Catastrophe

A couple of days ago something went tits up in the server department at Cix Towers. For 15 hours or so the system was apparently up and running but nobody using an OLR was able to post messages via telnet to the system although the clunky online interface stumbled on. Despite the fault being logged with support at the beginning of the outage no shreds of information, advice or updates were available until a terse communication from Parkglobe support advised service was resumed and normal life recommenced.

This has had the effect of a pot of boiling water in an ant's nest. Any number of participants that one would imagine from their self reporting to have a life have been devoting considerable energy and time having a jolly good rant about SLAs, customer service and quality of support. Some weak responses from the senior managerial spokesperson hasn't helped one bit.

The Lurker is of the opinion that this storm in a teacup is obscuring a much deeper problem. There is no respect between the customers and management. This mutually damaging relationship seems inevitable given the idiom of a traditional cixen and the ethics of modern business practice but the old fashioned principle of customer rightness will ultimately win out. It's not a cheap service and people who don't get the service they need will take their business elsewhere.

It's all rather sad.