Talk to me!
Posted in Customer Support, What? on May 31st, 2007If you have read some of my past support-related rants, you understand this rant! Our IT department doesn’t have the resources, at this time, to make mods to a database table that one of my projects gets its information. That information is extracted on a regular basis to keep another db up-to-date. So, the IT department said I can ask the GIS consultant company, specifically, the consultant that works on the db until we get a new GIS staff member.
The consultant delivered everything except the sql query. Get this: the consultant took and billed eight (8) hours to add a column, set it increment the value, populate the column’s existing approx. 1,500 records with an incremental number starting with 100,000. EIGHT HOURS!!!
Beyond that bill, I wanted the sql query so I could modify it so I can only have the columns I need and change the names of the columns. STANDARD STUFF.
It took two weeks, and several conversations, mostly to her voice-mail, and an explanation to the IT manager why I needed it when the IT manager was trying to be cautious about security! I explained that the sql statement doesn’t contain any account information which would allow me, or anyone, access to the data!
So, I called this morning, she was in with her boss, so the receptionist said, and I left a voice-mail message following up on the dicussion about two weeks ago about getting the sql statement that was used to extract the records from our db.
Five minutes (maybe eight) past and the IT manager stops by and speaks to a co-worker who happens to be experienced in db management, specifically MSSql which the GIS system has as the backend.
A few hours later, I get an email from the IT manager stating that the consultant cannot give me the info I want since she used the “Enterprise Manager” and included all the columns rather than what the past GIS person gave me. And, I gave the consultant the original exported file!
Why doesn’t this vendor talk to the person who contracted her firm to do this work, and the one’s that paying the damn invoice!
Here’s the problem: not taught how to respond in an appropriate manner. An acceptable response could be, “I’ll have to look into that and get back to you.” You’ve heard that one. It means I don’t have an answer for you at this moment, so let me take the time to figure it out.
It just annoys me she went around me to have a co-worker (the IT manager) address this issue.
Maybe I should have the Finance Director have that company’s invoices audited to find out if they are over charging us for their DB work! Two of us non-IT-department folks were shocked to see how many hours were in the estimate!
One word . . . . . . .PISSED!
