Clinically Insane Customer - ignore or help?

[nudone]

got a call out yesterday to go and see a woman that turned out to be clinically insane.

i had a feeling the call might even be a prank/hoax when she phoned:

1. she phoned my personal number, i.e. not business number (no idea where she got my home number from).

2. she asked for a completely different company name to what i use.

3. she said people were taking control of her computer so she wanted it factory resetting. oh, and the keyboard and mouse were being switched off by mysterious forces.

anyway, went and looked at the problem. too much to repeat here really.

she believes the local "crooked" police force are breaking into her house and tampering with things: her computer, here mobile phone, her letters, you name it.

she's keeping photographic evidence of all the "illegal" activity on her computer. her solicitor has duplicates of all this data.

the computer makes a "loud" noise sometimes as does the scanner/printer. obviously this is due to people "taking control of the machine".

she showed some of the "illegal" activity going on with her computer. one thing was trying to delete folders that had programs running from inside them - so obviously you can't delete the folders. she interpreted the error messages as someone was in control of her computer - and therefore wouldn't let her delete stuff.

there's more madness but i decided to make my excuses and say i'd return the following day to sort her computer out. this was just so i could escape really. my thinking was, that no matter what i did to her computer, she'd probably just think i was part of the conspiracy - so she'd become a nuisance phoning me up when she found her computer still under the control of mysterious agencies. essentially, there was nothing wrong with her machine - it was just her 100% paranoia.

i didn't charge for the call out. seemed unfair to take money from someone so mentally ill. you may say i could have tried to explain to her that there was nothing wrong or to fear - but the problem was her whole world not just the computer. she explained that other pc repair people had tried to help but they were useless as the trouble hadn't gone away.

(she told me about her time in hospital and attempted suicide and all that so i know she just couldn't help herself. it was a crazy/amusing call out - but kind of tragic when you think about it. she obviously lives in a frightening world. oh, her husband had obviously given up trying to tell her there was no problem - unless he was equally disturbed - don't know.)

anyway, i thought i'd mention it just to see what the normal response is to this kind of customer. i think i've got away from bringing myself more trouble.

 

[MHCG]

Run away, far far away.

 

[seedubya]

The best thing you can do for this lady and yourself is try not to engage with her at all. If she continues to call you for help you need to tell her the truth i.e. as far as you are concerned, her fears of remote control etc. are groundless and that you cannot help her. Be very clear about it. If she hassles you, go straight to the police. If you are afraid for her safety go straight to the police.

There is no normal response in a situation like this unless you're used to dealing with someone suffering from paranoid delusions. Even then it can be tricky. Paranoia is the usual culprit where insanity pleas are concerned. I also think it was very kind and compassionate of you not to charge the lady and that you handled the whole thing very well.

 

[ijunkie]

I worked for a lady like that once. She need her motherboard swapped out, some odd and end fixing and some tutoring. I felt sorry for her and only charged her half price. After all the work was completed she told me that she couldn't pay me and that I would have to correspond through email with her attorney, as her attorney wouldn't let her spend any money.

I just emailed her and told her not to worry about the bill and that I could do no further work for her unless she paid upfront. Then she accused me of ripping her off! I lost a couples bills, but also lost a huge headache and learned in the process that when dealing with home uses, Cash up front!

I have had a few others that were shy abrick or two and I just work myself out of a job with them, because they are always more trouble than they are worth. Just refer them to Bestbuy!

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

The best thing you can do for this lady and yourself is try not to engage with her at all. If she continues to call you for help you need to tell her the truth i.e. as far as you are concerned, her fears of remote control etc. are groundless and that you cannot help her. Be very clear about it. If she hassles you, go straight to the police. If you are afraid for her safety go straight to the police.

There is no normal response in a situation like this unless you're used to dealing with someone suffering from paranoid delusions. Even then it can be tricky. Paranoia is the usual culprit where insanity pleas are concerned. I also think it was very kind and compassionate of you not to charge the lady and that you handled the whole thing very well.

I have a sister in law who is that way. Her situation is almost identical to this ladies as she is paranoid schizophrenic. Society has no place for these people (unless they are a danger to others) they usually get set back out on the streets to fend for themselves. Its sad really and there is nothing you can do to convince them otherwise because they are ill. With my sister-in-law she is actually pretty rational when on her meds. If not, look out!

