Help Desk Read Irrelevant Script, So Techies Found And Fixed Their Own Problem
The Register, Friday, January 9th, 2026
As you should, when being told the only remedy is deleting everything and starting again
2025 has ended and a new year is upon us, but The Register will continue opening Friday mornings with a fresh installment of On Call - the reader-contributed column that tells your tales of tech support.
This week, meet a reader we'll Regomize as "Rodney" - a serial contributor who opened his missive to On Call by sharing his frustration with help desks that work from scripts instead of exercising expertise.
His prime example of this tactic is the instruction to "start by deleting your cache and cookies," which Rodney says is an indicator of bad things to come.