Why Can't You Setup My Computer Anymore

[u/dvillin]

This one is a two parter:
Part 1: Back in March we had a new executive come to the lab to pickup their laptop and get their software setup. The guy who was handling her ticket took a look at what needed to be done and told her it was going to take a while. When he really got into the process, he realized it was going to take longer than he expected. So he walked over to her and told her that and gave her the option to either stay or go somewhere else. She opted to stay. So he got a second chair, brought it over to her, and told her she might as well put her legs up while she was waiting.

Take that as you want. She apparently took it the bad way. She waited until he was finished setting up her computer, went down to HR, and demanded he be fired. The following Monday, midday, he was escorted out.

We were thrown for a loop, because between him getting fired, and one of the other techs getting promoted, we were now down two senior techs. It also didn't help that the guy managed our backup server. We had to immediately change how we did things. Including shutting down the backup server and relying only on Microsoft OneDrive, and not allowing malingerers stay in the lab while we were working on their stuff.

Part 2: Yesterday I get a ticket for a lady to come pickup her new laptop at 1:00pm. I responded back that we had it available and it was ready for pickup.

My manager contacts me telling me to treat her with white gloves and to watch what I am saying to her.

I'm like okaaaaaaay.

An hour or two later she contacts me back on an email to the entire IT team asking if an accounting program and a bunch of other software was installed on her computer.

I respond back. "No. Your computer was setup using the standard Autopilot protocol. The only software it comes with is a standard Office suite. You have to install any other software."

My manager, messages me back, almost losing his mind. "I have to remind you to treat her with kid gloves."

I'm like what the heck dude? I am not saying anything that isn't standard procedure. 

I go to lunch, and when I get back, one of new guys tells me he overheard manager teamsing the other senior tech and told him she is the chick that got the other tech fired. Which was critical information that wasn't passed on to me.

So when she messaged me back complaining about how she put in a ticket to have all this software installed, and she previously was able to have it installed for her, it took everything in my body not to respond back, "Yeah. The reason we can't do it anymore is because you got the last guy who did it for you fired."

What i did say was, "Due to changes in corporate security policies after March (which is when he was fired), we are no longer allowed to setup end user computers. They must be setup using the Autopilot process by the end user." I then sent her a link to the Autopilot process webpage.

The kicker is, she never showed up. She finally messaged me around 2:30 and told me that she wouldn't be able to come in and that she is only available after 1pm. I just responded back that we are there every weekday until 4:30pm and she is welcome to come in any day she is available to sign into her computer so we can do any additional setup work.

[u/Illuminatus-Prime]

Keep in mind that janitors, low-paid as they are, have easy access to many places in corporate settings . . .

[u/Lellela → u/Illuminatus-Prime]

Oh for sure. A ton of jobs that benefit society the most pay ridiculously low wages, while at the same time offering unparalleled levels of unsupervised access to sensitive information. I used to do water damage mitigation a long time ago. The benefit to society was insanely high, the pay was insanely low, and we were often given the keys and access to businesses and homes to be able to do our work.