| THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016). |
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I'm in charge of giving everyone their ID/pswd for the usage site and answering most of the questions that customers have about the reports. When anyone's got a problem, I'm the lucky dog they call first. Since this summer, for some bizarre reason that absolutely nobody has been able to figure out, though it seems like it should be pretty damn easy, no customer who signed up since May 2002 or so has been able to retrieve their reports from the website. The reports just aren't there. It's like the folders are empty. This is true even for existing customers who purchased a new subscription since May -- they can get reports for their older subscriptions but not for the newer ones. I and some of my coworkers have been bugging the guy who creates the reports to get this problem fixed since the Fall. Last month, we started using a new system for creating the reports, and I was promised that this would fix the problem, and all the missing reports would appear last night. Do I need to tell you they're not there? I've counted 209 customers who have NO reports and 229 who are missing reports for their newer subscriptions. This is completely fucking unacceptable. For the life of me, I can't understand why the guy who creates these things hasn't been able to do it, and he's not offering any explanations. We've given him all the information he needs. What the hell is going on? OH, I forgot about the History reports! Those haven't been updated since July! That's another 89 people who are missing their usage data. I feel a wellspring of rage bubbling forth within me. Anyone want to fly to Dayton, OH and kick some ass? |
did you guys sell this nifty service? |
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He won't tell us if he's able to create the reports and just can't to post them to the website, or if he can't create the reports in the first place, or what. The reports are free, but most of our customers use their reports to determine whether or not they will renew their subscriptions...which are up for renewal in June....so people want to see their reports now........... I've been put in charge of emailing him and asking him what's up, but I'm so mad right now... If this costs us renewals, I swear to God, I'm going to blow a gasket. Either do the work, or tell us what's wrong! Is that so much to ask for? |
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sounds like they need to fire that guy and promote you to his position. or would that be a promotion? find out! |
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oh, and thanks so much for the CD and the godiva love box. both are rocking my world! i loved the harley card too :) |
sometimes the peeps upstairs like to see this, it shows you care, it shows you expect your teammates to pull their weight and it just might bring to their attention a problem they have not fully grasped in the past. make a formal, strong, verbal complaint/plea to get this resolved, outline what it could cost if it's not resolved. then its off your shoulders and there's no reason to blow a gasket. the responsibility soley rests on management and that particular tech guy. |
And, if you can make the reports yourself, go ahead and do that and give them to your boss. Then say, "Can I post these on the web so we don't lose customers?" Then, in July, ask for a raise. :) |
Nah, I don't want that guy's job. For one thing, I have no experience in doing what it is he does -- he's a software engineer. Plus, I'd have to move to Ohio. Yuck! I have a question for you all -- in this email I send him asking what's going on, should I be stern or nice? I'm trying to figure out what the best tone to take would be....plus I have to copy a few coworkers/superiors on it, and I don't want to start something ugly. But I don't want to be ignored either. How about I write it and post it here before sending it, so you can tell me what you think? |
Plus, no way in hell would I have the time/resources/capabilities to run all the reports myself. I'm getting a raise in May as it is.....maybe I can use this as leverage next year. Unless *I'm* the one they decide to have problems with, and they let me go. It's happened before... |
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id go to upper managment and let them battle it out. if this software dude is being a particular fuck, nothing you say will work...if anything he'll just blow you off. its not your responsibility to prod him on to do his job. all you have to do is ask, and expect to get what you need. if you dont get what you need, its management's ball, once you've brought it to their attention. |
Now...I must write the email! |
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"may" step into the arena? fuck that. she "should" step into the arena. if she doesnt, you should be aiming for her job. people in your position are not in the position to fight. management is supposed to do your fighting for you. thats why they are there. if someone on your level is not doing their job, its up to them to solve the problem, not you. |
Fire him. "Plus, no way in hell would I have the time/resources/capabilities to run all the reports myself." Don't short sell yourself. If you're lacking, (which I doubt you are) increase your abilities to meet the need. |
