Incompetence, thy name is [REDACTED]
Oct. 17th, 2008 04:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lolotehe posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
techrecoveryI'm currently doing internal support for a Large Unloved Bank. We support 400+ applications due to LUB's habit of buying smaller banks and not spending any money on integrating the systems.
One of these applications uses SSNs as logins. It's old and clunky and takes a looooong time to install and configure.
So, last night, I get a call from a user and he's getting an "8000 - user not defined" error when trying to login. His access had expired and his local admin had "extended" his access. Now he's getting this error message. He's tried to get it to work and used all the tricks he can, including running support actions off the tech website, but it's done him no good. He calls his admin and she tells him to call us so we can uninstall and reinstall the program.
We managed to get the thing uninstalled last night, but it wouldn't re-install due to a missing file. I suggest he email the admin and get a copy of it from her. If we can just get around this file, we can get the install done. I give him the file name and the path.
This morning, the admin is adamant that she has no such file on her machine and she simply hasn't got the time to mess around with this. This has just transformed what should be a 30 minute install into a two-hour install because the missing file prevents the automated system from doing it and we have to install and configure each piece manually, one at a time, running configuration checks at each step.
Finally, the damn thing is installed. And we get the exact same error message. I tell him to get the admin on the line. Conference her ass in right now.
I explain that we have done everything software-wise we can. This is an access issue. t was yesterday afternoon and it still is now. This poor guy hasn't been able to do his job all day. Pleasy please, recreate his ID.
Oh, she explains, but I did yesterday when his access expired.
And that's when we discover she has the SSN wrong.
. . .
I feel vindicated on one level, but on the other hand, I'm very very sad that this has happened. He could have been up and running yesterday afternoon, but instead, he had to languish in support hell and we had to go through a lengthy, cumbersome, and (in the end) completely unnecessary process. I know that the person responsible for this will face no consequences. That's unfair to everyone involved.
One of these applications uses SSNs as logins. It's old and clunky and takes a looooong time to install and configure.
So, last night, I get a call from a user and he's getting an "8000 - user not defined" error when trying to login. His access had expired and his local admin had "extended" his access. Now he's getting this error message. He's tried to get it to work and used all the tricks he can, including running support actions off the tech website, but it's done him no good. He calls his admin and she tells him to call us so we can uninstall and reinstall the program.
We managed to get the thing uninstalled last night, but it wouldn't re-install due to a missing file. I suggest he email the admin and get a copy of it from her. If we can just get around this file, we can get the install done. I give him the file name and the path.
This morning, the admin is adamant that she has no such file on her machine and she simply hasn't got the time to mess around with this. This has just transformed what should be a 30 minute install into a two-hour install because the missing file prevents the automated system from doing it and we have to install and configure each piece manually, one at a time, running configuration checks at each step.
Finally, the damn thing is installed. And we get the exact same error message. I tell him to get the admin on the line. Conference her ass in right now.
I explain that we have done everything software-wise we can. This is an access issue. t was yesterday afternoon and it still is now. This poor guy hasn't been able to do his job all day. Pleasy please, recreate his ID.
Oh, she explains, but I did yesterday when his access expired.
And that's when we discover she has the SSN wrong.
. . .
I feel vindicated on one level, but on the other hand, I'm very very sad that this has happened. He could have been up and running yesterday afternoon, but instead, he had to languish in support hell and we had to go through a lengthy, cumbersome, and (in the end) completely unnecessary process. I know that the person responsible for this will face no consequences. That's unfair to everyone involved.
