|
A repeated email conversation pissing me off: Customer, Monday morning: Something is making <remote site> have issues doing <thing>. Please fix it, that office cannot work when this happens and is causing lots of problems. Me, later on Monday: Mr. Customer, we have identified <problem> and need a window where we can do some maintenance to correct it that will involve extended downtime on <thing>. Would Tuesday night at 11pm work for you? If not, please let us know a good time. Me, on Tuesday: Mr. Customer, we do need to correct <problem>, have you determined if tonight at 11pm is OK for up to an hour of downtime so we can correct this? If not, please give us a good window. We're 24/7/365 so this can be done at any time convenient for you. Customer, Wednesday morning: <Thing> is still not working. Why didn't I get any notifications about your work last night? Why is it still broken? We need this fixed! Why do you schedule things if you are not going to do the work?! I see this at least once a week. Said customers also never answer their phones or return calls (when we're able to leave messages, frequently their mailbox is full or not set up).
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 17:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 13:50 |
|
|
MANime in the sheets posted:A repeated email conversation pissing me off: To be fair I can totally see a customer reading those emails as "I have scheduled the work for Tuesday at X time and will do it then unless I hear from you"
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 18:52
|
|
|
Had to spend the better part of a day proving piles of "bugs" one of our QA guys in India found are either: 1) Him doing the wrong thing (e.g. pressing "confirm appointment" instead of "reschedule" and wondering why the appointment doesn't change), or 2) Legit bugs, but only in extremely unlikely scenarios (e.g. 4 different customers trying to book the exact same appointment slot within 0.5 seconds, which he accomplished using 4 different browsers side by side), and which have NOTHING to do with my code, they already exist in prod and no one has noticed because that poo poo will never happen. I finish addressing each of these things, and am immediately asked, "Ok, so did you fix the adhoc script yet?" When the gently caress do you imagine I had time to do that when I have been in constant communication with you about what turned out to be nothing  Part of the problem is this was labeled a hotfix, but it isn't. It just needs to go out before the next release because the script I'm fixing needs to run prior to a migration (deletes duplicates in a table before applying a unique constraint to stop it from happening again). But QA sees "hotfix" and thinks OMG THE SKY IS FALLING 
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 18:55
|
|
|
PremiumSupport posted:To be fair I can totally see a customer reading those emails as "I have scheduled the work for Tuesday at X time and will do it then unless I hear from you" If someone can misinterpret that with so much certainty that they don't even respond to the emails then they deserve to be inconvenienced
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 18:56
|
|
|
MC Fruit Stripe posted:This is a weird post and the number of ways which a personal assistant could make my life easier are immeasurable.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 19:10
|
|
|
BaronVonVaderham posted:Had to spend the better part of a day proving piles of "bugs" one of our QA guys in India found are either:
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 19:11
|
|
|
A floor flooded and took out 2 floors beneath it. This require us to shuffle around a bunch of departments and I had to work a 16 hour day  .On the bright side we got free lunch and I have two do-nothing night shifts this week to watch cabling contractors and effectively an extra day off.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 19:31
|
|
|
When I think of flood I think of
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 20:01
|
|
|
Thanks Ants posted:If someone can misinterpret that with so much certainty that they don't even respond to the emails then they deserve to be inconvenienced I don't agree. The customers interpretation is completely logical given the phrasing. Would I have responded to the email, yes, but an explicit response if the proposed time worked was not actually requested. The first email was phrased as "We need downtime. I would like to do it at X, if that works for you do nothing. If X doesn't work please respond with Y" The second email was similarly phrased: "Have you checked to see if X works for you? If you have and it works do nothing. If it doesn't work please respond with Y"
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 21:18
|
|
|
Yeah, on reading it again I would have required a response for anything to happen. I wouldn't want to take a service down because somebody hadn't responded. Though in either case if I received that message I would respond with a yes/no rather than assuming something was going to happen.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 21:25
|
|
|
PremiumSupport posted:I don't agree. e: Me, later on Monday: Mr. Customer, we have identified <problem> and need a window where we can do some maintenance to correct it that will involve extended downtime on <thing>. Would Tuesday night at 11pm work for you? If not, please let us know a good time. Me, on Tuesday: Mr. Customer, we do need to correct <problem>, have you determined if tonight at 11pm is OK for up to an hour of downtime so we can correct this? If not, please give us a good window. We're 24/7/365 so this can be done at any time convenient for you. MC Fruit Stripe fucked around with this message at 21:43 on May 30, 2018 |
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 21:36
|
|
|
The problem is that a) too many words in the same sentence b) too many sentences c) the question is buried I suggest moving to this format. ---- APPROVAL REQUIRED We propose to perform X task at Y time for Z reason. Please confirm that this time is approved. If you do not approve, please propose an alternate time. Work cannot begin until we have your approval. ----
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 21:51
|
|
|
ConfusedUs posted:The problem is that Yeah, I can see someone loving up the original thing; I wouldn't have, but people can easily mistake stuff like that. When we propose changes for clients we use something similar to the above format.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 21:55
|
|
|
