- Oct 30, 1999
- 11,815
- 104
- 106
This is the last email I sent from my work. I hit the send button while I was still angry. A big mistake. I'm usually pretty nice to people, but for this guy I made an exception. A very unprofessional exception:
"I don't know where that (last email) came from, but do you honestly think that a $40 piece of RAM is worth me 'jerking you around'. I think not.
I'm insulted not just by the accusation, but that you think that it'd be worth one ounce of my valuable time to single out one person and get some sort of sick pleasure from trying to help them when I know I can't. I never saw the RAM and as far as I know the RAM is not here. But, if it was, do you really think I'd bother lying to you?
All day long I sit on the phone and talk to people trying to help them with their computer problems because it's something I like to do. All day long I have people send in their computer parts for me to test and troubleshoot because working on PCs is something I like to do and FOR YOU TO COME ALONG AND SAY THIS SORT OF THING TO ME IS BEYOND REAL.
Sir, if you sent back a stick of RAM and we did not realize it was in the package, I'm sorry. If it got thrown away or misplaced, I'm sorry. For all I know, you never sent the RAM and this was some sort of scheme to get me to send you a free piece of RAM, but I never even thought of that as a possibility until now.
I'm not going to "blame you" for sending it back to test with the motherboard and CPU and I'm not going to accuse you of "trying to pull a fast one". That's pointless. It accomplishes nothing. But your crass remarks and piss poor attitude have no place in my mailbox.
Have a wonderful existence, without any further assistance from me.
Good bye."
So what lead to this scathing email?
This guy returned a motherboard and CPU.
We tested it.
It tested good.
We sent it back.
I got the following email:
"I sent this board back to you I also sent you 64mg. PC-133 with it that belonged to me."
RAM was not one of the items on the RMA, nor did he buy RAM from us. I responded to him via email:
"Exactly where was the RAM? Was it floating around inside the box or was it actually inside the motherboard box?"
He responded to me:
"It was in the same box with the board, cpu and fan. If you can't find it I'm just out forty bucks and to hell with it."
Well that's not cool. If he sent it, he sent it. I sent one more email and began looking around for the RAM:
"$40 or not, bad or not, I'd like to find that RAM. It's just the "right thing" to do."
I began to look around for the RAM. After half of an hour, I could find no RAM that had my work place's serial number sticker on it. Maybe it was in the bottom of the box he shipped it to us in and it got thrown away with the fill. I gave up for the time being and waited to hear from the customer again.
Eventually he responded:
"It was in a plastic envelope and I stuck it down between the cpu and the fan hoping it would stay there. If it's lost it's lost. Thanks for your efforts anyway."
He's being pretty cool about this. But, if it was really in between the CPU and fan and we found the CPU and fan and we managed to return those two pieces to him, why not the RAM?
I decided to shoot him off another email and do some more looking around:
"If it was between the CPU and the fan, and we found the CPU and fan, then I don't see how we could miss the RAM and accidently throw it away."
I still couldn't find his RAM and another day passed.
Tonight, I get the following email from him:
"I might not know very much, but I do know when someone is jerking me around. If you find the RAM shove up your ass and tell your boss he can do the same with his company."
Where did that come from??? I just don't understand. I honestly don't think there is anything that hurts more than to have someone that you're trying to help take a piss on you.
In the years I've worked as a tech, I've lost more and more faith in humanity and have felt more and more that the majority of people out there are self centered, arrogant, selfish sons of bitches, but I was totally not prepared for this email to come along and cold clock me just as I'm going home for the weekend.
Needless to say, the 6 pack of Becks is not going to last long tonight.
I'm actually contemplating going back to work for Pizza Hut. At least you can't get accused of losing someone's RAM and no one threatens to shove a pizza up your ass because you got a topping wrong.

"I don't know where that (last email) came from, but do you honestly think that a $40 piece of RAM is worth me 'jerking you around'. I think not.
I'm insulted not just by the accusation, but that you think that it'd be worth one ounce of my valuable time to single out one person and get some sort of sick pleasure from trying to help them when I know I can't. I never saw the RAM and as far as I know the RAM is not here. But, if it was, do you really think I'd bother lying to you?
All day long I sit on the phone and talk to people trying to help them with their computer problems because it's something I like to do. All day long I have people send in their computer parts for me to test and troubleshoot because working on PCs is something I like to do and FOR YOU TO COME ALONG AND SAY THIS SORT OF THING TO ME IS BEYOND REAL.
Sir, if you sent back a stick of RAM and we did not realize it was in the package, I'm sorry. If it got thrown away or misplaced, I'm sorry. For all I know, you never sent the RAM and this was some sort of scheme to get me to send you a free piece of RAM, but I never even thought of that as a possibility until now.
I'm not going to "blame you" for sending it back to test with the motherboard and CPU and I'm not going to accuse you of "trying to pull a fast one". That's pointless. It accomplishes nothing. But your crass remarks and piss poor attitude have no place in my mailbox.
Have a wonderful existence, without any further assistance from me.
Good bye."
So what lead to this scathing email?
This guy returned a motherboard and CPU.
We tested it.
It tested good.
We sent it back.
I got the following email:
"I sent this board back to you I also sent you 64mg. PC-133 with it that belonged to me."
RAM was not one of the items on the RMA, nor did he buy RAM from us. I responded to him via email:
"Exactly where was the RAM? Was it floating around inside the box or was it actually inside the motherboard box?"
He responded to me:
"It was in the same box with the board, cpu and fan. If you can't find it I'm just out forty bucks and to hell with it."
Well that's not cool. If he sent it, he sent it. I sent one more email and began looking around for the RAM:
"$40 or not, bad or not, I'd like to find that RAM. It's just the "right thing" to do."
I began to look around for the RAM. After half of an hour, I could find no RAM that had my work place's serial number sticker on it. Maybe it was in the bottom of the box he shipped it to us in and it got thrown away with the fill. I gave up for the time being and waited to hear from the customer again.
Eventually he responded:
"It was in a plastic envelope and I stuck it down between the cpu and the fan hoping it would stay there. If it's lost it's lost. Thanks for your efforts anyway."
He's being pretty cool about this. But, if it was really in between the CPU and fan and we found the CPU and fan and we managed to return those two pieces to him, why not the RAM?
I decided to shoot him off another email and do some more looking around:
"If it was between the CPU and the fan, and we found the CPU and fan, then I don't see how we could miss the RAM and accidently throw it away."
I still couldn't find his RAM and another day passed.
Tonight, I get the following email from him:
"I might not know very much, but I do know when someone is jerking me around. If you find the RAM shove up your ass and tell your boss he can do the same with his company."
Where did that come from??? I just don't understand. I honestly don't think there is anything that hurts more than to have someone that you're trying to help take a piss on you.
In the years I've worked as a tech, I've lost more and more faith in humanity and have felt more and more that the majority of people out there are self centered, arrogant, selfish sons of bitches, but I was totally not prepared for this email to come along and cold clock me just as I'm going home for the weekend.
Needless to say, the 6 pack of Becks is not going to last long tonight.
I'm actually contemplating going back to work for Pizza Hut. At least you can't get accused of losing someone's RAM and no one threatens to shove a pizza up your ass because you got a topping wrong.
