#1 Comment you hear and the actual issue

So, I've been thinking about this a lot lately and it really makes me laugh when I hear it. The #1 complaint I get is "Is the internet down?" or "The internet is down!". It really gets me to thinking a lot of the time about what could be going wrong..

For a user, everything is generally tied into "The internet is down" comment when it could mean a variety of things, they can't login, the exchange server needs to be bounced because it's offline or became dismounted somehow, the actual route out to the internet is down, the intranet/sharepoint server is down, etc... etc...

It really makes me happy to be doing what I'm doing. To have to decipher what "The internet is down" actually means and to be able to come up with a solution as quickly as possible..

Anyways...

What's the comment you hear the most and the actual reasons behind them?

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Comments

SouthSeaPirate

Good thread idea. I get; 'Im locked out'. Now Im not a password ninja, but seriously, WTF are you locked out of?!?!

apr911

I work for a service provider and it amazes me how often I see the network blamed for all manner of OS/App level issues. . This isnt an end user complaint either. This comes from people who should know better, all sorts of OS admins of all levels, certifications and skills. When they cant figure out the issue the 1st thing that gets blamed is the network.

The Network security team seems to be a catchall team for issues... SQL cant backup? Must be the network. Your application pools keep crashing? Must be the network

advanex1

Haha, apr.. that reminds me of one of the tickets I've seen where someone could not access the portal from a remote site and the WAN Engineers sent it to the Voice Engineers stating it was a voice issue... funniest thing I've seen in a while.

shaqazoolu

In my place, the server guys always say there is something wrong with the network. When the network guys hear about it, they say it's the application and the server configs. When they finally meet face to face to talk about it, the server guy threatens to give the network guys domain admin and then the problem is fixed within like 20 minutes somehow. As one of the security guys, all I have to do is make sure that the domain admin rights are not frivolously distributed. Other than that, they are usually pretty entertaining arguments.

ptilsen

"My [x] doesn't work." X can be the computer, web, email, a printer, etc. Invariably, it simply doesn't work. What's wrong with it? It doesn't work.

shaqazoolu wrote: »

In my place, the server guys always say there is something wrong with the network. When the network guys hear about it, they say it's the application and the server configs. When they finally meet face to face to talk about it, the server guy threatens to give the network guys domain admin and then the problem is fixed within like 20 minutes somehow. As one of the security guys, all I have to do is make sure that the domain admin rights are not frivolously distributed. Other than that, they are usually pretty entertaining arguments.

I hear things like this from server and network guys who work in larger environments. As someone who implements and maintains systems and networks, I don't see how I could do my job without being how to differentiate a network problem from a server problem. Do that many engineers honestly not know how to apply the OSI model to troubleshooting?

I'm not saying it's never a challenge, but an IT professional should be able to diagnose an issue without simply blaming someone from another team. Is this really how large environments work?

Devilsbane

I used to always get "I can't login, can you reset my password?" and I'd ask if they needed it reset or just unlocked. "Just unlocked, I know what it is"

Then why oh why did you ask me to reset it? I haven't decided who are more of a pain to work with yet. End users or developers...

arwes

"I can't get a insurance quote to load on Progressive." This is common to my office because the insurance software we use is not resizeable and if you try to open a PDF that was attached to an account, it loads it in the tiny preview window. The only way around that is to uncheck 'Display PDF in browser' (it then opens in Reader), but with that turned off certain sites like Progressive have a conniption fit and tell you to download Adobe Reader (the dozens of other sites we quote from don't have an issue with it). I show the users how to change it back, and it never fails that a week or so later they'll forget and call again. Then when I tell them what they have to do, they whine to their manager about it who then complains to my manager. Then he has to explain to them for the upteenth time that we've asked the company several times to make a change for that in the software but it's a low priority since they've got the newer agency software that's more of a priority for them.

bryanthetechie

"The data is wrong." Lol, I doubt that Excel, Microstrategy, mySQL, Google Analytics, whatever, calculated the data wrong. Maybe we programmed the calculations wrong... maybe the users didn't communicate their data needs well enough... maybe the data providers changed their report or API formats and so the data is not pulling correctly... maybe you didn't filter it correctly... maybe some data sets were pulled into the warehouse before they were refreshed by the provider... or maybe it's just "wrong" because you don't like the numbers that you see. However, it would be awfully difficult for the system to compute the data incorrectly using the logic it was given. Ultimately, =sum(A2+B2) doesn't make many mistakes. The data isn't wrong, but some piece along the path of arriving at the final data may be broken.

