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Had a customer argue with me for 20 minutes that their dead monitor was a software issue, how do you handle stubborn clients?
So this happened about 3 weeks ago at my shop. Guy brings in a monitor, says it wont turn on and insists it's a driver problem. I plugged it into my test bench, nothing, no power light, no response. Tried a different cable, different port, still dead. I told him the power board is likely fried and quoted him $85 for repair or $120 for a refurb replacement.
He looked me dead in the eye and said 'No, I updated my graphics driver last night and then this happened. It's obviously that. Just roll back the driver.' I explained drivers cant kill a monitor with no power signal, but he wouldn't budge. He literally stood there for 20 minutes going back and forth with me, even pulled up a YouTube video about 'driver issues causing black screens' as proof.
Eventually my manager came out and told him we could charge a $40 diagnostic fee just to 'roll back the driver' which was really just us wasting time. He paid it, we 'fixed' it by doing nothing, and he left happy. Part of me feels like we ripped him off, but also he refused to hear the actual problem. Do you guys just humor people like that or hold your ground? How do you manage that without losing the sale or your sanity?
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milessmith1mo ago
The whole "roll back the driver" bit cracked me up because I read a piece last week about how most people blame software first when hardware dies. It's like a reflex now, the same way folks blame the WiFi when their router is literally unplugged. I had a lady once insist her PC tower was broken because her monitor was off, and she'd already ordered a new tower before I pointed out the power button. You did the right thing letting the manager handle it, honestly, some customers need to pay the stupid tax to feel heard. The $40 diagnostic fee for nothing is a classic, but it beats a chargeback or a bad review over a dead power supply.
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