Tech Support People Are Sharing The Worst Cases They’ve Seen While On The Job (45 New Pics)
While more and more people are becoming tech-savvy and can solve simpler issues on their own, the technology world still remains a mystery for many. Just think about the times your darling computer made weird noises, voiced all kinds of complaints, or, heaven forbid, showed the giant blue error you definitely did not want to see. Then, there’s only one place to turn — tech support heroes.
However, if you think all IT specialists do is tell you to hit the restart button or help you with that "major" issue with the printer that’s not even plugged in yet, there’s a whole subreddit that might prove otherwise. Enter Tech Support Gore, a community full of the worst cases professionals ever stumbled on while on the job and clueless people they had to deal with along the way.
Laptops drying in the oven, mold growing on headphones, and impractical shortcuts customers take without a care in the world are just a few of the monstrosities that employees had to witness. So get ready to scroll through some of the most nightmarish pictures Bored Panda has collected from the group. And if you’re in the mood for some more gadget madness, take a look at our previous compilations right here, here, and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
Network Rack At A Public Institution - Before And After
User Spilt Coffee On His Laptop - So He Put It In The Oven To Dry It Out...
Static Ip
The Tech Support Gore subreddit has been around for quite some time. Recently, this online group celebrated its 10th birthday with all its 532K technology-loving community members. "You will cringe to the brink of passing out after a few minutes looking at this subreddit," the moderators wrote in the description and the content users post there serves as proof.
Nearly every post consists of the nastiest and most baffling incidents people somehow managed to accomplish. After all, we have the manuals, the internet, and, most importantly, our common sense for a reason, so it's easy to say they have a talent to fail this badly.
But let's face it, even if we consider ourselves to be really tech-savvy and proudly declare to know how to properly care for our gadgets, accidents still happen. Whether it’s thinking that fixing up your computer would be a cakewalk or that you suddenly came up with a brilliant new way to rescue your soaking wet device, nearly everyone could end up being shamed on this subreddit.
Panel Fed From B Phase
This is something you call a beekeeper for, not a computer repair guy
One Of My Users Asked If I Had A New Power Strip They Could Use. I Said What's Wrong With The Old One
Pretty
However, many pictures from this list prove how incompatible with technology some people are. But if the first thought that crossed your mind was that the older generations are probably responsible for such nightmarish slip-ups, recent research seems to indicate they’re not as technologically illiterate as many might believe.
According to Pew Research Center, while there are still notable differences between American adults under 30 and those 65 and older, tech use by those in the oldest age group has grown significantly compared to a decade ago. So as it turns out, the gap between the oldest and youngest adults has shrunk.
Researchers conducted a survey in 2021 by questioning over 1.5K adults by cellphone and landline phone. The results showed that 96 percent of those ages 18 to 29 own a smartphone compared with 61 percent of those 65 and older. So while it’s still a 35 percent difference, the gap has decreased from 53 points in 2012.
Not Perfect, But A Good Start!
Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions
I'd be really angry if an alleged repair guy did this to my computer. I'd be expecting a new laptop from him. Oh, and by the way, that computer repair shop needs a new repair guy.
All Our Datacenter Equipment Started Firing Off Temperature Alerts. Unrelated, Our Cleaning Staff Was Doing A Deep Cleaning Of Our Datacenter After A Flood
Smartphones aren’t the only piece of tech that old people are quickly starting to embrace. However, the situation with tablet computers is somewhat different. Those aged 30 to 49 were the most likely people to own one, and the ones aged 65 and older were the least likely to have a tablet.
When it comes to our beloved internet use, virtually all younger adults (99 percent!) now say they use the internet. Compared with the older generation, only 75 percent of participants reported being internet users. However, things were quite different in 2000. Then, the gap between the oldest and youngest groups of adults was 56 percentage points, and right now it has decreased to 24 points. So while not everyone was born into electronics, more and more people are leaning toward it. After all, it makes life better and generally more convenient.
Customer States They Saw "A Couple Of Ants" Entering The Rear Vents Of Their iMac...
Legendary
Laptop Keyboard Is Not Working. Well There's Your Problem, Your Keyboard Is Creating New Antibiotics
Disk Fragmentation At 15%...
Bored Panda previously reached out to one of the moderators of the Tech Support Gore subreddit, Coffeechipmunk, who revealed that the most popular posts are those that depict situations just moments away from exploding. "[It's] very dangerous, but very cool looking. They probably get so big because people post the pics and you think, 'Wow, that's just a bomb at that point.'"
