It's never MY fault...

[tuba-man.livejournal.com]

So I was closing out completed tickets (two step process for verification!) and not 30 seconds after closing out a VPN setup that was completed two weeks ago, I got a response.

"I couldn't log in yesterday, the VPN isn't working!"

I don't know about you guys, but the SonicWall VPN software has been rock-solid as long as I've used it, so this is a bit suspect.

ME: *polite email asking for more detail*
USER: "It won't take my password anymore, maybe it broke when the last guy was working on it."
ME: *Checks domain controller's security event log* "It says here that you changed your password last Wednesday." *Gets an idea...resets password preemptively rather than slogging through the 'do you remember your password' dialog. Continues typing...* "Since we do not have access to individual passwords, we've reset your password to $DEFAULT_PW. You will have to change it and remember it after you log in. Thank you."

I have yet to receive a reply, I'm so very much looking forward to the week-long ordeal of trying to get in touch with this guy to confirm that it works when I close this out. I don't like to ass-kiss, especially when a user blames us for his ineptitude. Fortunately, the big wigs at this client are on our side.

Comments

[lunatic59.livejournal.com]

Reset his password again so he *has* to call back.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

I'd say a nice "Unable to contact client - does not answer phone calls, voice messages or emails" fix things after their bosses get a hold of it...

[tuba-man.livejournal.com]

You know, I think I might have to set up a ticket status & auto email for that...

[mouser.livejournal.com]

I have a line in my standard ticket answer template:

Since I've heard no new information from you on this issue, I'm going to assume it has now been corrected and close this ticket. If there's still an issue, please let us know.

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

It is ridiculously rare that a customer gets back to me after I give them a solution. I support consumer-end software. I generally leave a ticket open for a week after responding, and if the client doesn't get back to me I assume the problem was solved.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Actually that's there for the client that doesn't respond despite repeated calls, mails, etc. after submitting the ticket "Computer problem"

Yes, that's their ENTIRE ticket.

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

"resolution"

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Sadly, since we're external it's not allowed. Damnit.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

"Computer fix"
"Computer fine"

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

That's what I do. I've fixed the problem; if I haven't heard from them after, say, three days, then it obviously still isn't a problem. Why should I let a stale ticket remain in my queue?

[tuba-man.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha, I like this! Never thought of that one before...

[notthebuddha.livejournal.com]

Sometimes you have to treat these users like the radio shrinks recommend treating your kids if you want them to perform some action. "We can go to the park as soon as you decide to finish your dinner and get dressed," becomes "we can proceed with your issue at your earliest convenient time to call in from your workstation."

[manuka.livejournal.com]

It's my experience (as a network admin) that the sonicwall VPN client is a steaming pile of shit.

[tuba-man.livejournal.com]

Man, the stuff I used in the past must have been flaming piles of shit! I mean, it's true, there's nothing worse than a GPL-violating back-asswards hack of a VPN client. It's nice to know where I stand now at least. :)

Do you have any specific gripes against it? and any recommendations beyond that?

[manuka.livejournal.com]

its frequent habit of deciding not to pass traffic for random reasons tends to get old after a while.

For this reason, I have a nailed VPN tunnel to my house with pfsense.

[tpajaz.livejournal.com]

It truly is god awful.

I once had to completely re-install Windows on a laptop because the proprietary SonicWALL VPN software was corrupted and it would neither install nor uninstall and support didn't have the slightest clue what to do about it. Not to mention in most cases the SonicWALL hardware running the server side is usually extremely underpowered.

Thank $DEITY for OpenVPN on Slackware.

[manuka.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Last time I tried OpenVPN on a WinBox that also had Sonicwall's client on it, the bluescreening was epic. I blame Sonicwall.

Fortunately, the only people in our org that get to use the Sonicwall VPN client are us IT geeks.