The Horrors of the "Professional" World - Stories that will make you wonder how we exist.

[Kiwi Lime Pie]

With my long-time job becoming a work from home job on a seemingly permanent basis, I've had to talk to the phone company about updating the billing information and switching to a more appropriate phone service plan. In speaking to three different representatives, I was told three totally different things in terms of what I'd need to be able to switch the service and what I could or couldn't do with the existing number.

The worst part is that the lowest cost option I could get involves what seems like a needless intermediate step. When I asked why I can't just do what I want to do directly without that middle step, the third rep of the bunch said, "Oh, we don't offer that any more."

I know from past experience phone reps are notorious for their poor service and their tendency to drop the ball when they promise to do something. Still, the larger observation that representatives for any company/service industry can't or won't give correct and consistent information to those calling in is both frustrating and horrifying -- especially when the person calling knows exactly what's wanted.

 

[Stasi]

Changed jobs recently because my old one was turning into a career dead end and I already fucking hate it. My boss is a micro managing asshole, something I hate and absolutely cannot deal with. Get told not to do shit because they want to know and see everything and then get shit for not taking initiative (what?).

Got an email Friday at about 5pm to do some bullshit, check XYZ thing was sent or whatever. Not urgent. Got a team call Monday at 3pm, cool I'll mention it on the call. Call starts and boss starts giving me and the other person shit - "when I send something I expect it to get done, and not to be ignored, these things need to be dealt with and I expect responses". Lol what?

The other person is a scrub and also forgot to send an email recently, no big deal. Boss has been giving them shit over it for a full two weeks now. Over literally nothing.

Turns out my buddy worked with this person a few years back, I asked him and he said this person knows jack shit about the actual work so would get on everyone's ass over bullshit box ticking shit that doesn't matter "oooh John didn't file his TPS reports this month". Maybe this is me coping and seething but this person built a career by focusing on bullshit bureaucracy because they recognise their actual incompetence. In a way I respect the hustle, when its not me on the other end of it.

TL;DR - is it OK to ask for a department transfer a month after starting a job?

 

[BrunoMattei]

And they're not giving us Fourth of July off either.

The only upside is that I might be up for a different position soon that will get me away from this nonsense.

 

[BrunoMattei]

I just dealt with a Karen who claimed she's not a Karen but acted like a Karen.
Yes, her name was Karen.

"I may be a Karen but I'm not THAT Karen!" Proceeds to act like a Karen.

Her words exactly.

Edit: dealing with a customer right now that needs a guide on how to assemble a garbage can with the little lever to open it. You know? One of these things?

How do you fail at life so hard that you can't figure out how to put this together?

 

[FierceBrosnan]

Fuck, I just signed up for training to get certified to work in IT in a few months. Skimming some of this thread is giving me second thoughts

Depends on what you plan on specializing in. if you get stuck in a support role, then you too shall feel our pain.

Currently I'm now on site end user support/facilities management for a multinational call center and oh lord I though my last job was fucking retarded. 4 months in and everything I used to do no longer applies here. The equipment here is so fucking outdated and I let out a loud "are you shitting me!?" when I saw PCs that had to be pushing 10 years old still in service and caked with dust and God knows what, piles of busted gear just crammed in an IDF closet, and a network team that does a better job of getting out of work than actually doing anything. On top of that the site went went nearly 1 year without any on-site IT presence. In the last 4 months I have ( in no order) gutted an entire half of the building to make room for a new client, decommissioned and recycled nearly 10 tons of busted and obsolete PCs and equipment, triaged a building sized diesel generator, repaired numerous fucked up data jacks, am building a current spreadsheet of what jack goes to what port on what switch ( got about 30 on site so this will take awhile), and that is all while juggling daily routine bullshit and trouble tickets. Thankfully it pays a little more than my last gig and the people I work with at site level are fucking awesome, else I'd have quit 2 months ago.

 

[totse]

In the last 4 months I have ( in no order) gutted an entire half of the building to make room for a new client, decommissioned and recycled nearly 10 tons of busted and obsolete PCs and equipment, triaged a building sized diesel generator, repaired numerous fucked up data jacks, am building a current spreadsheet of what jack goes to what port on what switch ( got about 30 on site so this will take awhile), and that is all while juggling daily routine bullshit and trouble tickets. Thankfully it pays a little more than my last gig and the people I work with at site level are fucking awesome, else I'd have quit 2 months ago.

