Dear Users… (A thread for Sysadmin, Technical Support, and Help Desk people) Part 10

Status
Not open for further replies.
arthwollipot said:
I really hate rewarding customers for kicking up a stink, but sometimes you just need to get the hell rid of them.

When will people learn that the best way to get your thing done quickly is not to spend ages on the phone arguing about how quickly something needs to be done?
Click to expand...
Ice-pick or sharpened screwdriver, roll of coarse mesh garden getting, rustproof wire and a couple of breeze blocks.
 
arthwollipot said:
When will people learn that the best way to get your thing done quickly is not to spend ages on the phone arguing about how quickly something needs to be done?
Click to expand...

Your mistake is assuming all of them want their problem fixed quickly.

"I want to sit at my desk and play on my phone and go 'My computer is down' whenever asked anything and I want this state to last as long as possible." isn't my biggest demographic, but it's not my smallest either.
 
TragicMonkey said:
Last week...

Them: OMG WE NEED THIS NOW NOW NOW NOW OMG OMG NOW OMG
Me: Here is a thing. Is this what you need? If not, what changes should I make? Let me know.
Them: [silence forever]

You're welcome, ********.

I won't hear from them again until they have another damn deadline, for which they'll wait until the last minute then scream at me for quick action which, again, they won't acknowledge.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's time for a subscription to the Journal of Applied Toxicology?
 
TragicMonkey said:
I've got enough pokeweed in my back yard to take out thirty or forty people, but since we're all work-from-home now I simply don't have the access.
Click to expand...
Yeah, this remote working really obstructs certain solutions. Of course there's always the 'replacement' mouse with poison needle........
 
Is everyone taking stupid pills this week?

Them: "Does the report called 'New' have data on Old on it?"
Me: wut do you think?
Them: "Yes?"
 
TragicMonkey said:
Last week...

Them: OMG WE NEED THIS NOW NOW NOW NOW OMG OMG NOW OMG
Me: Here is a thing. Is this what you need? If not, what changes should I make? Let me know.
Them: [silence forever]

You're welcome, ********.

I won't hear from them again until they have another damn deadline, for which they'll wait until the last minute then scream at me for quick action which, again, they won't acknowledge.
Click to expand...
We have a process by which we will put an Incident "On Hold - Awaiting Customer" when we are waiting for them to provide additional information. It pauses the SLA clock. However, a lot of our agents send a message saying "You can fix this by doing this, this and then this. Let us know how it goes" and put the incident on hold.

They never let us know how it goes. I've been trying to get people to Close Complete the incident when they do that, but it never seems to sink in.

JoeMorgue said:
Your mistake is assuming all of them want their problem fixed quickly.

"I want to sit at my desk and play on my phone and go 'My computer is down' whenever asked anything and I want this state to last as long as possible." isn't my biggest demographic, but it's not my smallest either.
Click to expand...
Not saying that you're wrong, but in this particular case the entire phone call was them trying to get us to to the job more quickly. We've had a lot of corporate attention on New Starter Requests over the last couple of years and we have a very strict published policy about it. They basically wanted us to bypass that and give them top priority because their new starter was more important than all the others.

Also, by "strong business case" we don't mean "they started today and we need it".
 
I literally just had this conversation with one of my newer peers at my level. FYI today is Friday. (direct c&p from Teams but I've cleaned it up a bit):

Them: (cites job number)

Them: This is due to be done today

Me: It's due to be done on Monday. Do they have a priority request?

Them: But its dated for Monday which means it should be done today

Them: isn't it?

Me: No, it's dated for Monday which means it should be done on Monday.

Them: ohk,

Them: I'll ask them to submit a business case
 
I hate PDF files. They seemingly exist for the sole purpose of confusing users who don't understand that not being able to edit part or all of them is the literal reason for their existence.

"Someone sent me a PDF file and I can open it but not edit it" or "Someone sent me PDF files and I can only fill in certain parts of it" or "Someone sent me a PDF file but it's password protected" are not bugs, they are features.
 
arthwollipot said:
I'm being made to catch up on my mandatory training. You know fraud, privacy, that sort of thing. The things that I've already done three times but have to renew regularly.
Click to expand...


I certainly don't mean to suggest that this might in any way apply to you, but evidence indicates that more than a few people require reminders about that at regular (and possibly frequent) intervals.

Not that it does any good, but at least mgt. can claim they tried.
 
arthwollipot said:
We have a process by which we will put an Incident "On Hold - Awaiting Customer" when we are waiting for them to provide additional information. It pauses the SLA clock. However, a lot of our agents send a message saying "You can fix this by doing this, this and then this. Let us know how it goes" and put the incident on hold.

They never let us know how it goes. I've been trying to get people to Close Complete the incident when they do that, but it never seems to sink in.
Click to expand...

I was having a problem accessing the parts ordering system on my customer issued laptop. There was a security setting that needed to be changed that I didn't have access to. Got on Teams with the IT support to try to get someone with administrative privileges to access (even remote access) that laptop and make the change. Every time we hit and worked through some snag or information he wanted he would always file an "Awaiting Customer" notice. To which I would file a reply that the requested information was already provided. It took a week or so just to get him to set up a time when we could both be on the system. Then I had to fight him for control. For some reason when he scrolled down the auto hide toolbar wouldn't pop up. So when I saw he was trying to get to the toolbar I'd scroll down to bring it up. After a few times of seeming to have that teamwork down he started scrolling up as I was scrolling down and finally I had to Team him to just hold on a second and I'll turn off the autohide. A few minute setting change took almost 2 and a half weeks with him trying to stop that clock with BS notices at any chance. My quick 'Oh no, you already have that requested information' replies with screen captures of the Teams conversation providing said information are probably the only thing that kept it out of the 'pay no mind' file.
 
It's a little thing. A very, very little thing that I really don't think I can complain about but here it is anyway.

Turns out computers sort asterisks after spaces. So when we date our On Hold incidents and sort them into order, this happens:

20230320 *1 contact made*
20230320 *2 contacts made*
20230320*1 contact made*

I want all the 1s before all the 2s. It makes it slightly easier to go through of an evening.

This is by no means a major problem. But it's mildly annoying. But it's so minor I really don't feel comfortable complaining about it.
 
arthwollipot said:
It's a little thing. A very, very little thing that I really don't think I can complain about but here it is anyway.

Turns out computers sort asterisks after spaces. So when we date our On Hold incidents and sort them into order, this happens:

20230320 *1 contact made*
20230320 *2 contacts made*
20230320*1 contact made*

I want all the 1s before all the 2s. It makes it slightly easier to go through of an evening.

This is by no means a major problem. But it's mildly annoying. But it's so minor I really don't feel comfortable complaining about it.
Click to expand...
Sorting with asterisks before spaces won’t fix the problem which has nothing to do with lexicographic sort order and everything to do with putting structured data in a plain text field.
 
Wudang said:
Agreed. I've spent too much time having to parse multi-purpose free text fields that should have been separate fields.
Click to expand...

Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time using tools such as ACL to analyse data downloads. I’d estimate that a good 95% of the effort involves breaking down free text fields to be able to use their contents effectively. Actually writing and running the queries is trivial by comparison.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top Bottom