Major client foolishly insists tech support delete all data, tech support refuses to comply saving the client's business: 'Their entire company basically shut down for an afternoon'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Sep 2, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

When it's your job to ensure important information is protected, and someone insists that you delete it, even if it's the client themself, you'd be right to pause for a moment and reassess the situation if something doesn't sound quite right. Clients tend to woefully overestimate their abilities in the matter they're contracting you to handle, so they may be asking you to do something they don't fully understand the implications of. 

This tech support specialist worked for a small organization, the type that is small enough not to have the type of rigid process that comes with the nature of larger corporations, allowing for some creative and important decision-making to be made by staff, sometimes to the direct benefit of the organization and their clients—very important in a world where irrecoverable disaster lurks on the other side of a very thin line. 

This came in handy when their major client, a far larger organization of quite significant importance to the region, asked them to delete all data of one of their own customers, who was changing services. The client stubbornly insisted that their request be followed and that the customer's data be shut down and deleted, refusing to listen to the tech support specialist as they insisted it was a bad idea that would effectively be deleting the customer's entire website.

Instead, they merely put the service on hold to show what would happen if they had followed the request as they had been told. The ensuing panic quickly proved their point, and they could restore the services as required since they had merely been put on hold. Thus, proving their point and reinforcing their usefulness and knowledge to their client.

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  • 01
    wwwwww
    via Campaign Creators
  • 02
    Completely delete a client company's website and email services? Are you sure? Ok. M This happened a few years ago, so details are a bit fuzzy and chat is paraphrased. I was T2 tech support for a company that handles my country's largest ISP's entire professional email services, all its DNS management services, and a large portion of its website building and web hosting services. This company is tiny, minute, not even a blip. in the radar, but has power that I will likely never again hold at my
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 03
    One day, a ticket comes in from ISP. Big client company is moving away from our proprietary email services and into Microsoft 365, or some such equivalent change. This usually meant I got to help the client through the process of changing DNS records, migrating inboxes or just backing up emails, and even actually setting up. some stuff on the Microsoft side (technically not my job, but the ISP's T1 tech support was woefully untrained for anything even remotely technical, and terribly unprepared
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 04
    So, ticket: ISP: Client is moving from service X to service Y. Please remove their subscription from the database. Me: There seems to be some sort of mistake (which was very common). We remove them from there once the new service is set up and running. Otherwise, it will delete everything in their subscribed package, including all email storage, DNS records, and website. You likely want to change their subscription to not include email services, but keep the rest, since your Microsoft subscripti
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 05
    ISP: yaddayadda confirm remove their subscription. Me: Are you absolutely sure? This process is not recoverable. All their emails, DNS records, and entire website, including database, will be permanently deleted. ISP: Request has been submitted. Remove subscription.
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 06
    At this point, it's been a couple of days since the first ticket, so I call my boss over (absolutely wonderful guy and extremely intelligent), and tell him what they're asking me to do. Boss: Alright, let's show them they pay us because we know things and they don't. Don't delete the subscription, but suspend all the services that would be affected. Keep those tickets at hand and expect a phone call. If they call you, tell them to talk to me.
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 07
    God that felt good. I mean, I felt bad for the client, because their entire company basically shut down for an afternoon, but when they called my work phone directly from ISP (uncommon, usually just for out emergencies) and the nice lady asked. me what had happened with Client in that tone that says "I'm doing my best to hear all sides before making a decision but I am freaking the right now", and I directed her to the tickets where I very clearly stated what would happen if I did what they told
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 08
    ISP was, yet again, absolutely thrilled. with us, and my name kept coming up even more often as the person that solves things.
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 09
    enjaydee The good old scream test. Never actually delete anything, just shut it down or disable first. Wait to see if anyone screams, then turn it back on.
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 10
    Acceptable_Pain_9213 Got the MC and improved your rep. Top notch.
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 11
    That-Dutch-Mechanic Love it. Just giving them a little taste of what happens when you're not hindered in any way by any knowledge or common sense when pushing a ticket trough. Great bossman as well, reminds me of our old it dept head.
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 12
    Riegel_Haribo We can put every person on staff on it, but it will have a substantial "data recovery fee"...
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 13
    morgan423 The main lesson is, as always, that when a subject matter expert learns of your plans and then says, "Wait, are you sure you want to do that," you need to stop doing whatever it is that you're doing until you figure out what you're up. Seems incredibly basic, yet an absolutely astounding percentage of the population does not understand this principle somehow.
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 14
    harrywwc yeah, I learned a loooong time ago, never "delete" delete stuff, rather "disable / comment out" delete stuff, as there is a good chance that sometime sooner of later they will want it back. the "want it back" has only happened a handful of times, and like your boss, I sat on it for (in some cases) a few days while I "feverishly worked to recover their stuff" ;) of course, after 6 or more months, and I was confident that they were still operating ok, then I'd take a backup to store off-s
    via PineScentedSewerRat
  • 15
    tmstksbk 10/10 Well played.
    via PineScentedSewerRat

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