Tech support chap told angry customer to think inside the box – and solved the problem

personal tech

We're not Li-ion, user thought mobile phone batteries died every few days

ON CALL Welcome to another installment of On Call, The Register's Friday column in which readers kindly share their stories of untangling tech support situations.

This week, meet a reader we'll Regomize as "Steve" who started his IT career doing tech support for a supermarket's own-brand mobile service.

"I started in 2006, when many phones still had removable batteries," Steve told On Call.

"One day, a customer rang in ranting and raving about how she'd just bought her very first mobile, had used it for two weeks, and now wanted to return it because it was faulty."

Steve naturally inquired about the nature of the fault.

"This phone is supposed to last for years," the customer replied. "But I've just bought a third battery to keep it running."

He soon realized that whenever the customer's phone ran out of juice, she discarded its battery and bought a new one – because she assumed the battery was disposable, like those in many other devices.

Steve asked the customer if she was using the charger that came with the phone. The customer was unaware it existed, and was therefore not using it.

"I asked her to get the box the phone came in and check, and she quickly climbed down once she found the charger under a layer of cardboard," Steve told On Call.

Have you had to support a user who ignored vital equipment? If so, click here to send On Call an email to share your story. No battery required! ®