Dear Unhelpful Help Desk,
I write to you today to express my utter frustration and disappointment with you. I have never been more annoyed with a part of Quinnipiac University than I currently am with you this semester. And I’m a junior. I’ve been here for some time now and have had plenty of frustrating instances over the years.
This year I returned to school with a different laptop from the one I’ve used for the past two years. I came with a brand new computer that has yet to be connected to the BobcatNet, but I truly did not foresee this to be a problem. I was wrong, very wrong.
Neither of the computers I’ve used have been purchased through the Quinnipiac purchase program, and believe me, I know that you do not help people who are not part of this program. I knew this before I came here freshman year, but I wasn’t going to buy a school laptop when I already had a perfectly good one. What I don’t understand is why when I arrived freshman year with a non-Quinnipiac computer, I was successfully helped by one of your E-stars who re-imaged my computer and now this year your staff will do nothing for me. Again, I understand you do not want the liability of touching a computer that isn’t part of the University program and risk being responsible for problems that arise, but you could offer some guidance at the very least.
And by guidance, I do not mean the piece of paper you hand out to people listing steps of how to connect to QUGuest or BobcatNet, depending on if the computer has XP or Vista. When I received the piece of paper, I reluctantly took it back to my room in York Hill and followed all of the steps very carefully. After attempting a handful of times on my own with no success, I asked my roommates to try – no luck. So now I’m stuck with a computer that can’t connect to the Internet and a “Help Desk” that does not help. I returned to the Help Desk the next day, computer and paper in hand, and asked for help-shocking! The students behind the desk, and this is not a personal attack on your staff members because I’m sure they’re all great people, looked like I was speaking gibberish to them. I turned my screen toward the people behind the desk and asked, “Could you at least stand there and watch while I try to do this and correct me if I mess up? I’ll do all of the work, you don’t have to touch the computer.” They then proceeded to shake their heads, look away from the screen and say, “There are cameras in here.”
My jaw dropped. Are you kidding me? Well thank you Sherlock, of course there are cameras at the Help Desk. There are thousands of dollars worth of computers and other technology back there. I would hope there are cameras. But something tells me that the cameras aren’t there to spy on the staff for touching another student’s computer-isn’t that the point of the Help Desk? -I would like to think they’re there for security purposes, but hey, that’s just my opinion.
You gave me another piece of paper after your staff looked away from my screen the other day. The paper listed two “approved vendors” that students who are not part of the Laptop Purchase Program can contact if they need help. Well thanks Quinnipiac Help Desk; I’m glad you give me permission to contact these two vendors after you do nothing for me.
I would like to reiterate that I do understand the purpose of you not touching non-purchase program computers, but I think there should be some sort of compromise. Couldn’t you have a document or a contract that a student like me could sign and give you permission to work on their computer? I would happily sign a contract allowing your staff to work on my computer and finally get my computer connected to the wireless network. The document would need to clearly state that the Quinnipiac University Help Desk would not be held liable for any damages done to the computer while the staff works on it. I’ll even type up the document if you need someone to, just let me know.
Thank you for your time,
Julia Bucchianeri
Class of 2011