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Stupid people will miss even the most obvious of indicators. See, for instance, many of the postings at Customerssuck.com. For instance http://www.customerssuck.com/board/showthread.php?t=3527&highlight=sign

So my lotto printer was jammed and I was waiting for someone from tech support to call back. So I hung up a sign that said:
"Our lotto machine is temporarily unavailble. We cannot print or check lotto tickets at this time."
Now anyone with half a fucking brain would look at that and understand it.
Except this cranky old lady, she just stands there and I walk up and ask if she needs help. She points to my sign and says, "What does this mean?"

See? Even looking at a perfectly comprehensible notice, people still don't understand what it means. So, I'm sure I could make the 'gear up' indicator be a 2-foot high neon sign, flashing, with an alarm klaxon, and stupid people will still either miss it, or ignore it.

This a problem with the stupidity of the person, NOT the obviousness of the indicator.

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/index.php

I think us technical people need our own website like Customers suck to post all our stupid customer stories, like this one.

I'd just like to point out that "The Vinegar Saga" on that site is worth risking an Offtopic mod just to point out.

http://customerssuck.com/cs/?m=show&id=1020

Honestly, did he confuse malt vinegar with malt liquor? That's the only justification I can think of....

The other side of the story (which isn't to say companies don't suck):
http://www.customerssuck.com/

I sympathise, the vast majority of customers always think they are right. They won't admit it when wrong, and when you point it out to them they quickly change their story to the right one, the one you just told them and then make it out as though it was *you* who was saying the wrong thing all along.

Customers who order the wrong thing and then blame it on you, customers who order something and don't come and pick it up, customers who whine and complain just because they have nothing better to do. Customers who treat you like dirt because they think they can. The teachers (you can tell a teacher from the minute they walk in the door) who treat you like a child. Customers who lie to your face to make up some excuse for who they are so stupid and I just want to rip their throat out and spit down their neck...

Then there are the cusomters who *abuse* *their* *children* while in your store, right there in front of you... Don't get me started on those.

I prefer a pitchfork or a shovel to deal with idiots. (I have one sitting by me right now...)
I find it is much more satisfying to beat them to death slowly (rather than a quick shot to the head).

CUSTOMERS SUCK!

Remember, it's those customers who buy things on sale that make your bucks.

Look, people in general are dumb. I think George Carlin said it best - Think of someone of average intelligence: HALF of the people in the world are stupider than that!.

On the flip side, a lot of big companies are farming their tech support out to foreign countries - with very bad results.

Sometimes this works out ok (i.e. an Irish techie helping me get a new recovery cd for my Aptiva at 2 in the monring) but most of the time it doesn't - you get some doof who can barely speak english and follows a script not because of corporate liability concerns - but because they don't know anything else!

It's a well-known fact that the public at large is stupid. This is especially noticable to anyone who works retail, especially those who work in cities frequented by tourists.