View Full Version : Stupid questions you get asked at work.
bornmx
05-19-2008, 12:42 AM
Im a computer sales person, i also sell consoles and games.
Just had a kid thats about 12 ask me if the DDR mat for xb360 was made out of electricity??
WTF
Does the internet come on CD-ROM?
voodoogriff
05-25-2008, 09:51 AM
I work for UPS, the stupidest question I got isn't so much @ work (as night shifters are mostly just zombies without their flesh decayed) but rather about work.
Whenver I tell someone I work there, without fail I get asked "Do you know x person?"
The problem being in that the building I work in has over 1400 employees all told. Yeah, I know em all!
Kedash00
05-25-2008, 04:16 PM
i work in advanced tech for like wireless internet and blackberry servers and such, and i get people that call in sometimes about their internet service and i say ok, lets figure out what's wrong with you internet, let get to your start menu...and they say "what's that?"
right then i know it's gonna be a long call...
another one my but i didnt think anyone could actually be this dumb but...
My friend starts laughing one day uncontrollibly (sp) and i was like WTF?...so i go over to his desk and after like 5 minutes of him not being able to talk cause he's laughing so hard. He said someone called him and said they broke their cup holder on their pc, and he was like what? a cup holder? (keep in mind we dont support general computer questions) and he started asking him what model he had and he said it was a HP and he was like...crazy...so my friend jumps on the HP website too see the new computer that has a cupholder in it and he couldn't find it and he started asking this guy about his pc and where the cup holder was and it ends up he was using his dvd drive for a cupholder and he broke it when he put a cup of coffee in it...and my friend started laughing and had to transfer the guy cause he couldn't talk to him... i also laughed my ass off when he told me that...
Marathon
05-28-2008, 11:17 PM
My stupid questions at work will get a long break tommorow at around noon for the students summer vaction. Two months off !!!! So nice !!! :thumbsup:
My stupid questions at work will get a long break tommorow at around noon for the students summer vaction. Two months off !!!! So nice !!! :thumbsup:I knew it!!! I remember quite a few times seeing our teaching/professor sitting at his/her desk looking at the class while having this expression on their face like "Man these students are f#%king IDIOTS!!!" Apparently it goes both ways eh? :thumbup:
Anozireth
05-29-2008, 12:28 AM
My stupid questions at work will get a long break tommorow at around noon for the students summer vaction. Two months off !!!! So nice !!! :thumbsup:I knew it!!! I remember quite a few times seeing our teaching/professor sitting at his/her desk looking at the class while having this expression on their face like "Man these students are f#%king IDIOTS!!!" Apparently it goes both ways eh? :thumbup:I love it when you can tell the instructor thinks a question was stupid. :D
Smegster
05-30-2008, 08:44 PM
lol, i work security night shift at a port.
when lorries come in 50% of time they come and ask me if it is ok to turn the lorry around when slap bang in there face is a big sign post saying turning point. ergh. funny at first but after a while.. :P
i like the cup holder story :P lol!
Meh...I think about the stupidiest question my boss ever asked me was, "Do you want to go home early?"
Dorffo
06-02-2008, 11:42 AM
"so adding this new feature and that functionality without pushing out delivery date won't be an issue right?"
shinigam1
06-03-2008, 08:58 AM
I work at Moes South Western Grill and people always ask me what Queso is : :rolleyes:
Its is the nancho cheese stuff
I use to be a waiter at On The Border a mexican grill type restaurant here in Arizona and I had an east coast customer on a particular night. I asked her if she wanted some Jalapenos pronouncing it in proper spanish as it is a spanish word. She looks at me like I'm the dumbest person alive and in a very snotty way says to me, " You mean Ja-Lap-Pen-Noes?" I shot her a even bigger ' you got to be the biggest retard you the world' look and said to her in a stern voice, "Nooooo, I mean Ha-La-Peen-Yo-Sss. It's a spanish word and does not sound how it looks in English."
Zite83
06-03-2008, 11:36 PM
I'm a su chef at my restaurant and while on line helping the cooks out, the servers always ask, are you hot back there..? I reply "No the chef coat keeps me cool and sweat free while I'm in front of this 400 degree grill..." (while sweat is just pouring from my face.)
Sarduci
06-05-2008, 05:20 PM
i work in advanced tech for like wireless internet and blackberry servers and such, and i get people that call in sometimes about their internet service and i say ok, lets figure out what's wrong with you internet, let get to your start menu...and they say "what's that?"
right then i know it's gonna be a long call...
another one my but i didnt think anyone could actually be this dumb but...
