'My request fell on deaf ears': Employees ignore ticketing system, IT team refuse to help with locating files in response

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Jun 3, 2024 5:00 PM EDT

IT support teams usually thrive on order. This employee recalled an annoying story about workers who refused to open a ticket. Forget phone calls, emails, or surprise visits. He wanted a ticket, or it didn't happen.

Enter chaos. A frantic email landed in his group inbox: 'Can't save files! See screenshot!' Attached was a picture of an 'access denied' error message. No details about the file's location, just a list of user IDs needing access. Well, great. Granting access wasn't exactly his and his team's forte, but with a proper ticket, they could route it to the right team.

Seizing a quiet moment, he politely explained their email lacked crucial info – where were these files? Without that, connecting them to the appropriate team was impossible. Unfortunately nobody got what they wanted in the end. Check out the full story below, and when you're done scrolling, here is another story about a highschooler who outsmarted a computer expert who came to help out at school.

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  • 01
    "You're not listening to me."
    via Canva
  • 02
    Can't be ed to open a ticket for their "work stopping" issue
    via u/Automatic_Mulberry
  • 03
    My team works from a ticketing queue, supporting a subset of the systems at my company. We don't accept work requests via phone call, email, IMS, walkups... if you need to engage us, you open a ticket, via any of a number of means which are unimportant for this story. Of course, we also have a group inbox, but again, no ticket, no work.
    via u/Automatic_Mulberry
  • 04
    Two days ago, we got an email to the group inbox: "Hey we can't save files. [screenshot of access denied error message] Can you please grant this list of IDs access." No mention of where these files are located, and my team isn't in the business of granting access to anything. But, if we did have a ticket with some info about where these files were, we could route it to the right people.
    via u/Automatic_Mulberry
  • 05
    So, in a slack moment, I reply: "You haven't included any information at all about the host or the path where these files are located, so I don't have any way to put you in touch with the right team. If you put that info in a ticket to my queue, I can put it in front of the right people, but as-is, I don't have enough information to help you at all."
    via u/Automatic_Mulberry
  • 06
    The client sends an email with the hostname and file share path, so I reply again: "Great, thank you. Now please put all that into a ticket, as I mentioned, and I'll assign it to the team that can help you." Crickets.
    via u/Automatic_Mulberry
  • 07
    What they want is deep into some other group's territory, and I would be stepping all over that group's toes and breaking all kinds of protocol if I did what they asked. It's possible (unlikely, but possible) that I could even lose my job if I did what they say the need. I know the group that can help. I
    via u/Automatic_Mulberry
  • 08
    asked, twice, for a ticket so I could help them. They -- just can't be a. to spend two minutes creating a ticket. I'm convinced they just want to say "we asked, but nobody would help us."
    via u/Automatic_Mulberry
  • 09
    Entarotupac 2 days ago When you vote, do you go into a booth and fill out a form or do you poke your head in the door and shout your selections to someone who looks in charge? The process matters... 240 Reply Share
    via u/Entarotupac
  • 10
    Automatic_Mulberry OP 2 days ago No, we didn't make any changes. This team, I'd guess they just shout a candidate's name at a random passer- by. And when the passer-by says "Oh, the polling station is over that way," they go and get an ice cream. 138 Reply Share ...
    via u/Automatic_Mulberry
  • 11
    Asenath_Darque . 2 days ago Well hang on, ice cream? Maybe they're on to something with their method. 51 Reply Share Automatic_Mulberry OP 2 days ago No, we didn't make any changes. So what I am hearing is that we should incentivize ticket creation with ice cream? 41 Reply Share ...
    via u/Automatic_Mulberry, u/Asenath_Darque
  • 12
    dplafoll 2 days ago Yep. I believe every word of this, having lived it myself. My favorite is when some random nurse calls our Help Desk at 3AM with some urgent issue and, even though it's 3AM and nobody's sitting at a phone waiting for you, they don't leave a message despite hearing a prompt that
    via u/dplafoll
  • 13