 

[nudone]

yeah, i think i did the right thing really. i did phone her back today and said, unfortunately, i was having transport problems so couldn't visit her. just told her to call me again if she can't get anyone else to help her - but i wouldn't be available for a few days until mobile again. one of her problems is that she wants thing done immediately - so i doubt she'll call back.

i must admit it was an amusing kind of thing to experience because she just saw "tampering" everywhere (someone was changing certain words in her word documents), it was just crazy. maybe her husband was secretly trying to send her even more over the edge. he seemed pretty unconcerned when he came in the room.

but, overall, it is tragic. she needs help - she obviously isn't getting it - nor the medication perhaps.

 

[abe]

the "forces" probably ran a spell check and that changed the words on her computer.

 

[nudone]

the "forces" probably ran a spell check and that changed the words on her computer.

oh yeah, that's true, didn't think of that. but that sounds like it.

just been chatting to someone about it and they said "why didn't the husband say something to you when you arrived or left to explained the situation?"

which i think is a very good point. it would have answered a lot of questions if the husband hadn't hid away in the other room for most of the time.

 

[bagellad]

Just like dating I would say long term the crazy ones are just not worth it.

 

[NYJimbo]

Just like dating I would say long term the crazy ones are just not worth it.

Yeah, but why are the hottest ones also the craziest ?

 

[seedubya]

oh yeah, that's true, didn't think of that. but that sounds like it.

just been chatting to someone about it and they said "why didn't the husband say something to you when you arrived or left to explained the situation?"

which i think is a very good point. it would have answered a lot of questions if the husband hadn't hid away in the other room for most of the time.

Most likely because, if he had, she would begin to include him in her paranoia leaving her without anyone she can trust or depend on. His first responsibility is to his wife's everyday existence, then to her mental health and your enlightenment comes a poor third.

 

[bagellad]

Well if the crazy ones weren't hot who would hook up with them? You would just run in the other direction. So I guess the ugly crazy people have died out over time.

I find sometimes you just have to kind of go with your gut.. you kind of know... "i shouldnt have accepted this job.. this guy is going to be a lot of work." Like I had a customer with a clearly dead lcd on a laptop and he wanted to call around and try to find a better rate before calling me again, and i just said "sorry I dont think I can help you!"

 

[nudone]

Most likely because, if he had, she would begin to include him in her paranoia leaving her without anyone she can trust or depend on. His first responsibility is to his wife's everyday existence, then to her mental health and your enlightenment comes a poor third.

yes, that's a good point too. makes sense he wouldn't want to make the situation any worse for her.

it's easy to forget the whole event seemed strange to me BUT to the husband it would have been just another ordinary day - with just another ordinary pc repair man visiting the house.

 

[hondablaster]

Just like dating I would say long term the crazy ones are just not worth it.

LOL. For real.

 

[angry_geek]

. . . the east end girls are the worst, I Know from first hand experience, I must have dated all of the crazies this place has to offer lol.

That's why the Pet Shop Boys stuck with the West End Girls.

Sorry, had an '80s flash for a moment.

 

[atlanticjim]

That's no damn lie! Especially on this island we live on, and the east end girls are the worst, I Know from first hand experience, I must have dated all of the crazies this place has to offer lol.

Oh, this island of ours.
Nuttier and nuttier as you go from Manhattan to Montauk.
[BTW: ACG, was one of those crazies my second ex-wife?]

 

[Bryce W]

This post isnt going to add to the thread, but as I was flicking through the topics in this forum I had to laugh at the topic of this thread "Clinically Insane Customer - Ignore or Help?". It just goes to show how crazy/interesting/annoying/funny/diverse this business can be.

 

[nudone]

ain't that the truth!

 

[MaxMon]

I agree with the others post in how you handled the situation, professional and humanly. You are better off not getting involved. Most individuals who suffer from those metal issues develop a dependency as well, if she felt you gave her a feeling of security, then you would have been dealing with her on a daily basis.

MaxM

 

[TechGirl86]

I give you loads of credit for your courage to even go and check out the situation. I don't know if my tech would have accepted a call like that. We do work with people that are a few shy of the dozen but no one with that amount of paranoia. It is sad to see how mental illness can affect people, I am just wondering why the poor lady has never gotten help and why her husband doesn't do more. Sad thing about it is she was probably okay in earlier years and got worse with time. Kudos for being a nice person to her, I don't blame you for not being able to help her though, no one is every going to do what she wants anyway.