CodeBlox

Customer: "I can't login"
Me: "What happens when you try to login?"
Customer: "Exchange is disconnected"
Me: "... So you're having an issue with outlook?"
Customer: "Yeah!"

There's also finger pointing where I work from time to time. "No the issues on your end!!!"

N2IT

+1 for I can't log in. You assume it Windows, but a lot of the time it's another system without single sign-on.

SteveLord

Internet is down - Only email is down

Computer not working - Anything and everything

Computer frozen - Hidden prompt in background hasnt been clicked

Cant print - Cant print because you told it to print 5 times, followed by 5 more time because it didnt work the first 5 times

Virus deleting my files! - Fake antivirus animation on a webpage showing files being deleted

Files are gone somehow - User deleted them, whether they admit it or not

advanex1

SteveLord wrote: »

Files are gone somehow - User deleted them, whether they admit it or not

THIS. Haha.. too true. Had this happen a few months ago.

Priston

SouthSeaPirate wrote: »

Good thread idea. I get; 'Im locked out'. Now Im not a password ninja, but seriously, WTF are you locked out of?!?!

Tell them to call AAA

the_Grinch

"Everyone is having X issue" - By everyone we mean 3 people

"Internet is down!!!" - Of course this is reported via email.....

"I got this pop up that says virus neutralized, please call me to scan to make sure I didn't get infected" - Um, do we not know what neutralized means?

User sends in an email saying they are having an issue, but don't say what company they work for or what number to contact them with. Followed by another email an hour later complaining no one contacted them...

"We can't make or receive calls. Ok, can you go to this website so I can walk you through some steps. No our internet is down." - Really? You have a voip system!

"No internet or phones!" - Call their cell to troubleshoot and they report the power is down....

I could probably write a book lol

Priston

the_Grinch wrote: »

"I got this pop up that says virus neutralized, please call me to scan to make sure I didn't get infected" - Um, do we not know what neutralized means?

To be fair, I've had my anti virus tell me it blocked a virus and I still got infected...

apr911

Priston wrote: »

the_Grinch wrote: »

"I got this pop up that says virus neutralized, please call me to scan to make sure I didn't get infected" - Um, do we not know what neutralized means?

To be fair, I've had my anti virus tell me it blocked a virus and I still got infected...

To be even more fair, its not the initial virus that usually bothers me but rather all the stuff it manages to do and/or sneak in (other viruses or malware) before its "neutralized"

Psoasman

User: " I can't log in again"
Me: "what program is not allowing you to log in?"
User: "windows"
Me: checking account, account not locked out, disabled, etc." are you sure it's windows?"
User: "yes"
Me: Thinking to myself -gonna have to try another approach " what are you trying to do right now?"
User: "check my email"
Me: "let me check your account, email account is not locked out"
User: "I can't log in still"
Me: "Let's reset your password"
User: " can I keep using the same password as before?"
Me: "No, per security policy, you must change it to a new password"
User: giant sigh -"Fine, just reset it then"
Me: "it's reset, try to log in now"
User: "finally"

That happens to me all the time. Now I remote into their computer to see what they are actually trying to log into. saves time. Users just don't pay attention when you are orienting them to their computer and programs.

