Shove it up your...well, you know the rest (Warning: Strong Language)

[myswtghst]

I just...wow...I'm nearly speechless right now. This one has to be shared. It's not verbatim, but certain parts are word for word.

Me:
AT: A$$hole tech
PT: Poor tech support guy stuck on the phone with us

So, PT works for a group that monitors some of our customers. He had a customer site where the modem wasn't working, so he couldn't monitor the site. Per the procedure, he called us, opened a case, and we dispatched the shop. Since he can't see the site, it was an emergency type thing, and we sent a tech out today. Or we tried to....

Me: Hi, thank you for calling *mycompany* This is MySwtGhst, how can I help you?
AT: Yeah, I'm calling about such and such case #.
Me: Ok, for *mycustomer* in *some state*
AT: Yeah, I guess so
(at this point, I can tell he's not a happy camper, but I press on)
Me: Well, it looks like PT opened this, because the RAS modem is not working.
AT: I ain't going out there. I can't tell you how often they send me out there for a problem that ain't my problem, it's a phone line issue or waah waah waah....
(I let him whine, loudly, for a few moments, and then cut in)
Me: Well, sir, it is opened as a high severity issue, but if you like...
AT: (getting louder) I told ya, I ain't going out there. It's a five hour drive and when I get there it'll be fine and I ain't doing this. I'm sick of it, and I'm sick of y'all sending me out there for nothing!
Me: Alright sir, no problem. I'm going to have to contact PT, because you'll need to speak to him before we can defer the case, since he opened it.
AT: Fine, call me back when you get him on the phone, then.

He hangs up, I call PT back. At this point, I'm pretty annoyed, because I can't stand when techs refuse to go to site--it's their job, for chrissakes.

Me: Well, the tech is pretty grouchy, and he doesn't want to go to site. He claims it'll probably just be a phone line problem.
PT: I can tell that it isn't, I ran such and such testing and so on...
Me: Well, let me get him back on the phone so you can give him the bad news
*I conference on AT, and get the pleasantries out of the way*
PT: Well, AT, I'm showing that this isn't an issue with the phone line, because I can't do this and that...so....
AT: I TOLD THAT GIRL, I AIN'T GOING OUT THERE! Y'ALL KEEP SENDING ME OUT THERE, AND I DRIVE FOR FIVE HOURS AND WHEN I GET THERE, IT'S EITHER A PHONE LINE ISSUE OR Y'ALL HAVE RESOLVED IT AND DIDN'T BOTHER TO LET ME KNOW. I AIN'T HAVING ANY OF THIS. YOU CAN TAKE THE CONTRACT AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS, CUZ I AIN'T GOING OUT THERE!
PT: Well, sir, I'm sure that it isn't...
AT: NOW LISTEN HERE, I'VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH PLANT, AND I AIN'T DEALING WITH YOUR SHIT ANYMORE. Y'ALL CAN TAKE THAT RAS MODEM AND THROW IT IN THE FUCKING TRASH CAN, CUZ I AIN'T GOING OUT THERE. I TOLD HER AND I'M TELLING YOU, Y'ALL CAN STUFF IT. I AIN'T DEALING WITH THIS CRAP. IS THE SITE EVEN DOWN?
(at this point, I've got the phone muted because I'm alternating between cussing myself and laughing my @$$ off at this guy)
PT: I understand if you're frustrated sir, but I haven't called you out there before. I've checked to make sure this isn't a phone company issue, and it is a high severity issue since I can't see the site. I can't tell if the site is down...
AT: WELL, HAS THE CUSTOMER CALLED IN AND SAID IT'S DOWN? NO, THEN DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. I AIN'T GOING OUT THERE. YOU CAN GET YOUR SUPERVISOR TO CALL ME, I DON'T CARE WHO YOU CONTACT, I AIN'T GOING OUT THERE.

At this point, AT finally just hangs up.

PT: You still there?
Me: Yep, unfortunately.
PT: Well, what's the next step? Is there another tech we can contact?
Me: Oh, I'm calling this guys manager. I want to make sure he gets in trouble for this, because that was completely uncalled for.
PT: You're telling me. Well, let me know what happens.
Me: No problem. Have a good rest of the day.

I just spent the last half hour retelling this to my coworkers, both in person (to the ones who heard me laughing/yelling) and over the IM. I'm still waiting for his manager to call back so I can pitch a fit, and I documented it in the case notes that he was belligerent and swearing.

[Reyneth]

Wow. Just wow. Am I right in the belief that he has no right to be refusing to go out, regardless of the situation? That guy should be fired just for that - and then the language? Must be nice to be independently wealthy, 'cause he shouldn't be pulling a paycheck from your company any more!

