Today, I was fired for "customer dissatisfaction." I work in IT and have never met one of my company's customers. FML
I agree, your life sucks (47753) - you totally deserved it (2327)
On 03/30/2009 at 12:13am - work - by beat10 (man) - United States (New Hampshire)
(0)How can people vote "you deserved that one" on this :/
#1 - On 03/30/2009 at 6:48am by ArmoredSandwich
(0)#1 I think the OP is misunderstanding that his customers, in this case, are anyone he provided IT help to. This isn't an FYL, guy must have rubbed another employee of his company the wrong way. In all likelihood it was a very important employee by the sounds of it.
(0)You sure about that? Even via e-mail? Or a phone call that you may have been a little rude to the person because you had never met them?
Because I.T guys are well known for their temperament and patience when it comes to speaking with plebs on the phone/e-mail.
For the record I am in IT. So I get how it happened. You just got to be more careful about that. Even if you think you were joking or being funny. the wrong person reading it could take it another way and get you outta there very quickly.
But on the off chance you actually didn't do or say anything wrong to this person, well then fuck them. I hope you gave them a nice virus or at least reset all their passwords/encyrpted all their e-mails before you left.
(0)My guess... if they're pulling random reasons to fire you, they must have some reason to want you gone. Still, that doesn't mean it was this person's fault. Sucks man...
#3 - On 03/30/2009 at 6:50am by Silhouette
(0)Maybe its because you haven't talked to the customers? Or maybe the stuff you have fixed wasn't good enough and since you don't speak to any of them you aren't aware of it.
Whatever it is, you should have asked your boss to justify it and you wouldn't need to be all sour about it.
#5 - On 03/30/2009 at 7:35am by randomelginguy
(0)If you're not talking to customers in some way, how can you not be providing bad customer service? You don't have to meet someone in person to talk to them and provide service.
just talk to your boss about it.
that kinda sucks though =/
it could have been a phone call to a customer or something...
they probs just wanted a reason to fire you
#7 - On 03/30/2009 at 7:51am by theoldGP
(0)You can still be providing customer dissatisfaction even if you've never spoke to a customer. Maybe they've had numerous complaints about your work or something like that. If you're really confused, then ask your ex-boss to clarify exactly why you've been fired. You deserve to know if you want to.
(0)I work in IT, so I know why you're confused. The thing is, your *company's* customers are not *your* customers. *Your* customers are the employees in your company for whom your services are required. If you did any work for anyone in your company and you did something they didn't like or just upset them in some way, then there you go.
(0)maybe it's about internal customers.
Go ask your ex-boss - he is also one of your internal customers, too.
(0)I work in IT as well--they probably just wanted a reason to lay off/get rid of someone to save money, and that was the best excuse they could come up with. This recession's killing everyone. My building just had to let go about 60 people.. :/
(0)The economy sucks and they don't want to have to pay you unemployment. Easier for them to skirt this if they claim it was your own fault you're unemployed.
#13 - On 03/30/2009 at 9:16am by Sock_Monkey
(0)Like the previous posters said, the internal employees are your customers, and if you never met them, well then maybe thats why. I work in IT too, and we have one or two people who seem to work in a vacuum and are clueless to the company business.
(0)IT? don't you work directly with employees? they might not have an "employee dissatisfaction" option, but since you serve other employees, they figured "customer dissat." might have been good enough...
either way, everyone's looking for reasons to fire anyone, so don't sweat it. no one will hold it against you for being fired at this point in time.
(0)Your customers are the people inside the company you assist with their technical problems. If your customers were dissatisfied, then you were let go for that. I'm amazed that you never realized that you had customers, too - ones that weren't the same as the customers your company deals with.
(0)You can't file a lawsuit, you were clearly fired with cause. If you're in IT, and not customer-facing tech support, your "customers" are the employees you help. One or more of them probably complained, and based on your failure to realize this, they probably had good reason. I'm also in IT, lost a lucrative job the same way, thought I got screwed over, then had this explained to me.
#25 - On 03/30/2009 at 2:37pm by Edmund_Dantes
(0)"The economy sucks and they don't want to have to pay you unemployment. Easier for them to skirt this if they claim it was your own fault you're unemployed." #13
What he/she said...
See if you can collect unemployment anyway and appeal the decision with your state if they turn you down. By the way, this also just happened to a friend of mine (a teacher who was denied tenure). The administration needed to cut $1.4 million and in spite of having rave reviews from other teachers and parents, the administration decided she "lacked effective classroom management skills." Now they are waiting for her to quit in disgust and not receive unemployment - which she cannot financially afford. Bastards - but quite common in this economy!
(0)I don't know how it is in America (I guess you're American) but that type of dismissal is very illegal where I'm from. There's been quite a few of these 'unfair dismissal' posts, is it really okay to do that to an employee over there?
(0)It's probably bullcrap to cover up for cyclical unemployment.
#28 - On 03/30/2009 at 4:01pm by CaptainBaconMan
(0)#27: It varies by state. In most of the country, you can be let go from a job without cause. The only illegal dismissals are racial, ethnic, religious, sexual or disability discrimination. Being an unsatisfactory employee is plenty of reason to be let go.
And to the OP: It's been listed above, but I'll say it again. Your customers are the people you provide IT services to. If you're not aware of that, it's no surprise that you've been let go.
#29 - On 03/30/2009 at 4:59pm by roachspray
(0)Oh - and on the unemployment angle: yes, you'll still be able to receive it. Unemployment compensation isn't just for mass layoffs and firing without cause. If you committed a crime or were fired for gross insubordination, then you're out unemployment. "Dissatisfaction" and "Poor organizational fit" are common dismissal reasons that don't negate your ability to receive unemployment. Even inability to do the job won't disqualify someone in most cases (unless there was fraud involved during the hiring process).
#30 - On 03/30/2009 at 5:03pm by roachspray
(0)When you say you're in IT, I presume you mean your company's IT dept which usually means tech support. Your "customers" are the people you service (i.e. your co-workers, boss, managers, etc.) Customer dissatisfaction here would mean your co-workers must've complained about you. Not sure if you deserved it or not, your FML story was rather short.
(0)you've never met any of your customers. no wonder they're dissatisfied. where the fuck is my it guy??
#39 - On 03/31/2009 at 6:25pm by poopoopants
(0)well, the fact that you never met them doesn't mean they couldn't get dissatisfied with your service... dunno... i still voted *that sucks*...
(0)prolly just the economy, man. Any excuse to get a few more people off the payroll
#41 - On 04/01/2009 at 11:09pm by 7_______7_______
(0)Wow, that is awful. There was an IT guy fired from my place of employment not-to-long ago. I'm not sure what reason they gave him, but apparently someone complained about something stupid because she was jealous of his girlfriend who also works there. What has come to the world?...
#42 - On 04/15/2009 at 8:05pm by Kyuuketsuki_ai
(0)#9 said it first, your customers are your fellow employees. The fact that you didn't get that is likely what led to your dismissal. Live and learn.
(0)Wow THAT IS A HUGE YDI. I work in IT and in the world of IT the word "customers" refers the people who request projects from you (aka other employees). You deserve to be fired if you don't know that.
#45 - On 05/14/2009 at 2:51pm by Dannyohboyoh
(0)Maybe you should have met some of them. People like to see a face. Also, any email, phone, IM is in that realm. Also, how timely and effective your solutions were. Customer Satisfaction isn't just meeting people. Probably would have helped to spend 15 minutes under your bosses desk providing satisfaction.
#46 - On 06/09/2009 at 2:30am by TimSchwall8
