Borked MLS, SLC is not providing assistance - what to do?

[aebrown]

It isn't that the -help desk- wasn't willing to help, *THEY* were great. It is the programmers above them who don't seem to care in the slightest.

Whenever I've had to submit something for the programmers to work on, one of the help desk people owned the issue and worked with the programmers. I never talked to the programmers myself -- the help desk agent forwarded any files and information to the programmers, and they sent it back to the agent, who then communicated with me. There was never any expectation that a programmer would communicate directly with me. These kinds of issues have taken a few days, but never more than a week in my experience.

What makes you say that the programmers don't care? Has someone said that they would communicate directly with you? Or has a help desk agent said that they don't care? Even for issues involving the programmers, what you're reporting is quite different from my experience.

[aclawson]

There was never any expectation that a programmer would communicate directly with me. These kinds of issues have taken a few days, but never more than a week in my experience.

It has been a week.

What makes you say that the programmers don't care? Has someone said that they would communicate directly with you?

Yes. I was told on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday that somebody would be getting in touch with me. As of Thursday no comments had been entered into the case notes by the programmers, not even a "working on this".

[aebrown]

Yes. I was told on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday that somebody would be getting in touch with me. As of Thursday no comments had been entered into the case notes by the programmers, not even a "working on this".

Well, this could be a breakdown in communication. I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the programmers "don't care in the slightest." Perhaps the issue was assigned to a programmer who is on vacation, or the issue was given an incorrect priority or categorization. There are all sorts of things that could go wrong.

The help desk still owns the issue, and I guarantee that they have ways to escalate the issue to get attention from the programmers. As I mentioned earlier, you can also escalate the issue yourself within Local Unit Support. I'll certainly agree that you shouldn't have to go to that much work, but you do have options to get the attention you deserve.

[aclawson]

How else can I escalate the issue other than calling and saying "this will make two weeks that the ward has no MLS, what can we do to escalate this issue and get it resolved"?

Also, I have to point out that people have been requesting something be done about a) providing support when most people need it (which will be on Sunday) and b) at least providing some method of resetting the security token when we need it reset as opposed to when it is convenient for them.

There are other issues as well where they do not listen, but we can leave those alone for now.

[aebrown]

How else can I escalate the issue other than calling and saying "this will make two weeks that the ward has no MLS, what can we do to escalate this issue and get it resolved"?

That sounds like a good starting approach. Then if you don't get a satisfactory answer, you do exactly what I would do with any other customer service organization: I would say something along the lines of "I appreciate your help, but we're not getting the help we need. Could I please speak to your manager?"

As with most service organizations, agents have probably been taught to handle issues themselves as much as possible and avoid escalation unless it is truly necessary. After all, escalation is a relatively inefficient process, and you don't want it to become standard procedure. But escalation is possible, given proper tenacity on your part.

[giffordrb]

It isn't that the -help desk- wasn't willing to help, *THEY* were great. It is the programmers above them who don't seem to care in the slightest.

Ouch. To be fair this is the first I have heard about this issue. Did the GSC give you a jira # or anything related to this? What is your unit #?

[aclawson]

I have a case number, is that the jira?

I will have to look up the ward unit number again since I don't use it on a regular basis.

I was told that the programmer was just assigned at 5 pm last Friday. This morning they emailed me a copy of the backup that they have on file for me to try.

[giffordrb]

I have a case number, is that the jira?

I will have to look up the ward unit number again since I don't use it on a regular basis.

I was told that the programmer was just assigned at 5 pm last Friday. This morning they emailed me a copy of the backup that they have on file for me to try.

The case number is from a different system but PM it to me and I will ask about it and see what I can find. Since you aren't sure of the unit number PM me the name of your ward and I will look it up as well. I agree that support for this issue shouldn't be so hard.

[aclawson]

In the end the problem was that a table within MLS had become corrupted. I was told the table contained no data so no data was lost, and the people in SLC clicked a button or two and a quick S/R and the problem was solved.

[craiggsmith]

A little late, but just a couple comments. As you have seen there was a breakdown in the process, which is unfortunately not uncommon with the support model used by large entities. I can attest that the few people working on MLS care and are very good and responsive.

I'm not sure why the help desk didn't just send a full refresh.