"A lot of the content on the subreddit does rather well, except for people coming for actual tech support, they get redirected to the right subreddit. For actual tech support gore, though, it seems like broken screens and slightly messy wires are the current posts that don't hit too hard," the moderator added.
Found This Somewhere And It Creeps Me Out
No Charger? No Problem!
My Gfs iPhone Charger Cable Which She Won’t Replace Because “It Works”
you can cook your pie with the cable! its a very good fire hazard! yummy too
Load More Replies...
Don't argue about stuff like this, just replace it for her. Explain why after. And I mean yes spend your own money and a tiny bit of effort to safeguard her life. Cut the old one up into little bits. If it becomes a huge argument consider your life choices.
My hands are itching to grab a pair of wire snips & start cutting that thru my screen!
Load More Replies...
FFS! Those magnetic 360° chargers come with 6' of cable and iPhone/USB C/USB micro tips (ALL 3 in 1 package) for like, $5-6! Once you've got the cord you can replace the tips for not even $1. I bought several just so I'd have them on hand for others when they needed them. I keep my tip plugged into my phone and then just wave it around the side of my bed - the magnets always find each other and then I can move the phone as much as I want since the tips are on a swivel.
I have those too, they're fantastic for devices that get plugged in and out a lot. So many devices get thrown away just because of worn charger ports. Even if you're careful there's only so many times you can plug something in and out before all that friction wears something down or loose.
Load More Replies...
😲 Girlfriend needs some help. That's a disaster just waiting to happen.
Bf/Gf who posted this needs a kick up the butt too. They know what the problem is and still choose to be there
Load More Replies...
Dude mag lock, never buy another lightning cable again. The mag lock disk is perfect
Load More Replies...
If you pt your tongue to it yes, you might feel the 5V.
Load More Replies...
How did the plastic part at the head even break? Did she hammer the charger head into the phone's socket?
Can't say I know for sure, but I had a rip-off brand charger last year. Took 3 days for that part to crack. Against better judgement I used it for another 5 days or so, while I waited for my new charger to arrive. It got hot, extremely hot. And the last time I plugged it in I literally saw sparks. If it's a rip off charger you don't have to do anything, they just break if you look at them for a certain amount of time
Load More Replies...
imagine holding it at the right angle bc it wont work if you don't do so
What are the girlfriends positive attributes? I need to know what you're able to overlook this stupidity for.
this is super dangerous but in fairness, apple chargers do get worn out super fast
If she treats her Iphone charger like this I can imagine how she treats her vagina.... phew
Give her an Etch-A-Sketch and tell her it's a tablet; she'll believe it and it's much safer for a child that your girlfriend is acting like. There is no excuse for using a cable like that, and she's gonna end up electrocuting yourself, herself, the pets and the house. Or burning the house down.
I fix mine with some 3:1 heat shrink when they start to get that bubble at either end near the connecter. used it when I worked avionics so when I started having that problem I just ordered some on Amazon. make sure you get the 3:1 because it has to fit snug on the connector and the actual cord. but be careful not to damage it when you heat it
She might burn down her house but she can still charge her iPhone...🤣🤣
Wrapping your charger cable with tape can work-- IF you do so before damage occurs. Electrical tape is best. The idea is to basically prevent the cable from making any sharp curves. A twist tie around the working end to keep it stiff also helps. I've been using the same charger cable for my macbook for... uh... nearly the entire life of the laptop. It's 9 years old this year. But the thing in this picture? Don't do this unless you want to burn the house down, electrocute yourself, or fry your electronic device.
Buy a new one Replace it Cut old one into 1" segments. Leave cable suicide note
I've heard of frugal, even cheap... This is like that couple that reuses their floss.
I wouldn't spend the night or wait for that "I told you so moment". Get a new cable. Switch it out and have the other one encased in resin. Ask her why she threw out the shoes with the heels that didn't look as bad as this. They still worked and people only talked about them as she was leaving. They weren't about to burst into flames or blow up her phone.
That one popular kid who would bully someone who had an android meanwhile their iphone looks like this
How does that work but my brand new ones work for about 15 times then it's "accessory nor supported"
I understand, I go through charging cords every 4 months or so. When you get one that looks like it should be thrown away, but still works... I'd keep it too!
Pro tip: Buy a package of 1/4" / 8mm heat shrink tubing, slide a piece over the plug end so that it reaches just past the metal tip, and shrink in place and your cable will NEVER be like this.
Yes it also works as abut zapper, a trusty razor and execution device all in one
If It Looks Stupid But It Works, Then It's Not Stupid
Just wait until some heat melts that fork all over the computer's guts. 😬 It won't be pretty.
