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Yeah, we have monkeys...flying monkeys

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  • Yeah, we have monkeys...flying monkeys

    A couple of days ago, there was a problem with the online feed. That day's death notices didn't go online. They ran in print--which is what we charge for--but not online. We heard about it all day, but overall people were not too upset about it. It was fixed. Or so we were told.

    Along comes today...

    A guy called in right after we opened, ticked off that his relative's notice (running Tuesday) wasn't online. Co-worker apologized, said she'd let the IT people know. She also notified our supervisor (IT & super weren't in yet). An hour or so later, the guy calls back, gets another CW. Here's where the fun starts. He started out nasty, asking if we "have monkeys working there". CW told him the problem was being fixed. His response: "When, in a year?"

    I don't think you can usually give a timeframe for this kind of thing...am I right, IT people?...but most important, we weren't given an estimate or any kind of timeframe to convey to customers. All we can do is apologize and tell them--again--that it's being addressed and will be fixed as soon as possible. And those of us on the phones are just as unsatisfied as they are, because we can't tell them anything more definite.

    15 minutes later he posted nasty comments on facebook, everybody's favorite place to act like they're the center of the universe. Besides other nasty, snarky comments, he said we were "understaffed" (true enough) and "under-qualified" (like he would know). What really ticked me off, though, was his comment about it being "a hassle" to place the notice, and bitching about the "automated call system."

    Let's recap:
    Monday: You called after 5 pm. Most businesses are closed then anyway. You apparently called the wrong dept. (a little research could have prevented this). When you called our dept. you got through immediately. I know this because we did not lose even one call between 9:15 am & 5:15 pm, and your notice was saved into our system at 5:13 pm. The rep who helped you did everything correctly. She had no way of knowing the online feed would go down again. The reps you spoke to this morning had no more information to give you other then, "It's being fixed" because the techs cannot give a definite timeframe, and if they had and it wasn't fixed by that time, you would have said we were lying. Oh, and the phone system? I haven't called a business in the last decade that doesn't use an automated system.

    Lastly, gripes about the cost of the notice are without merit. You are placing, in essence, a paid ad. If you really want to see high costs, check out the papers at the other end of the state. Best part: The situation was corrected within 15 minutes of his second call, I think before he even posted his rant on facebook.
    When you start at zero, everything's progress.

  • #2
    Quoth MoonCat View Post
    I don't think you can usually give a timeframe for this kind of thing...am I right, IT people?...but most important, we weren't given an estimate or any kind of timeframe to convey to customers.
    Oh, yes, that is very much correct. Sometimes the problem looks like it can be a simple fix, and then it turns out to take months to correct. And the engineers and peeps that are actually working the issue do not speak to customers or coworkers in customer-facing jobs (i.e., the IT Service Desk, "tier 0" people), so we have no information to give except that which the engineers may have put in the ticket.

    I've ranted about people asking for turnaround estimates before.
    PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.

    There are only Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because I choose to walk!

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    • #3
      In all fairness, the techs are sometimes specifically instructed not to give the customer a timeframe on fixes. If they mention offhand that they think it might be back up in 15 minutes, that becomes the official time and God help you if the problem is worse than you thought - now they're incompetent, lazy, or dishonest. Better to have the customers frustrated at a lack of information than to have a brief peace followed by wailing and gnashing of teeth.

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      • #4
        Personally when someone insists on a timeframe when I've already said I don't have one I like to say 'Well, I'm reasonably sure it will be before the year 2587, but I can't guarantee it.' So far they either accept that or they start laughing and say something like 'ok no way to know yet. I get it.'

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        • #5
          By the time I'm in a position to provide a time estimate, it's practically fixed (usually no more than a reboot away.) Finding the problem is usually most of the work; fixing it is usually easy once you know exactly what went wrong.

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          • #6
            Is it bad that I'm thinking...

            Jerk: Do you have monkeys working there? <rant rant rant>
            Reply: No... that'd be our customers.

            Cos it sure sounds like he was making a lot of screeching sounds.

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            • #7
              why do people like that lose their sh!t when you can't give them a time estimate? I treat the IT Service Desk employees like I would anyone in any service industry (like anyone that handles food), nicely! They have control of my interwebz access and all that it involves (my gaming access!!). why would i want to tick off people with that kind of control? i need my games!! i wouldn't be so eager to repair access to someone bitching about it. Be NICE to IT!! and everybody else too
              there's some people with issues that medication, therapy or a baseball bat just can't cure

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              • #8
                PepperElf, that sounds like my neighbors - except the monkeys probably have a larger vocabulary...

                Oh, and the drama didn't end. Jerk called back later in the day. I don't know what he said but I do know that the person he spoke to had NOTHING to do with the online feed going down, or repairing it. *sigh* I'm so sick of people this week....
                When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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