My friend starts laughing one day uncontrollibly (sp) and i was like WTF?...so i go over to his desk and after like 5 minutes of him not being able to talk cause he's laughing so hard. He said someone called him and said they broke their cup holder on their pc, and he was like what? a cup holder? (keep in mind we dont support general computer questions) and he started asking him what model he had and he said it was a HP and he was like...crazy...so my friend jumps on the HP website too see the new computer that has a cupholder in it and he couldn't find it and he started asking this guy about his pc and where the cup holder was and it ends up he was using his dvd drive for a cupholder and he broke it when he put a cup of coffee in it...and my friend started laughing and had to transfer the guy cause he couldn't talk to him... i also laughed my ass off when he told me that...
I read that on a BBS post like 15+ years ago. (I think i was 14 at the time.. 14.4k modem FTW). At the time a CDROM drive was about $500 and required a special interface card. lolSpecial interface card? Ha! my Sound Blaser AWE32 with Wavetable extension had one built in! And i bought the 4 x 1mb SIMMs to put on it to load MIDI instructions to it! I still have it sitting on a shelf because I paid $500 for the whole dang thing. Too bad new computers don't have ISA slots anymore.... or run MFC hard drives..... dang it....
Sarduci
06-05-2008, 05:28 PM
" You mean we have to pay you and THEN you'll support it?"
or my favorite
"Why didn't you tell me that we don't pay you for support??? You wasted 3 hours of my time waiting for you to call back on something you don't even fix!!"
Yes, calling back people who don't pay me anything is a top priority.....
Zaelar
06-05-2008, 09:13 PM
I'm usually the one asking the stupid questions.
I find it funny that forum admins could just copy/paste threads in their own forum into these threads.
Marathon
06-05-2008, 10:30 PM
Still on summer vaction so I am not dealing with stupid questions on a regular basis. However, people do ask me if I like summer vaction and I kinda think that is a stupid question !!!!
Psybercop
06-18-2008, 04:33 AM
My Top 2:
1. Is it really Illegal to ______________ ? (Probably or you wouldn't have to ask/be in handcuffs)
2. Are you really writing me a ticket for _______________ ? (No it's small joke I play on myself to see if I can laugh later)
sme of the questions I have heard over the yeas make me set back and go wow!
Marathon
06-19-2008, 12:27 AM
1. Is it really Illegal to ______________ ? (Probably or you wouldn't have to ask/be in handcuffs)
2. Are you really writing me a ticket for _______________ ? (No it's small joke I play on myself to see if I can laugh later)
sme of the questions I have heard over the yeas make me set back and go wow!
LOL !!!
Thanks for sharing those. My wife works as an assist D.A. - so i kinda get the same stories at home, but from the court room side of it.
I was giving a tech demo of an then-upcoming satellite television service and got asked "So, with this new satellite television service will I be able to pick up television channels?". Somehow I did manage to resist saying "No, you've found the one flaw in our system".
My brother though doesn't bother to resist these things. For a while he worked the phones at the complaints desk of the Royal Mail and someone phoned and furiously demanded "Does your company have a policy of hiring incompetents?" to which he calmly asked "Are you after the recruitment line?". As he said if a boss'd been listening in on the call and asked him about it he can always just say that he was enquiring about the recruitment policy and thought they'd know more than he did.
Skuggomann
06-19-2008, 09:17 AM
I work @ dominos (summer job wen im not in scool) and i got asked:
"Do you sell enyting else than pizzas?" ...i found the Q rather werd :S
Šeceased
06-19-2008, 10:24 AM
I was giving a tech demo of an then-upcoming satellite television service and got asked "So, with this new satellite television service will I be able to pick up television channels?". Somehow I did manage to resist saying "No, you've found the one flaw in our system".
My brother though doesn't bother to resist these things. For a while he worked the phones at the complaints desk of the Royal Mail and someone phoned and furiously demanded "Does your company have a policy of hiring incompetents?" to which he calmly asked "Are you after the recruitment line?". As he said if a boss'd been listening in on the call and asked him about it he can always just say that he was enquiring about the recruitment policy and thought they'd know more than he did.
hahaha!!!
Diamndzngunz
06-19-2008, 12:07 PM
I work at costco..
(stupid person) cuse me sa, where walnut?
(me) If you turned your stupid ass around they are RIGHT behind you.
(stupid person) zank you.
I swear to god, I cannot wait to leave this place.
-silencer-
06-19-2008, 04:11 PM
"so adding this new feature and that functionality without pushing out delivery date won't be an issue right?"
LOL, thanks, I need that! I hear that exact sentence on a weekly basis, and just want to bitchslap the next fool that thinks I'm not already busting my ass enough to get this current delivery requirements finished on a schedule that's already pushed a month earlier.
