her service without payment and she was at risk of full disconnection - which would result in having to pay the entire account balance, and a setup fee to send someone out to restart her service. She started crying. She explained that her Adult Son had just died, that she had no other living family, she didn't have friends - the only thing she had in her life was her TV. It utterly crushed my heart. I'd just lost my Mom the year before quite suddenly. My Mom had me, my Dad, and other family - but she didn't really have friends. When she wasn't at work or out with me or my Dad, she just stayed home and watched Cooking Network, BBC (We're from the US, but she LOVED British Culture), or shows like Bones. But my hands were literally tied. I considered paying the bill myself, but in training someone told a story of an employee doing that and getting fired. Even if I overwrote the disconnect, it'd be put back in place within a day - the change would be flagged for review - and I could be written up or even fired. There was no way to accept a Promise to Pay or make any sort of payment arrangements. She ended up accepting I couldn't do anything and sounding incredibly tired, and still softly crying, she ended the call. I ended up taking myself out of the call queue long enough to have a Supervisor come over to find out why I wasn't taking calls. They found me sitting at my desk quietly crying. I felt utterly evil - as if I'd personally gone to her home and told her that she didn't matter and that all we cared about was her money - and then killed her puppy, her kitten, and broke her favorite tea cup. I hated working for that company, and ended up leaving within a year of the incident. So many soul crushing incidents at that company that made me think that there is no "good" company to work for. Thankfully over the past decade I've seen that - no - that was just an evil company that doesn't care about its customers or its employees.

I get those calls all the time. "Hi, I just need help creating an online account." "Are you on the webpage?" "Yes." "Then click on the "Register Now" button" "But I already have a policy." "Right, but this is just to create your online account, so you can see your policies." All. The. Time....

"The calls I received made me weep for humanity." Ladies, gents, and everyone between and beyond the spectrum, there's a lesson I learned from TFS's Hellsing Ultimate Abridged: don't weep for the stupid, you'll be crying all day.

Lilly updates are always welcome! Sounds like Lilly’s getting her immunity built up on her own! Good girl ❤️

My husband works a lot now and our toddler started potty training. We started giving him pull-ups and my husband was excited because he puts them on like underwear. My husband came to me and said, “Look what I taught him!”… I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I taught him that…. His mom, my MIL, saw him do it before my husband did.

That weird moment when you become a priest just by unplugging a keyboard.

The moment a toddler understands tech better than most adults. So, evidently, the adults who can't do it, have the brain capacity of a chimpanzee.

I like how op’s baby can troubleshoot his toy computer XD

“I KNOW HOW TO USE A MOUSE *proceeds to keep clicking left click and not right*”

Oh, that one with the 94-year-old man just touched me... And, my neighbors must be cutting up onions again. The last time an ISP tech came out was shortly after the ice storms and brownouts here in Texas. He ended up having to get a team out to work on a box down the road and a lot of folks around here got new routers. My wife & I made sure they were always welcome to come in and warm up by the fireplace and grab a cup of coffee. They were all such sweethearts and have no idea how much they are appreciated.

I want him to hold the baby while reading one story so we can get babybloopers.

"We killed _user A's_ network account with pleasure." I actually threw my head back with laughter on that one. :'-D

the mr smith one, i was tearing up ;.;

Sound dad logic "it's clean now" The second bit of dad logic is "i'm building her immune system"

I’ve missed Tales From Tech Support!!! Good Afternoon from the UK!

rslash wife: dont let her do that, dirty hands rslash: yeah ok baby does it again rslash wife: hey told you, dont do that rslash: its ok, she already cleaned it rslash wife: so you have chosen sleeping on the couch

The 1 dislike is from the fired coworker😂😂💔

that first story of the kid turning off and on the baby laptop made me shed a binary tear...

7:05 oh thank god. I figured management would punish OP for making a personal trip

I hope that everyone is having a great Wednesday!

R/ is in full dad mode, behaving and thinking like a dad, while his wife validates the life insurance policy amount.

I came home one night from work to find that my son had hacked into my Diablo 2 account and was happily playing away. He was 3. To log in you needed to enter the user name (which was stored) and the password (which wasn't). He had seen me enter the password so many times he just knew it and entered it. I tell this story all the time. I'm a proud poppa. He's 24 now and just groans when I start it off.

Whenever I hear tales of tech support stories it makes me think of this story that I heard once. It goes something like this... So OP is a tech support guy and he gets this call. The guy says, “My computer won’t turn on.” OP - You’ve pressed the power button? Guy - yes. Does nothing. OP - Ok, can you make sure all the wires are plugged in correctly? Sometimes cords can come loose. Guy - I can’t... it’s kind of dark. OP - Try pulling out the tower a little more. It should be fine. Guy - Nah, that won’t work. It’s just too dark. OP - Do you maybe have another light you can bring in or a flashlight? Guy - I don’t have a flashlight. OP - Ok, what about another light you can plug in? Guy - That won’t work. The power is out so the lights aren’t working. OP - ... ... ... Ok, I think I’ve figured out your problem here. Guy - So what do I have to do to fix it? OP - Do you still have the box for the computer? Guy - Yes... is it really that bad? OP - Yes, it is. I need you to pack the computer up to send back to the manufacturer... on it you need to leave a note saying, “I’M TOO STUPID TO OWN A COMPUTER!” Sadly, the tech was fired over this...

