Useless IT Provider in school

[sonofsanta]

I thought the IT Crowd had finished now? Some of those are hilarious.

 

(I'm sorry, you do have my sympathies as well, you really do, as being stuck in the middle with no power to change anything is a horrible place to be - like working in retail, actually - but some of those lines they are feeding are hilarious. I too think name & shame is important to stop them catching others out - EduGeek is well indexed by Google and it may well save someone grief in future.)

[stebo730]

I had a member of staff at my Daughter's Nursery tell me that their IT support couldn't put in Wireless Access becasue the signal wasn't good enough in their area!! so they were forced to put in 10 "hard wired" ports around the nursery.

[playstation]

Demand they tell you your own WiFi password and deal with that yourself from now on.

 

The first thing I did was get all of the passwords. I'm ready and waiting to reset all the server controls as soon as I can. This is a company that is happy to leave networks unlocked, which is always a no-no with any SMT let alone the data protection issues.

 

Okay, raiding my iPad notes here on the last of these gems:

'What type of electricity do you have in school?' (he was confused by the 200-240V label on a PC)

Teacher: 'my password hasn't worked since the start of term'

Company: 'what is your password'

Teacher: 'password - you set it up for me'

Company: 'are you sure you are spelling it correctly?'

'Do the teachers ever need to access the pupil's work folders?'

(in jobs book) 'My TV is not working' - reply was 'because of wifi'

'the computers are now sinking'

'If you connect any other type of access point to the internet it will break the internet forever' (I may have to scan this in as a screengrab, it is one of the best emails i've ever had)

 

The answers aren't even good wind ups, are they. I'm off to visit another school supported by the same bunch of talented individuals next week, i've already been told that they have said that it is not possible to connect a 'wireless extender' to their school network which sounds like familiar nonsense to me (i'm betting that they have a bunch of wireless access points on site, probably the same useless ones they are now trying to upsell the SMT here.

[X-13]

WHO are they?!

 

I'm half expecting this to either be a company we're all aware of, or one that is usually really good.

[FishCustard]

'What type of electricity do you have in school?' (he was confused by the 200-240V label on a PC) - we have the exclusive blue electrons here which have a charge of -1.414e...

'the computers are now sinking' - sinking into what?!

 

'If you connect any other type of access point to the internet it will break the internet forever' (I may have to scan this in as a screengrab, it is one of the best emails i've ever had) - ... seriously wat

 

My reaction to these was along these lines:

 

Please get a screenshot of that email, the Internet needs to see...

Edited December 6, 2013 by FishCustard

[fiza]

Please get a screenshot of that email, the Internet needs to see...

 

No no no if that happens the internet will break......forever!!!!!!

[browolf]

start a twitter feed of the crazy things and who knows maybe you'll get a tv show like $h*! My Dad Says Edited December 6, 2013 by browolf

[InspireICT]

I'd be inclined to say that whatever is in your contract is pretty pointless given some of the examples of sheer comedy genius above. I would be astonished if any ICT provider would hold you to the contract if you pointed them to this thread and even if they did, threaten to name and shame - I guarantee they'd walk away without a fuss.

[sparkeh]

I've found a picture of the bosses:

 

[fiza]

I've found the technicians who work for this company

 

[synaesthesia]

A few theories (not wanting to spoil anyone's fun of course)

 

A) As above, entirely incompetent support provider, if that's the case then I sincerely hope they are already in the process of having them removed and court proceedings issued against them

B) A typical support provider with a muppet of an employee who has perhaps been incorrectly hired, in which case I hope they are in the process of having this discussed with said support provider

C) We have a troll on our hands.

 

No, my name isn't Buzz Killington.

[speckytecky]

I think many of us would be very interested to hear who these scoundrels are? Additionally a couple of questions:

 

What sort / size of school are you?

 

Where are you?

 

My thoughts are toward you need to ask your LA for some Job Descriptions of IT Posts and according to your size start planning with the SLT & GB toward recruiting an in house team. External companies are always going to be a more expensive option I reckon as they are profit driven; equally and hopefully - in house should get you a team player who can work and integrate with staff needs. i.e. I'm in house myself on a PT contract but frequently respond to pleas to go the extra mile to sort problems. I do get paid overtime but also I also feel appreciated.