Anyway, this is the email: ********************** Hi [X], What is the problem with the accounts in the two attached spreadsheets? These are taken from the bgrp list that [A.] sent you ([filename]) -- the first is a list of 209 customers who are missing all of their online usage reports, and the second is a list of 229 customers who are missing reports for one or more product. All of these accounts are found in [A.]'s list. It's imperative that these customers receive their usage reports -- they are all new subscribers, and they need their reports to determine whether or not they will renew their subscriptions in the next two months. The potential loss of revenue if they cancel is large. Please let [A.], [M.], and I know if there is something about these accounts' setup that is preventing you from creating reports for them, or if there is anything we can do or that you need from us to get their reports posted to the website as quickly as possible. Thanks, [R.] ************** What do you think? |
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Hey, if need be, I will ask my boss' boss and the director of our division and ask them to take action. I don't want to say that in this email, though. |
tell him there is a problem and it needs to be fixed. More concise spider. More concise. How about: Good day (fuckhole), i need to remind you that customers have repeatedly been unable to access their reports. This is a on going problem that needs immediate resolution. (Spider can you cite emails/faxes and dates in the past that this problem was brought to his attention, if so, cite them here) As you can guess, a customers inability to access their information and make determinations of their usage can and will cost us accounts. Of course this outcome is not an option. Please advise immediately as to the solution of this problem. Thanks in advance for your immediate assistance. |
the more you dilly dally, the more insecure you sound. 'you have a job to do, you dont have time for this shit. fix it asshole' is what you are saying, essentially, |
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Well, I will be replying to an email that has a string of nags and pesterings to this guy from various people, so we've got some of the history right there. OK, I've added this sentence to the end of the second paragraph: "These are also, not coincidentally, all of our new customers from May 2002 forward -- no new subscriptions since that time have online reports available to them." And I've cut the last paragraph and added "Thanks in advance for your immediate assistance." It's more direct, and I think I'll send it now. |
The thing is, I have no weight with which to threaten the guy. Also, I know my boss, and if I threaten the guy out of the blue, my boss will come down on me. I don't want that to happen. I did find out the guy's boss' name, so I will copy her, my boss' boss and the division director on the email. And if that's enough to irritate my own boss, then I'll get mad at him for not taking this seriously enough. I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm the only sane person in this place for seeing this as the huge problem that it is. We are utterly failing our customers! 400+ people are upset! I didn't get upset before because I had been told that our new system upgrade was going to fix everything -- I was banking on that! I was telling everyone who called me to complain to just hang on until April 7. GodDAMMIT, I HATE being the one who looks bad to our customers. |
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why is this so difficult? dont be a weenie. dont copy the email to someone you havent had contact with such as his boss. that will seem catty. let your boss deal with his. its as simple as this spider. you are bringing to their attention a repeated problem that is preventing you from doing your job and could hurt the company down the road. if they dont fix it, nor give you the power to fix it, the company will suffer. all you do is bring it to their attention, then its up to them. done. end of subject move on. go to lunch. relax. |
godspeed them spider. godspeed. |
I just heard back from him -- apparently, this is the first time he heard about these 400+ accounts. Hmmm... I had first told my boss and the PD guy about them in the fall... Hmmm... *sigh* I'm not up to guessing who dropped the ball. As long as it gets fixed, I don't care. |
Fire him. |
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And, btw, slacker guy didn't fix PD guy's short list of people, either! So he's still in the wrong! Anyway, we're all having a meeting tomorrow to talk about the problem. I'll bet I'll have to defend not presenting the huge lists earlier, but I'll be okay. |
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Need I go on? Of course, Ohio does have Dennis Kucinich (sp?) and supplied some brief amusement with Jim Traficant. And DEVO is from Ohio. So are Guided By Voices. Still, all those republicans... |
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Anyway, had the meeting. The guy is going to fix everything, and within 2 weeks all the missing reports will be posted. However, I just logged into the usage report website, and when I try to look at *anyone*'s reports I get a "page not found" error. When will the madness end? |
Yesterday, my boss talked to me about the reports, blah blah blah, and as he was walking away, he said, "Remember, none of this is your fault." (WTF? Of course it's not my fault! That was a rather curious thing to say, don't you think?) And then, 2 minutes ago, he came into my office and said, "[M.] and [division director] and I had an interesting conversation after the meeting...." but then changes the subject. Huh? Why did he say that? You don't think I could be in trouble, do you? For what, I don't know....but is this suspicious, or am I just paranoid? |
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now if only you'd give up the ass shots to nate, we could be complete |
