It was just another Tuesday morning in the helpdesk world when I received a ticket from a user named Bob. The subject line read: “Printer broken, please fix ASAP.” Bob was known in the office for being a bit skeptical about technology, often questioning the “magic” behind IT fixes.
I dialed Bob’s extension to get a better idea of what was going on. He explained that his printer, “the one by the window,” refused to print anything. He swore it worked fine yesterday, but today it was completely unresponsive. There were no error messages, no blinking lights—just absolute silence when he hit print.
I asked Bob if he had tried turning it off and on again, half expecting him to say yes. To my surprise, he said, “I didn’t want to mess with it. What if it stays off and I can’t use it again?”
I assured him there was no risk and suggested he try the classic reboot. He agreed hesitantly and consigned himself to the fate of pressing the power button. After a brief pause, the printer whirred back to life, lights blinking, and a tiny beep sounded like it had just woken up from a deep nap.
I encouraged Bob to print a test page. Moments later, the printer churned out a page filled with text like nothing had ever been wrong. Bob was stunned and said, “Wow, I can’t believe it. Can you send me proof? I want to show my manager that the IT guy knows what he’s doing.”
Laughing inwardly, I told him I’d send a screenshot of the ticket closed with a note: “Printer fixed by turning it off and on again.” I did just that—complete with a cheeky gif of a robot rebooting for added effect.
Bob replied, “Best IT ticket ever. Thanks for the save—and proof!”
Sometimes the simplest solution is all you need. And sometimes, users just need a little convincing that turning it off and on again is indeed a magical fix.