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."

Comments

Wait... what?

[hahafaha]

I'm sorry -- I think I probably misunderstood something. Are you saying that you are providing support to someone even though the product in question was not sold by the company? Are you doing this during company time?

If this is the case, this is unacceptable. It just makes no sense.

Re:Wait... what?

[WhyCause]

I think (I'm not the OP, so I can't say for certain) that this 'customer' is an aquaintance/friend who calls up every now and then to ask for help. We've all been there, heck, sometimes we even offer to help the first few times. The goods ones offer you a beer or two and snacks. The bad ones don't even try to make small-talk when they call you up ("Jim? It's Bob. I need you to come over and...").

To get back to the original question, however, here's how I've done it in the past. First, I defer once or twice (i.e., "I can't come over tonight. Maybe next week?"). Next, I give them a list of sites/programs that might help, if they take the initiative, this list generally helps them. Thirdly, I tell them that I'm just not going to be able to do it anymore, and try to suggest some one who can (generally for money).

I can appreciate how you may not want to hurt the customer's feelings (especially if you want to remain on good terms), so the trick is in how gently you let them down. I've had some people figure it out on their own after defering, for others, I'm perennially in the "try this, this, this, and this, and call back if it doesn't work" phase. I've only had to tell one person that I couldn't do it anymore (computers aren't my primary business, and they weren't paying me anywhere near enough for my time and travel).

If you look at how I've described it, it's almost like breaking-up. The real trick is giving them good reasons as to why you're dumping them in a non-judgemental way. Myriad family problems seem a good enough reason to me, but if they overreact, well, do you really want to hang around them anymore?

Re:charge 'em

[TheCarp]

So very true.

Its funny seeing how different groups act. I rememer being on an admin team doing real production support for critical applications, if something broke, your first priority was to make sure service stayed up, and your second was making sure that it didn't happen again.

If that meant sending a core file or even a crash dump to the vendor and making them tell you why it broke and when the patch was comming out, then thats what you did.

Generally, it got things fixed, eventually. Now I have more exposure to other systems and I notice, thats not the attitude. People work with broken stuff all the time, just keep on chugging.

Fact is, you can get used to antything. Getting used to things is kind of what our brains are meant to do. Honestly, I would imagine that most honest to god bugs in end user software are easier to just get used to than say... swithcing from vi to notepad or vice versa.

-Steve

This is what I do...

[coolgeek]

"I don't support home users, because it would cost you less money to simply purchase a new Dell box than it would to hire me to fix your spyware infestation"

Re:Avoid the problem altogether

[fumblebruschi]

I had to slide out of providing support for my mom, which took up a lot of (exasperating) time.

My mom is in her seventies, and wanted a computer, because she wanted to use email because she doesn't like feeling left out. Fair enough. So I set up an idiot-simple Linux laptop for her, hiding all icons except Firefox and Thunderbird. "This one is the Internet; This one is email."
The problem is, that wasn't simple enough. My mom kept calling me with imaginary problems. She thought the laptop had crashed, because the screen saver came on. She accidentally minimized the Firefox window and thought she'd deleted it. No amount of explanation could make it clear to her what the scroll bar was for; whenever anything was off the screen she thought it was gone. Honestly, it was driving me insane. Restraining myself from saying something like "RETARDED MONKEYS can do this! You have two masters' degrees! What the hell is your problem!" was practically giving me an ulcer.
However, she provided the solution herself. Somehow or other she realized that the system I'd set up wasn't "what everybody else has" (probably one of her friends saw it and told her) so she became convinced that the whole problem was that I had set her computer up wrong, and if she had Windows and Outlook like everybody else, she wouldn't have any problems.
Off she goes and gets whatever the clerk at Best Buy told her was good. Of course, she can't use that either, but MY problem is solved, because when she calls for help I just say "Sorry, Ma, I don't know anything about Windows. Call Best Buy." End of high blood pressure.

So hey, it turns out Microsoft is good for something after all.

Always Charge - even family and friends.