Good shit man, not to detract from the bad side of it but I wish I could claim that variety of experience. I'm seeing infrastructure setup, inventory management, power management, and network admin -- keep that shit for your resume, I always forget to write down anything about the cool stuff I end up doing at jobs. All I end up being able to say at interviews is what I happen to remember about the actual job description, and I always have to make up stories about "a time you dealt with _____" because I can't remember the real ones.

 

[Kiwi Lime Pie]

The other thing I remember is that there'd be a prize draw each week for some of the memorabilia and advertising stands. One bloke ended up getting some giant cardboard cutout of Mamma Mia. Not being a menopausal woman, he didn't really want it and so flogged it on eBay. Manager finds out and fires him. Apparently this wasn't allowed and was some sort of breach of copyright or something, I don't know. Allegedly all the standees and marketing crap has a secret hidden serial number in it or something. No idea how true this is

I'm not sure where I read or heard it, but it's supposedly the case that promotional materials given to theaters are either somehow proprietary or otherwise not for general consumption by the public. In other words, the theater may be able to give them workers as gifts or mementos, but it would be forbidden to regift them to someone else as described here. True or not, I believe there is some sort of hidden code in these items -- perhaps as a way to verify authenticity.

The bigger question is whether the person was aware of this policy before he decided to peddle his unwanted gift on eBay.

Also, how much does it cost to proofread something these days?

Sadly, proofreaders in all sorts of print media have been replaced or eliminated because they're seen by penny-pinchers as just another cost that can be done without. It's definitely apparent in newspapers, but also other print publications as well. I recently saw something in a weekly publication that reported a 1/12 ratio as 12% instead of 8.3% and cut off the leading digit in another figure which incorrectly reduced the value by a factor of 11 .

I was talking about virtual gambling. About all those betting websites. It absolutely is designed to keep you reeled in but you get no proverbial Vaseline for your buttfuck. It is straight to the point.

Ever since online gambling became legal here, the involved casinos have been aggressive with their marketing, commercials, and social media ads to the point they're more prevalent and more annoying than political ads.

The worst part is that they have these promotional pitches that claim they will cover up to X amount of losses on your first day of gambling on their site. What they don't tell you and leave in the small print disclaimers is that the refund comes in the form of a site credit. In other words, you get your money back, but only if you use it for more gambling on their site.

There's also been reports of lawsuits involving people whose winning wagers weren't paid off for whatever reason.

NGL, I almost feel as if online gambling sites want people to become addicted to their sites, if not gambling as a whole. It's not surprising that that the local paper has reported an upsurge in problem gambling while COVID restrictions were in full force.

A friend who works in my industry sent me this:

Calls from anyone who can't take no for an answer are definitely up there in terms of the worst.

My older job stopped using a particular brand of software about 12 years ago now. I still get calls and emails from that vendor's sales people wanting to set up a "please use our software again meeting." Someone from this company called today, and I point blank told the person, "We haven't used your software in over 10 years and I'm not planning to start up again," before hanging up.

On a related note, I've had a professional ask me multiple time if I did any work for a former client during 2020. I've said no at least twice and explained why at least once (if not more times) only to get asked the same question again at a later time.

 

[GrotesqueBushes]

My boilerplate go-to excuse I settled on was either "the company's venture funding is running out and I'm not sure they're going to get more" or "grapevine is they're going to terminate our division and I want to get out ahead of it". Anything else invites uncomfortable questions, I found.

It took me over two years to understand how good advice this is. It's either because this is profound or because I'm dumb, but either way - do follow this.

 

[Iron Jaguar]

I was immediately told that I wouldn't "fit in" there because I wasn't a team player.

Lol. "How To Foster Insubordination, 101"

They were idiots. You are exactly the person I would hire.
I've never been a "team player" either, but I've always understood that "team player" is mostly a synonym for "doormat".

 

[SITHRAK!]

This is one of the reasons i hope there is an outbreak of a massive and deadly disease… so they cannot leave their country.

Literally two months later, you got your wish.
Be careful what you wish for…

 

[Beluga]

Don't know if this qualifies as horror but my fucking boss almost every single day assigns me tasks to do 15 fucking minutes before the end of the day. Bitch I've been here for 8 hours, couldn't you ask me to do this shit 2 hours ago? God fucking dammit.

 

[XYZpdq]

>>dude who sometimes pays me for stupid IT thing
>breh shit's fucked
>>me
>yeah I see that, hold up I'll make it work
>>dude
>yeah nah brah, just get some sleep
>>me
>cmon it's friday night, not like I've got something better to do lol