Anyone actually like being a tech?

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  • prntrfxr
    Service Manager

    1,000+ Posts
    • Apr 2008
    • 1622

    #46
    This all reminds me of one of the things I miss about being a field tech. That is, you get to go places other people only dream about and rarely ever see. For example, how many people have seen a nuclear power plant or fixed a printer in a CNN newsroom with the news in progress. I've met VP's of huge corporations, been in their corner offices and had coffee with the guy after fixing his printer, when the majority of the people working there have never seen past the 3rd floor. I've been in places that were guarded by soldiers with automatic rifles and I've been in small offices with only 3 people. Yes there are negatives, but what job could you have that would let you do that! Not even the couriers that entered the same entrances I do have the clearance to go where I've gone. When you can go to a major city and point out to your family that your customers work in those buildings and couldn't do their job effectively without you...well, enough said...

    I saw this next phrase on a forum (Toyota today and laughed out loud because sometimes it is so true. Hope it gives you a laugh for the day.

    "I swear to God, it's like I live in a trailer of common sense, and stare out the window at a tornado of stupidity."
    Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Coke in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO, what a ride!".

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    • Shadow1
      Service Manager

      Site Contributor
      1,000+ Posts
      • Sep 2008
      • 1642

      #47
      Originally posted by prntrfxr
      I swear to God, it's like I live in a trailer of common sense, and stare out the window at a tornado of stupidity.
      I'm stealing that.
      73 DE W5SSJ

      Comment

      • prntrfxr
        Service Manager

        1,000+ Posts
        • Apr 2008
        • 1622

        #48
        Hey, Shadow. I knew you'd like it. You know it had to be a southerner to come up with it too...

        Originally Posted by prntrfxr
        I swear to God, it's like I live in a trailer of common sense, and stare out the window at a tornado of stupidity.
        I'm stealing that.
        Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Coke in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO, what a ride!".

        Comment

        • Stirton.M
          All things Konica Minolta

          1,000+ Posts
          • Oct 2009
          • 1804

          #49
          I've had some awesome jobs and some shitty jobs, but all the jobs were not like this one. I like the freedom of being away from the office. So long as the machines get repaired in a timely fashion and I don't piss off the customer in the doing, management leaves me be.

          But there are days when I don't like the job...when the customer is one of those snobs who look down their noses as us techs as lowlifes to them, who think their shit don't stink, but are dumb as bricks where real comprehension of anything beyond that of their little worlds is concerned. Heaven forbid you get them to read the fine print.

          Case in point, I get shit about a service call I went to to resolve a jamming issue. After 15 minutes of dealing with 2 different people (lawyers) who kept saying the machine was jamming everywhere, yet the jam counters had no history of jams, and the users refused to let me explain to them what information I needed in order to "fix" the problem, rather than a generic "paper is stuck everywhere", only to find in the count history a huge number of service codes. Once I discovered that, I pointed it out, letting them know this was what I really needed to know, and that in the future, it would be appreciated by me and any other tech who comes to fix the copier, to know this before we go to the call. In this particular case, the code was generated on large jobs, so the machine would halt and several pieces of paper would be stuck throughout the machine (obviously). What the customer failed to note was that this code was the first thing on the screen they would see, large black and white text on an all white screen, 6 digits long, C-XXXX. And in this particular case, and usually with many other codes, sometimes there are parts that need to be replaced as standard procedure.

          This place was an hour's drive from the office. I had to return to the office, find the parts, and then go back, fight for parking and spent another hour tearing the machine apart to replace the part that was defective. 3 hours travel, plus another 2 hours roughly for the repair and troubleshooting. A call that could have taken at most 2 hours or so if I was given the right information ahead of time. I was cordial when I talked to the customer. But I guess they didn't like being addressed by a mere underling such as myself, asking them to actually READ the control panel error in the future to help us techs out and expedite their fix. They sent a hate email to my boss and asked I never go back.

          And my attitude towards them, is fine....I fuckin hate lawyers anyway. I swear they all take courses in being snobby s.o.b.s

          This matter is still in the middle of being dealt with.

          But on the plus side, these assholes represent less than a tenth of a percent of the customers who I deal with on a daily basis. Most love my service, I show up quickly and have them going within a reasonable amount of time. Mostly because many of those customers actually take the time to read the message displayed on the screen in big black letters on an all white background, impossible to miss kind of thing, and relay that to the dispatch center. Happiness is when the customer meets you half way there.

          Now if only God would hear my prayers to smite all lawyers.
          "Many years ago I chased a woman for almost two years, only to discover that her tastes were exactly like mine: we both were crazy about girls."
          ---Groucho Marx


          Please do not PM me for questions related to Konica Minolta hardware.
          I will not answer requests or questions there.
          Please ask in the KM forum for the benefit of others to see the question and give their input.

          Comment

          • Stirton.M
            All things Konica Minolta

            1,000+ Posts
            • Oct 2009
            • 1804

            #50
            Originally posted by fixthecopier
            Sometimes they can't use better paper. Government is supposed to use recycled paper, even though it cost more. We also service Ricohs, and Konica Minolta. At one point I had 325 one year old Konicas, and 650 7 year old Konicas on base at the same time. Me and another guy who was not much of a tech did them all including deliveries and paid printer calls. One week out of the month, the other guy collected meters and I worked them all by myself. We lost the 650 machine contract to another dealer selling the Ricoh, it was a low bidder thing. Their machines are less than a year old and I have seen as many as 3 to 4 techs of theirs on some days working the machines. Just wait til they get 4 or 5 years old. I had 3 work orders on my 325 Bizhubs this week, if that means anything.
            I like KM machines, at least the colour machines newer than the C350s. Most of the time, keeping them clean and replace the feed/sep rollers regularly and they just keep running. Some machine models have quirks that require mods, but even then, we do those as we come to em. But of the 6000 or so assorted colour machines out there in this city, I might see 4 calls a day at most, along with the rest of the guys in my team of 6 colour techs. And many of those are consumable related or operator error related. Real excitment last week was when our third party delivery guy dropped a machine being returned to a customer and I had to go do a guestimate for damages....man, was that customer pissed. But in spite of that C352 being dropped on its side, damage was limited to pretty much all cosmetic. Two panels and a tray door. I was dissapointed I didn't get to "repair" more.