-silencer-
06-19-2008, 04:13 PM
I work @ dominos (summer job wen im not in scool) and i got asked:
"Do you sell enyting else than pizzas?" ...i found the Q rather werd :S
How that's a dumb question? Many pizza places (local and national) sell breadsticks, pastas, hot wings, and salads. I wouldn't consider any of those to be pizzas.
Diamndzngunz
06-19-2008, 06:09 PM
I work @ dominos (summer job wen im not in scool) and i got asked:
"Do you sell enyting else than pizzas?" ...i found the Q rather werd :S
How that's a dumb question? Many pizza places (local and national) sell breadsticks, pastas, hot wings, and salads. I wouldn't consider any of those to be pizzas.Shit even Pizza Hut sells wannabe Italian Food
Zaelar
06-20-2008, 04:14 AM
A lot of the questions in here aren't dumb. This thread is disappointing me.
Oathbreaker
06-21-2008, 12:47 AM
A lot of the questions in here aren't dumb. This thread is disappointing me.
This is because there is no such thing as a stupid / dumb question. Although, some circumstances do dictate a laugh every now and then.
Jorai
06-21-2008, 11:02 PM
"evocative...is that a word? i've heard of Pro-vocative, but never Ee-vocative. are you sure you didn't make that up?"
<< had to explain to a 40+ year old EDITOR what the word ecovative meant 8|
Klamor
06-22-2008, 05:58 PM
my friend works at this company that helps people fix their computers and apparently, someone moved their computer, but didn't bring any of the cables with them so they called up wondering why the computer wouldn't turn on
Lokked
06-23-2008, 01:10 PM
Back in the retail days:
Me: Is that on VISA or Mastercard?
Her: VISA
ME: Card Number?
Her: 54......
Me: That's a Mastercard...
Her: Oh....I thought all credit cards were called VISAs.
Marathon
06-23-2008, 03:52 PM
Her: Oh....I thought all credit cards were called VISAs.
LOL
eviltechie
06-24-2008, 08:54 AM
Back in the retail days:
Me: Is that on VISA or Mastercard?
Her: VISA
ME: Card Number?
Her: 54......
Me: That's a Mastercard...
Her: Oh....I thought all credit cards were called VISAs.
:D
What I've never understood is why places even ask for the type of card, since the type can be easily determined by the number. I've only encountered a few websites that process CCs without asking the type. But they work just fine, and are more user-friendly. I guess it's probably the same reason that you're asked for the City, State, and Zip Code on web forms...when you can determine the exact city and state from the zip code...so why not ask for only the zip code?
Otlecs
06-25-2008, 09:56 AM
(stupid person) cuse me sa, where walnut?
(me) If you turned your stupid ass around they are RIGHT behind you.
(stupid person) zank you.
That's me! Except with better English.
Every time I go into a shop and can't find what I want, I know that as soon as I ask, I'll see it, no matter how hard I look beforehand!
I can't explain it :)
Talamarr
06-25-2008, 03:19 PM
A long time ago, I worked at a copy shop. My favorite stories:
People coming in asking for double sided copies on transpency paper...no lie.
NUMEROUS times, I slid a copy over the counter to a customer and the paper happened to be facing the wrong way and I got accused of making the copies upside down. At which time, I'd slowly rotate the copies around and just stare at the customer.
Another person wanted us to fax in a bill payment and he wanted us to fax in the cash he brought in.
Talamarr
06-25-2008, 03:26 PM
Also, we had a self service computer area and people would walk in, holding up their 3.5" floopy:
Customer: I need to print this
Me: Ok. Is it Mac or PC?
Customer: I don't know
(at this point, I'm usually sure it's a PC, most Mac people in the 90's knew they were using Macs, but I'd still probe because it was fun)
Me: Does your computer have an apple on it?
Customer: No, it's under my desk
/facepalm
Dead_Dwarf
06-25-2008, 03:54 PM
I've billed a lady for a field service call to turn on her power strip.
-silencer-
06-25-2008, 04:13 PM
What I've never understood is why places even ask for the type of card, since the type can be easily determined by the number. I've only encountered a few websites that process CCs without asking the type. But they work just fine, and are more user-friendly. I guess it's probably the same reason that you're asked for the City, State, and Zip Code on web forms...when you can determine the exact city and state from the zip code...so why not ask for only the zip code?
Because there are some small towns that share zip codes. Being in a different township means there can be the same street names, so full street & town is required at a minimum. I live in a smaller suburb of Orlando, and we share a zip code with a larger one since it's the same post office, but there are a few streets in common in both suburbs. Those auto-lookup-city-by-zipcode systems ALWAYS get my town wrong, so I continually have to double-check since there is another street with the same name as mine in the other town of the zip code we share.
Back in the retail days:
Me: Is that on VISA or Mastercard?
Her: VISA
ME: Card Number?
Her: 54......
Me: That's a Mastercard...