Again, I'm going to be contrarian. If you can't read, I will not fix your thing.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 22:06
|
|
|
CAN DO THING? CHECK BOX [ ] YES [ ] OK
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 22:07
|
|
|
MC Fruit Stripe posted:Again, I'm going to be contrarian. If you can't read, I will not fix your thing.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 22:11
|
|
|
Re: Judge SchnoopyJudge Schnoopy posted:CAN DO THING? Yes ok
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 22:19
|
|
|
MC Fruit Stripe posted:Again, I'm going to be contrarian. If you can't read, I will not fix your thing. Counterpoint People are lazy. People are stupid. People are inattentive. Even the best people are sometimes lazy or stupid or inattentive. That's why defensive design (even in your approval emails) is a good thing. Even the best person is gonna miss something, somewhere, sometime. Don't give them that chance.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 22:21
|
|
|
MC FS in "difficult to work with" shocker
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 22:23
|
|
|
I really try to avoid sending "if" statements to anybody. IF makes a ton of sense in IT, it's a basic function of what we do because computers process very linearly and factually. IF is either true or false, there's no in between or ambiguity or hesitation. A lot of people get tripped up on "if" though, trying to overthink it or allow outside influences to clout their decision. They see it more as a judgement call and they don't ever want to have wrong judgement. They end up tending to avoid the question while they gather everything they need to make a perfect choice, not getting that information, and then simply ignoring your request altogether. Even something as simple as "I like 9 PM, if that doesn't work we can do 10 PM". 9 PM SHOULD work, but why wouldn't it work? What else is going on at 9 that requires me to make this choice? What if I'm wrong and something bad happens at 9 that i could have avoided at 10? Oh god what am I even doing here gently caress this email im going on break. "I like 9 PM. Is this ok?"
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 22:29
|
|
|
Regardless of the wording I don't think it's unreasonable to expect people who want something done to put a bit of loving effort in
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 22:30
|
|
|
Clock ticks past 4pm, winding down my tasks for the day so I can be done by 5pm, get a message "hey I rebooted this machine and it didn't come back, plz fix." Some kind of hardware issue, a simple power cycle didn't resolve anything. "Oh this needs to be back asap, it's important and can't be offline overnight." 
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 22:31
|
|
|
xzzy posted:"hey I rebooted this machine and it didn't come back, plz fix." "Man it sucks to be you today, but good luck fixing it! See you tomorrow!" I could never do IT, because my go-to response for "I did dumb and broke important thing without asking the expert" is to tell them "Congrats, you get to fix the thing too." If you hired me for my expertise, then I expect you to use my expertise, and maybe ask my advice before doing voodoo rituals like power cycling it. rndmnmbr fucked around with this message at 22:51 on May 30, 2018 |
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 22:46
|
|
|
I am paraphrasing a bit for brevity, but I don't understand how someone can read an email like that and assume ignoring it will result in action. Especially with the follow-up requesting confirmation. We're an MSP, and doing something like APPROVAL REQUIRED wouldn't fly with management. We have customers that ignore us for weeks and then get really mad something isn't working and breathe down our necks to demand a fix. And generally, the equipment we are managing is not ours. We aren't going to do anything unless we get approval, ESPECIALLY when downtime is required.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 23:09
|
|
|
MANime in the sheets posted:I am paraphrasing a bit for brevity, but I don't understand how someone can read an email like that and assume ignoring it will result in action. Especially with the follow-up requesting confirmation. We're an MSP, and doing something like APPROVAL REQUIRED wouldn't fly with management.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 23:15
|
|
|
Partycat posted:I think I know the site you’re talking about but I am not sure it is actually a state run item ? CollgeBuys powered by thinkEDU which uses MS Imagine by way of Kivuto to distribute MS products. I emailed them bitching about the extension not working and they turned my download link back on.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 23:20
|
|
|
MANime in the sheets posted:I am paraphrasing a bit for brevity, but I don't understand how someone can read an email like that and assume ignoring it will result in action. Especially with the follow-up requesting confirmation. We're an MSP, and doing something like APPROVAL REQUIRED wouldn't fly with management. How is it you're a MSP and something as simple as APPROVAL REQUIRED wouldn't fly? That poo poo is like MSP 101.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2018 23:23
|
|
|
Guy that moved to BFE and is trying to vpn using his desktop from work and a Verizon jet pack is getting like 9mbs down and 0.4mbs up. “My solid works files won open” no poo poo I told you this would happen Now we’re giving him a laptop and he’s going to remote into his desktop at his desk from his new house, after he brings his desktop back. (He’s keeping his desk and office and phone even though he moved two hours away and will be working here like one day a month. He has the biggest office in the company)
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 01:10
|
|
|
Judge Schnoopy posted:CAN DO THING? Judge Schnoopy posted:A lot of people get tripped up on "if" though, trying to overthink it or allow outside influences to clout their decision. They see it more as a judgement call and they don't ever want to have wrong judgement. They end up tending to avoid the question while they gather everything they need to make a perfect choice, not getting that information, and then simply ignoring your request altogether.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 01:48
|
|
|
How have so many companies outsourced their IT to horribly incompetent teams overseas? I deal with this poo poo all the time from all the big US retail companies in their supply chain. Hey, were saving like $10m a year now! And our IT systems kinda work okay I guess!
