Are customers really that thick?

[qprdude]

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha , Oh my God, kill me now. Surely I'm not from the same species?

[CitroJim]

You heard the tale of the person who topped up the LHM reservoir with mineral water?

Must be OK as it's mineral, just the same as LHM. That's mineral too; that's what the M stands for....

That's not a joke. Absolutely true and told to me several years ago by a Citroen specialist...

[VertVega]

Xac,
somehow this animation reminds me of my experience which I've told here
but two differences,
1. Her car color was blue
2. She was not at all as attractive as in your example

[Northern_Mike]

Not car related, but many moons ago, when 72 PIN DIMMS were just becoming common, I worked as tech support for a major reseller. I had a customer on the phone who had purchased a memory upgrade and it wasn't working, even though he'd installed it. The memory on the invoice I could see wouldn't fit his older machine, which had 30-PIN memory. He insisted it was fitted properly. After a bit of time, it transpired that he'd *snapped the module in two* and forced it into the 30-PIN slot, something I never fully believed was physically possible until I tried it myself with some old faulty bits a few years later.

[Citroenmad]

It really is a worrying place out there, I have to wonder how some of the people I see day to day actually get through a day!

I'm glad I don't work in retail any longer, it was certainly an eye opener.

[Xaccers]

It really is a worrying place out there, I have to wonder how some of the people I see day to day actually get through a day!

I'm glad I don't work in retail any longer, it was certainly an eye opener.

I worked in BHS whilst at college in Portsmouth.
On the ground floor some of the space was shared with Mothercare behind a partition wall. They decided they wanted to move to the other side of the store, so the wall came down and the menswear counter was moved back.
The number of people that came up to us and said "You've moved the stairs" was unbelievable!

[qprdude]

I've obviously led a very sheltered life in Engineering. Apart from the oil filling apprentice, I can't remember any really stupid people. The odd silly bugger getting hands ground down a bit, and sparks in eyes, welding flashes, and one young welder who fell into the harbour while trying to jump from the Quayside onto the ships deck.
Makes you feel good though, when you read about some of the crazy stuff you guys have seen.

[Stickyfinger]

In my previous life , I worked as the product development and training manager for a large Swiss Medical Metallurgical Institute in the UK and Europe.
The primary work was on bone fracture plates and small-bone kits. Dental implants were the leading and still are the best researched on the market. Some really really impressive scientists and engineers worked there, fantastic people as well.

Basic woodworking skills were the basis of initial training leading up to Pig bones etc. All were well trained surgical and orthopedic junior registrars up to consultants (dependent on the procedure).
They had massive and extensive knowledge of all the academic side, but hamfisted or what !

Most chippies I know could do the job 10x better in half the time and with a 10x better result, the lack of skills was at times painful to watch. Then let the local embroidery club member sew me up after.....\Brains do not give you skills, the trouble is those out there that have neither are increasing as I get older:)

Feel better ??

(There are some notable exceptions to the above... )

[citronut]

i keep telling my son no good having brains/qualifications without common sense, but you can get by on just common sense alone, without the brains
( no not Brains fagots )

[Peter.N.]

Yep, a little application of basic physics will solve most problems. I was a TV engineer for 50 years, left school with no qualifications whatsoever but I could repair TVs because electronics was something I was interested in. The job doesn't exist any more but while it did it fed me and bought me a house.

Peter

[Trainman]

Man: "is this Victoria?"
Me: "no mate this is Euston."
Man: "are you sure?"
Me: "pretty sure."
Man: "ok, I'll ask somebody else."

[Xaccers]

Man: "is this Victoria?"
Me: "no mate this is Euston."
Man: "are you sure?"
Me: "pretty sure."
Man: "ok, I'll ask somebody else."

Oh my. Having to commute every day, I have so much sympathy for the barrier guards with what they have to deal with every day!

"No sir, that's your seat reservation, use your ticket in the barrier, no not your receipt, your ticket" she actually then called him out the way so the queue of people behind could then go through.
"Walk straight ahead, the gate is open, yes, straight through" to some bloke who looked bewildered when he put his ticket in the barrier and the gates opened!
"You cannot bring that much luggage on a peak time train!" to a family that had 4 LARGE suitcases and other bags.
It amazes me how many people get to the barriers THEN decide to look for their ticket.

The best one though was the guy who tried to chance it and use a cheaper off peak ticket on a peak time train. When told it was an extra £30, he tried to play the "What if I've got no money?" card, to which he was told it would be sorted at Northampton, but the ticket would then be an extra £60. He tried to get arsey, the ticket inspector just said "We'll sort it at Northampton, no you can't have your ticket back (the guy had tried to grab it), I get off at Northampton so I will meet you there and it will be dealt with"

[ragger]

I occasionally set a general knowledge quiz at my local, and it is surprising how often you hear someone mutter: "How am I supposed to know that?"

I do think, however, that one of the keys to a successful existence is the acceptance of how much you don't know. You then have to develop the confidence to be able to ask for help.

The way that data has expanded over the last few decades is such that "general knowledge" may be an out of date concept. I wonder if it is a good thing that my Mum who is 87 has decided she wants to explore Facebook? She has a mobile phone that she needs to be constantly reminded how to use, but the desire to learn is truly admirable especially in someone who left school at 14.

[addo]

Wait 'til she meets a nice Nigerian man on Facebook...

[Hell Razor5543]

Years ago I used to teach people how to build, upgrade, and maintain computers. If somebody asked a relevant question that I did not know the answer to, I would suggest that we (the whole class AND I) should go and look it up. I also used to respond to the comment "I can't do that!" by telling them that they had not said it correctly, and they should say "I can't do that YET!". It was quite effective at correcting their attitude.