[spacecowboy420]

I always charge everyone. Now maybe I only charge a 12 pack or dinner or some trivial token, but they always know that my services are not free. I charge my mother, sister - everyone. If it's a quick question, I'll give them the answer, but I am quick to point them to a website or the help. Even when they do pay me, everyone is quick to thank me and I reassure them - "No problem, I do this for a living". One thing this has taught me is to use my friends talents. My realtor found me a house in exchange for a website waiving the realtor fee, my sister grooms my cat - for free. My friends that use me as a resource always know that there will come a day when I will ask for their help. I had a friend send a crew over to redo my lawn - for free.

Use the barter system. If your friend likes PC support, ask him for some help with _all_ of the domestic chores you have. Oh, and hire a cleaning lady, you can generally get one to come in twice a month for around $1-200 - then fix her computer for free cleanings :D

Re:Always Charge - even family and friends.

[uglyduckling]

'What's in it for me?' is an important question. Maybe the answer is 'a warm fuzzy feeling' or 'being pleased to see a friend/relative is happy'. Unfortunately for IT support the answer is often 'another thousand or so calls from the same person who is perfectly capable of using google but can't be bothered'.

I don't mind providing help, but I get very annoyed when people (including friends and relatives) presume that because I can do something then it's my moral duty to do it for them, for free, for an indefinite length of time. This is particularly true when they could quite easily pay for support, so in effect I'm just giving them something a free service so they can spend their money on something else.

If I knew someone who was a professional chef, I wouldn't expect them to come to my house and cook a meal every weekend to save me the cost of going to a decent restaurant, but I hope they wouldn't mind answering the occasional question when I really couldn't understand the recipe book or maybe recommending a local restaurant.

There's a book called "Boundaries"

[technoCon]

I've never read it, which is why I let folks walk over me. Maybe it'll help. Folks I respect recommend it.

Main thing is to clearly define what you can and can't do right now. If your situation has changed, share with your friend the nature of the change. Set forth all the details, all the details, in triplicate, share your pain with your demanding end-user friend. If it isn't a career-limiting move, tears might be useful. If every time your friend calls with a support question, s/he gets an earful of all your problems--so much so that you never get around to answering the question, your problem will solve itself.

the dreaded customer

[v1]

I work at a computer sales/repair shop, and I am all too familiar with your problem. There are three customers I can think of off-hand that match that description. They are customers that will call you at the drop of a hat, to ask you basic computer use questions. Thhey are people that call you 2 minutes after they encounter a problem, having spent basically no time trying to solve the problem on their own. They will call you and ask you to walk them through what you realize is a 20 minute procedure. And they'll call sometimes 5-10 times per day when they are having particular problems. It's common for them to call back less than 5 minutes after the end of their previous call.

This almost always gets started because someone at the store initially gives the person an absurd amount of phone support. The customer lacks basic consideration and common sense, and now considers you to be his personal technical support and will now call you at the drop of a hat because you are "so helpful". The customer is certainly part of the problem, but you've done it to yourself.

These customers are particularly difficult to deal with when they are good, frequent, paying customers. It's hard to say no to someone that buys several thousand dollars of your product every year. It's been my experience that most customers are easy to "show the light" that they are being unreasonable, and will hapily scale back their calls if requested. We also have a professional teacher that specializes in computer training that we refer to such customers. Many times the customer is quite happy to pay ~$25/hr to have a professional come to their house and answer every question they have and show them how to do something. Very often one or two visits by this man solves the entire problem with a customer. We encourage the customers to get a paper and pencil and leave it by their computer, and write down questions as they encounter them, and arrange for an appointment from our tech support person at most once a week, say on Mondays, to answer the week's long list of questions. This helps them to get all their questions answered and minimizes the number of visits required. It also encourages them to think on their questions, most of which they end up answering themselves before Monday rolls around.