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 03:34
|
|
|
Bob Morales posted:How have so many companies outsourced their IT to horribly incompetent teams overseas? I deal with this poo poo all the time from all the big US retail companies in their supply chain. Ticket count is the lowest it's ever been! Who knew providing poo poo-tier service would keep people from ever reporting their problem in the first place!
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 03:53
|
|
|
Bob Morales posted:How have so many companies outsourced their IT to horribly incompetent teams overseas? I deal with this poo poo all the time from all the big US retail companies in their supply chain. Nobody really gives a poo poo how the IT systems work. They outsourced IT so that some middle management guy got a big fat bonus and the CEO got another jet (the old one had its ashtrays full). That's all there is to it.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 04:41
|
|
|
Bob Morales posted:How have so many companies outsourced their IT to horribly incompetent teams overseas? I deal with this poo poo all the time from all the big US retail companies in their supply chain.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 04:45
|
|
|
I saw a delivery truck for an office supplies company today, they had a bunch of bullet points of the things they sell. Chairs, desks, items printed with your company logo, laptops, printers, and managed it services. That's probably some real quality service there, get a custom pen AND a cloud infrastructure!
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 05:04
|
|
|
Bob Morales posted:How have so many companies outsourced their IT to horribly incompetent teams overseas? I deal with this poo poo all the time from all the big US retail companies in their supply chain. The finest google-searching, vendorcase-opening a sixth of your salary will buy.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 05:38
|
|
|
My intermediate client is trying to unilaterally amend the terms of my contract because that’s what their intermediate client is doing to them. I know I should just shut up and go with it because it’s going to make little difference but I just can’t stop myself from pushing back.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 09:44
|
|
|
xzzy posted:I saw a delivery truck for an office supplies company today, they had a bunch of bullet points of the things they sell. Chairs, desks, items printed with your company logo, laptops, printers, and managed it services. Our Staples lady tries selling us phone systems, Dell computers, even WebEx subscriptions
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 10:24
|
|
|
Bob Morales posted:How have so many companies outsourced their IT to horribly incompetent teams overseas? I deal with this poo poo all the time from all the big US retail companies in their supply chain. It's basically because leadership are insulated from the consequences. I've seen it before and it doesn't have to be overseas. Services are way worse, but the people don't complain to them, so they don't hear about it. They only care about metrics, which look good because ticketing metrics are rarely useful. Ticket count is way down (because no one is putting in tickets because they have no confidence anything will be done, so they are either living with the problems or turning to shadow IT)! Time to resolution is way down (because the outsourced team doesn't feel the need to fix or even look at the problem before closing the ticket or passing it on to another team)! As far as leadership is concerned, the organization is saving money and improving outcomes. (EDIT: It's not because that leadership are cackling hobgoblins, it's because all the news that reaches them about it looks like it's successful.) The reality is that outsourcing is frequently both more expensive and worse, but the people making those decisions aren't in a good position to see it. guppy fucked around with this message at 11:36 on May 31, 2018 |
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 10:40
|
|
|
xzzy posted:I saw a delivery truck for an office supplies company today, they had a bunch of bullet points of the things they sell. Chairs, desks, items printed with your company logo, laptops, printers, and managed it services. Pen to Butt
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 11:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 13:50 |
|
|
Email requesting my review on a PR. They want to piggyback some minor copy changes on that "hotfix" I've been working on. Open the PR, I'm expecting 1 file changed, maybe 2 lines. I look, and there are like 4 characters changed for a copy change (pricing update), and the rest is the entire suite of settings and poo poo for our new CI testing stuff. Me: Uh. Was this supposed to point at the release candidate branch where we just merged in the new CI stuff? If not, it looks like this needs a rebase, as it was clearly branched off of that. QA: Nah it's supposed to go into hotfix, it's fine. Me: This PR says it's about minor copy changes. QA: It's fine. Me: Please click the "files changed" tab at the top of this page.It's so obvious they branched this off of the release candidate, made the copy change, then made a PR pointing at this hotfix branch (branched off of master, so the RC stuff for this sprint isn't in there). It shouldn't be this hard to convince someone a 4 character copy change shouldn't have over 150 lines of changes and to recheck their branching.
|
|
#
?
May 31, 2018 16:15
|
|