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Is it my fault? How Bad Did I screw up this time?- Long Post

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Mitrovah
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20 Oct 2014, 11:38 pm

At work there is a cloud program that receives e-mail for support. There are two separate queues in the system one that comes from Canada and another that comes from US. Both have separate e-mail handles so they go to separate queues.

For a while there were e-mails that had no reply e-mail with them, so I couldn't answer them in anyway. I figured the person forgot their e-mail or somehow were able to send a n e-mail and the system didn't register their reply e-mail.

I let this go on for a while until today when I decided to ask why these people's e-mail may not be showing up. I was asked how long this had been going on and I blurted out "a month"

The reason I didn't give it much thought was because I had been getting e-mails in the same Canada queue with reply e-mail addresses, so i thought it was some error on the user's end.

Later I found out someone in the far away corporate office. made a change in the system on the website which was copying all those e-mailswhich caused the system to dump the reply e-mail

So in a sense the only Mea Culpa(my fault) is I didn't give it a 2nd thought and didn't make the issue aware to someone sooner and filed away tech e-mails as junk because I literally could not reply to them. I am the tech support and the supposed "competent person" in residence. but that was a web site issue which was not my fault.

The only possible problem is If someone makes a legal case due some problem they occured because of the lack of response which my boss told me happened once and was settled because there was proof the company responded.

I can't say for sure how many e-mails or how severe the tech problem was. But I'm sure not a whole lot because there are very few Canadian customers.



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21 Oct 2014, 2:09 am

Mitrovah wrote:
At work there is a cloud program that receives e-mail for support. There are two separate queues in the system one that comes from Canada and another that comes from US. Both have separate e-mail handles so they go to separate queues.

For a while there were e-mails that had no reply e-mail with them, so I couldn't answer them in anyway. I figured the person forgot their e-mail or somehow were able to send a n e-mail and the system didn't register their reply e-mail.

I let this go on for a while until today when I decided to ask why these people's e-mail may not be showing up. I was asked how long this had been going on and I blurted out "a month"

The reason I didn't give it much thought was because I had been getting e-mails in the same Canada queue with reply e-mail addresses, so i thought it was some error on the user's end.

Later I found out someone in the far away corporate office. made a change in the system on the website which was copying all those e-mailswhich caused the system to dump the reply e-mail

So in a sense the only Mea Culpa(my fault) is I didn't give it a 2nd thought and didn't make the issue aware to someone sooner and filed away tech e-mails as junk because I literally could not reply to them. I am the tech support and the supposed "competent person" in residence. but that was a web site issue which was not my fault.

The only possible problem is If someone makes a legal case due some problem they occured because of the lack of response which my boss told me happened once and was settled because there was proof the company responded.

I can't say for sure how many e-mails or how severe the tech problem was. But I'm sure not a whole lot because there are very few Canadian customers.


You're not the one who screwed up, as far as I can tell. If the mail admin screwed up the configuration on the server, it's on him or her, not you.



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21 Oct 2014, 9:31 am

Meistersinger wrote:
You're not the one who screwed up, as far as I can tell. If the mail admin screwed up the configuration on the server, it's on him or her, not you.


The mistake was made in another location, but, I understand the OPs worry. Tech support finds holes in a lot of processes or reports bugs because they're the ones to notice and report things. I've had similar situations, where I didn't cause a problem, but, I ended up feeling bad when I realized I should've said something. It continues to be a learning experience.



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21 Oct 2014, 9:36 am

Daria the Wise strikes again!

Yep...you have to "cover your butt." But the above really isn't your fault.

Just make sure you maintain a paper trail, and a logical thought trail.



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21 Oct 2014, 9:44 am

kraftiekortie wrote:
Daria the Wise strikes again!

Yep...you have to "cover your butt." But the above really isn't your fault.

Just make sure you maintain a paper trail, and a logical thought trail.


~sighs~ Not really, just experienced this as I was checking in here today.

