Here is the problem in a nut shell.
Most IT professionals like yourself have the personal skills of a rabbid lion. I'm not trying to be mean or just flame, but I think this needs to be said because its the 800 pound gorilla in the room nobody wants to tangle with.
The very characteristics that got you into the computer field to begin with just don't mesh with basically being a customer service representative. If you are an IT person i'm willing to be dollars to donuts you got into that line of work to begin with because you loved working with computers. You have a great understanding of the machines and they just make sense to you.
Unfortunately many of those who understand computers do not understand people - and yet many IT folks are pushed into dealing with customers on a regular basis despite not having the god needed ability to do so.
To me that is the problem - people who are great with computers but suck dealing with people getting pushed into both worlds. Honestly I can not think of any other field where you tend to have talented but generally introverted individuals regularly forced into a customer service role they just aren't comfortable with.
a very good point.
i personally had a situation like this with a web site i ran. I don't want to get into specifics, but i got a cease and desist on completely crazy grounds and called them on it. Much like this case, a bunch of corporate lawyers figured they'd send out a letter, scare the bejesus out of some poor amateur webmaster who doesn't want to get sued, and effectively bully a web site into doing the lawyer's bidding.
Luckily I knew enough about these kinds of things to realize the lawyers arguments were hogwash and never heard from the organization again after telling them so.
[I also have a theory that companies like FedEx have summer paralegals chasing down these kind of things just to give them some work to do... "here kid... go find some sites that use our name and try to get them to shut down."
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Here is the problem in a nut shell. Most IT professionals like yourself have the personal skills of a rabbid lion. I'm not trying to be mean or just flame, but I think this needs to be said because its the 800 pound gorilla in the room nobody wants to tangle with. The very characteristics that got you into the computer field to begin with just don't mesh with basically being a customer service representative. If you are an IT person i'm willing to be dollars to donuts you got into that line of work to begin with because you loved working with computers. You have a great understanding of the machines and they just make sense to you. Unfortunately many of those who understand computers do not understand people - and yet many IT folks are pushed into dealing with customers on a regular basis despite not having the god needed ability to do so. To me that is the problem - people who are great with computers but suck dealing with people getting pushed into both worlds. Honestly I can not think of any other field where you tend to have talented but generally introverted individuals regularly forced into a customer service role they just aren't comfortable with.
a very good point. i personally had a situation like this with a web site i ran. I don't want to get into specifics, but i got a cease and desist on completely crazy grounds and called them on it. Much like this case, a bunch of corporate lawyers figured they'd send out a letter, scare the bejesus out of some poor amateur webmaster who doesn't want to get sued, and effectively bully a web site into doing the lawyer's bidding. Luckily I knew enough about these kinds of things to realize the lawyers arguments were hogwash and never heard from the organization again after telling them so. [I also have a theory that companies like FedEx have summer paralegals chasing down these kind of things just to give them some work to do ... "here kid ... go find some sites that use our name and try to get them to shut down."