[Boozy]

Y'ALL KEEP SENDING ME OUT THERE, AND I DRIVE FOR FIVE HOURS AND WHEN I GET THERE, IT'S EITHER A PHONE LINE ISSUE OR Y'ALL HAVE RESOLVED IT AND DIDN'T BOTHER TO LET ME KNOW.

I think this guy behaved like an ass, and was taking his anger out on the wrong people, but if I may just play devil's advocate for a moment...

...if what he said (quoted above) is true, I'd be pissed off too. Is there a past history of screw-ups here?

[Andara Bledin]

It shouldn't matter one whit whether there's a history or not. The guy is being paid to go to sites, and so when he gets called, he needs to go, whether he thinks it's a waste of time or not.

And after that tantrum, I'm not sure I would ever want that guy at a customer's site or interacting with a customer in any way, shape, or form.

^-.-^

[Hobgoblin]

AT: (getting louder) I told ya, I ain't going out there. It's a five hour drive and when I get there it'll be fine and I ain't doing this. I'm sick of it, and I'm sick of y'all sending me out there for nothing!

Are you or are you not getting paid to drive for five hours? If you are driving that far, you are either getting paid for gas or getting a company car. I'm betting on company car. So you are complaining about driving for ten hours (or five, I'm reading it as a five-hour one-way trip though) and not having to do anything else (if it really isn't an on-site problem)? Where is the downside here? I'm not seeing it.

[Camry178]

Why is it that people have a problem doing what they're paid to do?..

[Boozy]

It shouldn't matter one whit whether there's a history or not. The guy is being paid to go to sites, and so when he gets called, he needs to go, whether he thinks it's a waste of time or not.

I agree, he should have to go and do his job. And not be such a dick about it.

But to some degree, it would matter to me if the company is sending me back and forth to someone's place for no reason. I like to come home at the end of the day feeling like I accomplished something. Driving pointlessly for five hours wouldn't give me that sense of a job well done. Its about job satisfaction, not money.

[Crazeyal]

Eh.. Sounds like the idiot had some issues before and isn't bothering to take it to the people responsible, just the people nearby. Sometimes it's more than it seems, tho. Even hourly employees get flack for unproductive time. A three hour drive, no accountable service performed, and a backlog of other service afterward? Cranky people.

From an experienced perspective, you have a bad situation combined with poor management and a topping of redneck social skills. Best thing to do is stay professional tothe EXTREME and document EVERYTHING. People like this can get VICIOUS.

[myswtghst]

The key here is that he is being paid, but as it turns out, not enough, to do this.

The problem is, the only people who can fix this are the CSM's, and he hasn't bothered working with them to fix it. He'd prefer to call in and yell and fuss and swear at us, when we can't do anything but our jobs.

And just as an addendum, 1 week after that occurence, i.e. this past Sunday, AT called back. And this time, just to one up last time, he was drunk. We're talking slurring words, incomplete sentences, double-the-swearing, plenty of yelling HAMMERED. And he let me conference him on with his CSM, who at first didn't belive me, so she could hear his drunken cuss-filled rampage. That made me happy. Also, AT apparently thinks I'm just a sweetheart and loves me--he told me so, and he doesn't swear at me, just at the other tech and about the company.

I'm completely understanding that there is an issue. It just comes down to two things. He isn't contacting the right people to fix it, even though he knows full well who they are, and he is behaving completely unprofessionally by swearing at people for doing their jobs.

Oh, and as it turns out, AT is not just a tech. AT actually owns the whole darn shop.

[Becks]

AT actually owns the whole darn shop.

Lovely. (/sarcasm)

[SuperB]

I could understand the frustration but not the attitude. When we had satelite internet installed at the house, the tech that they used for this area didn't want to come out. He claimed a friends house up the road couldn't get a signal so he just assumed we couldn't. I tried explaining the differences in terrain between his friends and our house and he finally agreed to come out. Then once out here he didn't want to listen to my husband on where the dish should go that would save time and money. He wanted to install it in an area that was convenient to him, run cable and charge us for the extra. We finally had to fire him before we could get him to listen and put it next to the office where the cable was shortest.

And this morning at my part time job, they wanted to send a tech out for hardware when the issue was my log in. He would have been frustrated when I told him I knew damn well it was fixable over the phone but the help desk wasn't understanding the issue.

[myswtghst]

Thanks for the support, guys.

The thing is, there are parts of everyone's jobs that they don't like. For most of us on here, it's dealing with SC's. But we get paid, so we do it. And we find an appropriate outlet to vent, like CS.com. Why can't people like AT find a suitable place---but PLEASE not here!!--to do his venting?