• Bill (unregistered) in reply to Diamonds
    Diamonds:
    Going a bit further, where did Bill think the email would come from if he stoped paying the bills? There isn't some kind of seperate 'email bill.'
    Well you don't have to pay to send an email...

    Also the real WTF is all these damn ads.

  • Vicky (unregistered)

    Dude. Everyone's going on about Bill and how stupid he was, but I want to know what happened to Tom! Why did he turn into a virtual recluse? What was he doing in that closed office all day every day?

  • AC (unregistered) in reply to eric76
    Wyle_E:
    The Amish still use them.

    Check out http://www.lehmans.com/index.jsp. Click on appliances and then go to the refrigerators. You can have your choice of propane, dual propane/electric, and kerosene.

    Cool, I wasn't aware of gas refrigeration! Found the following link also useful http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_refrigerator.

    /ac

    Finally! A web-store catering the needs of the Amish population.

  • n3txpert (unregistered) in reply to jgayhart

    How come it could be a good company anyway?

  • (cs)

    I used to work for an ISP, and we had a customer like this once.

    The usual troublesome customer, whenever there was a problem, it was left to the secretary to call us to sort it out. The secretary that always called us clearly had no understanding of computers, but I guess she was under pressure from her boss, or whoever, to get the problem fixed, and would always give us a hard time. Usually it was about e-mails not arriving promptly or some such.

    They called up one day to cancel their ADSL. Not migrate away, mind, cancel. We knew that e-mails were very important to their business (given all the grief they'd given us in the past), and by cancelling their ADSL, we knew that due to the way BT worked, they would be without ADSL (if they chose to go with someone else) for at least a week. So, we tried to explain this, check that was what they wanted, were they sure they didn't want to migrate to another company instead etc. etc. But they were adamant.

    The day their service gets cut, they call us. Their e-mail wasn't working.

    I took the call. I had the explain to the secretary that of course it didn't work, they didn't have an Internet connection.

    "Our e-mails don't come over the Internet, they come over Outlook!"

    sigh

  • Locutus (unregistered) in reply to Martin

    Hehe. It's easy to see who has worked at an ISP.

    It's my current job and this is something that comes up daily.

    C - "My email doesnt work!" Me - "Can you surf the web ?" C - "I dont know. Why is that important ?"

    And most customers dont browse the web, they just use outlook. And yes, they almost always have a highspeed connection that they dont really need.

  • Merijn Vogel (unregistered)

    In the early days (over 10 years ago) I worked at an ISP. When people informed about that Internet Thingie, I started to explain they needed a computer, a modem, ... Those days, one out of ten would say that computers were too difficult for them and terminate the call.

  • chrxs (unregistered) in reply to AC
    AC:
    Finally! A web-store catering the needs of the Amish population.
    It took a few seconds, but: nice one.
  • brodie (unregistered)

    Holy cow. Some people need to just be put down. I mean, seriously, how the hell do you make it to be an adult if you're that stupid?

  • (cs) in reply to Alcari
    Alcari:
    Ahh the memories.

    I used to install DSL back when nobody had that. At least 1 in 4 had allready cancelled their phone subscription.

    bear in mind, they decided to do that, somewhere between the moment they were told they really needed the phoneline and me turning up on the doorstep with a bag full of stuff.

    Then of course, I had to "Fix it"...

    You'd think the phone company would have some measure in place that would prevent a customer from canceling his phone service if he has a pending DSL install order. That's assuming it's the same phone company, of course, but as far as I know it usually is.

  • (cs) in reply to Theo
    Theo:
    "The real WTF" (c) is that this one is obviously made up.

    No. "The real WTF" is that someone named Theo is posting to a technical computer site but obviously has no experience working with computer users and bureaucrats. If he had that experience, he wouldn't have any trouble believing that this story was true.

  • (cs) in reply to Diamonds
    Diamonds:
    Thats unpossible. How can someone be so dim as to not connect the internet with their email. At least ONCE in this person's life, the email has been down and at least ONCE that reason was because the internet was down. How can you not connect the two together?

    Going a bit further, where did Bill think the email would come from if he stoped paying the bills? There isn't some kind of seperate 'email bill.'

