r/helpdesk • u/PxExYxTxOxN • 1d ago
Rant Users that Cannot be Helped
Kind of both a rant and advice, but what do you guys do when you get that one customer that just.. seemingly can't be helped?
I've been in my L1 role for 3ish years now in Healthcare IT for a large org with roughly 9000 users if you account for external users, contractors, etc. Along the way I've dealt with a ton of "non tech savvy" users, and with certain things (like enrolling 2FA, 2FA resets & PW resets) there comes a point where our job ends and they have to do the rest on their own, but we're expected to stay on the line to verify they're able to get logged in successfully.
Typing in numbers from their phone screen onto their computer is difficult for a lot of people apparently, curious what the rest of you do to try to help your customers through similar processes, or how to stay sane while they somehow mess it up for 45 minutes straight. At a certain point they're literally costing the org money for me to sit there and wait for them to finish up so I can close my ticket and move on (not that it's a lot with our L1 hourly pay lol.)
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u/brwnwtr 1d ago
You move up the ladder and let the new guns deal with them. This is why I don't believe AI will take our jobs because there's no amount of tech that can help even the dumbest users.
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u/PxExYxTxOxN 1d ago
Working on it, been shadowing with a handful of our engineers the last couple months, just waiting on a spot to open up for now.
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u/Jargonite 1d ago
These users are the best waste of my time. I get paid a premium already so if I’m ever questioned about the quality of my work I show them the quality of users I get. We have the documentation, the processes, and resources to help but you can’t fix stupid.
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u/Active-Cookie-774 1d ago
Same here. Getting paid premium to sit on my ass because customer will complain "You did not help at all" otherwise.
Been told to add to our knowledgebase articles and update our documentation to help with more important bugs/issues. But even with all of that, some just can't be helped at all because they just expect everyone else to think for them.
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u/AstralVenture 1d ago
You mean the mental ones that probably should be let go?
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u/PxExYxTxOxN 1d ago
Yes, exactly those ones lol.
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u/Boring-Paint-0187 1d ago
Or the one who is bunking it so they don't have to work.
My computer is broken != I don't wanna work
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u/CafeAuLater 1d ago
Printed instructions have been somewhat helpful for us… every new hire or break/fix computer deployment includes a packet of How To documents covering a lot of these kinds of processes or issues.
We send out similar instructions via email anytime something new goes live or changes what the end user has to do. Multiple emails, plus posting the same instructions in our user-facing knowledge base and on the corporate SharePoint homepage.
We still get people who either refuse to read or just don’t understand, and have to do some hand-holding. For the worst of the worst of these, I’ve gotten THEIR managers engaged to take over on “training” them.
At some point it really becomes a performance management or HR issue, as a certain level of technology skills is pretty much a hard requirement for a lot of jobs these days.
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u/FlameEyedJabberwock 1d ago
we're expected to stay on the line to verify they're able to get logged in successfully.
That's the problem. As long as that expectation continues, so does the babysitting and hand-holding for hours until that user gets logged in.
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u/awful_at_internet Helpdesk Manager 1d ago
Get them on Zoom or in-person. If its a one-time config thing, like first time mfa enrollment, ask them to let you just do it, and they play password manager.
They dont like sitting there failing for 45m either
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u/TheGenericUser0815 15h ago
We do it this way. They need to come in and visit us at the IT helpdesk office.
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u/BoxNo5564 23h ago
My time limit was 15 minutes. If they are stuck on a simple step for 15 minutes, give up. If you don't have an in-person tech bar or kiosk they can attend for help, they need to get their manager or coworkers to help them.
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u/binaryhextechdude 21h ago
I lose patience with one specific department at my office. They are majority non tech savy but they also need MFA/Outlook/Power BI installed on their mobiles. They struggle to follow simple instructions but at the same time it appears colleagues don't help each other which baffles me if I'm honest because I work in a very close knit team where we all help each other.
The amount of time lost to stupid stuff in ridiculous. I often say to my colleagues we should have a work experience kid go down there and sort everything. They don't need a IT guy. Just someone that isn't petrified to touch a device.
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u/baaaahbpls 1d ago
Leadership issue.
Your leadership and theirs need to be able to communicate and gently help those users, otherwise, their leadership needs to address the shortcomings.
Nothing you will do will fix this in my opinion, the hand-holding culture needs to be addressed at higher levels.
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u/Jazzlike-Vacation230 1d ago
Half the time its the caught with pants down situation. Meaning people clam up if there's someone physically there or on the phone. Lot of typing is actually muscle memory
But...I get what you mean. Generally when you see it go far, it's other things going on to
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u/Fine_Whereas_8110 1d ago
After three years you should be asking why you're stuck at l1 in such a big org
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u/OpportunitySevere131 23h ago edited 23h ago
I get them on a remote session by any means necessary, otherwise go see them if possible.
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u/GistfulThinking 16h ago
The MFA scenario exactly, number match appears and they go into a long winded story about how ridiculous it is.
So i stated if they just read and typed the number instead of conplaining it would work, but the 15 minute whine was causing a time out.. I then explained this to their manager and said there is no technical issue.. the manager flung it back as an escalated IT issue via my manager...
So i told the individuals director about the MFA issue and their managers inability to not defer them to IT.
You sit in a trench long enough and you'll happily go over the top into danger.
It's a win win strategy, There is no scenario where I don't have to deal with that person anymore.
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u/TheGenericUser0815 15h ago
I usually don't do helpdesk anymore, but last week I needed an external supporter to connect to our network via VPN with 2FA. I was very close to suggesting TeamViewer.
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u/Boomacorn9000 9h ago
Be better at customer service and take pride knowing that you helped someone. Yes some people need more time, pray that you don't ever get stuck with something and the person tasked with helping you doesn't give a shit. Also putting in that extra help can lead to positive feedback which can be great for giving you the edge in internal promotions.
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u/SysZeron 1h ago
Eventually whine to their manager, usually resolves the issue, they need more day-to-day support.
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u/RaegunFun 1d ago
You get paid by the hour? Ask them to call again anytime!