            Some days, I feel like a Maytag rep.
            "Many years ago I chased a woman for almost two years, only to discover that her tastes were exactly like mine: we both were crazy about girls."
            ---Groucho Marx


            Please do not PM me for questions related to Konica Minolta hardware.
            I will not answer requests or questions there.
            Please ask in the KM forum for the benefit of others to see the question and give their input.

            Comment

            • fotocom
              Technician

              50+ Posts
              • Nov 2008
              • 96

              #51
              I really dont think that any job is worth getting "physically ill" over. I love the job, but that doestn't mean I love every minute of it, we all have our bad days.
              However I have noticed certain techs can be a little bit negative. Machines will break down and in this line of work we tend to meet the good the bad and the ugly. It annoys me however when people make broad sweepinging statements like all sales people are the same, or all customers are dumb or all lawyers are this or all managers are that. Look their are good and bad people in all walks of life, including good and bad techs. All you can do as a tech is do your best and give 100%, and if that isnt enough for certain people well there is nothing you can do about it

              Comment

              • prntrfxr
                Service Manager

                1,000+ Posts
                • Apr 2008
                • 1622

                #52
                @ fotocom, I agree completely. Like I said before, half of it is attitude. How you approach the job. Other than that any customer service rep will tell you that you can't please everyone all the time. There are some people who are just not happy people, and no matter what you do you can't change it. It's been my experience that negative people usually die young and live alone or make everyone around them miserable. Be happy and it rubs off on those around you. If you don't like the job, you can find another one you do like. No one makes you work anywhere you don't want to. My viewpoint is I was looking for a job when I came to this place I can be looking for a job when I leave. Although everyone has a bad day once in a while, you can keep carrying that around with you. It's harmful, let it go.
                Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Coke in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO-HOO, what a ride!".

                Comment

                • WOETC

                  #53
                  I found myself a while ago wondering if I was in the right job. I thought "what do I do when I'm not working - for fun." I Fix things. I must be in the right job. Now I hate my job and can't wait to retire. It's not the machines, nor the customers. It's the bloody company i work for. I like the long trips because I'm out of the office, If you drive 2 hours each way to a job, you're not expected to do 8 of those a day.

                  Comment

                  • Tonerbomb
                    AutoMajical Resolutionist

                    Site Contributor
                    2,500+ Posts
                    • Feb 2005
                    • 2589

                    #54
                    Not any F@!*! more!! 25 years later wish I wasn't..... The fun was had and now is gone!!!!
                    Mystic Crystal Revelations

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                    • jonezy999
                      just one copy??

                      Site Contributor
                      500+ Posts
                      • Feb 2010
                      • 952

                      #55
                      Its a sweet job. Done a lot worse.
                      I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. ~Thomas Edison

                      Comment

                      • Stirton.M
                        All things Konica Minolta

                        1,000+ Posts
                        • Oct 2009
                        • 1804

                        #56
                        These days, if I am feeling fed up with the job, I watch an episode of "Worst Jobs in History".

                        worst jobs in history - Google Search

                        Works wonders....
                        "Many years ago I chased a woman for almost two years, only to discover that her tastes were exactly like mine: we both were crazy about girls."
                        ---Groucho Marx


                        Please do not PM me for questions related to Konica Minolta hardware.
                        I will not answer requests or questions there.
                        Please ask in the KM forum for the benefit of others to see the question and give their input.

                        Comment

                        • Shadow1
                          Service Manager

                          Site Contributor
                          1,000+ Posts
                          • Sep 2008
                          • 1642

                          #57
                          Not since Ricoh bought Ikon and Ikon took us over.

                          F@#*ing Morons - Ikon put themselves in a position to get bought by a smaller company why the H@%^ would you want to do what they were doing.
                          73 DE W5SSJ

                          Comment

                          • Oze
                            Ricoh Fanboy

                            1,000+ Posts
                            • Jul 2008
                            • 1663

                            #58
                            Was a tradesman bookbinder in the printing industry for 30 years prior to becoming a tech.....this beats bookbinding hands down..!!!!

                            Comment

                            • jmaister
                              certified scrub

                              Site Contributor
                              500+ Posts
                              • Aug 2010
                              • 755

                              #59
                              oh i like being a tech, love it very much.

                              There's no specific way of becoming skillful, everyone has their own pace. Its when you're told to progress at certain pace, that makes me hate my job.
                              Idling colour developers are not healthy developers.

                              Comment

                              • 1nevster
                                Technician
                                • Dec 2010
                                • 49

                                #60
                                I love the job and really enjoy it even after 18 years. Sure I get bad days where nothing seems to go right but to be honest I learn more from those days than any others if truth be told!
                                I do get anxious if I couldnt fix a machine on the first visit but again when I return and fix the problem with a modified part or whatever etc etc then I feel I learned alot more to add to my knowledge base.
                                I wouldn't like to be doing anything else, I enjoy the travelling also and variety. D.

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