(no subject)
Oct. 24th, 2006 09:35 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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techrecoveryOh just incase you really want to piss someone off when they annoy you:
Access their C drive using C$
Copy then delete several system files, lets say NTLDR, boot.ini, io.sys
I have done this several time just to cheer myself up
I take a copy so I can fix it again easily & quickly, when I want to.
Maybe this will show them:
A. Don’t piss off your IT support.
B. You couldn’t do your job without us
C. You are dumb
Access their C drive using C$
Copy then delete several system files, lets say NTLDR, boot.ini, io.sys
I have done this several time just to cheer myself up
I take a copy so I can fix it again easily & quickly, when I want to.
Maybe this will show them:
A. Don’t piss off your IT support.
B. You couldn’t do your job without us
C. You are dumb
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 01:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 02:16 am (UTC)I've actually had a user go into the Program Files directory for a Windows application I used to support, and delete about half the files in there. When she finally admitted the files were gone because she'd deleted them, I had to ask why. Her response: "They didn't look important."
Who the hell thinks like that??
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 02:21 am (UTC)If we called them all "your Pay Checque Data.doc"
and "holiday time left.sys" you bet your A$$ they wouldn't delete them.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 05:52 am (UTC)I swear this is part of the reason why Winders now comes with little folders marked "My Documents", "My EBooks", and my this, that and the other: so harassed computer support types can tell people they're allowed to play in *those* *folders* *ONLY*, and if they delete anything else, they're in major trouble. Or alternatively, that if they *do* delete anything else, it's Their Problem, not ours, and gets solved at the speed we decree, no faster.
Then again, a policy I'd love to see implemented as standard across any number of locations is one where if the user has been installing non-standard software without permission, or plugging in non-standard hardware, they get a free re-image with all support calls. I also think that certain file types (.mp3, .mpeg etc) shouldn't be allowed to be copied to corporate systems without a business case. Lying about this (particularly if you have access to restricted files, or restricted software) should result in a loss of privileges, up to and possibly including employment.
No, I don't have any sympathy for the user who managed to infect his computer with a virus by downloading a codec for Windows Media Player from a non-Microsoft site. Why do you ask?
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Date: 2006-10-24 11:08 am (UTC)My favourite Fifth quote of all time!
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Date: 2006-10-24 11:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 01:49 pm (UTC):P
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Date: 2006-10-29 02:06 am (UTC)I only know the quote from Robin Hood (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029843/).
no subject
Date: 2006-10-29 02:38 am (UTC)"You must stop the war games."
"You speak treason!"
"FLUENTLY!"
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Date: 2006-10-24 02:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 04:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 11:41 am (UTC)We're here to trade stories of lusers, not come up wth sophomoric antics to 'piss someone off.'
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 04:00 am (UTC)If someone is rude and arrogant and they TELL you to do stuff not ASK and never say thank you, they just expect .....
(When they are not your manager but not even in the management structure)
Demand things are done straight away without giving prior notice. Then complain when it�s not done quick enough because THEY are inconvenienced.
They borrow stuff and YOU have to track across different buildings and chase the stuff up for about two weeks to find out they have took it home and lent it out to people outside the company.
Insist they swap desks, (including computer, PDA, scanner and associated crap) for a couple of days when someone has a holiday because they like the view better from that office. Then they need to go back again afterwards.
When they report IT to auditors for **unfounded** negligence without even bringing the matter up with your manager.
When they complain LOUDLY to all and sundry including emails directly to directors that you can not recover the file that they deleted from their Desktop computer when only network stuff is backed up and as such:
To Quote from an email
IT have failed in their most fundamental duties
And
And
And��..
The list goes on�����
These are the same people day in day out.
When you are at the point where you either:
Make a formal complaint
Walk out
Beat the crap out of them
none of which will do your career prospects any good)
I feel they deserve some sort of retribution to give them a shitty day just how they gave you a shitty day/week/month/year
If you do not agree that�s fine everyone is entitled to their opinion.
But I hope you now see why I think this action is sometimes justified.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 05:40 am (UTC)To be honest, if you're in a job where you're getting this sort of crap on a daily basis, you need to speak to your managers and supervisors about it. It's *their* job to run interference for you with the callers, and it's *their* job to back you up when you're doing your job as fast as you can. If you have a few problem people who constantly call up about the same things all the time, you need to get your manager to speak with their manager, and explain the situation to them. Use the managerial structure for retribution: that's what it's there for.
