* * * * *

                       “You can't handle the request!”

I wish there was some magic word or phrase that would inform the tech support
Bob that they are unable to handle my request and that I should be escalated
up the tech support food chain. I realize they have a script to follow, but
when the caller (me) says things like “Can you repeat the problem back to me?
… No, that is not the issue,” that should be a big 'ol clue-by-four that
things need to be escalated.

Yes, I'm still trying to resolve the email issue [1] and today's round
involved four (4) people across two battling business units (and I think my
call ended up in Jamaca—the phone quality was horrible) at The Monopolistic
Phone Company. It got to the point where, at one point, I actually screamed
at Bob “It has nothing to do with XXXXXXX email configurations! I'll tell you
why! Because I log into their server directly. I then check the MX (Mail
eXchange) record for mpc.example.net. Oh, it's mx00.mail.example.net and
mx01.mail.example.net. I then pick one, say, mx00.mail.example.net and do a
telnet mx00.mail.example.net 25, which is the SMTP (Simple Mail Transport
Protocol) port. No connection is made. There's no configuration to worry
about at this point because the email servers for mpc.example.net are
refusing connection.”

It was very quiet on the other end of the phone line after that.

I hated doing it, but the sheer level of … bullheadedness on the other end
was just phenomenal. Smirk was feeling guilty about his attacks of
schadenfreude, but he's dealt with The Monopolistic Phone Company one too
many times.

The final Bob I talked to informed me that I should send email to
[email protected] but I kept insisting on some other phone number I could
call. Bob^4 balked at first, but I guess the screaming match I had with Bob^3
clued him in and I got both a voice and FAX (Facsimile) number.

Smirk however, had dug up other numbers, and those proved more useful. Bob^5
(of The Monopolistic Phone Company Tech Support Business Email Department) at
least asked the right questions.

Curiously enough, when I called back to The Monopolistic Phone Company Dialup
Support (the first number I was given) to close out ticket number “tango mike
papa charlie zero zero zero six six six zero zero zero foxtrot uniform” Bob^6
got horribly confused by my request. Apparently no trouble tickets are ever
closed at The Monopolistic Phone Company Dialup Support.

Scary.

[1] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2005/09/24.2

Email author at [email protected]