Dear colleague who should know better

[goose-entity.livejournal.com]

"it just doesn't work" is NOT THE SAME THING as "wrong password".


Schmuck.

Comments

[ladynisa.livejournal.com]

A colleague?!

He/she/it needs smacked in the face with a rolled up newspaper.

[redqueenmeg.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, the infamous error message "it just don't like it."

[phrogg.livejournal.com]

Whoa, creepy. I just sent someone up to the folks that handle some of our special computers today for a password issue.

But i told him what to say, and "it just doesn't work" was not it.

[major-error.livejournal.com]

Whenever I hear that phrase over the phone, it is an implicit authorization to downgrade my tone from friendly/civil to short. I start answering questions with questions, or the dreaded, "...Could you be more specific?"

It better be something serious if I'm going to get out of my seat to "come look at it..."

[bassgirl.livejournal.com]

Ack! And typing in your password incorrectly enough times to lock your account, and then proceeding to say "SEEEE!!!1!" when you type in the correct password and it "doesn't work" just makes you look like a moron.

I did laugh about reading this 20 seconds after finishing up with that user (I work internal tech in a call center, and this was a rep who really should have known better). What is with the password issues today??

[goose-entity.livejournal.com]

"could you be more specific?", A.K.A. "for pity's sake GIVE ME SOMETHING TO WORK WITH!!!!oneone!!!eleventy!!!"

Flashback

[linguafranca.livejournal.com]

Picture it. Ohio, 2004. I'm on the phones at ye olde ISP...

Me: ...So what's the error message that you're getting when you try to log in?
Redneck Woman: It don't go through!
Me: The error message says, "It don't go through"?
Redneck Woman: Yes.

[lihan161051.livejournal.com]

Don't you just love when you ask a very specifically worded question keyed on the actual wording of a specific message you know for a fact is on the end user's screen right in front of them, and the answer you get back is unrecognizable gibberish that vaguely resembles "didn't work"? ("No, sir, I wasn't necessarily trying to find out if it 'worked' or not, I was trying to find out WHAT IT ACTUALLY DID..")

That's even better than giving them a very specific instruction to do one exact thing that's also keyed on the actual wording of something you know for a fact is right in front of them, and having them repeat it back to you as something completely different that's totally irrelevant to what you're trying to do. Often with that innocent tone of voice that just seems to make the hate in your soul all the stronger.

"He's a 12:00 flasher, know what that means? It means everything in his house is flashing 12:00!"

[lihan161051.livejournal.com]

"Sir, I'm dependent on your eyes and hands right now." (*And thanks to your lack of proficiency with either, I'm a blind and bumbling klutz and have no way to apply my actual technical skills to your problem.*)

The things we say with the mute button down ..

Re: Flashback

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry, that's not one of the error messages our software produces. I'm going to have to refer you to Microsoft at $30ph."

Re: Flashback

[goose-entity.livejournal.com]

$30ph? Shurely shome mishtake - shurely $30pm....

;)

[wherdafux-d-cat.livejournal.com]

A former co-worker (and a really sharp network guy) was going nuts trying to help a user who had called in that her server was giving her messages about missing drives whenever she'd restart it. The situation made no sense whatsoever but she insisted that's what the error said. It took him forever but he finally got her to read the message that was on the screen word for word instead of paraphrasing it. Turns out the message was about missing drivers, not missing drives. Said the user, 'Drives, drivers - same difference!' *eyeroll*

[bothfeet.livejournal.com]

My favorite is "it wont let me in". Thanks. What is "it"? Define "in". I don't know if you can't open your office door, can't log on to your computer, the application is corrupt and needs reinstalled, bad password, etc .. give me *something* to work with here!