One morning you had a problem connecting to the Internet. So, what did you do? You turned the Internet box off and on a couple of times, you rebooted your computer, but nothing much changed.
Next, you unplugged the Internet box and headed over to the local retail office supply store. You asked one of the sales people (you know, the guys in the colorful shirts) what to do with the box that no longer worked. He said you needed a new box and proceeded to sell you one.
You got home, and plugged everything in the way you remembered it. Lo and behold, you still had a problem connecting to the Internet.
It was only at this point that you decided you really needed help, so you called your computer consultant. You told him you had a problem, and asked if he could stop by to see what was wrong.
It only took a few minutes for your consultant to diagnose the situation, because several things were wrong.
The most obvious one was that the “geek” at the retail office supply store took your broken DSL modem and sold you a Linksys router, which would never, ever, work as a replacement. Without a DSL modem, there was no way you were going to access the Internet.
As a side note to office supply store personnel: If you do not know what you are talking about, please don’t waste someone’s time. If the customer complains (or if enough customers complain), you are going to be out of a job.
Your computer consultant managed to obtain a replacement DSL modem from your Internet Service Provider by using a little subterfuge. The net result was that you would be back up and on the Internet in a few days. You were grateful for your computer consultant’s prompt responsiveness to your call for help and his advocacy for your situation.
I was going to turn this post into a rant, but I was reminded that harsh sounding words wouldn’t get the point across.
The truth is that you are not a computer consultant. You are a real estate agent, or a dentist, or a lawyer, or just someone’s mom. However, you are not trained to handle computer problems. That’s my job, and that’s why you ask – and trust – me to take care of your computer systems.
Because, after all, that’s what I do – you just have to let me.