Last week my laptop crashed. And my world came to a standstill. 😆😀 I know Iam being dramatic here. What do I do??? My work at office is dependent on two things - laptop and phone (mobile or desk phone). The laptop has my outlook pst files, work related documents and files.
When I switched on my laptop on Tuesday morning at office, it just would not start up. I got a blue window screen that had a lot of messages glaring at me. Basically, it tried to convey that the laptop had a big problem and it would not start unless the issue was resolved. The problem with working in a large firm is that, I cannot just walk up to the IT team to get the hardware fixed. I have to create a help desk ticket by calling the toll free number and then the ticket would be routed to that IT person who sits in the same floor where I work. Why?? process you see. We should all stick to process!!!!
Anyways, the guy came in, had one good look at my laptop and told me he had to take it to his desk to check what the problem is. After half an hour, he called me to give the bad news -
V (the IT person): Ji, your hard disk has crashed. You need to raise a request for a new laptop.
Me: What?? crashed?? What about all my data??
V: all gone.
Me: What?? All gone??
**Iam momentarily shocked, stunned. It was as if someone had just poured a bucket of water on my head.
Me: You should be able to get the ones saved in my D drive.
** Iam glad that I had the sense to save my outlook pst files (basically all my mails) in the D drive
V: No Ji. We may not be able to do that. Your laptop is out of warranty
Me: Warranty?? what are you talking?
V shows the sticker at the back of my laptop. See, it is out of warranty.
Me: If it is out of warranty, why did your team not send me an email asking me to come and get it replaced.
V: That is not my department. You need to ask the other team xxxx.
Me: Ok. Can you pls try (** I switch to pleading mode)
V: Will try, ji. Will talk to the vendor.
Me: Ok, now how will I work.
V: raise a request for new laptop
Me: But, why should I raise it. Isn't that part of your ticket resolution?
**He looked at me as if I had lost my mind
V: No, you have to raise on your own. I will close this ticket saying your hard disk crashed and nothing can be done since it is out of warranty. That is the process.
Me (looking defeated): Ok.
I then proceeded to call the help desk number again to check if I really need to raise a request for a new laptop. The girl on the other side confirmed that and raised one on my behalf. That ticket was assigned to the asset management team.
I got a desktop (thanks to K who manages all this stuff in our project). I had a lot of mails in my outlook and proceeded to respond to them.
Day Two -
I called the asset mgmt team asking them when I can get the laptop.
Asset mgmt team: Your laptop refresh is next month. We cannot give you a new laptop now.
Me: Great. But my laptop crashed and they told me it is out of warranty.
Asset mgmt team: No, it is not.
I walked to the IT team ODC and pulled in one guy who was working on something else. I told him what the Asset Mgmt team told me. After criticizing them with choice words, he assured me he would send an email to them. As promised, he did send an email that my hard disk did crash and I need to get a new laptop since it is out of warranty listing all the details. Finally they agreed to give me a new laptop.
When I asked them when I can get one, they responded saying that I was in a queue and it will take time. I responded immediately saying that it is ok, I am ready to wait. But I have end of month activities that are important. What should I do about it? They finally agreed to give me one the next day.
In the mean time, V told me it will take one more day to get the back up. I continued working on the desktop.
Day Three -
I finally got a laptop in the afternoon. People told me that I was lucky to get it in two days. I started setting up stuff. It still felt empty without all the old data. V assured me he will get back the data from the D drive.
That was when I looked at my new laptop. No D drive. What the hell? I went back to the asset mgmt team and asked why I did not have a D drive. They told me that these days all the laptops and desktops are set up without a D drive. That is the new process. Seriously, who creates all these new processes??? They dismissed me politely and asked me to use the internal One drive.
Day Four -
I got a call that my back up was completed and I could come and get it transferred to the new laptop. I heaved a sigh of relief and immediately went with my new laptop. That had all the work I had done for the last 16 years!!! It took them 2 hours to get the back up transferred.
My life returned to a semblance of normality after I got all my old data transferred to the new laptop.
