lilyfisher•2mo agoProlific Poster

My friend said to always ask for more details before giving an answer here...

I thought it was overkill, but last month someone asked about fixing a slow computer. I just said 'restart it' and moved on. Turns out they had a specific virus issue and my quick answer made things worse. The person came back really upset after losing some files. Now I spend at least five minutes reading the whole post and asking a clarifying question first. It takes more time but it actually helps. Has anyone else had a simple piece of advice totally change how you post in this community?

3 comments

3 Comments

rivershah2mo agoTop Commenter

Oh man, my buddy did something similar. He told someone to just reinstall an app to fix a login problem. Turns out they had two-factor on an old phone number and got locked out forever. He felt awful.

victor_lane602mo ago

That's the worst kind of tech support mistake. You try to help with a simple fix and accidentally make things way harder. Your buddy must have felt terrible.

the_reese5d ago

What finally worked for me was just admitting right away that I messed up and not trying to defend what I told them. I sat down with them, walked through the whole problem step by step like we were both trying to fix it together, and made sure to double check every setting before just hitting "yes" or "ok." It made them feel less dumb and we actually got the whole account recovery sorted in under an hour.