    WTF

    unpossible ? :)

  • (cs) in reply to Vicky
    Vicky:
    Dude. Everyone's going on about Bill and how stupid he was, but I want to know what happened to Tom! Why did he turn into a virtual recluse? What was he doing in that closed office all day every day?

    Surfing pr0n, what else is there to do? Why else do you think he needed such a fast connection for the company.

  • George Nacht (unregistered) in reply to vt_mruhlin
    vt_mruhlin:
    I'm not sure which is worse, that Bill wanted to cancel "the internet" to begin with, or that he thought "I haven't paid the Bills for 3 months" was a better solution than "I called the company and told them to cancel the service".

    Fully agree. Maybe I´m just naive, but I must say this:

    This Bob guy is actually ACCOUNTANT?!?!

  • (cs)

    The issue is that the guy was getting calls from customers complaining about not being able to access the server. This could easily be solved by not paying the phone bill.

  • (cs)

    My main concern would be that a company whose business is apparently completely dependant on an internet connection to their server isn't housed in a dedicated facility with redundancies etc.

  • Stuff Happens (unregistered) in reply to Theo

    Why would you say that on this website?

    This website is filled with examples of technical people making stupid mistakes with computer/internet technology they understand. (Sometimes they only half-understand it)

    Why would you disbelieve an example of a non-technical person making a stupid mistake with computer/internet technology he doesn't understand at all?

    I have worked at several Internet service providers and I can confirm that this kind of thing happens every day.

  • JohnB (unregistered) in reply to derobert
    derobert:
    Well, considering the user interface and form factor of a soda machine, it'd be pretty darn impressive to mechanically use the energy of five falling quarters (approx mass: 28g) to dislodge a soda (approx mass: 350g) and to do so in a manner that kicking the machine on the side wouldn't give you free sodas.
    Your comment reminded me of this style of pop vending machine. http://www.antiquemystique.com/pages/7140_jpg.htm
  • Andrew (unregistered) in reply to Peter

    I submitted this story and I had the final part in because I wanted to ensure everyone was aware that Bill was unaware of why they needed the Internet, he just paid the bill because he was told it would fix the problem.

  • Andrew (unregistered) in reply to KenW
    KenW:
    Theo:
    "The real WTF" (c) is that this one is obviously made up.

    No. "The real WTF" is that someone named Theo is posting to a technical computer site but obviously has no experience working with computer users and bureaucrats. If he had that experience, he wouldn't have any trouble believing that this story was true.

    I'd love to say I made this up.

    I can't.

  • Al (unregistered)

    ISP : Uh... wait, turn on your computer and I’ll fax you some internet.

  • cellocgw (unregistered) in reply to derobert

    Yeah I know you're having fun, but for the sarcasm-lacking out there: You put the quarters in, which lets you push the coin mech past the mechanical stops, thus using your own muscle power to push out the next bottle of soda. And with a big enough bag of ice inside, you don't need mechanical refrigeration.

    By the way, most coin mechs are in fact designed with a solenoid or equivalent switch so that, in the absence of electrical power, all coins are diverted to the return tray. That's how my favorite gadget, the pinball machine, works.

  • (cs) in reply to Boxer
    Boxer:
    The real WTF is that Americans don't use Octopus vending machines.

    Is it at all possible that is because they don't use Octopus cards? The ones you can only get in Hong Kong?

    The real WTF is that Mancunians don't use Oyster cards.

  • Jared (unregistered) in reply to sas
    sas:
    Theo:
    "The real WTF" (c) is that this one is obviously made up.
    By (c), were you trying for ©? You know that (c) is meaningless, right? Especially when you have nothing to copyright. Especially when you forgot to mention the date or the copyright holder's name. Or did you really mean ®? Did you really register that as a trademark? If not, you should consider it's a federal offense to claim it untruthfully.

    I think he meant ™

  • Jonathan (unregistered) in reply to hunter9000

    You're right, that's in my mind the only wtf here, i mean i can understand that the guy doesn't know how the internet works. But stoping paying the bill instead of canceling the service, that's surely a big wtf an accounting guy can do.