According to Coffeechipmunk, one reason their online group got so popular is simply that "it’s very fun". "In a time where most of the internet can be incredibly serious and most times saddening or angering, r/techsupportgore is fun because you go on it and you can laugh (and/or cringe) at the crazy posts. Where else can you see a post like, "Wow, these cables really are messy" to, "A lizard fried my motherboard" back to back? I love our growing community. They're a bunch of people that just enjoy tech and to some extent, the worst of it."
Tablet Battery
That's... That's not good... That is about to go boom and make fire.
Trying To Take The Elevator At 5am Then I See This. (No Out Of Order Sign)
Only On Ebay. Graphics Cards Displayed On Outdoor, Damp, Gravel
Me:* Continuously smacking face on table* My friend: Are you okay Me:* shows photo * My friend:* joins me *
I Am Literally Scared Taking Apart Cr*p Like This. Used A 45 Lb Kettle Bell To Keep The Panel Down Enough To Remove The Screws
The mod explained that the term "Tech Support Gore" refers to "stuff in the tech support or IT field that's a computer comparable version of gore," and added, "Instead of a heart ripped out, it's CPU pins. Slightly less awful." Coffeechipmunk also revealed that the most horrible cases they’ve seen on the community while moderating were "anything with bugs in it. That's the worst.” Well, we couldn’t agree more. As you probably already noticed from this list, they’re truly awful.
Just Posting This...
I have hit my head so hard on the table I think I have a concussion.
Merry Christmas!
Yes That's On The Inside Of The Glass
Computer Froze
That's Always A Fun One To Clean, Isn't It
Baking soda and water 50/50 ratio, use with q-tip to clean off corrosion
My Buddy Couldn't Get Into His Harddrive Through The Os, So He Decided To Brute Force It
Found This Mummified Dualshock4 At Work, Anyone Knows Which God Of Egypt Used To Play With This?
The Joys Of Being It Support At A Construction Company(This iPad Was In A Protective Case)
Client: "It Was Working Perfectly Fine Yesterday, Probably A Windows Bug"
Placed A Headset I Wasn't Using Into A Drawer For A Few Months. I Guess The Cup Material Kept Absorbing The Moisture Out Of The Air
User: "Cpu Is At 100% And This Just Happened"
This
When 12 Screws Is Just Too Much To Remove The Hard Drive
Customer Claims Nobody Ever Worked On His 2012 Imac, That This Is How It Came When He Bought It From Apple
Was Looking For Old PC Parts And Found This
This Is How Newton Discovered Gravity
All In One
Windows Be Like " Should Have Gone For The Head" Reported As "It Was Making A Burning Smell So I Threw It Out The Window" Joys With Working From Home And Providing It Support
This Folks Is Why You Don't Leave Batteries In Electronic Equipment
Go on. What kind of "electronic equipment" uses six AA cells? What the heck was that?
Customer Tried To Fix A Connector For A High Power Studio Flash By Soldering The Wires Himself
Mild Gore/Spicy Pillowness From Yet Another 7490. Thank You Dell!
Just Cooking Lunch On A Athalon
My "USB-C" 2tb Drive Came Today
May I Present, My Gtx580
Note: this post originally had 100 images. It’s been shortened to the top 45 images based on user votes.
Aaaand this is where... "Behold... these demonstrate why it is smart to admit when you don't know 'the thing'... and get someone who does." - but of course... there'll be that person who was told all their lives they're so smart, so intelligent... and never understanding that doesn't mean they're smart in **EVERYTHING**. Yes, you may have X-number of degrees in theoretical physics... or chemistry.... but that doesn't mean you know how to fix your computer.......
It was a shock to learn that I can be smart without knowing everything, but I'd rather have the Geek Squad laugh at me than cause irreversible damage to my computer.
Load More Replies...
My mom was in a computer class one day with a woman who had never used a computer. The instructor looking at her monitor told her to move the mouse up to an icon he was pointing at. She lifted the mouse upwards off the mouse pad.
It is easy to laugh, but she just did what she was asked to do. The instructor needs to learn how to deal with beginners
Load More Replies...
I'm scared of lithium batteries now. The worst part is my sleep headband has a lithium battery. Should I continue to fear?
Short answer: no. Longer answer: there are situations where pretty much any new technology can be dangerous, but for something like lithium batteries there has been years of development to make them safer. In fact, these pictures of lithium batteries are likely because something else in the computer cooked them, and while it's certainly not a great result, it's also not actually catastrophic. Even in the worst cases (like the Samsung Galaxy Note a few years back) the chances of a real problem were around one in several hundred thousand.