We have problems with new employees because the "leech" customers will quickly realize they have a new ear to talk with and will usually ask for the new guy by name, because they have subconsiously figured out that the new guy will spend absurd amounts of time on the phone to help them, so it's important to train the new people on how to handle the tech support leeches. We try to enforce a "5 minute rule". This means if at any point in the conversation it occurs to us that it will take more than 5 minutes on the phone to help the customer, we ask them instead to bring in their equipment or schedule an on-site. MOST customers will either bring it in, schedule an on-site, or get offended at the idea of spending their money for assistance and hang up. A few will simjply continue to insist that you help them for "just a few more minutes". Those are the inconsiderate ones, the true leeches, and often times you simply have to put your foot down, despite customer relations. We use peer pressure to help with this, and if we spot an employee on the phone for a long time with a customer, we will hold up an open hand and mouth "five minutes" to them to remind them.

We try to use analogies with some customers, to show them why we cannot talk with them on the phone all day. One of my favorites is the car analogy. "When you buy a new car, the salesman will help you with how to operate the new power seats, show you where the spare tire is at, and tell you about what regular maintenance the car needs. They will not teach you how to drive. That's not their job. You have to learn that for yourself, or hire someone to teach you how to do it". It's amazing how this pulls things into focus for most users, hits them like a bat, and knoc

Manage It

[Avatar8]

According to "Time Management for System Administrators," you have three choices: delegate, delay or do it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596007833/qid=11 47180948/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6850995-48358 63?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Delegate: direct them to someone else that can and will help them. "I don't have the bandwidth to help you right now, but [insert junior admin name here] is available. I'll let him know you're coming and brief him on what you need."

Delay: Push them off to a time that is convenient for you. "I'm in the middle of something else right now. Can you enter a ticket or send me an e-mail of when you'd be available when I'm free later. It may not be today."

Do it: Go get it over with so you can continue with the rest of your work.

Believe it or not, you can also say "No" and not offend someone. I'd suggest you fulfill their request one more time, but when you finish tell them that your responsibilities lie elsewhere. If possible find them a replacement support person that can take care of them.

My sympathies for your losses, but just hang in there; you'll get through it and be the stronger when life returns to "normal." I strongly encourage you to get the above linked book. Typical time management (Franklin Covey, etc.) does not work for IT people. This book is helping me greatly.

Re:charge 'em

[VAXcat]

You laugh, but one of DEC's best field service upper level support guys carried a rubber chicken in his tool box. Once, he got called out to fix a dead 11/70 at a critical installation, where a newspaper was waiting to switch over to electronic composition, and lots of money was being lost while this system wouldn't start. This 3rd level tech got called in when the local guys couldn't fix it. It was a very important account, and high up DEC executives were waiting for his, as well as all the managers of the newspaper. This guy walked around the system for a quick visual inspection, and noticed a loose cable in the back of the thing causing the problem. He plugged it in while no one was watching...and then took out his rubber chicken, danced around the system chanting gibberish and waving the chicken, and then hit the boot button...the system started....the DEC managers wanted to fire him, then kill him, but the newspaper folks, who had a sense of hunmor and were so glad he got it going wouldn't hear of it, and insisted that this guy oversee the installation of this gear at all of their other sites...DEC Field Service guys...some of them, they were like that, back in the day...

Re:charge 'em

[Webmoth]

You're on to something there.

I wouldn't go so far as to ask for sex, but start asking for personal advice. Every time you talk to the person, start lamenting about what a hell-hole your life has become. Start asking for advice on relationships, housecleaning, child-rearing, etc.

Hey, if he can ask YOU for advice on stuff he has no clue, you can certainly turn the tables and do the same to HIM.

After a while, he just won't want to talk to you any more.

Re:charge 'em 0.00 and invoice it

[kurokaze]

So how does this work? you charge them $0 for a while, and then all of a sudden remove the adjustment so that they get a proper bill?

I can't imagine that the person one the recieving end would be happy....

I don't see whats wrong with just saying that you're too busy at the moment to help out. That's what I did, I built a machine for a family friend but they somehow managed to keep infecting it with viruses and after awhile I got sick of supporting it and that was that.