It's also ethically sounder, more professional, and at times, infinitely more satisfying to know that someone has been told not to damn well contact you directly because they can't be trusted to behave like a civilised adult. Smile at them, speak sweetly, and know in the back of your mind that if you make a complaint, someone is going to damn well *listen*.
[Oh, and that's the other thing to know about your Constant Whinger - if it's a regular problem, you can expect the majority of the management not to be paying them any attention whatsoever. Managers aren't completely stupid.]
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Date: 2006-10-24 06:33 am (UTC)So you are saying havent once wanted to really piss someone off the way they pissed you off?
You have? Good, your normal.
I wanted to and I did.
I really don’t want to create an issue here.
This is where we come to vent.
But ………
*discourages* them from doing anything to improve their computing knowledge
Some people will NEVER learn because they don’t want to and while someone holds their hand why should they?
attitudes or their behaviour toward the IT staff.
People like this in general have an attitude to everyone not just IT staff. I am sure that if it was widely known what I done it would get a round of applause. Arrogant people deserve what they get there is NO need for it.
Sometimes on forums etc I may say how dumb people are how much of an IT god I am etc etc but that’s mostly BS bravado
These people actually believe it and can not see what they do wrong!
They are the centre of the universe everything revolves around them!
you need to speak to your managers and supervisors
Like I said previously it does nothing to improve your career prospects and creates even more bad will between those concerned
Smile at them, speak sweetly
I always do ;-)
Managers aren't completely stupid
Hmmmmm are you a manger by chance?
BTW I am not a complete imbecile who hates everyone, honest.
Some people ask a simple question, that does not mean they are stupid, just that no one has told them yet. These people I can empathise with.
Some people, “the others” you want to skin alive and crucify them, (a figure of speech, I am not about to crack and shoot up the building).
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 10:41 am (UTC)Firstly, I'm not a manager. I've been in tech support for about five years now, most of that time on helldesk. Trust me, been there, done that, have several tshirts which I can't stand to prove it. However, throughout my time working on various helldesks, I've had managers who were willing to stand by me and my technical decisions, and who would support the decisions of people such as myself on the desk when it came to caller rudeness. It appears I might be in a minority.
Like I said previously it [speaking to managers/supervisors] does nothing to improve your career prospects and creates even more bad will between those concerned
Ah, here is somewhere we'll have to disagree, I'm afraid. I tend to hold to a rather old-fashioned notion of politeness, which means I take the view that it is *not* my job to take crap from the callers. I have no problems about referring a caller who isn't taking no for an answer (or isn't taking yes for an answer - I've had those too) on to my supervisor, so that they can get told "no" by someone higher up the chain. I've had no problems with lodging a complaint with a supervisor against a particular caller when he made a comment which I felt was sexist in nature regarding my ability to resolve the call. In both cases, my supervisors backed me up, as they were supposed to do.
If refusing to do something which isn't your job (take crap from callers) is hurting your career prospects, then things where you work are seriously fscked in ways which can't be fixed by doing things like sabotaging the occasional PC. This is what I'm trying to point out here: you shouldn't be expected to take the sort of crap you were describing in your original post; you shouldn't be expected to be putting your career at risk by refusing; you should be able to refer to your supervisor to back you up in situations like this. If those aren't true, then the occasional annoying caller is the least of your problems.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 12:38 pm (UTC)But the second you sabotage them, you've justified all their complaint. You've made them true. I'd certainly never hire anyone that did that to anyone.
Personally, I suggest different tactics. Kill them with kindness. Talk down to them and explain things to them like you would a four year old. Get them to blow up at you publicly for STUPID things.
My favorite phrase lately is "Yes, I'm evil - but from a moral high ground."
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 11:03 am (UTC)If someone is rude and arrogant and they TELL you to do stuff not ASK and never say thank you, they just expect .....
(When they are not your manager but not even in the management structure)
This one is rude, but only to be expected. Standard handling in my experience is to be extra-polite and make the shite feel guilty about it. Even if the shite doesn't feel guilty, you get the advantage of being able to look down on them from the moral high ground. (The view from up there is very nice).
Demand things are done straight away without giving prior notice. Then complain when it's not done quick enough because THEY are inconvenienced.
The phrase to learn is: "Lack of organisation on your part is no reason for panic on mine." Learn this, internalise it. Log the job, prioritise it correctly, and do as and when. If your manager has enough guts to say something like "nagging gets it put to the back of the queue", all the better.
They borrow stuff and YOU have to track across different buildings and chase the stuff up for about two weeks to find out they have took it home and lent it out to people outside the company.
Ah. This one is easy. It's called "theft of corporate/government property" and is usually a dismissal-quality offence. At the very least, they should be getting their pay docked to pay for it. If they aren't, it's worth raising Cain about it to upper manglement.