Honestly the old man story was very wholesome and almost made me cry

Ayy morning everyone :D I love tales from tech support

Watching this on my 11th hour of a genshin binge, thank you for the background noise Rslash.

Listening to this while driving to my tech support job :)

My morning routine: walk the dogs, make eggs, watch rSlash. Wonderful.

Just got a new senior IT Engineer position and the day after R Slash does a tales from tech support video... Coincidence... I THINK NOT! R Slash is watching us all... Be careful all...

When my son ate things off the floor or lick something all I did was say out loud " take that immune system!"

Mr Smith brought a tear to my eye. I'll be 62 this year and have had some health problems. I have to call insurance companies and Dr Offices and get stuck on hold for some horrible length of time. The worst was "Your call is important to us. Please remain on the line and an operator will be with you shortly." One hour and 50 minutes later an operator comes on the line. My call took all of seven minutes. I thanked the operator for her assistance but asked if my call only took seven minutes why did I have to wait an hour an 50 minutes. I could almost hear her start to cry when she said due to covid-19 we are really short handed and nobody want to work in a call center. I almost thought that I was the A-hole. I thanked her for her help and hung up.

I feel the IT pain. There are still people out there who think their disk drive is a cup holder.

7:22 I work front gate security for an amusement park, and that reminded me of a lesson we're taught every year: Usually, a customer isn't directly mad at you the employee, but rather their situation. It could be destructively hot outside, little Timmy isn't happy, the tickets were forgotten, or even because someone was in a hurry to use the bathroom. You never do know what's going on in someone's head, and unfortunately many people can't or won't verbalize it and then let their frustrations overtake them. But it helps to know: They're not mad at you, they're mad their shipment is stuck at customs, or that the reports can't get submitted on time 🙂

A troubleshooting toddler? There actually is hope for humanity. :-)

7:30 It's enough to make a grown may cry.

First story: He is tech Priest of the Omnissiah.

TV repairman here; from time to time my dad will send me on house call to older people that are having problems with their tvs. It was honestly saddening how many calls I’ve been on like the cable guys story, especially with Covid. It’s a great feeling seeing how happy they are when you get their tv working again

Naughty naughty with that admin password r/slash. As an IT professional, I both cringe and approve. :p

The Mr.Smith story really got me becauseI know for a fact that a lot of eldery peoples are very lonely and are not often interacting with other. It's very sad because they feel like we are giving theme a present by just talking to them. The OP behavior was perfect, I'm 100% that this act of kindness made the customer month (even if for us it's nothing) So don't forget to call your grandparents

That baby/computer story brought tears to my eyes. :D Love it.

I love when rSlash talks about his family, you can just hear all the love in his voice he has for his wife and baby. Always makes my day! Hope all are doing well!

I used to work in retail selling phones. And I had the hardest time telling the older people that would just come in and talk that I have to work. Most of the time I would just conversation with then and take longer to set up their phone a lot would stay afterwards and ask how to use. They'd tell you everything and they were always so happy to just be talking. A lot of the older people would frequently ask us to come out to their homes when we sold them home services. Always the nicest people. Legitimately warms my heart to hear this story.

That last story reminds me of the phrase "knows just enough to be dangerous." I remember the story of a user who had no idea that torrenting copyrighted material was illegal. They had probably just been shown how to do it by someone and never thought about it for a single second. They tried to defend themselves by saying it was easy, and if it was so easy it couldn't possibly be a crime (my summation of their strange logic) ... I think they were just surprised and shocked and defending their actions out of instinct rather then any real belief in the crazy stuff they were saying. Some people have no real conception of what they are actually do on a computer, they just know that if they push this series of buttons they get that result. So to suddenly be told that what you did was illegal and to lose your job over it must seem frightening and insane.

So a baby can turn something off and on again, but grownups can’t even comprehend basic troubleshooting instructions.

after the first one, a really good prank btw i didnt expect those onion cutting ninjas :D

The admin password thing happened to me literally today! I needed to bring my laptop to the IT support office for troubleshooting some issue. The guy needed to install something but because the password was too complex, he sent it on Teams. So I now have a network admin access, until he changes his password.

I love tech support. I called years ago to help set up my ps4 to my TV without a remote. They knew exactly how to do it and explained so well. Props to them

7:50 _I’m_ not crying, _you’re_ crying! 🥲

That TV story got me in tears

You Sir are defiantly a Dad. That was a perfect Dad response.

