So who is giving the "help" here?

Is there anyone out there that hasn't read a list of amusing stories about the zany things that folks who answer "help line" phone numbers have to deal with? Well I've got my own story, that just happened this morning when I called the IT helpline at my workplace to get some issues with my phone service straightened out.

I dial in, get pre-recorded messages with answers to common problems, then get told to stay on the line...

After a moment it seems as if my call were transferred or something--there was a click, then silence. I glance over at my phone and notice that the light is not lit up anymore. I hang up the phone, then connect again to dial the help-line back--but as soon as I push the button to connect, a voice says "Hello, did you just call the IT helpline?"

Me: Yes I did. But I seem to have gotten disconnected somehow.

Helpline: I'm sorry, I did that by accident.

Me: Oh, okay, well I have 2 phone problems I need to get resolved...

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Helpline: Okay, I'm going to walk you through resetting your phone step by step. First, do you see the silver cord connected to your phone?

Me: Yes.

Helpline: Okay, unplug it from the phone.

Me: (pause, waiting for more directions) So are you going to give me all of the instructions up front, then I will go through them?

Helpline: No, I'm going to walk you through step by step.

Me: But if I unplug the phone cord, we will not be connected anymore.

Helpline: (long pause) Oh...yeah. Well I don't want you to have to call you back if it doesn't work...maybe if I e-mail you the instructions...

Me: If I have to unplug the phone as part of resetting it, it doesn't matter how you send me the directions, if it doesn't work, I will have to call you back. Why don't you just tell me what to do, then I'll hang up and do it?

Helpline: But I don't want you to have to call back...(pause)...maybe if I go ahead and enter the repair ticket without you resetting the phone (type, type, type) oh, it wants to know what happened when you reset the phone...well I guess there isn't any way around this. Okay, I'm going to e-mail you the instructions.

LOL! Usually it is the person calling into the "customer helpline" that is spacey, not the helpline staff! Oh, and BTW, resetting the phone did not fix the problem, so there is now a repair ticket in on my phone.