We're mostly developers here, but I'd wager that plenty of you started your careers in tech support.  Personally, at my first IT job I was responsible for reimaging hard drives, as well as, uh... actually, I guess that's it.  I'd always find disgusting stuff on the PCs I'd clean, including a gem of an ad with a woman inviting the user to (I'm phrasing this as nicely as I can) "**** her **** and *** in her *****," as the user is a "nasty *******."

Speaking of nasty *******s, the large multinational tech support corporation that Doly G. works for has a unique structure.  Front line support goes to one company, and second line support another.  Third-line support is where things get interesting.  Behold!

The call comes to The Receiver.  The Receiver, despite knowing that The Actual Fixer is just a few floors away in the same building in the UK, logs the call in Logging System A to be handled by Canadian Support in Canada.

Canadian Support determines whether The Actual Fixer should be the one to fix it by calling The User.  If The Actual Fixer should fix it, Canadian Support logs the call to Logging System 2.

Still following?  Good.  If The Actual Fixer gets the call and everything goes well, the call gets closed.

If not, for example, say the user calls The Receiver and it's a simple case that gets fixed quickly, The Actual Fixer asks the user to still open a case for logging purposes.  Canadian Support immediately closes the case because it's resolved.  The case now enters the Support Case Abyss.  Legend around the office says that Company C is responsible for the Abyss, but no one questions The Process.

Cases can fall into The Abyss in any number of ways.

  • The computer isn't in Company A's inventory records
  • The computer isn't in Company B's inventory records
  • The user's support contract is expired at Company A, but not Company B (or vise versa)
  • The user discusses the issue with the wrong company at some point
  • The user tries to close the case early because he or she has fixed it on their own
  • Any step of The Process doesn't go exactly as planned