Her: Oh....I thought all credit cards were called VISAs.
:D
What I've never understood is why places even ask for the type of card, since the type can be easily determined by the number. I've only encountered a few websites that process CCs without asking the type. But they work just fine, and are more user-friendly. I guess it's probably the same reason that you're asked for the City, State, and Zip Code on web forms...when you can determine the exact city and state from the zip code...so why not ask for only the zip code?Because Zip code boundaries change frequently and while it might not seem important on the day they ask for it, in a couple years it could be a totally different zip code.
zanthor
06-26-2008, 06:25 AM
I sold a family a computer with a color printer... they called me saying the printer wouldn't work. We did about 30-45 minutes of troubleshooting on the phone, the printer would spit out paper but always blank...
Had them bring in the printer, it worked fine, had them bring in the computer, it worked fine with the printer.... so I went on sight to see the problem in it's environment...
It worked fine... then they said "Lets try the report we are trying to print for school" and they opened a document with a purple background and white text... then selected print, and unselected the option to print the background... put purple paper in the printer and hit print.
The printer went through and fed out a blank sheet... of course, you cannot print white.
gbremset
06-26-2008, 08:49 AM
I work in tech support, and I remember my colleague getting this call.
An elderly lady calls in, trying to install her printer on her PC. She tells my colleague that on her computer screen it says "No printer found", and continues to explain that she's even tried to turn the screen towards the printer and still it says "no printer found"
In my own experience, the stupidest question I ever got, was if the warranty covered the printer being struck by a sledgehammer.. (This guy was actually being serious)
I've got tons of other strange stories as well, but that one is the stupidest one..
blast3r
06-26-2008, 09:30 AM
I work in tech support, and I remember my colleague getting this call.
An elderly lady calls in, trying to install her printer on her PC. She tells my colleague that on her computer screen it says "No printer found", and continues to explain that she's even tried to turn the screen towards the printer and still it says "no printer found"
In my own experience, the stupidest question I ever got, was if the warranty covered the printer being struck by a sledgehammer.. (This guy was actually being serious)
I've got tons of other strange stories as well, but that one is the stupidest one..You should have told him you only honor the warantee if it is struck by axes, polearms or swords. Sledgehammers are not covered. lol...that is just too funny!
blast3r
06-26-2008, 09:35 AM
I work in IT for a University (currently in the Office of Information Security) but at my previous title of Dir of Network Services we had a PHD student come and complain to us that our anti-virus software wouldn't allow here to open this attachment she received in the mail. She was VERY upset and demanded that we disable it for her so she can see the virus. I'm not kidding, this really happened! Of course we told her no.
And yet another time at the same location I received a call that a computer in one of the confernce rooms wasn't working. So I walk in and kindly greet all the PHDs and professors in the room and start to troubleshoot. First thing I want to check is the power. I go to the back of the computer and find the power cord, i trace it to the power strip....good so far...then trace the power strip and find it was plugged into itself. Doh! I didn't have the heart to say anything but "it is working now" and left.
Šeceased
06-26-2008, 10:18 AM
I work in IT for a University (currently in the Office of Information Security) but at my previous title of Dir of Network Services we had a PHD student come and complain to us that our anti-virus software wouldn't allow here to open this attachment she received in the mail. She was VERY upset and demanded that we disable it for her so she can see the virus. I'm not kidding, this really happened! Of course we told her no.
And yet another time at the same location I received a call that a computer in one of the confernce rooms wasn't working. So I walk in and kindly greet all the PHDs and professors in the room and start to troubleshoot. First thing I want to check is the power. I go to the back of the computer and find the power cord, i trace it to the power strip....good so far...then trace the power strip and find it was plugged into itself. Doh! I didn't have the heart to say anything but "it is working now" and left.
/double facepalm
worst I've had so far (I don't do IT but I help friends of the family out) was when someone bought a TV card and had thrown out the tiny antenna (those rly rly thin ones) because they though it was just a cable wrapper/tidier :P
and that someone was worried they would be arrested after the computer came up with an error message that said "an illegal operation..."
daviddoran
06-27-2008, 06:38 PM
Not my story, but I remember reading about a tech support employee at a call center (who got fired over this btw) who got a call from an elderly lady, that her computer wouldn't turn on, and when he asked her to check behind the computer, she responded with "it's too dark" so he told her to turn the lights on, and she responded back "I can't, the power has been out for the past 2 hours".......
(not the end of the story)
He then asked her if she has the original box the computer came in, she said yes, and he told her to pack it all back up, and ship it back, and to never touch a computer again. Not sure if it's a true story or not, but funny nonetheless.
Most of the stupid questions I get asked are just stupid, like "what's the start button" or IntRAnet? "Don't you mean IntERnet?"
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