A new low..

[draggar]

I'm looking at the remote bucket and I see a scary ticket:

"Someone unplugged the network cable"

Well then PLUG IT BACK IN!!

[Lingering Grin]

Nononono!

You send a field tech out there, he walks back and plugs it in, then turns around and charges them $150!
($75 an hour, 2 hour minimum)

[KiaKat]

I like your thinking.

Perhaps we should all start a tech support company. An EVIL tech support company.

[Gerrinson]

Nononono!

You send a field tech out there, he walks back and plugs it in, then turns around and charges them $150!
($75 an hour, 2 hour minimum)

It's a great plan, but IIRC draggar works for the same company or for a contracted client, so you wouldn't get to bill out for this fix like you would if you just ran your own shop.

[lordlundar]

Nononono!

You send a field tech out there, he walks back and plugs it in, then turns around and charges them $150!
($75 an hour, 2 hour minimum)

^This. I mean think about it. These are people who probably need help plugging in an electric kettle. Do you seriousely want them to try to plug something into a computer?

[draggar]

It's a great plan, but IIRC draggar works for the same company or for a contracted client, so you wouldn't get to bill out for this fix like you would if you just ran your own shop.

Yep. I work for a company's IT department so I wouldn't have billed anyone.

[volatile]

hehehe...maybe they are used to being micro-managed.

[Lingering Grin]

Yep. I work for a company's IT department so I wouldn't have billed anyone.

yea, I assumed as much, one can dream though, right?

[earl colby pottinger]

Then

It's a great plan, but IIRC draggar works for the same company or for a contracted client, so you wouldn't get to bill out for this fix like you would if you just ran your own shop.

Then he should talk to his boss about internal billing.

If it is in-company billing, you use the numbers to show the bean-counters why it is cheaper to stick to in-house service instead of farming it out (out-sourcing). It also turns your department from a cost-center to a profit-center on the books.

If it is a contracted client, you use the billings to (a) prove to the client they are getting their money's worth, (b) give the bean counters and sales people some useful numbers to base future contracts on.

PS. Unless you really are more expensive than another service company, in which case bury the idea deep, deep, deep.

[draggar]

Then he should talk to his boss about internal billing.

If it is in-company billing, you use the numbers to show the bean-counters why it is cheaper to stick to in-house service instead of farming it out (out-sourcing). It also turns your department from a cost-center to a profit-center on the books.

If it is a contracted client, you use the billings to (a) prove to the client they are getting their money's worth, (b) give the bean counters and sales people some useful numbers to base future contracts on.

PS. Unless you really are more expensive than another service company, in which case bury the idea deep, deep, deep.

Don't worry, I do bill it correctly, including driving time but some people up top know how to do tech work so they may ask me "why did you drive 3 hours to plug in the computer?". But still - it gets billed, even for I.D. 10-T issues.

Edit: And I have NO SHAME noting the ticket with things like "The user didn't feel comfortable plugging it in themselves so I needed to go out to the site".

[Apathy]

Perhaps we should all start a tech support company. An EVIL tech support company.

That's the only kind worth starting!

[lordlundar]

Perhaps we should all start a tech support company. An EVIL tech support company.

You mean there's another kind?

[wagegoth]

At my office, IT freaked because I knew what a network cable was and I plugged it in myself. They had to change out my computer recently and I was the person above the desk while the IT guy was the person underneath, feeding up the cables. They've learned a bit.


Funny thing: We were at the Tech Museum in San Jose a couple of weeks ago. The mouse wasn't working on one of the computer games. I found the end disconnected, crawled under the table and was able to plug it back in. My husband says I can now add, "Volunteer at The Tech Museum" to my CV.

[draggar]

I had a good one the other day (knda on topic).

No one could print to one of the printers. I couldn't even ping it. I head down to the floor and the printer is on and no error messages. It is plugged into the RJ-45. Hmm, something isn't right..

Head over to that floor's LAN room.

Someone unplugged that port out of the router...

OK:
1) Who the HELL had access to that room? It's locked and, as far as I know, only myself, the other IT person, and the facilities manager (who is based in Puerto Rick) has the key
2) Why the HELL would anyone start messing with these cables?