How you look after your work tools can tell everyone a lot about you as a person, your character, and your values. In the Digital Age, that usually means your personal computer, laptop, or smartphone. The reality is that most people simply don’t take good enough care of their devices. And who’s left to pick up the pieces? Tech support workers!
Our team here at Bored Panda has collected the best posts of all time, as shared on the massively popular ‘Tech Support Gore’ subreddit. The online group is a niche for tech support workers to share the worst things they’ve ever seen on the job, and some of their experiences are truly mind-boggling. Scroll down to see what horrors they’ve had to face!
#1 Ticket Said "Camera Flickers To Fuzzy Brown Image Often"
Image credits: reddit.com
#2 4 Hrs Later
Image credits: techsupportgore
#3 Ancient Temple Of Asus
Image credits: 3 years ago
"A lot of the content on the subreddit does rather well, except for people coming for actual tech support, they get redirected to the right subreddit,” one of the subreddit’s moderators told one of our colleagues at Bored Panda previously.
“In a time where most of the internet can be incredibly serious and most times saddening or angering, r/techsupportgore is fun because you go on it and you can laugh (and/or cringe) at the crazy posts. Where else can you see a post like, ‘Wow, these cables really are messy’ to ‘A lizard fried my motherboard’ back to back? I love our growing community. They're a bunch of people that just enjoy tech and to some extent, the worst of it.”
#4 Told A User To Shutdown Their Virus Infected Computer And Ship It Back And To Label It As Infected. They Did Good
Image credits: reddit.com
#5 End User Had A Heater Next To The PC Which Was Randomly Shutting Off And She Thought She Had Smelled Burning A Couple Of Times. It Is Literally Screaming
Image credits: Dragon_Khan
#6 Quality Repost Here. (I Assume This Has Been Posted Before)
Image credits: imgur.com
The r/techsupportgore subreddit was first created a whopping 12 years ago, way back in 2012.
Over more than a decade, the community has grown to 622k members from all around the globe. It’s mainly composed of tech and IT workers, as well as anyone with a penchant for tech-related comedy and horrors.
#7 The Computer Keeps Overheating
Image credits: -Dastardly-
#8 First Day On Job; Set Up Those 4 Wireless Speakers For You
Image credits: reddit.com
#9 I Can't Even
Image credits: reddit.com
Some of us might not care how computers work as long as they do, but we enjoy poking fun at someone who doesn’t take care of their device. But the more familiar you are with IT and its culture, the more painful looking at some of these photos is bound to be.
If you’re any kind of creative or craftsperson, it hurts watching someone disrespect your work tools, whether they’re computers, paintbrushes, or musical instruments.
#10 “The Printer Isn’t Working”
Image credits: reddit.com
#11 Look How They Murdered My Boy
Image credits: flamewingdragon
#12 Hospital Server Room
Image credits: reddit.com
The team managing the entire community behind the scenes describes the sub as a place that will make you “cringe to the brink of passing out after a few minutes.” According to the moderators, something to keep in mind is that the online group isn’t meant to help people sort out their tech support issues.
The moderators urge you to try reaching out to the r/techsupport subreddit (a separate community) if you need some actual help with your tech. Meanwhile, if you plan on posting on r/techsupportgore, make sure that you don’t post pics of cracked screens or computers coated in dust. Both of these situations are so common that they’re usually not worth sharing. Well, unless things look really atrocious!
#13 "My PC Shut Off Suddenly And Won't Turn Back On"
Image credits: reddit.com
#14 Mouse
Image credits: reddit.com
#15 Customer Describes A “Slight” Burning Smell
Image credits: reddit.com
The subreddit isn’t just home to photos, though. Videos are welcome, too. However, the moderators urge all of the community members to focus on short-format clips. That means that the videos should not be longer than 30 seconds. According to the mods, “This is plenty of time to show what needs to be shown.”
#16 So Mac Doesnt Support Windows But Atleast It Supports Doors
Image credits: BateauSai
#17 "My Fan Was Making Too Much Noise!"
Image credits: reddit.com
#18 Is This The Worst Spaghetti Cabling Ever?
Image credits: starsky
Tech support, at its core, means solving all kinds of problems related to tech products or services. These workers essentially fix, manage, and maintain various IT systems. It’s an essential job, especially when computers and IT systems are so ubiquitous.
Most often, this support is provided to customers via phone or chat. However, there are times when the customer meets the support staff in person. Say, when they bring in their laptop or phone for fixing. Or if they have issues with their hardware or software at the office.
