CIO Calls Up Manufacturer, Threatens Lawsuit, Learns Sleep Deprivation Results In Fails

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mattstaff
Apr 10, 2021 6:00 PM EDT

When your brain doesn't get enough of that sweet sleepy time, easily avoidable fails are pretty much inevitable. In this case, we have a panicked, frustrated CIO call up a manufacturer, proceed to threaten a lawsuit, and then ultimately confront the humbling moment that is realizing sleep deprivation often translates to unnecessary fails. We're just glad that it all worked out, and that this tech support employee got a well deserved bonus when it was all said and done. 

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  • 01
    Font - r/talesfromtechsupport u/JoeDonFan • 16h + Join 5 e 2 3 1 2 Uh....pobody's nerfect? Epic I worked for a large local computer company in the early 90s. I originally worked in their configuration department, then when I had orthopedic surgery, I was moved to the tech support phones while I recovered. Turns out I was pretty good at that, so I was put there full time. I took a lot of pride in my work; a lot of customers liked me and I liked them.
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 02
    Font - One day, at about 2:30 or 3 on a Friday afternoon, I was on the phones when I felt my team leader hovering over my shoulder. I was just wrapping up the call so he waited for me to finish, and as soon as I hung up he told me our boss, needed me in his office. The look on my face must've been great because he told me I wasn't in trouble, but I needed to get there ASAP. When I arrived I found our boss with his boss (a VP), and the phone was on speaker. They introduced me to the voice on the
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 03
    Font - It seems my bosses had gotten good feedback from the people I had been dealing with on the phones, so I was picked for this special job, which was: My company had just sold about 250 computers, monitors, and NICS to another company--let's call them EX. The Regional VP of Big Computer Manufacturer had just been called out of a meeting to endure the CIO of EX yelling at him, saying the computers they had bought were crap, the NICS they bought were crap, nothing was working, everything was g
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 04
    Font - My company had sold these computers to EX but they didn't ask for anything to be done to them: No configuration and not only that, they were installing the NICS and putting the CPUS on the desks themselves. They were moving offices, you see, and their moving gift to their employees was new computers for the new office. I think everybody except for the CIO of EX could see 250 computers not working had to be due to something EX had done, but....customers, you know?
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 05
    Font - Also, no pressure on me. I was authorized for any and all OT needed and Regional VP gave me the personal phone numbers for about a dozen of their top tier tech support people who would be able to help me with any issue I might have. My bosses gave me their home phone numbers as well as the personal phone numbers for our best Netware guys....and my Friday night drinking plans were put on hold. Also, this site was in another state, about an hour drive on a good day and two (or more) hours d
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 06
    Font - I arrived at just about the time I would normally be sipping my first beer at the bar and I called the number I had been given for CIO's right-hand man, Tim, who opened the door and greeted me. He was a guy who looked like he had just graduated from the local community college which was exactly what he was, as I later found out. He explained the situation to me, and it was that none of the computers were connecting to the network. Not a one. The printers, however, were, as far as they cou
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 07
    Font - Back in the DOS 5/Windows 3.1 days, there were two really useful, really important files that pretty much set up your computer to work. One of them was CONFIG.SYS but that wasn't an issue. The other was AUTOEXEC.BAT and that was what I concentrated on. For those of you who don't know, AUTOEXEC.BAT is a BATCH file, and all it does is run a batch of commands, one after the other, and the line in an AUTOEXEC was ECHO OFF. This line meant -near universal first that you wouldn't see the comman
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 08
    Font - So I read thru the AUTOEXEC, then read it again, and I realized the AUTOEXEC.BAT had a line that referred to a second batch file. The AUTOEXEC did just what it was told: It ran a few commands, then ran the second batch file, then everything stopped when the second batch file finished what it had to do. Tim was looking over my shoulder. "Tim," I asked. "Who gave you this AUTOEXEC?" "The CIO," he answered. Yep, the person who had called up Big Computer Manufacturer and pulled a Karen on the
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 09
    Font - I copied the AUTOEXEC.BAT to AUTOEXEC.OLD (just a good practice) and edited the original, adding "CALL (space)" in front of the second batch file. Saved it, rebooted, and was rewarded with a login prompt. I moved over and asked Tim to logon. He logged on successfully, and I explained what had happened while he made sure he could access the network & its resources. On the second machine I showed Tim the edit to make; it checked out. He tried it on a third and after logging on, he leaned ba
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 10
    Font - I stepped back into the hall and Tim waved me inside, where I gave the President & CIO the story. He was interested and asked some good questions, while the CIO looked mortified. His final question was, "Is this the only thing needed?" I answered that from what Tim tells me, this is it. Tim knows this network better than I and if he thinks that's it, then I think that's it. The President looked a silent question at Tim, who just nodded, then asked me how long it would take to edit the rem
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 11
    Font - "How long will this disk take to create?" he asked. Honest, the longest part was formatting the bootable diskette and making multiple copies. Back then, you could edit any new text file with the command COPY CON (FILENAME.EXT) on the fly. The AUTOEXEC.BAT on the diskette would delete the bad AUTOEXEC from the workstation, then copy the working AUTOEXEC.NEW on the diskette to AUTOEXEC.BAT on the workstation. Pop the diskette out, reboot, and watch your beautiful new LOGIN prompt on the wor
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 12
    Font - del c:\autoexec.bat copy a:\autoexec.new c:\autoexec.bat He nodded. "OK, let's do this: Can you come back tomorrow?" I nodded. "Do you mind if I call your boss? Tim, get him some disks and we'll test them on a couple of workstations. If it works, we'll come back tomorrow and finish up. It's been a long f'ing day."
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 13
    Font - He called my boss while I made some diskettes; Tim tested them. I called my boss before leaving and told him the plan and he told me I could spend all weekend there if I wanted to. I was onsite the next morning at 9AM as agreed; in the meantime Tim, the President, and the CIO had already fixed about a fourth of the machines with my diskettes. They asked me to stick around to help out with some busy work, which really consisted of me and Tim chatting while breaking down the boxes for all o
    via u/JoeDonFan
  • 14
    Font - In the end: I got nice thank-you notes from the President & CIO of EX and the VP of Big Computer Manufacturer placed in my file, EX signed a nice support contract with my company, Tim turned into a pretty good friend, and I was Employee of the Month, for a $100 bonus. TL;DR: CIO calls up manufacturer, threatens lawsuit, learns no sleep makes you forget how DOS works. 1.6k 93 ↑, Share
    via u/JoeDonFan

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