  • Jonathan (unregistered) in reply to hunter9000
    hunter9000:
    You gotta love the business acumen it requires to think it's better to stop paying the bill instead of canceling the service. Credit history? What's that? :\

    Ah, and I missed that Bill was the company's accountant the first time I read it. Nice.

    You're right, that's in my mind the only wtf here, i mean i can understand that the guy doesn't know how the internet works. But stoping paying the bill instead of canceling the service, that's surely a big wtf an accounting guy can do.

  • Anonymouse (unregistered)
    Though Bill is still blissfully unaware of the reason it's necessary, he's still employed at the same company doing the same thing.
    The Real WTF™
  • mjd (unregistered)

    I actually understand since Bill is just accountant. After all, he knew nothing about computer. At my company, even the software engineering manager and director refuse to buy faster computers for Software Engineer since they figured IDE, Tomcat and SQL2k could run fine on a cheapest DELL machine in debugging mode without issue. After all, it only takes 10 times as much time to install our product once on that machine than in any remotely modern computer and developers only do it several times a week.

  • (cs) in reply to pitchingchris
    pitchingchris:
    Diamonds:
    Thats unpossible. How can someone be so dim as to not connect the internet with their email. At least ONCE in this person's life, the email has been down and at least ONCE that reason was because the internet was down. How can you not connect the two together?

    Going a bit further, where did Bill think the email would come from if he stoped paying the bills? There isn't some kind of seperate 'email bill.'

    WTF

    unpossible ? :)

    It's a perfectly cromulent word.

  • HUH? (unregistered) in reply to sas
    sas:
    Theo:
    "The real WTF" (c) is that this one is obviously made up.
    By (c), were you trying for ©? You know that (c) is meaningless, right? Especially when you have nothing to copyright. Especially when you forgot to mention the date or the copyright holder's name. Or did you really mean ®? Did you really register that as a trademark? If not, you should consider it's a federal offense to claim it untruthfully.

    So your problem is that he mistakenly didn't use the proper symbol which would have been a violation of federal law?

    BTW, have you trademarked the phrase "Or did you really mean"?

  • Val (unregistered)

    About those mechanical vending machines: yes, they were used in Europe at the end of the 19th century, operated by a lever. And I heard about vending machines used nearly 2000 years ago, obviously they were mechanical too.

  • Pony Gumbo (unregistered)

    I'd like to think that this story happened 10 years ago or more, but that's because I'm an optimist.

  • (cs)
    Joe works for a company that runs scrolling marquee signs using a markup language similar to HTML.

    I wonder if this language supports the MARQUEE element.

  • Northerner (unregistered) in reply to Spectre
    Spectre:
    Joe works for a company that runs scrolling marquee signs using a markup language similar to HTML.

    I wonder if this language supports the MARQUEE element.

    beats on Spectre with a <BLINK> tag

  • (cs) in reply to pitchingchris
    pitchingchris:
    Diamonds:
    Thats unpossible. How can someone be so dim as to not connect the internet with their email. At least ONCE in this person's life, the email has been down and at least ONCE that reason was because the internet was down. How can you not connect the two together?

    Going a bit further, where did Bill think the email would come from if he stoped paying the bills? There isn't some kind of seperate 'email bill.'

    WTF

    unpossible ? :)

    "Me fail English. That's unpossible." Ralph Wiggum.

  • Pinger$ (unregistered)

    This would be a WTF, if it didn't happen all the time...

    Accounting division stops paying the Internet and think, "she'll be right". Er, no.

  • Bitter and Twisted (unregistered)

    Our finance department cancelled the line rental on two phone lines that hadn't made any calls for over two years.

    The following day someone got stuck in a lift and.... Yes, you guessed it! The phone lines were the emergency links for lift if they got stuck!

    Needless to say the bill is being paid again the account details logged against the lifts in question.

  • Troy Mclure (unregistered)

    I'm sure Bill and his friends laugh at Tom when he doesnt understand fixed cost and allocation of indirect costs.

    To all of us not paying the internet bill is completely obvious and laughable - to accountants your lack of understanding of basic costing may be a huge joke to them.