My fave sub! Already liked it and haven't even listened to it yet! Hahaha

The story about Mr. Smith was my favorite also. You need human contact and sometimes people are mean because they don’t get that. It’s like the video about the guy who wanted to see his grandma but couldn’t because of the virus. He made posters to show outside of her window.

The story with Mr. Smith was unexpectedly wholesome. I guess it pays to be nice even though someone is mean to you over the phone.

5:39 I met a an old nice lady a month ago and she was surprisingly 97 years old (very kind and only had small hearing loss) this man did not have to be grumpy at all

lol, funny to hear first-time parents talking about handwashing and keeping everything clean. By the second child, you'll catch them eating off the ground and just roll your eyes.

"Exorcism was performed, demons were banished, am now priest." Perfect comeback.

Not first

the Mr Smith story made me cry a bit. I would've treated that gentleman to lunch, he really sounds like he needs a friend

OMG that story with the old man... like... I'm not crying... my eyeballs are just a little sweaty... it's just raining on my face!

Ngl it kinda irritated me when that one person called the customers repeat offenders it’s like they’re either old or not tech savvy not criminals and if it aggravates you that people have issues with stuff or forget how things work maybe you shouldn’t be tech support!

The story with Mr Smith is a perfect example of how sometimes we can just get REALLY heated in the moment of things when we want help but when somebody steps out and provides that help and compassion you both realise your wrongs and appreciate that person immensely

First

To that proud parent with the troubleshooting kiddo, I love that story. An IT in the making!

Story about the old man reminded me of an experience working for Bell Canada. As I got a client call and he was bitching and moaning at how bad the service was blah blah blah and how no one ever listen to him and no one cares. I simply replied to him "I'm listening" then went quiet for almost a full minute then apologies and everything went smoothly after. I even got a glowing client review from him.

I have worked on call centers for a long time. I used to work for a insurance, we would care for MediCare clients. So lots of older people, and the stories you get are horrible. It was a real emotional work, the good thing was that we were not timed on the calls so we could spend hours talking with them, it was wholesome but sad.

"My wife was NOT thrilled about that answer" okay but that was a perfect Dad Joke moment

That toddler in the first story is smarter than half the people calling that IT support desk probably LOL

I had the same proud parent moment except my child was older. I was a Senior Test Engineer for my job which meant I spent my times trying to break systems/software. Sometimes we would just observe an failure and would have to trouble shoot. When my son was about 8, he had a problem with something not working and I watched him trouble shoot what was wrong. My heart swelled. Apparently the talents necessary to do the job are inherited.

That story about Mr Smith brought a tear to My eye, well done OP.

The story with the old man was so wholesome❤️❤️❤️

"I reset a guy's computer so he couldn't even retaliate." Classy. Malicious compliance is just people being praised for being arses.

Mr. Smith is hearwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.

A line from The IT Crowd went through my mind while listening to the trouble shooting toddler story “Hello IT….have you tried turning it off and then on?” 😂

To be honest, I 100% expected the person from the Mr. Smith story to say that they framed the letter but then fired OP right after for doing something like going out of their way to help a customer.

The story about Mr Smith is the saddest one I have heard on this channel. I hope he is still living and joyful.

Every mother's face just gave "the look" in unison as rslash just defended his daughter gnawing on his finger for the 2nd time "it's fine! The dirt was off the first time around!"

Mr smith story almost (kind of) made me cry. He sounds like a wonderful person. Its an inspiration to forgive people.

Mr Smith story had me in tear. Holding back as hard as I could. Bless him 😥

Thank you for choosing stories that the average tech user can understand and laugh at. Makes me feel less tech stupid.😁

The second story really impressed me. Something tells me that baby might be a reincarnated soul which already knew how to reset a computer.

I LOVED *You’re last story!! Hahahah That must’ve been awesome!! Not only could you now easily get through those hellishly slow days … But -If you knew what was wrong & how to fix it- you no longer needed to call and wait for tech support to come rescue you!! Way To Go RSLASH!!!

In 2010 my parents, both in their late 70s, had just celebrated their 52nd anniversary the month before my mom passed away. My daughter and I moved in with my dad afterwards to help him out. Understandably, he lost interest in most things and would watch tv. My daughter was still in school and I had taken a part time job to help with expenses. With the tv's and cable being digital and my dad not being tech savvy, if he accidentally hit the input button on the remote or something going on with the tv, he'd turn the tv off and wait for me to get home to fix it. That meant that sometimes he'd just sit there doing nothing, would go looking for something to do, or just take a nap waiting for me. It always made me feel so sad for him even tho I'd usually get home around 1130am-1200pm.

oh my, the story of the elderly man made me well up! What a nice story-a small gesture that went a long way. You honestly never know what others are going through. And, the elderly are prone to social isolation and depression with increasing age. My heart is warm after listening to that story.

I had also thought that the Manager was going to say that Mr. Smith was dead. This was actually a pleasant surprise. :-)

The Mr Smith story - I loved it. I hope the guy went back to visit more than just that one time.