4 ms·

My side of the phone call (sometimes multiple times with the same customer): What do you mean "the site isn't coming up"? OK, I'll take a look right now... ye

My side of the phone call (sometimes multiple times with the same customer): What do you mean "the site isn't coming up"? OK, I'll take a look right now... yep, it loads just fine. Can't find it? Just type the domain name in to the address bar... No, that's the search bar, I mean, you can use that, but it's only been a couple of days and [search engine] probably hasn't indexed it yet. OK, if you want to look at it right now, then type the name of your website into the text field at the very top. What do you mean it still isn't coming up? It loaded fine for me. ...It's not in the list of links... OK, that's still [search engine] results. How about this, type the name of your site, plus the dot com, and nothing else. Got it? OK, now press enter. Tada!

josefresco 8y ago
This. Also, this is a story of success. Sometimes it ends with "trust me, your site is up, just give it time".
maxerickson 8y ago
I wonder why you don't adjust your expectations?
- checkyoursudo 8y ago
  I was younger then. Assuredly, my expectations are no longer the same. (And I no longer do that type of work.)
- josefresco 8y ago
  What would "adjust your expectations" look like exactly? While these clients are the minority, it happens often enough that I'd like to find a solution.
logfromblammo 8y ago
You forgot the part where you have to e-mail them the link, so they can click on it--or cut-and-paste it, if they have a sysadmin who got sick of cleaning up after the execs get phished or spearphished.
btschaegg 8y ago
Have you tried only guiding them through keystrokes? Like Ctrl+L-y-o-u-r-d-o-m-a-i-n-Dot-c-o-m-Enter? Back in my tech support days, I found that it is surprising how often you get to the thing you need if you dictate things like Win+R "ncpa.cpl" this way instead of relying a non-techie user to find the next icon to look for. A part might also be that the other side switches into "this is arcane magic, I have no clue and have to make sure I follow the directions properly" mode...

josefresco 8y ago

This. Also, this is a story of success. Sometimes it ends with "trust me, your site is up, just give it time".

maxerickson 8y ago

I wonder why you don't adjust your expectations?

checkyoursudo 8y ago
I was younger then. Assuredly, my expectations are no longer the same. (And I no longer do that type of work.)
josefresco 8y ago
What would "adjust your expectations" look like exactly? While these clients are the minority, it happens often enough that I'd like to find a solution.

logfromblammo 8y ago

You forgot the part where you have to e-mail them the link, so they can click on it--or cut-and-paste it, if they have a sysadmin who got sick of cleaning up after the execs get phished or spearphished.

btschaegg 8y ago

Have you tried only guiding them through keystrokes? Like Ctrl+L-y-o-u-r-d-o-m-a-i-n-Dot-c-o-m-Enter? Back in my tech support days, I found that it is surprising how often you get to the thing you need if you dictate things like Win+R "ncpa.cpl" this way instead of relying a non-techie user to find the next icon to look for. A part might also be that the other side switches into "this is arcane magic, I have no clue and have to make sure I follow the directions properly" mode...