#19 Forbidden Caprisun
Image credits: Robert694n
#20 I Should Tell Them It's Not A Touch Screen
Image credits: reddit.com
#21 This Key After 10 Years Of Entering Orders At My Grandmothers Shop
Image credits: techsupportgore
Tech support workers earn an average of $21.55 per hour in the United States. That amounts to roughly $56,572 per year, according to Indeed. Of course, this is just the average. Some companies, for instance, ‘Oracle,’ pay their tech support employees around $83,614 per year, while the average wage at ‘Novogene Corporation’ clocks in at $69,020.
#22 Apparently Someone Got Tired Of It Ringing, So The Put It In The Oven
Image credits: techsupportgore
#23 One Of My Co-Workers Was Eager To Unpack Her New Mouse
Image credits: reddit.com
#24 I Need Somewhere To Set This Candle... Oh Here’s A Good Spot!
Image credits: reddit.com
The most highly paid tech support employees in the US live in Houston, Texas (they earn an average of $62,425 per year), Boston, Massachusetts ($61,937 per year), and Nashville, Tennessee ($61,230 per year).
Workers based in Orlando, Florida, as well as Las Vegas, Nevada, earn slightly less than the US average. Meanwhile, tech support staff also get paid far less, on average, if they’re based in Austin, Texas ($54,045 per year), compared to Houston.
#25 When They Get Creative With The Only Working Audio Output They Have
Image credits: reddit.com
#26 I Found This While Scrolling Through My Camera Roll From 2018, Enjoy
Image credits: Ascaban
#27 Just Set It On Fire
Image credits: techsupportgore
What is the worst thing that’s ever happened to your computer, phone, or other device, Pandas? Have you ever worked in tech support or asked for help from someone in that line of work? Have you ever had to deal with clients who took awful care of their devices? What’s the best and worst experience you’ve had with support staff?
We’d like to hear what you have to say. Swing on by the comments if you have a moment.
#28 Printer From Hell
Image credits: UsablePizza
#29 Customer States "Our Intercom At The Gate Doesn't Work" Meanwhile In The Connections Box
Image credits: trdsc7797
#30 “There’s Something Wrong With The Printer In The Lab...”
Image credits: techsupportgore
#31 German T-Mobile Found 3 Snakes Inside Their Network Unit
Image credits: techsupportgore
#32 I Said "Put It In Rice." Not "Put Rice In It"
Image credits: techsupportgore
#33 “My Space Heater Stopped Working”
Image credits: reddit.com
#34 User Spilt Coffee On His Laptop - So He Put It In The Oven To Dry It Out
Image credits: smarthawk
#35 User Calls About Disc Being Stuck In Another Computer, Mentions Off Hand About This Laptop. They Had Been Using And Charging It Like This For Weeks
Image credits: techsupportgore
#36 Slpt: Laptop Charger Panini Press
Image credits: voiping
#37 Improvised Way To Supply Power
Image credits: reddit.com
#38 This Must Be The Work Of A Madman
Image credits: reddit.com
#39 Ps5 In For Hdmi Replacement. Kid Said “I Pushed The Cable In A Little Too Hard”
Image credits: cdq1985
#40 Dont Use Lemonade To Clean Your Mouse. I Thought The Acidity Would Clean Off The Buildup Of Crumbs And Cheeto Grease But It Just Attracted These Ants. I Left Home For 2 Days, Just To See This On My Desk
Image credits: reddit.com
#41 Pretty
Image credits: Son0fSun
#42 "You Can Fix Your Sisters Phone Right? It Gets Hot Sometimes And Turns Itself Off A Lot". "What's That Smell?" Battery Acid. Literally Battery Acid
Image credits: techsupportgore
#43 Wondering The Story Behind This
Image credits: FinishedToxicity
#44 I Think My Psu Has Some Kind Of Error
Image credits: the123king-reddit
#45 Customer Brought In This Imac For Not Powering On... This Is How He Apparently Uses It
Image credits: techsupportgore
#46 The Nastiest Mouse I Have Ever Seen In The Field. Make No Mistake, That Is Not Dust. That Is...uh...hand-Grease
Image credits: techsupportgore
#47 Broken Clip? No Problem!
Image credits: techsupportgore
#48 Go Check The Switch Closet. We Think Something Might Have Gotten Unplugged Somewhere
Image credits: reddit.com
#49 “Can You Recover The Data?”
Image credits: Spore-Gasm
#50 No Charger? No Problem!
Image credits: Sanctimonious1
