Tales from the service desk: 9 funny IT support requests

Every IT professional has their fair share of stories. From the user who mistook their disc drive for a cup holder to the manager who somehow managed to “delete” the internet there’s always something to laugh about at the service desk.

Here are a few of the funniest requests IT support professionals have received from end-users.

1. The “broken” printer

On the surface, this looks like a normal request to receive while working at the service desk. But when you realize that the caller has failed to take the paper out of the bag it was shipped in, you might struggle to keep a straight face.

2. False sense of security

Everyone knows that having a secure password is crucial in order to keep company data safe and sound. But in practice? Not all users take this as seriously as they should.

When you help an end-user with a request and you discover that their password is the same as their username, you might wonder why you spent all that time educating your colleagues on security best practices. (Bonus points if they’ve added a helpful hint that tells you this).

And when you learn that the device belongs to an IT manager? If you don’t laugh, you’ll probably cry.

Don’t be like this IT manager. Discover 6 ways to boost your organization’s IT security.

3. Incident #212

Subject: “Myspacebarisbroken”

Description: “CanIpleasehaveanewkeyboardsoIcanactuallywork?”

We’ll just leave that there.

4. Where's the “Any” key?

This is a classic. There’s always at least one end user who calls in a panic when prompted to “Press any key”, unable to locate the mysterious “Any” key on their keyboard. Legend has it they’re still searching for it to this day.

5. The unattended laptop

Who doesn’t enjoy a good office prank now and again? But sometimes they get out of hand.

We heard a story about an end-user complaining that he had been “hacked” because whenever he booted the computer, the theme song from Game of Thrones would play. In fact, he had just left his laptop unattended, giving one of his colleagues the opportunity to adjust his sound settings.

Lesson learned: always lock your laptop before you get up to grab a coffee!

6. You can run but you can’t hide

There’s nothing better than watching a caller – who apparently has “no idea” why their network drive is full – trying to quickly delete all their movie bootlegs and music files.

Helpful hint of the day: If you share your screen with IT, we can see what you are doing.

7. USB driving me crazy

We heard that a user once complained that their USB thumb drive wasn’t working when it was plugged into their laptop (are people still using USBs these days?)

Turns out they had plugged it into the ethernet port instead. Oops.

8. Everyone needs help sometimes

And it’s not only your end-users who are struggling. Every so often, a caller needs help resolving a common issue, so you refer them to a knowledge item… which they actually wrote a few months ago. IT professionals make mistakes, too.

9. “Internet issues”

Another classic. No matter how many emails, intranet updates, and Teams reminders you send out, there’s always at least one person who doesn’t get the memo.

Any time there’s scheduled maintenance, there’s always that one caller whose mysterious “internet issues” turn out to be scheduled network maintenance that everyone else at the company already knows about.

Learn how to deal with service desk stress