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Sometimes, a tech problem isn’t really a tech problem at all.

One computer repair guy learned that when a longtime customer called because her laptop had suddenly shut off.

At first, he started going through the usual possibilities and thought it may have overheated while she was using it in bed.

But when he asked her to check the power adapter, she insisted the laptop didn’t have one.

That’s when he realized she thought having wireless internet meant the computer didn’t need to be plugged in.

Keep reading for the full story.

My customer’s laptop shut off “For no Apparent Reason” LOL

I am a locally known computer guy. On the side from my full-time job, I build systems for people, fix systems, set up new systems, etc.

One evening I am at home and a call came in.

It is a customer I had helped many times and two years prior, helped her get a laptop and set it up for her and set up her wireless router after her Satellite Internet got installed. Satellite was her only option as she was in a very rural area.

To figure out what was wrong, he started asking questions.

Upon answering, my customer says “I have a serious problem.”

I ask what was going on. She proceeds to tell me that she was using her laptop, everything was working great, and all of a sudden, it just shut itself off.

Thinking to myself, that yeah that is strange, I started going through the diagnostics. I asked her first off, what she was doing when it happened. She said she was just playing on Facebook.

My next thought was maybe it was sitting on her lap or on blankets or something and it over heated causing it to shut off for safety sake. So I asked if she was just sitting at her desk. She said, “No I was laying in bed.”

Ahhh ok. Now we are getting somewhere. I told her that maybe the airflow was obstructed and it shut off. I asked her if the bottom felt hot. She said no, not really.

According to her, the laptop didn’t have a power adapter.

So then I said, make sure that the power adapter did not come loose from the laptop or at the power brick part.

This is where it gets good.

Her response was, “What power adapter?”

I said, “The power for the laptop, make sure it didn’t come out of the laptop.

She says, and I am not joking, “I don’t have a power adapter for this laptop.”

Then, she explained her definition of wireless.

Ummm. I am confused. I asked her what does she mean she don’t have a power adapter for the laptop.

She replied by saying, “Remember when you set this up, you set up wireless. I don’t have a power adapter for it.”

Before I went further into this, I asked her if she usually lays in bed with her laptop. She said no that this was the first time she removed it from the desk and took it to her bedroom. Ahhh Haaa!

So I told her that I think the battery died and told her to take the laptop back to the desk and locate the power plug and plug the laptop back in.

She argued and told me that I was not listening to her or understanding her and she insisted that there is not and never has been a power plug for the laptop.

Finally, he explained the problem and they got it fixed.

In the most professional and strategic was possible, I informed her that there is not such thing as wireless power, and that what she was referring to was wireless internet. She insisted that she has never had a power plug for the laptop but she took it back to the desk.

So after some explaining and describing the power plug and where to plug it in, she finally gets it plugged in.

I tell her to hit the power button and what do ya know, it powers up. Problem solved.

I explained to her that all laptops have to have a power adapter to keep the battery charged and that I assumed that when she took the laptop off of the desk, she inadvertently unplugged it and after some time the battery died causing it to shut down. At this point she was satisfied with my answer and thanked me.

HOLD ON!! IT CONTINUES!! LOL

She just couldn’t let it go, though.

So about now, she starts brainstorming and trying to think about how the power adapter could have come unplugged. I again tell her, that when she picked it up off of the desk and walked away, the plug probably just popped out. It was like she did not even hear my explanation. She came up with her own theory. I swear I cannot make this stuff up.

She says, “Oh I think I know how that came unplugged.”

Interested I asked how. She explains that earlier in the day, she noticed her internet went out and she continues to explain that she knew the issue was snow piled up on the satellite dish. She explained how she got her broom, went outside, and swept the snow off of the dish. That is all she said lol.

I sat there waiting, until she followed it up with, “So yeah I probably knocked the power cable loose when I did that.”

Not wanting to deal with this anymore, I simply said, yeah probably and ended the call. I could not bring myself to even charge her for the service call.

Aww! That’s actually kinda funny. Poor lady.

Let’s see if the fine folks over at Reddit have ever dealt with a customer like this.

People who know really wouldn’t call though.

This could be.

Imagine if this existed.

So true!

Well, that explains why the laptop suddenly shut off.

The good news was that it was a really easy fix.

However, it must’ve been pretty embarrassing for her once she realized what happened.

That would definitely explain why she suddenly started trying to figure out “how” the cord came unplugged.