It was an unusually quiet Tuesday morning when our helpdesk team received a ticket that immediately stood out from the usual requests to reset passwords or fix Wi-Fi issues. The subject line simply read: “My computer is haunted.” Naturally, curiosity got the better of us, and the technician assigned to the ticket decided to give the user a call.
On the other end of the line was a slightly panicked voice explaining that their desktop had started making eerie creaking and whispering noises, especially after hours when the office was empty. The user swore it sounded like someone—or something—was trying to communicate through the speakers. They were convinced that their computer was possessed by a ghost and wanted help to exorcise it.
Trying to keep things professional but entertained, the technician politely asked a few questions. Was there any chance a spooky sound effect or prank app had been installed? Had anyone else in the office heard these strange noises? The user was adamant that no one else believed them, and that it was definitely their machine acting up, often late at night when they were working alone.
The technician suggested doing a remote session to see what was going on. When they connected, there were no ghostly whispers, just the normal hum of the system. Then, suddenly, the spooky creaking noise started. The technician, now intrigued, muted the user and started testing things out. They discovered that the “haunted” sounds were actually coming from the user’s desk chair, not the computer. The chair’s aging hydraulic lift was gurgling and hissing like a ghost ship in the wind every time the user shifted their weight.
Trying to explain this gently, the technician said, “It looks like your chair is haunted more than your computer.” The user, though a bit embarrassed, laughed it off. The problem was resolved by moving the PC speakers a few inches away and advising the user to get a new chair. As a final prank, the technician installed a harmless sound effect app set to play a friendly ghost voice saying “Boo! IT’s watching!” to remind everyone how serious helpdesk takes all calls—even the spooky ones.
That ticket went down as a first in the history of our support center. It wasn’t ghosts, gremlins, or goblins causing the issue, just a creaky chair and an overactive imagination. But hey, if it keeps the office entertained and the ticket logs interesting, maybe every haunted computer problem is worth a second look!