I am new here so a little background. I work for a large company doing all forms of IT including support for everything from PC's to servers to applications. We use a very large three-letter system to handle just about everything for our company from finance to HR and everything in between. 90% of our users spend their entire day working within this system in one form or fashion. So, on to the story...
On this day that entire system decided to be a dick. I tried everything but it simply wouldn't play nice. I have close to 1900 people pissed off at me because they can't process squat. In the middle of every executive screaming at me that thesky was falling system was down, this [L]user decides to be a PITA. I had dealt with her the previous day because our local tech was gone and she had trouble connecting to the network shares. I spent an hour and a half walking her through checking just exactly what she screwed up since I couldn't get to her computer using any of the tools we have, nor could I see her on the DC. I gave up that day because she asked if we could put this on hold as she was going to lunch and wouldn't be back for a couple of hours. I told her since it wasn't that important to her, she would wait until I had the time to give a shit again to look into her issue again.
I got the system back up and running and slowly started helping people get back online with it. As anyone here knows, you start with the most powerful people first, then go to the most business critical then everyone else. Did I mention this user is an administrative assistant at a tiny branch who answers ~10 calls per day and does nothing else? That is important here. I sent a generic message first stating that the system was online and that they could get back on and I would be working my way down the list to help those who couldn't figure it out. As I am working with a series of users I get an email. It is from her as a response to my generic email.
"The system is NOT FIXED!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T get in. "
Keep in mind she answers a few calls a day and needs this system only to check in UPS items received. Also important here, UPS had not come yet that day and they wouldn't for roughly 4 more hours so she literally had NO reason to even be in there in the first place, but I decide she must be a little simple in the head and send her something like,
"The system is up, if you are having difficulty logging in I will assist as soon as I can. Everyone was kicked out and I am working with several people right now."
I then go back to being awesome. Less than a minute later this string starts. There is less than 30 seconds between my sends and her replies.
The system is NOT UP! I can NOT log in which means it is NOT UP!!!!
The system is in fact up, as stated I will be with you asap.
NO!!!!!!! I NEED to work NOW!!!!!!!!!
[L]user, you do not actually need into the system. I will help you out when I can.
YES I DO!!!!!!! I CAN'T DO MY JOB!!!!!!!
I will help you when I can, as I am working my way through more critical users right now.
The end, right? Hell no. I went back to what I was doing assuming so, but 10 minutes later a friend of mine came by and apologized to me for having to deal with [L]user. I looked at her puzzled and asked how she knew anything about it? The question was for two reasons, it was just me and the user in the email string and this friend was the least likely to be privvy to a complaint had the btch filed one. She said she would forward me the email she had just received.
Turns out the bitch sent an email after I sent my last one. She took our email string and forwarded it on with a note,
"When ______ (my name) decides to actually do his job, I will be able to do mine. At the moment I am completely unable to perform the functions of my job and will be unable to do so until someone decides I am a high enough priority to actually do their job and fix ____(system) which is, in fact, NOT FIXED."
She sent this to the entire global directory (minus me). THE ENTIRE DIRECTORY
I saw that and completely lost it. My boss comes by, pissed at me, demanding to know what this was all about (he didn't know who she was or what she does for the company, but made a somewhat valid assumption based on the tone of her email that she must be important somehow). I explained that this lazy piece of shit was literally the lowest person in the company, has absolutely no reason to be in ___(system) and that she had done nothing but waste my time while I tried to get actual users back online. As he is standing there, he gets a call from the VP of this woman's office demanding to know what this was all about. Luckily, my boss figures out what is really going on and says "Looks to me like your receptionist has illusions of grandeur and ____(me) knows where priorities should lie. Please let _____(bitch) know that if she plans to waste my team's time, she might not want to broadcast it to the entire company. If she has the time to send repeated emails about something she has no business in, maybe she doesn't have enough to do." I could tell the VP actually understood and left it at that.
On this day that entire system decided to be a dick. I tried everything but it simply wouldn't play nice. I have close to 1900 people pissed off at me because they can't process squat. In the middle of every executive screaming at me that the
I got the system back up and running and slowly started helping people get back online with it. As anyone here knows, you start with the most powerful people first, then go to the most business critical then everyone else. Did I mention this user is an administrative assistant at a tiny branch who answers ~10 calls per day and does nothing else? That is important here. I sent a generic message first stating that the system was online and that they could get back on and I would be working my way down the list to help those who couldn't figure it out. As I am working with a series of users I get an email. It is from her as a response to my generic email.
"The system is NOT FIXED!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T get in. "
Keep in mind she answers a few calls a day and needs this system only to check in UPS items received. Also important here, UPS had not come yet that day and they wouldn't for roughly 4 more hours so she literally had NO reason to even be in there in the first place, but I decide she must be a little simple in the head and send her something like,
"The system is up, if you are having difficulty logging in I will assist as soon as I can. Everyone was kicked out and I am working with several people right now."
I then go back to being awesome. Less than a minute later this string starts. There is less than 30 seconds between my sends and her replies.
The system is NOT UP! I can NOT log in which means it is NOT UP!!!!
The system is in fact up, as stated I will be with you asap.
NO!!!!!!! I NEED to work NOW!!!!!!!!!
[L]user, you do not actually need into the system. I will help you out when I can.
YES I DO!!!!!!! I CAN'T DO MY JOB!!!!!!!
I will help you when I can, as I am working my way through more critical users right now.
The end, right? Hell no. I went back to what I was doing assuming so, but 10 minutes later a friend of mine came by and apologized to me for having to deal with [L]user. I looked at her puzzled and asked how she knew anything about it? The question was for two reasons, it was just me and the user in the email string and this friend was the least likely to be privvy to a complaint had the btch filed one. She said she would forward me the email she had just received.
Turns out the bitch sent an email after I sent my last one. She took our email string and forwarded it on with a note,
"When ______ (my name) decides to actually do his job, I will be able to do mine. At the moment I am completely unable to perform the functions of my job and will be unable to do so until someone decides I am a high enough priority to actually do their job and fix ____(system) which is, in fact, NOT FIXED."
She sent this to the entire global directory (minus me). THE ENTIRE DIRECTORY
I saw that and completely lost it. My boss comes by, pissed at me, demanding to know what this was all about (he didn't know who she was or what she does for the company, but made a somewhat valid assumption based on the tone of her email that she must be important somehow). I explained that this lazy piece of shit was literally the lowest person in the company, has absolutely no reason to be in ___(system) and that she had done nothing but waste my time while I tried to get actual users back online. As he is standing there, he gets a call from the VP of this woman's office demanding to know what this was all about. Luckily, my boss figures out what is really going on and says "Looks to me like your receptionist has illusions of grandeur and ____(me) knows where priorities should lie. Please let _____(bitch) know that if she plans to waste my team's time, she might not want to broadcast it to the entire company. If she has the time to send repeated emails about something she has no business in, maybe she doesn't have enough to do." I could tell the VP actually understood and left it at that.
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