Psoasman

apr911 wrote: »

To be even more fair, its not the initial virus that usually bothers me but rather all the stuff it manages to do and/or sneak in (other viruses or malware) before its "neutralized"

Good point. Another issue is all the programs they will try to download and install to fix it themselves.

alxx

or ones that do everything possible to get local admin access then immediately
setup up another account with administrator privileges
then almost immediately get infected (especially professors)

Then again being on the other end.
Here they lock down all pc's, so as a developer its super freaking annoying as can't even
do a compile in visual studio without needing to type in local_admin password
the way our it guys set it up.

blargoe

I have a user, any time she has any issue with a network applicaiton, any application, ranging from an account lockout, to her computer blue screening, to the Internet being slow, calls me to say "the server" is down, as if there is this one server that is the master of the universe controlling the ERP system, email, the Internet, her Start Menu, Citrix, her telephone, etc.

the_Grinch

Skynet? Guess it isn't self aware yet....haha

blargoe wrote: »

I have a user, any time she has any issue with a network applicaiton, any application, ranging from an account lockout, to her computer blue screening, to the Internet being slow, calls me to say "the server" is down, as if there is this one server that is the master of the universe controlling the ERP system, email, the Internet, her Start Menu, Citrix, her telephone, etc.

MentholMoose

ptilsen wrote: »

"My [x] doesn't work." X can be the computer, web, email, a printer, etc. Invariably, it simply doesn't work. What's wrong with it? It doesn't work.

I support software that has a browser-based UI. Sometimes a ticket says, "the UI doesn't work", but the UI is fine and they just can't log in for some reason. Other times the ticket will say, "I can't log in"... once I check, the UI will be completely inaccessible! In both cases the description is a true statement, but both are equally useless since there are no details. The tickets I handle are submitted by systems admins and other people in IT so this trait is not unique to knowledge/office workers.

it_consultant

I get "everything is down" on a regular basis. It doesn't take much drilling down to get to the real issue. Of course, its never "everything". I think people know this and they think that if they say "everything is down" that it makes us get to them quicker. I usually kill this behavior this way:

On the phone:

'Everything is down!'

'Really, let me take a look' - Tap on my keyboard while I get connected

'Well, I logged into the VPN, jumped into the management server and logged into your session and I am moving the mouse around. A lot of things have to go right in order for that to happen. How about you tell me what is actually going on.'

'The printer won't print' ...

Devilsbane

the_Grinch wrote: »

"Internet is down!!!" - Of course this is reported via email.....

A few weeks back we had one of the AT&T switches go down which made it so that we couldn't get out to the internet, and probably more importantly our public website wasn't accessible by customers. On the inside, we were still able to send e-mail and visit our company page.

SouthSeaPirate

Psoasman wrote: »

User: " I can't log in again"
Me: "what program is not allowing you to log in?"
User: "windows"
Me: checking account, account not locked out, disabled, etc." are you sure it's windows?"
User: "yes"
Me: Thinking to myself -gonna have to try another approach " what are you trying to do right now?"
User: "check my email"
Me: "let me check your account, email account is not locked out"
User: "I can't log in still"
Me: "Let's reset your password"
User: " can I keep using the same password as before?"
Me: "No, per security policy, you must change it to a new password"
User: giant sigh -"Fine, just reset it then"
Me: "it's reset, try to log in now"
User: "finally"

That happens to me all the time. Now I remote into their computer to see what they are actually trying to log into. saves time. Users just don't pay attention when you are orienting them to their computer and programs.

I dont even give them a chance to 'tell' me whats wrong anymore. They call and before they go nuts, I just tel them Im going to remote in. Then I just tell them to show me. 90% of the time has nothing to do with what they are talking about...

CodeBlox

Devilsbane wrote: »

A few weeks back we had one of the AT&T switches go down which made it so that we couldn't get out to the internet, and probably more importantly our public website wasn't accessible by customers. On the inside, we were still able to send e-mail and visit our company page.

Hehe, I was thinking that scenario too. He could comeback though with "perhaps they're using gmail".

DeepEmissions

"I'm locked out of Windows" when in fact, they're locked out of an application due to a networking or permissions issue.
That's why I say "Well let me remote in and see whats going on."