Throw me a frickin' bone here.

[tertiumquid.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't work" is the sort of answer I expect from an end user. Not another analyst...

Comments

[valiskeogh.livejournal.com]

did someone unplug that innernit again?

[compwizrd.livejournal.com]

pfft, i analyse plenty of things this way:

"it sucks, lets replace it"

[jecook]

Guilty. sort of. I start with that, and then explain why I think it's not working, and the steps I performed to arrive at that conclusion.

Usually the monkey I get at the other end of the line is the one that does not have the bone. And some are just plain wrong.

[loosechanj.livejournal.com]

Ah, but what was the question.

[tertiumquid.livejournal.com]

A level 2 analyst in another country was trying to get assistance troubleshooting the product I support. I asked her what problem they were seeing. She replied "it doesn't work."

Eventually I got to the bottom of the problem. Product A only works with product B installed. They somehow managed to get A installed without B ( a feat in itself) and it indeed will not work.

But there are times that answer is perfectly appropriate.

[coyoteden.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't work" is perfectly valid, as long as you follow it with the KB article where Microsoft states this behavior is by design.

Just about ANYTHING dealing with Group Policy falls into this category.

[swwinchester.livejournal.com]

Actually, you are lucky.

I once sent a service tag down to my central repair center, in German, as done by Babelfish ... we all know what that is like to translate. It explained the entire fault with the appliance in question.

The fault? No power. But I went into detail. Extensive detail.

[tertiumquid.livejournal.com]

I would MUCH rather have waaaay too much info. Hell, send me every log from the machine and statements from 14 witnesses. I'd really rather wade through all of that than have to extract information over an instant message session.

[tmercenary.livejournal.com]

I get these calls all the time.
People who are paid more money then me to be the 3rd level+ support Guru for 1, and only 1 application. Everything else is Greek to them.