October 6, 2026 at 10:48 am

Customer Paid Nearly $2,000 For A One-Minute Fix, Only For The Technician To Call Tech Support Because He Couldn’t Do It

by Heather Hall

Tech support worker cannot believe his ears

Pexels/Reddit

Some problems are so easy to fix that paying someone thousands of dollars to handle them almost sounds ridiculous.

For one tech support worker, though, that’s exactly what happened when a customer paid nearly $2,000 to have a simple setting changed.

The job itself should have taken about a minute, and the instructions were readily available online.

Even so, the company wanted it handled immediately and was willing to pay extra to make that happen.

But after the technician arrived, things somehow got even more ridiculous when he didn’t know how to make the change.

Read on to see how it all played out.

Customer wastes HUGE amount of $ for a 1 minute fix.

I am stunned right now! In order to make sure this stays anonymous, I’m going to be as vague as possible while still getting the point across.

I work for a company that manufactures things.

We make big, complicated things that require trained professionals to service, in addition to simpler things that any literate human with opposable thumbs (or a reasonably good mechanical facsimile) can handle.

He was shocked at how easy the fix was going to be.

So I get a call from one of our very experienced technicians. They’ve been dispatched to change a setting on one of the simpler devices we make. Literally, that’s it.

This company paid nearly $2,000 USD for this service that was about as difficult to do as changing the channel on a TV when you’ve lost the remote and you gotta do it using the hidden buttons—but these buttons weren’t even hidden!

Service calls are billed at a minimum of 4 hours, plus driving time. This setting takes 1 minute maximum to change—if you’re doing it for the first time. Maybe 10 seconds if you’re experienced.

If you ask him, it was a big waste of money.

Then, it turns out the tech didn’t actually know how to do it!

Now, I know they hardly ever work on these units since they are so simple, but the units all have these handy little things called ‘user manuals’ online for just any old person to use to look **** up.

So yeah, I’m just a bit shocked right now at the capricious waste of money being spent by a company whose sole purpose for existing is to manage money for their clients, while also being stunned by the fact that little ol’ me needed to be called to figure out how to do it.

Wow! That is a lot of money to regular people, but not to large companies.

Let’s check out if the people over at Reddit have ever seen such waste.

This is a great point.

Shocking 3 Customer Paid Nearly $2,000 For A One Minute Fix, Only For The Technician To Call Tech Support Because He Couldnt Do It

Here’s someone who writes manuals for a living.

Shocking 2 Customer Paid Nearly $2,000 For A One Minute Fix, Only For The Technician To Call Tech Support Because He Couldnt Do It

According to this comment, some people can’t afford internet and computers.

Shocking 1 Customer Paid Nearly $2,000 For A One Minute Fix, Only For The Technician To Call Tech Support Because He Couldnt Do It

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a delivery driver who tried warning his boss the truck needed new brakes and tires, only to find his truck sidelined during their busiest season.

That sounds about right.

Shocking Customer Paid Nearly $2,000 For A One Minute Fix, Only For The Technician To Call Tech Support Because He Couldnt Do It

It’s hard not to be a little stunned by this one.

Spending nearly $2,000 on something that could be fixed in about a minute is already hard to wrap your head around.

But when the technician still has to call someone for help, the whole thing gets even more ridiculous.

And when the company spending that money is supposed to be good at managing money, the irony pretty much writes itself.

Enjoyed this story?

Readers who liked this also read this story about a craft store customer who refuses to take no for an answer when it comes to wrapping his purchases for gifts.
Read Story→

Heather Hall | Contributing Writer, Life & Drama

Heather Hall is a contributing writer for TwistedSifter specializing in internet culture, workplace conflict, and viral customer service stories. With over a decade of editorial experience in digital publishing, Heather excels at curating trending online discussions and providing insightful commentary on the daily dramas that capture the internet's attention.

Since beginning her career in 2011, she has developed deep expertise in SEO-driven digital content, having written for a wide array of publications covering lifestyle, business, and travel. At TwistedSifter, Heather focuses on synthesizing complex social media threads into engaging, highly readable narratives that highlight the human element of viral news.

When she isn’t analyzing the latest internet discourse, Heather is a dedicated mother of three sons who takes family gaming nights entirely too seriously—whether she is dominating in Mario Kart, exploring The Legend of Zelda, or jumping into Roblox.

Connect with Heather on Facebook and LinkedIn.