    says "If you don't leave a message, we will not return your call, and we will be unable to assist you". Then they'll call a couple more times, still not leave a message, and then we get a complaint the next day how we were "unavailable" and they "couldn't get any help" or whatever. 201 Reply Share ...
    via u/dplafoll
  • 14
    Polenicus 2 days ago I've seen something similar where i work (Support for CCTV systems) We have four different ways to reach us - Call Center, which is 24 hrs a day 5 days a week. Online chat which is 24 hrs a day 5 days a week, a web form which has an advertised turnaround time of 5 business days, and the old
    via u/Polenicus
  • 15
    Email-to-case system which has a big caution on it that responses can take up to 30 days (It's basically 'We deal with these AFTER everything else, if we have time. Lowest possible priority). It's also made clear that we will respond via email only to these, we don't do outbound calls.
    via u/Polenicus
  • 16
    Sure enough, we will have people send in Emails to the case system with 'URGENT!!11!! SERVER DOWN!!1!! CALL ME BACK!!'. No info about what is actually wrong, so these get left for lastr in the cherry picking. So 30 days later we send an email back, and
    via u/Polenicus
  • 17
    they're absolutely livid because they've been down this whole time, and how dare we provide such wretched service, and yadda yadda yadda. Our wait time for live chat is less than 3 minutes on a BUSY day on average. We're very proud of that. 149 Reply Share ...
    via u/Polenicus
  • 18
    KenseiSeraph. 2 days ago "I assumed that surely it was either an issue that they had resolved themselves, it wasn't an important issue, or that they had logged a ticket directly with the correct team. Sorry boss, I assumed basic competence and reading comprehension from them but clearly that was wrong. In future I will treat them as stupider than a 4th grader."
    via u/KenseiSeraph
  • 19
    KelemvorSparkyfox 2 days ago Bring back Lotus Notes Where I used to work, it wouldn't even come to that. As soon as my manager saw the email thread, he'd have been onto theirs. "Why isn't your team following procedure? Even if they didn't know (which I don't believe, because you
    via u/KelemvorSparkyfox
  • 20
    wouldn't have forgotten to explain to them that all requests for help from the helpdesk require a helpdesk ticket), they were instructed on what was required and still refused."
    via u/KelemvorSparkyfox
  • 21
    deeseearr 2 days ago "But if we open another ticket, then ${OTHER_GROUP} will just deny it again. Why can't you just give us access to their private files and not tell anyone about it?" 53 Reply Share Automatic_Mulberry OP 2 days ago No, we didn't make any changes. Exactly. 26 Reply Share ...
    via u/Automatic_Mulberry, u/deeseearr
  • 22
    Retired BSN 2 days ago Send copies of the email to your manager, their boss, and to the group that they want access to, along with a cover email pointing out that no ticket was ever created. 63 Reply Share ...
    via u/RetiredBSN
  • 23
    Automatic_Mulberry OP 2 days ago No, we didn't make any changes. Oh, yeah, everyone is already on the mail chain. As soon as I got the hostname, I looked up the team that could help and copied them and their managers in, too. Given the volumes of email around here, though, there's a good change that neither my management nor theirs will have actually read it until the starts and I produce the receipts. I kinda hope it happens today. 100 Reply Share ...
    via u/Automatic_Mulberry
  • 24
    NewUserWhoDisAgain 2 days ago I'm convinced they just want to say "we asked, but nobody would help us." At best its a "Im too busy to do that." At worst it is as you say. This way they can just blame IT instead of having to do any actual work. Document, screenshot and I hope your boss and his boss and his boss back you up. 21 Reply Share ...
    via u/NewUserWhoDisAgain
  • 25
    glenmarshall 2 days ago In my experience, most people haven't a clue about how things work. All they know is that they are unable to do what they want and how they want. They have no clue that opening a ticket can help them.
    via u/glenmarshall
  • 26
    Primal Thrak 1 day ago I like to remind users that tickets in the queue are like tickets for riding the bus. No ticket, no service. Caller complains "This didn't get done!" Helpdesk: "OK I need your ticket number and I will see where the issue is at" Caller "I don't have a ticket number" Helpdesk: "Well then it appears you don't have a problem!"
    via u/Primal_Thrak

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boss manager ticketing system coworkers files request helpful working emails employees computer workplace it support tickets laptop workplace stories team location
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