Conversation with Bellsouth tech support:
Me: This site was supposed to be configured for 10 megabit, but the switch is set for 10 megabit burstable to 100. We don’t have equipment in place to support that, so could you change the switch configuration to match?
Vogon: I’m sorry, but we will need a change authorization in order to do that.
Me: This will take you only five minutes to change a command line on the switch. If you give me the userid and password, I could do it myself.
Vogon: I’m sorry, but we have to make sure that the proper paperwork is in place before we can authorize any changes.
Me: YOU are the ones that configured the circuit incorrectly, and YOU are the ones that promised me that this circuit would be active as of last Thursday. I’ve got an engineer waiting on sight right now, moving vans loaded trying to get people into this building, and they will need data access. Can’t you cut through the red tape, and we can just take care of the paper work later?
Vogon: I’m sorry, I won’t be able to do anything without the proper orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat and recycled as firelighters.
Sigh.
You mean… you actually spoke with a live person?
In the US?
Well, it’s not a standard tech service call. This was in reference to a large project, so talking to a, errr, human, was a bit easier to manage.
Is this why I can’t get good health care?
(tongue in cheek)