i've had enough

[belovedcrown.livejournal.com]

expect to see more venting, lest i keep it bottled up and go insane.

people can't figure out how to use new scanner. Fair enough. mgt says put up a sign detailing step by step. Done. In 20 point font no less. taped it to the control panel you have to use to work the copier and everything. everyday...another person who can't figure it out.

Me: [politely]  "Did you read the sign with instructions taped to the machine? Let me try to help you, what part did you get stuck on?"

Them: "No. i saw the sign. i didn't read it though. Figured i could just come ask you instead."

argh.

Did i mention these folks also feel it is beneath them to put fresh paper in the copy machine or small shared printers. That's an IT thing.

I know many of you here vent about the idiocy of paying customers. I can't relate. I LOVED working support for paying customers. sure they were ignorant sometimes, but you know they were paying for my expertise and as long as i was gentle with them and patient they were kind and considerate and were usually so happy when you solved the problem. Its SO different when you've got to deal with in house end uses. They treat me like the janitor or something and never even say thank you. [its your job, why should we ever thank you, is their attitude.]

Comments

[jecook]

Amen.

Alas, some of the paying customers for the company I used to work used to do the same thing as well. No problem, we just upped their contract at renewal.

[malgrep.livejournal.com]

I get the same thing where I work. I thought that dealing with in house users would be a breeze compared to the ISP users I used to deal with. Nope, it is the same idiots. They are just at work instead of home.

God forbid they actually read the emails we send out about network changes, new policies, new applications, and the like.

I am really surprised that most of them can find their way back in to work every day.

[belovedcrown.livejournal.com]

best line eva:

I thought that dealing with in house users would be a breeze compared to the ISP users I used to deal with.
Nope, it is the same idiots. They are just at work instead of home.

-------

you SO made my day. Thank you. :)

[belovedcrown.livejournal.com]

also,i gave you props in my own lj. hope you don't mind:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/belovedcrown/205739.html

[kostika.livejournal.com]

I so feel your pain. I feel it in my brain every day I walk into work.

You don't work with sales people do you by any chance?

[belovedcrown.livejournal.com]

haha. not sales people. government workers. i work in congress. :)

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Time to start charging the idiot tax. Arithmetic increases per incident, too. First idiot call - $5 extra charge. Second call - $10. Third $15, etc.

"And now, it has all come down to this. For not reading the instructions, for forgetting the answer we gave you last week, for assuming we are your servants, and failing to learn your own equipment. Sympathy is for the likeable. Discounts are for the intelligent. But you... you have a VERY LARGE BILL."

[infy.livejournal.com]

If only...

"I'm sorry, ma'am, since you can't find the Start button and yet you feel like I'm nothing more than a trained monkey, your fee henceforth will be $5.99 per minute. What? No, ma'am, you don't seem to understand that this amount will be deducted directly from your paycheck; your department has wiped its hands of your bumbling idiocy. Oh. I see. I'm an a$$h01e now. That'll be $7.99 per minute. We're already 5 minutes in. Would you like to continue this call?"

Oh I understand the whole point of customer service, but if there's any shops opening up for sarcasm and telling it like it is, I'm so there.

[belovedcrown.livejournal.com]

these are internal users at my workplace. no billing. :)

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Oh, there are ways. Like wondering out loud in front of Accounting whether the IT area should be funded on a "user-pays" basis. Or foregoing direct cash and dealing in influence, fear, powerplays and freebies. Or making cute little pie charts showing how much of the IT department's time (and therefore personnel budget) is being taken up by what departments, and which users in those departments.

And then showing the charts to Management and the callers' bosses. Perhaps under the heading of "Areas of greatest cost - Identified!"

Showing the beancounters exactly who is the cause of the Helpdesk personnel budget blowout can bring all kinds of political pressure to bear.

Then there's favoritism under the guise of 'playing fair', such as "Of COURSE we fixed the Sales Team's broken mouse before the Marketing Team's main server. We've already been out to Marketing two hundred times more than to Sales this year, and we wouldn't want to appear biased towards Marketing."

Or break down the embarrassing bits in front of the top brass. "This year, we received six hundred and four calls from people in Jim and Jane's teams who didn't know how to do their job, eight hundred seventy-three from people who dialled the wrong number and for some reason hung on the line through our welcome message, and twelve hundred calls where the fix was to press the big button in front of them. Oh, and nine percent of calls were actual genuine computer issues."

[belovedcrown.livejournal.com]

haha. all very good responses if i worked in private industry. let me try this again...

i work for the federal government. profit, cost and sadly even efficiency are not points of interest to management. none of that matters. what matters is making end users who give lots of money to campaigns happy.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

I work there too :)

There are always ways, bwahahaha....

[ravenshrinkery.livejournal.com]

There is that benefit of feebased customers, isn't there... except those who pay by the minute. Then they act like snails on speed and expect instant knowledge produced for them. These are probably the same people that call feebased sex lines and expect their orgasm as quickly as possible and pressure the operator into providing it.

I make it a point to thank the janitor when they come by to empty my garbage at night. I was that janitor once :).