When I worked for a managed service provider, or MSP, one of our major clients was a huge law firm with more than a hundred employees.
One employee at that firm (Phil) called us almost daily about problems that were usually easy to fix. However, he always insisted that an on-site technician resolve them.
The client received one scheduled visit from an on-site technician each week to handle minor issues. Anything beyond that required an emergency dispatch at a much higher billing rate. Phil didn’t care. He refused to perform any remote troubleshooting, and every issue supposedly had to be fixed immediately, even when one of our agents could have resolved it over the phone.
Eventually, the client’s management demanded to know why its support bill was so high and why it was losing so much productivity to malfunctioning computer equipment.
Our account manager pulled every support ticket the firm had opened during the previous six months. The records showed that Phil was responsible for the majority of the support calls. He consistently refused remote assistance and demanded an on-site technician.
Apparently, whenever Phil had a “computer problem,” he refused to do any work until a technician arrived. He wouldn’t even move to another available workstation because of “ergonomic concerns.”
After examining the call logs, the firm’s management noticed something else: Phil had a habit of reporting computer problems whenever one of his reports was due. The report would then be delayed while he waited for a technician.
Worse, Phil was logging the hours he spent waiting for his computer to be fixed as time worked on a case; a major problem in the legal profession, since that could be considered fraudulent billing.
The final straw came when I answered another call from him.
Phil: “My mouse has stopped working. I need someone here immediately.”
Me: “Is it securely connected to the workstation?”
Phil: “Yes.”
Me: “Have you tried connecting it to another workstation?”
Phil: “Yes. It doesn’t work there either.”
Me: “Have you tried a different mouse on your workstation?”
Phil: “Yes, and that one works.”
Me: “Can you use the working mouse until a technician is available?”
Phil: “No. I have a special ergonomic mouse. The other one isn’t acceptable.”
Fortunately, a technician was already scheduled to visit the firm that day. I told him about Phil’s mouse and asked him to bring a spare ergonomic mouse of the same model so he could swap them.
When the technician arrived, he discovered three things:
First, Phil did not use a special ergonomic mouse. It was the standard mouse that had come with his computer.
Second, despite what Phil had told me, the mouse was not securely connected.
Third, once the technician pushed the plug in properly, the mouse worked perfectly.
Phil was let go immediately after that.
Suddenly, the client’s support call volume dropped.
