Bad advice re fixing problems

Discussion in 'The Lounge - Off Topic' started by Colloghi, Mar 5, 2007.

  1. Colloghi

    Colloghi Kilobyte Poster

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    I just wonder is it a common site to see really bad advice given to customers, when the solution is often very simple and straightforward, as i seem to hear of such and such told me to this, which results in a problem worst than the original problem

    As an example, take this. There is a student forum i use with an IT section and some of the replies to peoples question just plain annoys me. I know im not an expert and will happily hold my hand up to anything i dont know, but the advice given on to some of these are just plain ridiculous

    One girl i read today, had lost her password to log on to XP, whislt someone replied you can change it, but im not sure how. Others replied with non-helpful answers and one guy even told her, she would have to format her entire drive:ohmy

    is this common out there in the IT world? and whats the worst advice you have heard
     
    Certifications: A+, MCP 270, 271, MCDST
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  2. Kitkatninja
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Kitkatninja aka me, myself & I Moderator

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    Yes, but the good news is that it just not limited to the IT world. It's the same in other fields (plumbing, electrical, car mechs, etc).

    Lots of people will give out the knowledge that they have, or have read/heared, etc. Some people will have limited knowledge, other people will have alot, at the end of the day it's down to the individual asking the question to determine whether or not the infomation given is good or bad. And that comes down to research from a good range of sources and not just one person/source...

    -ken
     
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  3. Mr.Cheeks

    Mr.Cheeks 1st ever Gold Member! Gold Member

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    if in doubt - google it!
     
  4. csx

    csx Megabyte Poster

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    I love Google very much! You find everything. ;)
     
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  5. Phoenix
    Honorary Member

    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    Um
    please bear in mind that not everything you find on google is correct either
    its pretty unbias like that being a search engine
    it makes no quams about indexing those bits of bad advice as well as those gems of good advice

    trust the person your getting advice from, look around, see how others have found there advice
    not many people would blindly take the word of any unkown person, people just get lazier online, rule of thumb is do your homework
     
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  6. Bluerinse
    Honorary Member

    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    Yes and this forum is good because we have some real professionals here giving advice, like Phoenix above and Harry, BBM, Crito, wagnerk, Zeb, Tripwire45, r h lee, the Armadillo, Nugg, Boyce, AJ, JonnyMX, Baba, Simonthingy etc etc etc (the list goes on and on) - Honestly the advice here is *priceless* and if we give wrong or misleading advice, we will happily try and clarify or put the matter straight as a *team*.

    Nobody can be 100% correct 100% of the time.
     
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  7. Kitkatninja
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Kitkatninja aka me, myself & I Moderator

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    That's why working in a team is great :)

    -Ken
     
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  8. Cockles

    Cockles Megabyte Poster

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    PC World told my parents to do that when they forgot their password, format the drive, losing all their photos of family events and of my niece's very early days as well as work related material

    My folks ain't good with technology at all, but I was riled about that, some spotty numpty in PC World dishing out advice like that. :x
     
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  9. Kitkatninja
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Kitkatninja aka me, myself & I Moderator

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    That's one of the downfalls, when people from one field try to make out that their from another field (eg in sales, but making out their in IT just because they work for an IT company). It kinda give proper IT people a bad name.

    I have to say that I've met a couple of techs/engineers from PC world's techical dept and they know their stuff (I'm not saying that all of them do, as I can't confirm that), but they aren't on the sales floor, they're out supporting businesses. However the sales rep should have just said "I don't know" instead of telling your parents the most extreme option.

    -Ken
     
    Certifications: MSc, PGDip, PGCert, BSc, HNC, LCGI, MBCS CITP, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCE, A+, N+, S+, Server+
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  10. Cockles

    Cockles Megabyte Poster

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    Hah, I wish he'd said that as well, or I wish they'd bloody asked me, I don't know the answer right off the top of my head but I know people who do :thumbleft

    Don't get me wrong, I've met some lads at PC world who did know their apples and have really help out, but I must say the best advice I have ever had from the lot of the sales floor is 'Try Maplin, they're much cheaper'
     
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  11. Crito

    Crito Banned

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    <begin rant>
    Every boss I've ever had has always been right 100% of the time. Usually it's "their team" and employees are viewed as disposable commodities merely fulfilling a job role. They're the only indispensable members of the so-called "team."

    I have been in a couple of real teams though. Back in the day, before Microsoft was overrun by MBAs, they had real workgroups. There were no middle managers. There were no disposable members. Most teams would even rotate people from job role to job role periodically. In a pinch your teammates would fill in for you, not replace you.
    <end rant>

    Anyway, sorry for going completely OT. Really can't recall receiving any “bad” advice for free. I've paid for some really “bad” advice though. :ohmy
     
    Certifications: A few
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