DIE

[taleya.livejournal.com]

I work the abuse box....

Now, we send each customer an email for every abuse report we get. Spam? we give them the standard spam email, and suggestions on how to clean their system and safeguard in the future. Same for network intrusions, copyright, etc etc etc.... You keep getting abuse reports and do jack shit? We change your password, and you don't get back in until you've spoken to a team leader, and promised to be a good little customer.

All cool and logical, right?

I come in tonight to no less than SIX fucking customers that have had their passwords changed, only to have them changed back by idiots on the helpdesk. It sounds harsh, but if a customer was complaining of a 691, and their password was (in caps) "SUSPENDED FOR ABUSE" you'd assume the first reaction would be to read the goddamn logs

But noooooooo, it's easier to just CHANGE the FUCKING password BACK and give ME a shitload of work, isn't it?

*stab*stab*stabbity*stab*

One, I could excuse. but fucking SIX? And one of the customers has generated another 15 abuse reports since I changed her password last.

There is no automation here, little helpdesk monkeys. There's just ME. Going through every. single. damn. abuse. report. by. hand.

There's a reason why there's a three foot screwdriver in this area, you know. And I'm going to show you exactly what it is....

Comments

[teraflops.livejournal.com]

Story of my life, this.
We've estimated that about 15-30 percent of all abuse account suspensions get overturned by tier support without the subscriber ever doing anything to fix the problem. What's worse is in our company support is in an entirely different division, so there's ZERO accountability between us and them, unless we take the time to call down to the call centers and bitch out their supervisors.
Currently, with a handful of technicians handling abuse issues for six million plus subscribers, there isn't much time to do that, as satisfying as it can be.

[teraflops.livejournal.com]

Heh, regarding automation: perl is your friend. Seriously, trust me on this.

[compwizrd.livejournal.com]

Can you do a 3 strikes and you're userdel'd?

[taleya.livejournal.com]

Yup. If they've been suspended and still don't do shit after false promises, we cancel their account. Do not pass go, fuck off, we don't want your service.

god, that was glorious when a del'd user called up to bitch. The absolute freedom to tell them "we don't want your service, so fuck off" was the highlight of my week.

What cracked me up was when she trotted out the old standard "reactivate it now, or I'll take my business elsewhere"

...and I got to say to her point blank "Go ahead. we don't want your service"

ahhh, warms the cockles of my cold cold heart just remembering it :)

[teraflops.livejournal.com]

Seriously. The best part of my job is reminding subscribers that I don't work in customer service, and it's not my responsibility to make her happy in any way, shape, or form.

[aiglet.livejournal.com]

Abuse is probably the most fun of all the helpdesk type jobs, but only when people leave you to it.

(If you get really frustrated and can get to CA, ping me in e-mail.)

Here's a thought

[rileydag.livejournal.com]

I worked for an ISP years ago in Virginia and we had an interesting thing happen. When a user's account that had been suspended and was reactivated, the tech who reactivated was charged as an accessory to the abuse crime that was commited. The end user was convisted and the tech who reactivated the account was convicted as an accessory because he had enabled the end user (child stalker) to commit his offenses again. This was a severe case, but it illustrates the point.

In Virginia, as a support tech for an ISP, you can be legally held accountable by being charged as an accessory to the crime for enabling people who are violating TOS agreements by commiting an act that falls under the abuse category (SPAM, child stalking, offensive language in a chat room, etc...).

I don't know what juristiction you are in, but there may be a law or two that does the same thing. You might be able to use that to keep people from undoing all the work you have done.

[geekgrrl-ca.livejournal.com]

I loved working abuse. Many almost nasty emails went out (i had to be polite).