What’s The Password To Get You To Listen?

I get a call today from a user who used the self-service password reset site but now is unable to log in to a vendor program. This vendor program does not use the same password as [Site]. So, it should be a simple call, right?

Yeah, no.

Me: “Thanks for calling IT. This is [My Name]; how can I be of assistance?”

User: “I reset my password on the password reset website, but now my [Vendor Program] won’t let me log in.”

Me: “Are you trying your new password you just set on the password site?”

User: “Yes.”

Me: “That’s why. The [Vendor Program] password does not change when you reset your [Site] password. You will need to use your old password for it.”

There’s ten seconds of silence.

User: “My new password still is not working for [Vendor Program].”

Me: “I guess what I said did not come through. Sorry about that. Your [Vendor Program] password does not change when you reset your [Site] password. You will need to use your old password for that.”

Now there’s thirty seconds of silence.

Me: “Hello?”

User: “Yes, sorry. One sec. Typing.” *Pauses* “Yeah, my password still is not working on [Vendor Program].”

Me: “Your old password?”

User: “No, my new.”

Me: “Uhh. Is my phone cutting out?”

User: “No. You sound just fine.”

Me: “Yeah, so your [Vendor Program] password does not reset when you update your [Site] password. Try the old password you had for [Vendor Program] before you reset your [Site] password today.”

There’s another long silence.

Me: “You there?”

User: “Yes, sorry.”

Me: “Try the old password.”

User: “The old password for what?”

Me: “For [Vendor Program]. Please try the old password you have for it.”

User: “But I reset it today.”

Me: “Just… try the old password for it, please.”

She does.

User: “Oh, that worked. Why did the password I reset not work for [Vendor Program] and I have to use this old password?”

I let out an audible exasperated sigh.

Me: “Because [Vendor Program] has its own credentials that do not change when you reset your [Site] password.”

I will give you exactly one guess as to what happens next.

User: “So, why did I have to use my old password? Is something wrong with my account?”

Me: “No. I guess I am failing to properly explain this, and I apologize for that. When you reset your password today, you used this website, correct? [Password Reset Website]?”

User: “Yes.”

Me: “Okay. That only resets the intranet, email, [Site], and our company branded programs. It does not change these three [Vendor Program] passwords. So, when you reset your password on [Password Reset Website], it does not change the [Vendor Program] password.”

There’s a full minute of silence from her with me repeatedly trying to get her attention.

User: “Oh, sorry, I’m here. So, what’s wrong with my account?”

Me: “Nothing. Your password is working exactly as intended.”

I hung up the phone and wrote up the ticket like this:

Ticket: “Helped user get into [Vendor Program] using her old password. She either was not listening or simply failed to understand that [Vendor Program] and [Site] were separate entities. Terminated call and cried myself to sleep.”

No one called to complain, and we never heard back from her.