In what can only be described as a landmark moment for customer support teams everywhere, the IT helpdesk at Hickory Plains Community Centre received its most unusual ticket to date last Tuesday. The submission, logged by local resident June Butterworth, detailed what appeared at first glance to be a severe technical issue—only it turned out to be a deeply personal skincare dilemma mistakenly identified as a computer problem.
The ticket, titled “URGENT: My monitor’s display is flickering and there’s a weird greasy residue,” arrived promptly at 9:03 AM. The helpdesk team was initially baffled by the description. Notes included phrases such as “screen gets oily and shiny randomly” and “sometimes the device overheats even though it’s off.” Concerned about a possible hardware failure, technicians prepared for a site visit.
When staff arrived at June’s home, the mystery was quickly unraveled. The “monitor” in question was none other than June’s bathroom mirror, and the “weird greasy residue” was actually the moisturizing cream she regularly applied as part of her skincare routine. The “flickering” was actually just the changing light from the bathroom’s faulty fluorescent bulb and June’s attempts to wipe off smudges with a towel.
“We were definitely caught off guard,” admitted IT support lead Martin Fees. “We do get unusual tickets from time to time, but this was a first. Initially, we thought maybe her PC was overheating and damaging the monitor—but nope, just a well-loved vanity mirror and an enthusiastic skincare routine.”
June explained her confusion: “I’ve been trying to figure out why my screen kept looking weird after video calls, and I thought maybe it was some new virus or software glitch. I sometimes get frustrated with tech, so I figured raising a ticket was the fastest way to get it fixed.”
Despite the mix-up, June was grateful for the prompt visit and some new lightbulbs, which the helpdesk kindly replaced free of charge. They also took the opportunity to gently suggest she might want to submit future skincare issues to a dermatologist instead.
Martin Fees noted, “This incident has reminded us all that sometimes tech support is more about supporting people than fixing gadgets. And maybe we should establish a skincare-for-tech channel, just in case.”
The helpdesk has since archived the ticket under ‘miscellaneous mysteries,’ where it continues to amuse staff and serve as a cautionary tale about the boundaries between human and machine maintenance. Meanwhile, June has reportedly switched to a matte moisturizer and is considering online tutorials rather than IT tickets for beauty troubleshooting.