My boss wanted a new feature turned on. I did everything I could and it mostly rested on our consultant. I tested it when it was done and told him my testing methods (so he'd know I was thorough or could point out anything I should've done instead), and declared that it all worked fine, good job and thanks.
ASSuming that he would turn that feature on for the rest of the users (it is something my permissions don't allow me to do).

Well, I ASSumed wrong. I went on to my next project, where I'd discovered 15% user error, so I am reworking the interface to make it simpler for them to select the right answer instead of being lazy. SO, obviously, I failed to check back in as a user to see that the new feature had been pushed out... which it had not.

The consultant (who is badly overworked so I've been cutting him slack) is using my apparent ambiguity and lack of follow up as his excuse. Cheesy, imho, but, defensible!
So, when my boss asked me why it wasn't out yet, I told him... I've written proof that my testing was complete, but, it wasn't pushed out and I didn't follow up to check myself so I didn't know it was not. :oops:

Makes me feel terrible, I know we've got to follow up with these guys, because I've seen it over and over this past year. The first time or two are excusable for me, but, I should really know better by now.

I can't get upset if I don't get a raise or a big bonus this year, because my lack of OSL (over shoulder lurking) and getting distracted on the work that is all mine, hasn't helped our schedule (which was already behind before I was hired).



kraftiekortie
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21 Oct 2014, 10:19 am

All you've got to do is catch up. I've made royal-ass mistakes myself--but when I was able to catch up, everything smelled rosy again.

The key is the catching up, I believe.

I once had a receptionist job (believe it or not). When I started, I was so slow. They didn't want me to work extra hours--but I would, for a couple of days, go from my other job to this job in order to "catch up." I succeeded quite well after I was "caught up."

The key is to keep the backlog as minimal as possible, even if you have to do extra work to minimalize it.



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21 Oct 2014, 10:30 am

kraftiekortie wrote:
All you've got to do is catch up. I've made royal-ass mistakes myself--but when I was able to catch up, everything smelled rosy again.

The key is the catching up, I believe.

I once had a receptionist job (believe it or not). When I started, I was so slow. They didn't want me to work extra hours--but I would, for a couple of days, go from my other job to this job in order to "catch up." I succeeded quite well after I was "caught up."

The key is to keep the backlog as minimal as possible, even if you have to do extra work to minimalize it.


Typically good advice.
I don't mind putting in long hours here, if needed, and they don't mind paying OT for it either. But, in all of these cases, it's just taking my mental energies of focusing on work, to focusing on things that are already off my plate and onto someone else's. Plus, of course, the social anxiety of how to follow up with someone... the tone to take, whether to copy their boss or not, whether to pursue what you know will be a fruitless argument, etc.



kraftiekortie
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21 Oct 2014, 10:33 am

LOL....I try to stay away from fruitless arguments. The work is my excuse :wink:

You have a bit more on your plate than I do, actually. You have a whole nest to nurture.



Mitrovah
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21 Oct 2014, 3:46 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
LOL....I try to stay away from fruitless arguments. The work is my excuse :wink:

You have a bit more on your plate than I do, actually. You have a whole nest to nurture.


I'm guessing that is a response to Dorkness.

Anyway there really isn't a way to go back. The lack of e-mail is stuck and can't be reversed.



kraftiekortie
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21 Oct 2014, 5:42 pm

I think you'll be okay, as long as you make yourself useful in other things.

I found that to be the case with me. I might make mistakes--but my overall work made me almost indispensable.

make sure you aggressively make sure you heed deadlines, and just be a useful employee in general.



Mitrovah
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21 Oct 2014, 10:04 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
I think you'll be okay, as long as you make yourself useful in other things.

I found that to be the case with me. I might make mistakes--but my overall work made me almost indispensable.

make sure you aggressively make sure you heed deadlines, and just be a useful employee in general.


I have no problem with that, I'm up for performance review in 4 months which also means they will decide by then whether to keep me on or not. I am always on time and I am pretty flexible. Every time they give me a project to finish I get it down way ahead of schedule.

however I feel a certain de je vu to this whole situation. Like my last two jobs I was fired from. I was the first interviewed and hired all three times.