Load More Replies...
I took my daughter to work, on the day. I set her up with Harvard Graphics to play around. She got to my settings, and changed all the backgrounds and text to white. lived in a snowstorm the next two days
Used to work for geek squad back in 06/07. Customer brought in computer saying it wasn't working properly. I connected it to monitor and power at the counter and sire nuff wont start. Pop open side of case and omfg so many roaches both dead and alive. Senior coworker very quickly got several large black trash bags put the pc in one then that bag in another bag and in another bag, handed it back to the customer and just said "nope". Lol
Dang. How did the customer react to "nope"?
Load More Replies...
This oddly.makes.me feel better about the work computers I have broken the last few years....just from dropping them (or being careless about how I toss my keys on my desk.) Yeesh.
The time a coworker sent a laptop back to my husband because it had a virus. When my husband opened the laptop a wad of Kleenex was stuck to the keyboard.
I-I cant do this anymore. All chances of potentially having my faith humanity restored is gone.
The ome drilling into the computer is actually a thing at one point they started trying to make 'cool looking computers so they strap on plastic coverings for the metal so by changing the covering and a couple chips or the HDD you have another model to sell but tge company doesn't tell whoever they get to do the plastic work how big wide or many holes it needs to breath or even worse the holes in the plastic just go to metal. You can look at the last 2-3 alienware models and see that the interior is laid out the same but the newer models have more holes/holes in diffrent places.(don't buy alienware it's dell and dell charges for name instead of product)
Wrong. I work for 911. There are a lot of really, really stupid people out there.
Load More Replies...
Aaaand this is where... "Behold... these demonstrate why it is smart to admit when you don't know 'the thing'... and get someone who does." - but of course... there'll be that person who was told all their lives they're so smart, so intelligent... and never understanding that doesn't mean they're smart in **EVERYTHING**. Yes, you may have X-number of degrees in theoretical physics... or chemistry.... but that doesn't mean you know how to fix your computer.......
It was a shock to learn that I can be smart without knowing everything, but I'd rather have the Geek Squad laugh at me than cause irreversible damage to my computer.
Load More Replies... My mom was in a computer class one day with a woman who had never used a computer. The instructor looking at her monitor told her to move the mouse up to an icon he was pointing at. She lifted the mouse upwards off the mouse pad.
It is easy to laugh, but she just did what she was asked to do. The instructor needs to learn how to deal with beginners
Load More Replies... I'm scared of lithium batteries now. The worst part is my sleep headband has a lithium battery. Should I continue to fear?
Short answer: no. Longer answer: there are situations where pretty much any new technology can be dangerous, but for something like lithium batteries there has been years of development to make them safer. In fact, these pictures of lithium batteries are likely because something else in the computer cooked them, and while it's certainly not a great result, it's also not actually catastrophic. Even in the worst cases (like the Samsung Galaxy Note a few years back) the chances of a real problem were around one in several hundred thousand.
Load More Replies... I took my daughter to work, on the day. I set her up with Harvard Graphics to play around. She got to my settings, and changed all the backgrounds and text to white. lived in a snowstorm the next two days
Used to work for geek squad back in 06/07. Customer brought in computer saying it wasn't working properly. I connected it to monitor and power at the counter and sire nuff wont start. Pop open side of case and omfg so many roaches both dead and alive. Senior coworker very quickly got several large black trash bags put the pc in one then that bag in another bag and in another bag, handed it back to the customer and just said "nope". Lol
Dang. How did the customer react to "nope"?
Load More Replies... This oddly.makes.me feel better about the work computers I have broken the last few years....just from dropping them (or being careless about how I toss my keys on my desk.) Yeesh.
The time a coworker sent a laptop back to my husband because it had a virus. When my husband opened the laptop a wad of Kleenex was stuck to the keyboard.
I-I cant do this anymore. All chances of potentially having my faith humanity restored is gone.
The ome drilling into the computer is actually a thing at one point they started trying to make 'cool looking computers so they strap on plastic coverings for the metal so by changing the covering and a couple chips or the HDD you have another model to sell but tge company doesn't tell whoever they get to do the plastic work how big wide or many holes it needs to breath or even worse the holes in the plastic just go to metal. You can look at the last 2-3 alienware models and see that the interior is laid out the same but the newer models have more holes/holes in diffrent places.(don't buy alienware it's dell and dell charges for name instead of product)
Wrong. I work for 911. There are a lot of really, really stupid people out there.
Load More Replies... 