  • (cs) in reply to HUH?
    HUH?:
    sas:
    Theo:
    "The real WTF" (c) is that this one is obviously made up.
    By (c), were you trying for ©? You know that (c) is meaningless, right? Especially when you have nothing to copyright. Especially when you forgot to mention the date or the copyright holder's name. Or did you really mean ®? Did you really register that as a trademark? If not, you should consider it's a federal offense to claim it untruthfully.

    So your problem is that he mistakenly didn't use the proper symbol which would have been a violation of federal law?

    BTW, have you trademarked the phrase "Or did you really mean"?

    Sorry, HUH, but sas can't respond. He is currently being questioned by the FBI in connection with a federal offense committed right here on this site...

  • (cs)

    This is a little too close to home for me unfortuntely. I too have experienced the customer abuse from their services being down because my bosses in their wisdom decided not to pay the ISP bill.

    Not cool.

  • no names pls (unregistered)

    I've actually worked for a variety of people who felt that the proper response to a service no longer required/understood/used was to just stop paying for it and see what happens.

    The sad thing is, a lot of times, it worked out for them. It allowed them to cut costs in a way that saved the business real money, while giving a grace period of sorts in case they were wrong. It also was a foolproof way of seeing what was really important. i.e. staff would tell the boss that A B and C were all vital services, but if the boss stops paying for C and no one makes any noise, maybe it wasn't that critical after all. And if he's wrong, he can claim a misunderstanding over the invoice and recover without looking like a dumbass.

    These tactics really rub me the wrong way, but sadly I've seen them work.

  • Earl Colby Pottinger (unregistered) in reply to Pap
    Pap:
    Martin:
    > How can someone be so dim as to not connect the internet with > their email.

    Because Internet is the thing you get to when you double-click the big "E". For Email, you need Outlook. So is something completely different, obviously.

    Given that most people think the Web and the Internet are the same exact thing, I'm hardly surprised.

    Had an argument with my ex-girlfriend's brother. He at the time was claiming that I could not have been using the internet in the late 1970s-early 1980s because the web did not exist then. He had never heard of Usenet or Telnet. Yet he had been working in the bank IT center for the last 15 years as a programmer and then as a manager of a programming team. There are many people working in IT itself who do not know that much about how the internet and it's services operate.

  • (cs) in reply to Earl Colby Pottinger
    Earl Colby Pottinger:
    Had an argument with my ex-girlfriend's brother. He at the time was claiming that I could not have been using the internet in the late 1970s-early 1980s because the web did not exist then. He had never heard of Usenet or Telnet. Yet he had been working in the bank IT center for the last 15 years as a programmer and then as a manager of a programming team. There are many people working in IT itself who do not know that much about how the internet and it's services operate.

    I'm not sure it was called that then though. It was ARPANET. (I started in 86 and my grades suffered due to USENET & rn)

    How fun were bang-path emails?!?!?! These young whippersnappers have it easy today! (Sheesh, 40 doesn't FEEL old.)

  • Ponedonkey (unregistered)

    I would cry, but there arent enough tears.

    CAPTCHA:smile i wish i could

  • Mangetout (unregistered)

    Happens here too every now and again - I go through the normal outage diagnostic steps, end up calling the ISP saying that the modem has sync, but won't connect, they say "er... yes, we've suspended your account, because you haven't paid the bill". My boss cancelled the direct debit because he likes to pay everything by cheque, as late as possible - maybe that works by sheer brute force for suppliers whose goods have already been received, but for service providers - nuh-uh.

  • Askabarr (unregistered)

    I am sure we are all aware of the phrase "cream rises to the top"; well there is also another rendition, although not so polite.If I remember correctly it goes" S_ _ t rises to the top". Get rid of him or put him somewhere he can't jeopardize your business.

  • martin (unregistered)
    Though Bill is still blissfully unaware of the reason it's necessary, Joe managed to get him to start paying those irritating bills again...

    ...the minute Joe replied "how about porn?"

  • (cs) in reply to sas

    "If not, you should consider it's a federal offense to claim it untruthfully" - wow, talk about touchy ! And Im not in the US anyway so do I care ?

  • steve (unregistered)

    TRWTF is that Bill thought that he could make a decision on something that he knew was computer/tech-related without consulting the IT person.

  • (nodebb)

    so dope

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