Unfiltered Story #102735

(I work as a report writer for my company, handling reporting needs for several different departments. One day, out of the blue, I am contacted by an employee with a list of changes he wants made to several reports, which are all used by an entirely separate department that he is not part of. I e-mail him for clarification.)

Me: “Hi [Coworker]. I got your e-mail, and I just wanted to check if you had an updated technical document with these changes listed in it. The reports you mentioned have very specific formats, so I want to make sure that [Department] will still be able to use them after the update.”

Coworker: “When will these changes be finished?”

Me: “Once I have the technical specs, it shouldn’t take me that long to finish. Do you have a contact in [Department] that might know where the specs are located in the company intranet?”

Coworker: “How many hours will it take you to finish this?”

(At this point, I forwarded the e-mail chain to my supervisor for her take on it. She replied:)

Supervisor: “[Coworker]. These changes were discussed in the meeting last week, but it was determined that we would wait until the general update later this year.”

Coworker: *replying only to me, leaving my supervisor off* “How long will it take you to complete these changes?”

(At that point, I just ignored him and moved on to my other tasks. A week later, he submitted a different request, but he hasn’t mentioned the updates since.)