Taking risks on software (ISC)

[Marc Boucher]

In article <394 at bilver.UUCP> bill at bilver.UUCP (Bill Vermillion) writes:
/In article <935 at zoom.Clik.QC.CA> marc at Clik.QC.CA (Marc Boucher) writes:
/
/>	I have also been disappointed with your telephone support. I have been
/>stupidly asked many times for the "exact error message" with to the word
/>precision! so that the ignorant interactive employee could look it up in her
/>miracle problem solving database.
/
/Marc - I have several clients with small Unix/Xenix systems.  I often get a
/call and the conversation goes something like this.
/
/"I got an error message and now ...."
/
/"What did the error message say?"
/
/"Something about foo"
/
/I think a moment, and that sounds implausible, so I say.
/
/"Are you sure it didn't say bar"
/
/"Yeh, that might be it too."
/
/"When it happens again, write down the entire error message EXACTLY, and call
/me back."
/
/I'm not a veterinarian.  My patients have to tell me what's wrong.
/To call an employee ignorant because he is trying to help you is way off base.
/
/Bill Vermillion - UUCP: {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd}!peora!tarpit!bilver!bill

	Calling that employee ignorant was based on a general impression
caused by that employee being ignorant. :-) Her replies and too apparent
passivity to my askings and explanations were too frustrating. All she
could do at the end was make me spell to the letter precision the exact
error message I was getting, without even proposing or wondering about
the probable causes. She never called back in time, only 2 days later without
a solution nor workaround, simply asking if everything was ok now. again,
she was incompetent. I agree that sometimes support people have to deal with
the problems being related uncleary to them and then need to pressure the
customer to provide more detailed information. But it wasn't the case there.

-- 
Marc Boucher, sys/netadm @ CLIK Telematique Inc - marc at clik.qc.ca
5144668932_home 5149337161_clik 5149332164_fax  - Postmaster at clik.qc.ca