Slashdot Mirror
Cutting Off an Over-Demanding End-User?
SpaceNeeded asks: "Numbers of you will probably recognize the start of the situation. Because I work with systems, I perform occasional builds. This occasionally crosses over to support (especially where it's my kit I'm asked to support). This isn't a problem, nor is it a problem when I get the occasional support query from someone I haven't supplied a system to, but who needs assistance. This is all well and good, but I've had pretty poor year personally. I've lost two relatives and a third is in a pretty bad way in hospital. An eleven year relationship ended a couple of months back, and I'm now having to perform _all_ the domestic tasks that used to be shared. Between these few things and my regular job I'm finding I have a whole lot less time to allow to support calls. What methods do you know of for gently cutting off someone, support-wise?"
"I have a regular end-user who is the one that we all dread. They have little interest in PC systems for itself, and regularly call up with problems, usually related to Windows spy-ware/Trojans/Viruses. I haven't supplied the systems, which comprises of two Dells and a Tosh laptop. Although I quite like them personally, I really don't need the hassle of their regular calls at the moment.
Before the regular cries of 'Supply Ubuntu' get too loud - that will _not_ work. They aren't up to Windows after a couple of years, and will expect interoperability with Windows systems (through college/employer) and don't have the technical skills to manage a *nix system."
Before the regular cries of 'Supply Ubuntu' get too loud - that will _not_ work. They aren't up to Windows after a couple of years, and will expect interoperability with Windows systems (through college/employer) and don't have the technical skills to manage a *nix system."
The bottom line, however, is that you need to learn to say "no". It really is OK to not give out free customer support to people, even if they're friends or family. If friends/family don't understand that you're not up to it after the year you've had, they're not much in the way of friends anyway.
Just be sure to give them an alternative, then it'll at least seem like you care about them getting a solution.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
"Sorry, but due to other commitments I don't have the time or the inclination to deal with your issues now."
Yeah. He should just tell them, "Look, I'm no longer going to be able to provide support for your systems for free." Then stick to it. If they demand to know why, it's really his business, not theirs, but since he told all of Slashdot, I'm assuming he won't mind giving the reasons to the "customer". Most reasonable people would understand and would be grateful for the support they've gotten so far.
Automate the response -- it may sound like a bit more work, but I've tried it myself and in the long run it seems to work out well...
For instance, for a while I had to look up certain results in a DB for a user and it was happening so often I just created a web interface for them to look it up themselves -- granted, that's an easy fix and I probably should have had that in place in the beginning, but it cut down the amount of time spent trying to figure out why certain things were hooped by about 95%. Now, whenever my coworker contacts me, it's for issues that are most likely bugs and not for DB row queries.
I understand that your situation is not exactly the same as mine, and my condolences for any hardships you are enduring - But perhaps there might be a way to automate this tech support for this user?
Another thing would be to talk to your superviser above you and if he or she is a good supervisor, they'll recognize the issues and try to find a solution that works for you.
Finally, if all else fails, just feign ignorance and the user will probably find another poor sys admin to hassle... =P
in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
I don't understand why you're oligated to fix this person's computer.
Are they paying you? Raise the price. If that doesn't work, raise it again. Problem solved.
If they're not paying you, tell them to fuck off. It's not your problem that they're too lazy to figure it out themselves or too cheap to pay someone else to do it.
Maybe not
Back when I used to do contract programming I'd charge something like $80 an hour to do change requests. No half hours, minimum three hours. With rates like that you'd expect my clients to wait until they had a bunch of change requests that needed to be done and give me a list right? No. I'd go out to the site, listen to them explain what they wanted, implement it in 5 minutes and say "anything else?" They'd shrug and say no. I'd offer to hang around for the remaining 2 hours and 50 minutes that I'm going to charge them and after 30 minutes they'd say "ok, that looks like it's working, we'll call you if we need anything else". At first I figured it was just that one client. Then I got another one that was just as bad. So I upped my rates and it just kept on happening. This was in my younger years and I felt that I could be better spending my time. I felt that I had something to contribute and life wasn't all about making money. So I eventually started demanding that they save up their change requests and only contact me when they had at least a days work to do. Something strange happened. They stopped calling. It seems that if you make people put up with software not being exactly the way they want it to be, even if it's just for a week, they will put up with it forever. But if you're there for them as soon as they call and sit down with them and try to make the software exactly the way they want it, they'll pay just about any price for that service.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Yep. I call it the "security blanket syndrome" - because it makes people very comfortable and gives them a strong feeling of safety to know that if they have a problem, no matter how rare such problems are, that the guy to fix it for them is right there. And let me tell you -- it is VERY profitable.
