Tech Support Can Fix Anything That Runs On Electricity, Right?

Our tech support company worked for the local museum from time to time. Our digital department helped create one of their permanent exhibitions.

That department’s manager found me one day.

Manager: “The museum called. Their plotter has gone wrong, so you have to go there and fix it.”

Me: “What the h*** is a plotter?”

Manager: *Pauses* “It’s a… It’s a printer-like thing. I dunno.”

In the meantime, I Googled it. Printer-like, yeah.

Me: “It wasn’t part of the expo we made.”

Manager: “No, it wasn’t. They just called us.”

Me: “Okay, but I have zero experience with these, so no, I can’t fix it.”

Manager: “But can’t you just take a look? Maybe—”

Me: “I’ve never used one. I don’t exactly know what is it for. I’ve never even seen one, so no. It’s absolutely pointless to ‘take a look’. Tell them to call a technician.”

Manager: “But I already told them you’ll fix it.”

Me: “Then you had better call and tell them not to wait for me any longer.”

There were multiple reasons why I didn’t care to take a look at it.

I’d be paid the same money for doing my actual job at my actual workplace for the company that actually hired me to do so, not some side-gig for a completely unrelated institute, working on something I’m not qualified to. I couldn’t personally bill them as I’m not a private contractor or any other legal entity (as a private person, you are unable to issue bills in my country), and they were unlikely to pay me out of their pocket (which would be illegal). And the whole thing sounded like a favor, so I doubt my company would ever see a single cent from this, either.

The other reason is: just think of it: if they didn’t have anyone to do basic troubleshooting, it meant they didn’t have an IT guy. That meant that if I went there and helped them ONCE, you know what would happen next time any IT-related problem occurred: they would call me again. I didn’t want that. Hire your own IT. If they DID have someone to do basic troubleshooting, then they had already tried what I would try.

And the last reason: if it broke again after I fixed it, whose fault would it be? Oh, the last guy who touched it! I didn’t want that, either.