It’s frustrating when someone ignores everything you tell them and then blames you when things don’t work.

This very thing happened to one IT worker while trying to help a customer install a printer on a military base.

The problem was that the customer kept insisting he use software for a different printer, even after he showed her it wouldn’t work.

So, rather than letting him figure out a solution, she had him reinstall the same software over and over.

But after he spent six hours on the problem, she still threatened to tell her boss IT didn’t want to help. Naturally, he had something to say about that.

Read on to see how the whole call played out.

Blocked printer mixed with an ignorant customer makes for a long day

I work on a military base. This is the kind of customers I get from my government employee civilians.

It’s Friday morning around 0930.

Customer: I need you to install a printer for me.

Me: No problem.

He figured out pretty quickly that it was the wrong driver.

The printer is Xerox Phaser 7500. The base only has WorkCentre 7500 driver, and it’s the wrong driver. But the customer demanded we use it anyway. I Install the driver per the customer’s demands, even though I insist it won’t work. The driver connected to the printer but wouldn’t print.

Me: As I said before, this driver doesn’t work since it’s for a different printer. We don’t currently have the drivers for this printer. I will go back to my desk and install the drivers from commercial internet, and I’ll try that one. Hopefully, it works, but there is no guarantee.

30 minutes later, I had found the driver on Xerox homepage and downloaded it, burned it to a disc, then transferred it to the network share drives.

Me: I have the correct driver for you.

Since it was late in the day, they decided to try again at a later time.

At this point, I attempt to run the installer, but installer will not initiate. I realize it may not be supported by the network anymore due to vulnerabilities, and it may be getting blocked from installation, or it may not be compatible with the SDC we run.

Me: It looks like it won’t install. I believe it may be getting blocked by our antivirus for some reason. I will have to work on your computer for a while to see if I can get it to install.

Customer: Ok, well, I am leaving in 15 minutes for the day. Will that be long enough for you to fix it?

Me: … No, it won’t. I will have to either hold the laptop while I work on it, or we will have to try another day.

Customer: Another day is better then.

At the next appointment, she started insisting he was not doing it right.

Fast forward to today (Tuesday) around 0915.

Customer: So I spoke with another help desk, and they said you should just install the driver labelled “7500” in the share drive.

Me: I did. That’s the driver I initially installed, and it didn’t work. That driver is for a Xerox WorkCentre 7500, and you need Xerox Phaser 7500 drivers. It’s a completely different printer, so the drivers are incompatible.

Customer: Well, they said you were wrong, and you need to try it.

He tried to reassure her by reinstalling it, but that didn’t work.

Me: Well, ma’am, they are incorrect, but I recognize that the driver in the share is not labelled well, so it can easily be confused with the correct one.

Customer: Well, they said you’re wrong. Please reinstall it.

I reinstall the drivers per request.

Customer: Why isn’t it working?

Me: Well, it’s the wrong driver, like I kept saying, and we are currently unable to get the correct driver to install. I am working on finding the right drivers for you to be able to get it installed.

Frustrated, he tried to tell her again that they were wrong.

Customer: But the other help desk said this is the right driver…

Me: The other help desk is wrong. The correct driver won’t install for an unknown reason, and the drivers we do have available on the share drive are for a WorkCentre 7500, not a Phaser 7500, so it isn’t the right one.

Customer: So it doesn’t work?

Me: No, ma’am, it doesn’t right now. I am working on finding the working driver for this printer.

Customer: So I guess everyone was wrong. Interesting.

Fed up, he was trying to keep it cool.

Me: [I smile, trying to be polite.] Not me. I wasn’t wrong. [I laugh because it’s awkward.]

Customer: Are you sure? Can you reinstall it again?

Me: *Sigh.* Sure.

I reinstall the WorkCentre 7500 driver again, and the WorkCentre driver connects but won’t print.

Me: Like I said before, it doesn’t work, unfortunately. We need to figure out a working driver for this printer.

Then, he thought they had found a solution.

Customer: Then how am I supposed to print these files? The only other person who uses this printer is [name], and they are always teleworking.

Me: She can still print to the printer if needed, even when working from home.

Customer: Well, when I teleworked, I couldn’t print. Are you sure?

Me: Ma’am, when you were teleworking, you didn’t have the printer mapped, which is what brought up the issue with this printer.

Customer: But that doesn’t explain why I couldn’t print.

This time, he went into great detail.

