The calls you dread the most.

[emujo]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

Any kind of "can't print/scan" that involves a mom and pop with no IT support and assumes the copier service company will fix their network issues for free because "we have a service contract"...Emujo

[Debs1964]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

I'm pretty new at this (half a year)

Get out while you still have the chance, once that toner really gets ingrained under your fingernails then you're trapped for life

At the moment the calls I dread most are anything that involves a photocopier, printer, or any other type of office equipment that an end user perceives to have a problem, but that's just me being a grumpy old bag

I generally hate noise faults because quite often I can't even hear what it is they're complaining about

[gwaddle]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

Get out while you still have the chance, once that toner really gets ingrained under your fingernails then you're trapped for life

At the moment the calls I dread most are anything that involves a photocopier, printer, or any other type of office equipment that an end user perceives to have a problem, but that's just me being a grumpy old bag

I generally hate noise faults because quite often I can't even hear what it is they're complaining about

Then I guess that makes me a grumpy old bag too.

[fixthecopier]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

Then I guess that makes me a grumpy old bag too.

I think it must go with the job. I haven't seen a happy looking tech that works for other companies. I drive around jamming to my music, looking like I am having a great time, and when I see other techs and wave, they look like they want to flip me off.

[fixthecopier]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

I got a nice one today. Last call at a church. Bizhub c203. Black speckles. Drum has about 235,000 on it. I go to shop to get a drum and the drama starts.

It seems the asshole salesman who made the deal, fucked it up. Basically they were getting free color copies. Before he got fired, for stealing another salesman's checkbook and writing $10,000 worth of checks, the boss was taking it out of his pay. When he got fired, the boss started billing them, which they won't pay. I didn't know any of this and told them I would be back in an hour. Well the boss was supposed to call and ask them to pay the $2,000 they owed. I guess he didn't because at 10 til 5 the shop calls me because the lady is waiting for me to come back. Now I look like an ass.

[JPiek]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

Okay...

For printers and copyers that would definitely be "It makes noise sometimes" and "It jams sometimes, but no probs last 4 days", however, the %$#@# that still use Tipex and the the ADF makes a nice second.

But copyers is only part of my work, i'm allround IT engineer (from desktops, laptops to Servers HP Blades etc...), so if a customer come's with a Windows priblem "Sorry, I only do hardware, I can only fix your Windows with a screwdriver..."

Worst call ever ? A HP Laptop with onsite Warranty. Keyboard isn't functioning. Well it does, but gives the wrong caracters.
Het gets a "2" instead of a "k" and a "6"instead of an "o"... So i call and friendly request to press "Numlock" once... To no avail... So we order a keyboard under warranty. I get on-site, check the keyboard, blow a speck of dust from under the numlock, press it once, voila

[Zackuth]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

For me, the calls I dread the most are intermittent issues. Sometimes it jams. Sometimes it puts marks on the paper. Sometimes it doesn't print. Even though I have the jam/error reports or an example of the problem, the machine will work perfectly while I'm there. I will usually try something to "fix" the problem, clean rollers, update/reflash firmware, whatever. I just don't like telling customers I don't know if I've done anything to help them.

[KenB]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

Any call that initiates with a call to the owner of your dealership. Never good.

[fixthecopier]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

Any call that initiates with a call to the owner of your dealership. Never good.

You mean the fire management started, and then promoted you to fireman.

[nmfaxman]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

That makes 3 grumpy old people.

Hate having my time taken away for a DAAHR problem. (Dumb As A Hot Rock).
They insist on me to come out and I clean the F'N slit glass, install toner-paper, printing wrong, scanning wrong.

Any DAAHR calls are the worst. They shouldn't be allowed to operate the machine, let alone troubleshoot it.

[Iowatech]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

Calls for envelope jams? Aw, crap. Lets get this over with.

[igi]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

the ones that keep on ringing

[Exok]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

I think the calls I hate the most are developer leaks on any machine where they design the developer housing to sit directly above the registration and paper feed assemblies. On a bunch of Savin machines I would get these calls from time to time and it required stripping the machine down to frame, replacing about half a dozen clutches and a whole bunch of gears with one way bearings and vacuum / clean out developer from every nook and cranny. I recently had a Xerox 5335 where a tech replaced the PCU (contains the drum & DV unit in one easy to replace unit) and it was defective. After about half a week of use it started to jam up and they sent me there to follow up. That call took about 10 hours in total to get every bit of leaked developer out of everything it spilled into.

One particular call i remember dreading a few years back was going out to repair a Xerox Colorqube (at the time I was trained on them but had not actually done a service call on one in the field for 3 months since training. This machine uses melted wax as ink and uses a kind of inkjet technology to make copies so It was very different kind of machine than anything else I've worked on in the past). It was for an image quality problem. Now that might not have been so horrible if it were not for the fact that this particular machine was a demo machine owned by my company, the machine was on the floor (on display) at a huge copier convention at the time. I had sales and service managers in the booth with me looking over my shoulder asking me every 2 minutes how long it would take to fix while potential new customers looked on and probably thought "what a piece of junk". I sweated my way through about 2 hours of trying to fix that machine but in the end told them it would need a new print head to fix it.

[fixthecopier]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

That makes 3 grumpy old people.

Hate having my time taken away for a DAAHR problem. (Dumb As A Hot Rock).
They insist on me to come out and I clean the F'N slit glass, install toner-paper, printing wrong, scanning wrong.

Any DAAHR calls are the worst. They shouldn't be allowed to operate the machine, let alone troubleshoot it.

If dumb people were not allowed to use office equipment, our industry would collapse.

[kikinkuntry]

Re: The calls you dread the most.

One particular call i remember dreading a few years back was going out to repair a Xerox Colorqube (at the time I was trained on them but had not actually done a service call on one in the field for 3 months since training. This machine uses melted wax as ink and uses a kind of inkjet technology to make copies so It was very different kind of machine than anything else I've worked on in the past). It was for an image quality problem. Now that might not have been so horrible if it were not for the fact that this particular machine was a demo machine owned by my company, the machine was on the floor (on display) at a huge copier convention at the time. I had sales and service managers in the booth with me looking over my shoulder asking me every 2 minutes how long it would take to fix while potential new customers looked on and probably thought "what a piece of junk". I sweated my way through about 2 hours of trying to fix that machine but in the end told them it would need a new print head to fix it.

I am trained on the 92/93 qubes. Worked on quite a few in the field before I decided I no longer work on them. I know enough now though that had I been in your shoes, I would have pulled the sales guy aside and said " this will take hours, not minutes".

I got tired of these 4 hour calls that kill my BEI. Now I just dump my Qube calls on the newbies!