IT guy : what's the problem with your computer?
Clueless person : It doesn't work
Classic...
Me: "Hello, this is IT, how can I help you"
Caller: "Yes, hello. Can I speak with IT please"
Me: "... You already are"
Caller: "OK, good. My computer doesn't work"
Me: "Could you please clarify? What exactly 'doesn't work'? Could you explain what the problem is."
Caller: "it won't let me do my job"
Me: "Sir/Ma'am, what exactly is it you're trying to do?"
Caller: "I am trying to create a sales order. But it doesnt work"
Me: "again, could you be more specific on what 'doesn't work'? Which step of creating a sales order specifically? Do you see an error message?"
Caller: "when trying to add an item to the order."
[waiting a few seconds for the second part of the answer]
Me: "Allright, what about an error message? Do you see an error message?"
Caller: "Yes"
[silence]
Me: "well, what does it say then?"
Caller: "I don't know, I closed it"
Me: "could you please try again, then?"
Caller: "Yes." [typing and clicking] "it still doesn't work"
Me: "Well, what does the error message say?"
Caller: "I closed it"
Me: "could you please try again and tell me what the error says?"
Caller: "OK" [typing and clicking] "it says it can't create the item line"
Me: "Could you please, verbatim, read the error message back to me?"
Caller: "Could not create item line. Please enter customer number in sales header first"
Me: "Have you entered a customer number in the sales header?"
Caller: "No, why?"
Me: "because the error message told you to do so. Before entering item lines, you need to specify the customer number so the ERP system can lookup the individual price for that customer."
Caller: "OK, let my try if that works... Weird, it now does work. Thank you"
Me: "you're welcome"