These days, I make sure I take a back up of all my files before I leave for the day 😄
Did I really write an entire blog post on my laptop crash, huh???
When I switched on my laptop on Tuesday morning at office, it just would not start up. I got a blue window screen that had a lot of messages glaring at me. Basically, it tried to convey that the laptop had a big problem and it would not start unless the issue was resolved. The problem with working in a large firm is that, I cannot just walk up to the IT team to get the hardware fixed. I have to create a help desk ticket by calling the toll free number and then the ticket would be routed to that IT person who sits in the same floor where I work. Why?? process you see. We should all stick to process!!!!
Anyways, the guy came in, had one good look at my laptop and told me he had to take it to his desk to check what the problem is. After half an hour, he called me to give the bad news -
V (the IT person): Ji, your hard disk has crashed. You need to raise a request for a new laptop.
Me: What?? crashed?? What about all my data??
V: all gone.
Me: What?? All gone??
**Iam momentarily shocked, stunned. It was as if someone had just poured a bucket of water on my head.
Me: You should be able to get the ones saved in my D drive.
** Iam glad that I had the sense to save my outlook pst files (basically all my mails) in the D drive
V: No Ji. We may not be able to do that. Your laptop is out of warranty
Me: Warranty?? what are you talking?
V shows the sticker at the back of my laptop. See, it is out of warranty.
Me: If it is out of warranty, why did your team not send me an email asking me to come and get it replaced.
V: That is not my department. You need to ask the other team xxxx.
Me: Ok. Can you pls try (** I switch to pleading mode)
V: Will try, ji. Will talk to the vendor.
Me: Ok, now how will I work.
V: raise a request for new laptop
Me: But, why should I raise it. Isn't that part of your ticket resolution?
**He looked at me as if I had lost my mind
V: No, you have to raise on your own. I will close this ticket saying your hard disk crashed and nothing can be done since it is out of warranty. That is the process.
Me (looking defeated): Ok.
I then proceeded to call the help desk number again to check if I really need to raise a request for a new laptop. The girl on the other side confirmed that and raised one on my behalf. That ticket was assigned to the asset management team.
I got a desktop (thanks to K who manages all this stuff in our project). I had a lot of mails in my outlook and proceeded to respond to them.
Day Two -
I called the asset mgmt team asking them when I can get the laptop.
Asset mgmt team: Your laptop refresh is next month. We cannot give you a new laptop now.
Me: Great. But my laptop crashed and they told me it is out of warranty.
Asset mgmt team: No, it is not.
I walked to the IT team ODC and pulled in one guy who was working on something else. I told him what the Asset Mgmt team told me. After criticizing them with choice words, he assured me he would send an email to them. As promised, he did send an email that my hard disk did crash and I need to get a new laptop since it is out of warranty listing all the details. Finally they agreed to give me a new laptop.
When I asked them when I can get one, they responded saying that I was in a queue and it will take time. I responded immediately saying that it is ok, I am ready to wait. But I have end of month activities that are important. What should I do about it? They finally agreed to give me one the next day.
In the mean time, V told me it will take one more day to get the back up. I continued working on the desktop.
Day Three -
I finally got a laptop in the afternoon. People told me that I was lucky to get it in two days. I started setting up stuff. It still felt empty without all the old data. V assured me he will get back the data from the D drive.
That was when I looked at my new laptop. No D drive. What the hell? I went back to the asset mgmt team and asked why I did not have a D drive. They told me that these days all the laptops and desktops are set up without a D drive. That is the new process. Seriously, who creates all these new processes??? They dismissed me politely and asked me to use the internal One drive.
Day Four -
I got a call that my back up was completed and I could come and get it transferred to the new laptop. I heaved a sigh of relief and immediately went with my new laptop. That had all the work I had done for the last 16 years!!! It took them 2 hours to get the back up transferred.
My life returned to a semblance of normality after I got all my old data transferred to the new laptop.
These days, I make sure I take a back up of all my files before I leave for the day 😄
Did I really write an entire blog post on my laptop crash, huh???
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