Insist they swap desks, (including computer, PDA, scanner and associated crap) for a couple of days when someone has a holiday because they like the view better from that office. Then they need to go back again afterwards.
I'm starting to wonder... does the place you work have any procedures? If so, start using them to your advantage. If not, well, time to get writing. Start with a "move requisition" procedure. Then wave it under this particular eedjit's nose when they next try something like this.
When they report IT to auditors for **unfounded** negligence without even bringing the matter up with your manager.
Your manager should be plenty mad about this one already. If they aren't, your manager should be sacked or fitted with a spine. The auditors are probably completely pissed off too - they have better things to do with their day than waste time on frivolous and unwarranted complaints.
When they complain LOUDLY to all and sundry including emails directly to directors that you can not recover the file that they deleted from their Desktop computer when only network stuff is backed up and as such:
To Quote from an email
IT have failed in their most fundamental duties
This one goes back to "lack of organisation on your part..."
It's really something like the tech support mantra.
I'm starting to wonder some more... the sort of stuff you're describing sounds a lot like upper manager behaviour - or at worst, upper manager's PA. If they're in that position, they're pretty damn bulletproof, but even so, they should be able to learn to play by the rules. What's really needed in a case like this is for there to be someone in your particular management train who has a spine, and is willing to stand up to the tantrums of such a person; alternatively, procedures and processes are your best friend here. Learn them, explain them, and follow them religiously. Then you can (once more) stand on the Moral High Ground (do enjoy the view) and point out to this person that if you're not doing something/doing something too slowly/telling them they can't have whatever it is/insisting that they fill out paperwork/whatever, then it's all in the procedures, and if they have a problem, they can take it up with your boss.
It's even better if you can get them to endorse the procedures in the first place, but that only happens in exceptional cases.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 01:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 11:10 am (UTC)If someone is rude and arrogant and they TELL you to do stuff not ASK and never say thank you, they just expect .....
Uh, you do realise this is a Tech support community, ya?
we all live there
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 11:48 am (UTC)Welcome to the big kids' table. That's normal, everyday shenanigans for most of us.
If that makes you want to vandalize a user's PC in retribution, you're in the wrong industry.
I hope your doctor doesn't feel the same way when you piss him off.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 06:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 12:29 am (UTC)If you can not reply in a reasonable manner with an educated response, then please, Dont.
I fail to see where crawling under a bed would help.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-01 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 12:16 pm (UTC)If they call back and get me, they get Mr Dial Tone again.
If one of my colleagues has done the same, and I get the caller on the next try, and they're still foaming at the follicles, guess what they get to listen to?
My time is a valuable corporate resource. It's up to me to triage and determine who gets to use how much of it. Users have absolutely zero entitlement to my time, my effort, my concentration, my attention, my skills and my empathy. None. Zip. Nada. All of this is mine to dole out or deny as I deem fit, and I operate to maximise my effectiveness as a technical troubleshooter.
Being raved at does not contribute to the bottom line, and I will quite calmly explain this at length, and with diagrams, to anyone who thinks otherwise. For hours, if necessary. And then to their bosses, without telling them first.
For all the people who say they want my absolute and undivided attention, there sure are a lot of them who become really uncomfortable when I let them have it. People don't like being focused on as if they are a small crunchy rodent. There's probably something in human DNA which remembers *being* one.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-24 06:59 pm (UTC)a) give them more reasons to call me and act stupid.
b) give them more excuses to be angry and frustrated.
My users are at their best when their computers are working and they aren't calling me to complain about stuff.
Having my users call to complain about problems I actually caused on purpose? Possibly the worst idea I've heard of all year.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 01:13 am (UTC)Well I just though I’d repeat what I said earlier.
This isn’t something I make a habit of.
Did it work and have the affect I was hoping for, yes.
Am I sorry for doing it, no way.
Would I do it again, maybe.
Did I murder someone in their sleep or ransack their house, ermm not quite.
If you want to comment further on my course of action feel free, I will listen and consider your replies and opinions.
Am I in the wrong job,
Hmmmm, tough question, as far as the work goes yer its OK and there is nothing else I would rather do. The people well, we all have good, bad and really bad days.
Maybe I should move into network support and just work with servers ;-)
I do find it curious that not one person on this forum has ever even considered doing something like this, (or at least will admit to it).
Be honest, I know you want to …………….. (Cat, Pigeons)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-25 02:12 am (UTC)So in a word - never. My job is to make my users and my servers work better, and be professional.