I myself discovered it by accident. I was getting burnt out with a particular client, but I didn't want to just shut down the connection. So, I decided to raise my rates until they 'fired' me for being a geedy bastard. I tripled my rate, well into the triple digits, and they did not bat an eye.
In fact, as my client as gone through a fair amount of managerial turn-over, hardly anyone left knows what my original billing rate was and I am now perceived as more important and more valuable than I was when I walked in the door in large part due to how much more expensive I am than any of their other contractors and all I really do is give advice to people and put out the occasional fire. Lots of time for slashdot during the day.
So, now I am totally burnt out on this boring, tedious gig - the rest of my life is a total mess, but if I can suffer through another year of this, I will be able to retire well before 40.
This phenomenon is also one reason I am a strong believer in the service business-model for Free software. Selling high-quality, highly personalized service to be big corps with deep pockets can be very profitable.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
"I need to borrow your car tonight to take your wife out someplace nice while you fix my computer. I spilled beer all over the keyboard again"
There is a limit. Courtosy is a valuable thing. There is nothing wrong with pointing a customer to another source so you don't offend them. If they don't take the hint, feel free to let them know that there is a problem. If you are having the issues mentioned above, you needed to take action much earlier and should be very clear in telling them off.
Good luck.
I wouldn't consider the mad hatter mad. Just reality impaired. He sure can make a mean cup of tea.
It appears you may want to keep them as a friend, or at least close that if they want another computer in the future you can help them out with that. So you want to just stop supporting their occasional "issues". Then refer them to a support service. The only one that comes to my mind is My Computer Works (http://www.mycomputerworks.com). There may be others in your area, maybe the local Best Buy or something. I don't work for this company, but I personally know several employees and they are helpful to the people I *used* to support. It accomplishes your goals of off-loading their regular support, without something stupid like running over their dog or raising rates. Good luck.
"financial incentives or penalties"
Well, the $3 seemed to be like a "service change": $1->4ILS, food in telavivi ~100(?) -> $25.
So for about 1/8th of meal, you can get your kid looked after. Beats a babysiter!
Now try charging 5x MAX($babysitter,$own-salary), and they will pickup the rugrats at the speed of light.
Penalties should be proportionnal to resources available. If all the parents make big ILS, then the penalty needs to match up. Pushing the limit way-out on the 1st time will cause them to take the kids somewhere else.
Tricky balance... TCP's RTO exponential penalty?
" - Hi, this is the 3rd time you pickup your kid late... we'll have to charge you an arm... please step towards the chopping block...
- haaaaaaarrrgh!
- The doctor will see u now.
"
There's nothing wrong with dumping a customer, but the correct way to do it is to 1) Be truthful with them, and 2) If possible, refer them to another professional who can help them.
The client can take it much better if what you have to tell them is "I'm very sorry but for personal reasons I'm not able to take care of your needs at this time. I've selected someone who can help you in my place, let me give you their name and number..."
It's also a good opportunity to throw a colleague some work. A friend gave me one of those clients he didn't feel he had time to deal with, at a time when I needed the work. It helped me a lot and I was grateful. Perhaps this incident can lead to some good for someone.
Most of the idiots I deal with follow a pattern. It varies in details but the theme is the same -- attempt communications NON-FREAKING-STOP until they get an answer. Typically, I will be away from the desk or something, and they'll call four or five times, leaving one message at the end once they realize I'm not there. Afterwards, they'll usually call a couple more times over the course of the next thirty mninutes, then email me telling me about the voicemail, then email either my boss or my sales partner asking why I won't call them back.
(Of course, it wouldn't matter, since 99% of the time, when I return a user's call, they aren't there, or they're calling from their car or something, meaning they're nowhere near the device or machine that is giving them problems.. but that's another rant.)
Once I've been here a little longer and have the clout to throw around I'm going to implement a policy whereby a user is allowed ONE communique of any medium, and I will get back to him when I have the time, but for every subsequent attempt at reaching me after that initial attempt, I will add two hours to their response time. Contrary to their belief, they are not important -- they are but one of hundreds of other doofuses I have to support and my job entails more than just supporting doofuses, which means I have other things to do, which means every time they call and get pushy about their problem, they are pissing off the only person who can help them.
Thankfully my boss has already green-lit this idea, but I'm not going to do it without permission from the owner -- hence the waiting.
Anyway, the point is that making people wait doesn't always work, depending on the type of userbase you're dealing with. Most people are impatient and behave like Ptolmey, sitting at the center of the universe while everything rotates around them. If you wait a whole 24 hours to call them back they're going to make your life miserable.
mirrorshades radio -- darkwave, industrial, futurepop, ebm.