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Nov. 21st, 2007 05:12 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
darkrose.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
techrecoveryOne of our more problematic VARs informed us today that they intend to terminate their contract because they have moved to selling and supporting a different solution than what our product does, one based on Linux.
Since they are no longer a vendor for us, I feel I can safely talk about this particular company. Even though I have been promoted out of the the tech support tree, I actually had a sigh of relief wash over me because I had been trying to get these people off our products for YEARS.
We had one guy I liked to call Mr. Ed. We'll call him that because he would hem and haw when he actually had to provide us with any sort of relevant information.
Mr. Ed was the main tech over at this foreign but fluent english speaking company. Unfortunately, he is also dumb as bricks. I can recall one time he e-mailed me and asked me what an SMTP server was. Considering one of our main products actually utilized a built-in very simple SMTP server a a fairly core feature at the time, I'd say that was a little out of line. Except the product he was supposed to be supporting *IS* an SMTP server and it's ONLY function is an SMTP server..so it was WAY out of line.
Mr. Ed had a way with words. He could say nothing in 2 sentences and expect us to write him back a book covering all options so he didn't have to go on site multiple times (apparently this guy's never heard of VNC, RDP, PCAnywhere, or any of those other remote control tools). He would say things like "The mail server isn't working. Why?" and expect us to provide him a solution based on that.
This guy is also A+ and N+ certified. Goes to show you the wallpaper mills are still churnin' 'em out.
Mr. Ed is now the "lead admin" for all of their Windows and Linux servers. I give it a week before he's rooted and sending out mail about enlarging his p3|\|!z!
But the fun didn't stop there! The guy who owned the place, we'll call him Mario..he was just as much an idiot as Mr. Ed! He once CALLED here and complained about our support hours and he couldn't get access to 24x7 support because he didn't sell enough. I remember that call because I took it. I told him to sell more so he would get that level and he complained the price was too high..our nearest competitor at that point was about $200, our software was faster, easier to use and cost $40. He was seriously biatching that a $40 product cost too much!
I regularly told my boss after dealing with these fools that I wanted an all expense paid trip to this country with a sniper rifle and I'd take care of the VAR problem we had there.. but he never let me. :( He's no fun.
So yeah. Today is a day to party. For tomorrow I fly to Philly to eat cheesesteak and meet my GF's family. Probably in that order.
(be envious of me)
Since they are no longer a vendor for us, I feel I can safely talk about this particular company. Even though I have been promoted out of the the tech support tree, I actually had a sigh of relief wash over me because I had been trying to get these people off our products for YEARS.
We had one guy I liked to call Mr. Ed. We'll call him that because he would hem and haw when he actually had to provide us with any sort of relevant information.
Mr. Ed was the main tech over at this foreign but fluent english speaking company. Unfortunately, he is also dumb as bricks. I can recall one time he e-mailed me and asked me what an SMTP server was. Considering one of our main products actually utilized a built-in very simple SMTP server a a fairly core feature at the time, I'd say that was a little out of line. Except the product he was supposed to be supporting *IS* an SMTP server and it's ONLY function is an SMTP server..so it was WAY out of line.
Mr. Ed had a way with words. He could say nothing in 2 sentences and expect us to write him back a book covering all options so he didn't have to go on site multiple times (apparently this guy's never heard of VNC, RDP, PCAnywhere, or any of those other remote control tools). He would say things like "The mail server isn't working. Why?" and expect us to provide him a solution based on that.
This guy is also A+ and N+ certified. Goes to show you the wallpaper mills are still churnin' 'em out.
Mr. Ed is now the "lead admin" for all of their Windows and Linux servers. I give it a week before he's rooted and sending out mail about enlarging his p3|\|!z!
But the fun didn't stop there! The guy who owned the place, we'll call him Mario..he was just as much an idiot as Mr. Ed! He once CALLED here and complained about our support hours and he couldn't get access to 24x7 support because he didn't sell enough. I remember that call because I took it. I told him to sell more so he would get that level and he complained the price was too high..our nearest competitor at that point was about $200, our software was faster, easier to use and cost $40. He was seriously biatching that a $40 product cost too much!
I regularly told my boss after dealing with these fools that I wanted an all expense paid trip to this country with a sniper rifle and I'd take care of the VAR problem we had there.. but he never let me. :( He's no fun.
So yeah. Today is a day to party. For tomorrow I fly to Philly to eat cheesesteak and meet my GF's family. Probably in that order.
(be envious of me)
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Date: 2007-11-21 11:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-21 11:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 12:01 am (UTC)I once offered to go out and personally permanently fix all of our "special callers" in a way that would ensure they never troubled us again. Bosses don't let you do anything fun, do they?
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Date: 2007-11-22 01:39 am (UTC)OMG you worked t´for the dumb tech version of House md ;-)
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Date: 2007-11-22 03:21 am (UTC)I prefer Steak and Hoagie Works in Mayfair or Jim's over on South Street. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-11-22 03:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-26 06:04 am (UTC)My manager went, "Well actually, it depends on the circumstances.."