[fiza]

A few theories (not wanting to spoil anyone's fun of course)

 

 

C) We have a troll on our hands.

 

 

Thought did occur to me too.

[catch21]

Take a look at the original contract, assuming you have one. Most contracts are defective in some sense once scrutinised closely.

"Terms" are stuff that's important enough to mention explicitly. "Conditions" are also terms but so important that contravening one would allow the contract to be terminated.

 

Poor performance would not usually be dealt with by terminating a contract. Persistent poor performance with no improvement following intervention would probably give reason for early termination.

 

Don't forget, if you can't agree with the other party, then the court system can decide for you and the court might decide either way BUT the court does not like its time wasted. You must make sure you have exhausted every avenue.

 

Also it is very important to remember it is not what happened, but what you can prove happened.

 

Even if it is verbal, document it, present it back to the other party in writing - "this is what you said". If they don't come back with a denial (in writing) they are to some extent accepting that is what they said - thus verbal communications now become something you can evidence in writing.

 

Last Tuesday (xx/12/13) I asked about iPads and you suggested on the phone that I connect them using an RJ-45. ipads have no RJ-45 connection. Could you explain what it was you meant please?

 

That sort of thing.

 

You can always try "I don't believe you have demonstrated enough competence to fulfill the contract obligations and for that reason I will be terminating the contract at the end of the month". There is an issue, depending on a) how much of the individual's (or company's) income this contract represents, b) how easy it would be for the person to replace the contract and c) how long the contract has been running for.

 

I terminated a contract unilaterally with a CCTV provider. We received all sorts of threats of legal action, diggers arriving to pull the cameras off the wall, etc. In the end guess what happened, they went away quietly. It's not quite the end of the story because 5 years later I received an email "We notice you have had our services before, if you are thinking of upgrading and would like to use our services again please get in touch." Yeah, right.

 

Note: By "end the contract" you mean "stop paying" if you are the client and "stop providing the service" if you are the provider, along with the necessary communications to notify the other party this is what you are doing.

 

Also, the court is the last resort. You don't go straight into "issue court proceedings", you go through the proper steps first.

Edited December 7, 2013 by catch21

[twin--turbo]

Thought did occur to me too.

 

It occured to me in the first post...

 

Not convinced this is at all genuine.

 

Rob

[synaesthesia]

If it is genuine then this thread could be used as evidence for the SMT involved to show it's that bad that experts in the field thought it was a bad joke.

[robjduk]

Sounds like RM or Capita

[shilpi]

Go for ruckus..

 

Enjoying at my place..since 2 years no failure

[Haptic]

I would name and shame this provider. You may help someone who is considering using them.

 

Completely agree - surely it is your duty to do this in order for others to avoid making the same mistakes.

 

From what you have written it seems more than reasonable in this case.

 

It is companies like this that give us all a bad name.

 

Chris

[biggjb]

Where are you in the country ?

[VeryPC_Colin_M]

This has got to be made up.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

the Internet needs to see...

 

Just be careful not to break it forever!

[VeryPC_Colin_M]

True story; speaking to a customer today who was trying to return a PC under warranty to the manufacturer via a reseller. Manufacturer happy to authorise the RMA in so long as they had the original box... I mean who has the space to keep the boxes of everything they buy in a school! Half the time you guys are located in the bowels of the building anyway with bars on the windows and just about enough space to stand up and extend your arms; assuming you have windows.. Anyway I digress. They didn't have the original box, so the manufacturer offered to sell them a replacement box so they could pack it up and send it back! LOL! Now that winds me up. If you can guess the manufacturer I'll send you a VeryPC pen.

[twin--turbo]

RM

STONE

HP

DELL

FUJITSU

LENOVO

?

 

 

yes we are in the bowles, no window... no boxes, well we have some IMAC one...... (Apple?) ...s as the keep breaking...

[VeryPC_Colin_M]

RM

STONE

HP

DELL

FUJITSU

LENOVO

?

 

 

yes we are in the bowles, no window... no boxes, well we have some IMAC one...... (Apple?) ...s as the keep breaking...

 

Lol! Good to know you. Nope none of the above!