On Call Friday is the day the working week goes to die for most people - unless, like many a Reg reader, they're on call to provide tech support at all hours. Which is why we use this day to celebrate those hardy souls with a fresh instalment of On Call - the reader-contributed column that celebrates survival in the face of stupidity, mendacity, and substandard manners.

This week, meet a reader we'll Regomize as "Henry" who told us about his first career tech support experience: working in a mobile phone shop, back when the devices were just about the size and weight of bricks.

One day, a very large man walked into the store with an object that resembled a brick more than it did a phone. "He plonked down a rough cuboid of concrete and demanded a replacement," recalled Henry.

Henry was naturally curious as to how the phone - and it was indeed a phone - had found its way into this condition.

After some back and forth, he learned that the customer had managed to drop it into a bucket of wet concrete, but nonetheless thought a replacement under warranty was … erm … warranted.

Henry was forced to explain the difference between a warranty and insurance. The customer was uninterested in the nuances, and became increasingly agitated.

The scene turned nasty.

"He slammed the brickphone onto my desk, raised his fist and declared 'Either I get my legally entitled free replacement or I'll smash your face in'."

Henry was not sure it was an idle threat.

And he was spared from having to find out, by a gentle "Excuse me" uttered by the next customer in line.

"Four police officers had politely waited for service while the customer threatened me," Henry wrote.

The giant customer, fist still held high, turned to respond to the "Excuse me," and soon stopped making any sound.

The police, it turned out, were not run-of-the-mill officers. This quartet was part of an armed response unit.

"With cogs audibly whirring inside his head, the angry customer realized he had a fist raised to entirely the wrong people and suddenly restrained himself," Henry recounted.

After a mumbled "sorry" the customer picked up his brick and left the store.

"He never visited my store again," Henry told On Call. But our hero did keep an eye on the customer's account - and noticed he visited another one a couple of weeks later.

Henry never did try to discover why, or what happened. And didn't give it another thought other than as a story to share.

Be like Henry and share your support stories with On Call by clicking here to send us an email. Maybe you'd like to let us know about the worst threats you've received in the workplace? ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/07/26/on_call/