Me: Yes, ma’am, it does. You didn’t have any office printers installed. The network policy blocks all USB printers, so you couldn’t print from your home printer either. So, in all, you would be unable to print until after you were mapped to a printer, and the printer you want to be mapped to is unable to be installed. I’m sure it’s because it is likely being blocked by the antivirus software. Network administrators set in place policies to block installation of devices that increase vulnerabilities in the network. I did check, and this is the only printer of this specific model on the base. So it may have been phased out some time back, and we are unable to install it.

Customer: Can you check [other user that can use the printer]’s computer to confirm the drivers?

Me: Absolutely.

No surprise that it’s still not working.

I remote connect to the other user’s computer and copy the driver information. I then search for said driver install files anywhere on the network. However, the driver is not available on the network. I confirmed the driver the other user is using matches the one I pulled earlier from Xerox. 100% match.

Me: See this, ma’am? [Points at screen.] This is the driver she has. [Attempts to install the driver.] [Install does not initiate.]

Customer: Hmm. Are you doing it right then?

Me: Yes, ma’am…

Suddenly, she was asking about the same driver again.

Customer: Then can you install it using this driver instead? [Customer points to the WorkCentre 7500 driver.]

Me: … *Sigh.* … It’s already installed using that driver. [Pulls up printer and shows it installed using the requested driver.]

Customer: But you said that’s the wrong driver. I want it installed using this driver. [Customer points to the same driver again.]

Me: Ma’am… it’s already installed using that driver. Right here. Look. I will uninstall it and reinstall it using that driver again. [Uninstalls and reinstalls using the requested driver… again… again… again. Printer is now showing IP address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx_11 (for those who don’t work in IT, this shows the device has been mapped 12 times on the same computer now).]

At this point, he offered her another workaround.

Customer: It still doesn’t work. Use the other driver.

Me: Ma’am, I can’t keep installing this printer using non-working drivers. This isn’t working. Like I said, I need to find a way to install it. We can keep going in circles installing this printer and it not working, or I can go back to my desk again and continue trying to find a working driver to install it if it is able to be installed.

Customer: I guess… I just need to print these files.

Me: As a workaround, you can send them to the only other person who has access and ask her to print them for you. But as a warning, once she loses access to the printer, we won’t be able to remap it at this time.

As if it were some sort of dream, she was asking the same question again.

Customer: Why not?

Me: … Ma’am, we don’t have the correct driver for this printer.

Customer: Have you tried this one? [Customer. *******. Points. To. The. Original. Driver. I. Attempted.]

Me: Yes, ma’am. That’s this one. [Pulls up printer again.]

Customer: Oh, ok. Well, I guess you can’t do it.

Angry, she was accusing him of not wanting to help.

Me: No, ma’am, I can’t install the printer at this time with the drivers we have on hand.

Customer: What do I tell my boss then? You know my work is important, right?

Me: Yes, ma’am, I understand your position and its value to the organization. All I can recommend is to inform your boss that there is only one person who has the correct drivers, that IT is unable to install the correct drivers since it is likely being blocked by the network, that there is no known workaround outside of you sending the forms to your coworker and her printing them out from home for you through VPN, and that we are still working on finding a way to fix the issue.

Customer: Well, ok then. I guess I will let him know IT didn’t want to fix it.

He finally had to put her in her place.

Me: Ma’am… I have spent a total of 6 hours on this issue. I have provided workarounds and reinstalled a printer 12 times. If you want to claim I didn’t want to fix it, fine. Tell the world I didn’t “want” to fix it. But make sure you also tell them I worked hard to resolve this and am STILL continuing to work to resolve it, even though I already know it won’t work due to network restrictions. Have a good day, ma’am.

Customer: Oh, ok. Well, thanks for everything you’ve done.

How the **** you gonna try to bully IT into doing something we are unable to do? ********? *****. Can’t do what I can’t do. #RespectYourITShops #ListenToUs #WeKnowWhatWereTalkingAbout

Geez. It’s like she couldn’t admit he was trying.

Let’s take a look at what the readers over at Reddit think about what happened here.

That’s a good point.

Here’s someone who would’ve only tried once.

Apparently, this person has the same experience.

That is difficult.

The woman made everything so much worse.

If she wanted the printer fixed, she should’ve let him work instead of insisting he repeat something that wasn’t helping.

And then, after everything, to say that she was telling his boss was so unfair.

Let’s hope she was just blowing steam, and they got the whole thing worked out.