I miss the military Information Technology people. They answered their phones, showed up to your computer if it needed fixing, and got you another one if it was beyond repair.
In the civilian world, they have been replaced by Help Desks, which is code for, “I don’t care about your problem, but even if I did, I still wouldn’t fix it.”
My phone was acting up so I went to the phone store, where I was met by a young man who seemed annoyed that I had come in at all. He had a Black Crowes kind of look about him, including a slight pout when he talked, and had perfected the art of talking down to a client. He belonged in a coffee shop, except coffee shop employees actually have a semblance of social skills in their interaction tool kits.
His entire purpose in life was to schedule me for an appointment. He told me through pouting lips that someone could see me in an hour and a half. I looked around and counted at least fifteen employees standing in the store, with only half of them actually working with customers. I left and re-engaged at my appointed time.
Of course, they never fixed the phone.
And that is why I do not like help desks, at least in the civilian world. That young man had no incentive or reason to make me happy. He knew that his behavior was not going to get him fired, and he obviously could not care less about customer satisfaction. There was no hammer, no motivation, and no discipline.
Give me a military IT guy any time. In the military, the IT department works hard to guarantee satisfaction.
And if someone doesn’t perform, there are consequences.