Thanks for the confidence, guys! Yeah, it would be really nice if they took away some of my current responsibilities and put me more in charge of the reports. I know how this place works, though, and they'd probably make me do the extra work on top of my current job....screw that. I've already got work backed up from February I need to work on! |
not because it isnt your fault. thats obvious, but rather you need to hear it because in the next paragraph you are getting all paranoid for nothing. |
Anyway, I have reason to be paranoid. Before I got here, the company hired 6 VPs of some division, set them up with big salaries, big offices, great benefits...and 3 months later they fired them. Part of my responsibilities were acquired after they fired a woman who had been with the company since its beginning and had worked diligently to protect her job by hiding information and using other tactics. They still fired her. But enough about that. I should be safe for a while. |
I don't know whom I have to service or what god I have to sacrifice to to get the goddamn thing working once and for all, but I am considering my options. My stomach hurts. |
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spider, last night i broke out the box of chocolate as glenn, bryan, marrilee and i sat down to duke it out over a game of scrabble and a bottle of wine. there's always the gold foil coin chocolate in those boxes, you know? it's like the one that doesn't go with all the others, which are all secretive little truffles with extraordinarily delicate decorative exteriors. but with the gold foil coin chocolate, you pretty well know what you're getting before you unwrap it. well, that's what i thought, at least. so, bryan chose the gold coin, noting aloud that he always chooses the gold coin**. i peered over his shoulder as he unwrapped it, and to my surprise, intricately engraved on the chocolate coin was Ms. Godiva herself, butt naked, riding on a horse. is that sexy or what? i took one look at it and got seriously horny. ** which just proves it never would have worked between us anyway. |
So, who won the Scrabble game? |
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well, bryan was the guy i dated for a month last october and he dumped me. i really really liked him a lot, but when he said he wanted to be friends, i was like, yeah yeah, whatever, see ya. but he was serious about being friends. and we don't see each other often, but when we do we always have a really great time, lots of laughs. marrilee beat me in scrabble, by one point. i am still very bitter about this. anyway, thanks again for the chocolate! it was very much appreciated by all of us. |
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that CD is going to sound great in the bitch basket once i get those new speakers installed. |
Is a bitch basket like a meat mobile? |
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Spider! I'm so upset if this is making your stomach hurt. Heather, Yael, and I have taken to playing cards. Last night I was supposed to go to bed and Yael wanted to come over and see me because her boyfriend is in town this weekend. Heather wasn't home at first when we called so Yael stopped at the store and brought over some chocolate. Around 12:45 Heather called and then she came over to play cards until around two. This killed my plans for getting up early this morning and finishing my work but I don't care. This kind of thing wonders for my state of mind; in the midst of all the stress and crap, which just sqeezes my brain and isolates it from the rest of by body, it makes me feel human again. . I didn't have anything like this in Columbus before I met Sem. |
What card games did you play? I'm a big fan of gin. Poker I'm not so hot at because I care too much about the cards and not enough about reading the people around me. For some reason, that intimidates me. My uncle was a Blackjack dealer in Vegas for years, and he once tried to teach me how to count cards. Holy crap, it's so involved! My head was swimming from the get-go. Just play the game! Keep things simple. Now, Scrabble, that's where you have to read your opponent, so you can think of ways to distract them from the bonus squares and come up with contigency plans if they use that J you had your eye on. Is that online Scrabble game still on? |
My mother is in a bridge club that plays every other Thursday evening. They've been playing for about 29 years. I have suggested to the daughters of some of these women that we should form our own if we ever live in the same area again. I like scrabble. I need to get some bored games. Yael is not only a girl...she's our girly-girl, lover of glitter and all things sparkly and full of bubbly energy. |
also: spider, is it just me or is the place you work a little strange? maybe you should start casting around for something else. you're too smart, diligent and responsible to waste your time working for people who don't seem to have their shit together about important things. |
The other departments are pretty well-organized, from what I can see -- it's just sales/customer service that's kinda messy. I would start looking for another line of work if I knew what I wanted to do. I don't want to take a job on whim and hope it works out...that's how I ended up here. And I really liked it here for about a year and half. It really is okay here, though. I usually work independently, which is best for me. |
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hey Spider, go here: http://www.djvadim.com/vadimgrad.php and take a listen. |
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pleasure. |
Say, have you heard a guy called Rjd2? This is a good album you might want to look into... |
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