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As people get older, they often start having trouble with various types of technology, whether that be computers, phones, or other things.

That was the case with the father in this story, and he would constantly call tech support to say that his things were broken, but when his son looked at them, the issue was self-inflicted.

Things as simple as a computer being unplugged prompted a call to tech support, which gave the son a new appreciation for the work they did.

It is a funny story, but all too true. Read it for yourself below.

I now understand the real challenges techsupport goes through.

I’m not sure if this post belongs here, but my image view for a long time of tech support were tech savvy gentlemen who would keep themselves busy with the most difficult of questions customers could possibility have.

Ok, let’s see what this person experienced.

How wrong I was. My dad isn’t very tech savvy and regularly has problems anything related to tech.

I genuinely wonder sometimes if my dad is serious or not me when he has a tech problem.

At least it was an easy fix.

One time his camera wasn’t working and he tried all sort of things like shutting off and rebooting his phone, scouring the internet for answers and asking chatGPT why his camera wasn’t working.

I came over, took around 10 seconds to asses the situation, and explained how his new phone case with those flap thingies where you put in your credit card and stuff were blocking his camera.

Some older people really struggle with technology.

Another time, my dad complained how the ringtone of his phone wasn’t loud enough and wanted to call the store, complaining how the new phone they sold him was broken and that he wanted a refund.

It took me a minute to just open the settings app, raise the volume, and explain to him how to raise the volume of his ringtone.

He really likes to call and claim that something is broken.

Yesterday, when I was at university, my dad had been struggling with the computer for 2 hours. He explained to me how the computer froze, that he kept moving and tapping the computer trying to make it work, turned it off, and that after he turned it off it wouldn’t turn back on.

And, how he kept calling the store he bought it from that they sold him a broken computer.

This guy is a menace to computers.

Those system updates with the big letters “UPDATING, DO NOT TURN OFF” apparantly didn’t matter to my dad. While he was moving and shoving the computer, he somehow magically managed to unplug the power cable.

It took me a few seconds to plug the cable back in. And, another 10 minutes trying to convince my dad that the problem why the computer didn’t turn back on was because he unplugged the power cable, and not some corrupted harddrive like chatGPT was telling him.

90% of tech support is dealing with simple issues.

Looking at past support tickets with tech support from companies and how long they are, it made me realize the real type of problems tech support must be facing is from clueless customers like this.

At least this guy has a good son who is willing to come fix the problems for him. Even if the problems shouldn’t really need fixing.

Read on to see what the people in the comments have to say about it.

This is pretty funny.

This commenter had a customer with an extremely simple issue.

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Here is someone with a similar story.

This is all too true.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about siblings who don’t think they should have to give up their own sports’ seasons to help with their younger siblings.

Here is a comment from a tech support professional.

It is important to have patients with the elderly, even when they are causing tech problems. That being said, Dad should really know to call his son first, and not tech support.

He is just wasting the time of the tech support professionals.

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Author

Michael Levanduski

Senior Contributing Editor, Workplace & Community

Michael Levanduski is a veteran journalist and digital culture specialist with over 15 years of professional writing and research experience. While his background spans emerging technology and complex technical subjects, Michael specializes in analyzing workplace ethics, property disputes, and viral interpersonal dynamics across modern digital forums.

Since joining TwistedSifter in 2024, Michael has authored some of the publication’s most widely read coverage on corporate policy, malicious compliance, and neighborhood relations. Rather than simply aggregating online debates, he brings rigorous research, organizational context, and an empathetic editorial voice to everyday human dilemmas—transforming raw forum discussions into insightful, highly engaging narratives.

When he isn’t covering internet culture, Michael enjoys traveling, keeping up with tech trends, and spending time with his family. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn and Facebook.