I have decided to end my career as an IT Professional.

[thecomputerguy]

/clickbait

I have decided to end my Career as an IT Professional and have decided to become a full-time password re-setter technician.

Seriously, my entire day has been spend just resetting passwords.

Hey we need to reinstall your exchange account, What's your password?

"I never had a password"

Hey we need to reset your password since you don't remember it.

"Lets use mypassword2"

No Ma'am that wont work we need something more complex.

"But that's what I use for AOL they let me use that"

No Ma'am that wont work.

"OK FINE! Lets use mypassword3"

Ma'am

"I never had a password before why do I need one now"

Ok so if someone just clicked a button and was able to get into your email would you be OK with that?

"No"

Ok So what's your password then?

"I don't remember"

Ok let's reset it. I'm sending a security code to your backup email which ends in @earthilink.com

"I don't use that account anymore"

Ok I understand you don't use it but what's the password so we can get the code?

"I never had a password"

Hey we need to reset your password since you don't remember it.

"Lets use mypassword2"

No Ma'am that wont work we need something more complex.

"But that's what I use for AOL they let me use that"

No Ma'am that wont work.

"OK FINE! Lets use mypassword3"

Ma'am

"I never had a password before why do I need one now"

Ok so if someone just clicked a button and was able to get into your email would you be OK with that?

*** 3 HOURS LATER ***

"Ok so you reset my password and I had my friend send me an email and I didn't get it".

What email did they send it to?

"marysue945@gmail.com"

Ma'am your email address is msue945@gmail.com

"Oh my god thats right I totally forgot about that!"

*** 3 HOURS LATER ***

"Hi you reset my password for my email and now my keyboard doesn't work"

Ma'am is the power switch on for your keyboard

"Oh by golly me it was turned off would you believe that! I turned it off when Alfred from Boston called! He had a thick accent and he sounded like he was from India but he said I needed the Apple Protection Plan because my algorithms were being stolen!"


Seriously ... it blows my mind that somehow some people generations before me were able to chew gum and walk at the same time all while being able to afford a living and I can barely afford tiny rental house for my family (probably a California problem).

Literally 5 phone calls today, all password resetting. Totaling 3 hours of work.

 

[GTP]

Seriously ... it blows my mind that somehow some people generations before me were able to chew gum and walk at the same time all while being able to afford a living and I can barely afford tiny rental house for my family.

Hahahahaah.
I'm sitting here about to call a client about their email password. (of course they "never" had one!)
I can feel your pain.

 

[thecomputerguy]

Hahahahaah.
I'm sitting here about to call a client about their email password. (of course they "never" had one!)
I can feel your

It's so frusterating because 95% of the time I know the answer to the question and the wormhole I'm about to go down before I even ask it.

"What's your password?"

"I don't have one"

 

[britechguy]

And my response to, "I don't have one," is always, "Yes, you absolutely do. You could not access your {insert whatever here} without one. You may have no memory of what it is or setting it up, but you DO have one, and always have."

Then I move on immediately to set about resetting it, if possible. Then, after doing so, making sure the user has set up something for themselves where they log passwords. I really don't care anymore if it's a notebook in their desk drawer or a password manager. The threat of a notebook being stolen from someone's home or (locked, I'd hope) desk at work is far lower than the threat of this whole incident repeating itself long before that.

 

[GTP]

my response to, "I don't have one," is always, "Yes, you absolutely do.

....Is then challenged by the insinuation that somehow you've caused this mess. They think you are calling them a liar because they have no recollection of ever having a password.
Mostly the standard response to my probing is "well you've been my IT guy for xx years, why didnt you record it?"

There is no cure for stupid.

 

[britechguy]

....Is then challenged by the insinuation that somehow you've caused this mess. They think you are calling them a liar because they have no recollection of ever having a password.
Mostly the standard response to my probing is "well you've been my IT guy for xx years, why didnt you record it?"

There is no cure for stupid.

Agreed. But there's no tolerating willful stupidity, either, at least on my part.

A plain statement of fact is just that. You cannot possibly access {insert thing here} without a password. I will not even permit a challenging this simple truism. If it costs me a customer, and so far it has not, so be it.

 

[frase]

I didn't have one it automagically logs in.

I never created one...oh hang on my nephew did he is good with computers.
Ok can you contact your nephew.
No he is overseas.

 

[britechguy]

I didn't have one it automagically logs in.

I never created one...oh hang on my nephew did he is good with computers.
Ok can you contact your nephew.
No he is overseas.

A) One of the reasons I despise the entire development of "password memory" by virtually any piece of software that would encounter one needing to be entered. It's like handing out copies of your house key to every store clerk, gas station attendant, grocery checker, etc., you ever encounter.

B) At least those who have that flash of, "Oh, I had so and so do it for me," have had the light bulb illuminate. I never expect that a password will be produced, but I do want the realization that you absolutely, positively DO have one, no matter how you initially got it set up.

 

[Philippe]

I've really got used to it. Tell them to write it down -> "No need, I'll remember it, it's easy..."
I do not care anymore, as long as they have money to spend, I have time to click that "Forget password" button again and again

 

[britechguy]

I've really got used to it. Tell them to write it down -> "No need, I'll remember it, it's easy..."
I do not care anymore, as long as they have money to spend, I have time to click that "Forget password" button again and again

Yep. And in the list of issues that are extremely thorny and difficult to fix, this isn't generally one of them. And on the rare occasion where all reset methods are thwarted, the problem is not because of anything I did, or did not, do. I'm not taking responsibility for anyone's "house keys" as a matter of course just because I may have visited their house to provide services (and often have never visited their house before at all).

Actions, or failure to take appropriate ones, that are not mine to take are not my concern.

And the old saw, "Failure to prepare on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part," has been brought to bear more than once. While I try to help every client as quickly as possible, I won't drop everything in my life or with my other clients because one of the others has done something bone-headed that's put them in a bind. They go into the queue, and may get bumped ahead of other optional or low priority stuff, but that's it.

 

[Philippe]

Yep and their problems aren't mine. I can help them solve their problems, but they should * never * become mine, period.
(Very happy to charge on a hourly rate...)

 

[NJW]

We need a bulk-like button for a complete thread. I've been out this morning and just returned to three missed calls, all the same and I know what they're going to be ...

Oh well, that's most of this afternoon down as billable!

 

[NETWizz]

Wait until you get them on two factor, and they have no export codes, don't remember where their authenticaor is, don't have a Yubikey anymore etc.

 

[alexsmith2709]

I have to agree with this whole thread. I often get the "I dont have a password" line and like @thecomputerguy i have started responding with "If someone just clicked a button and was able to get into your email would you be OK with that?" or "If i go to hotmail.com your emails are not on my screen, you DO have a password."

 

[HCHTech]

There are days when I think that's all we do - reset people's passwords. Luckily not all days are like that, but boy, does this whole thread ring true. I'm sure other professions have similar issues, but it's hard to imagine they are so pervasive and predictable as this.

 

[Mick]

Almost all browsers now keep an accessible list of passwords and if the customer is telling you that they 'never had one', it's odds-on that the browser is pre-filling it for them. Same with at least some email clients. So that's where I look. I know we all know this - just a bit surprised no-one's mentioned it in this thread.

 

[Larry Sabo]

mailpv is often helpful, but sometimes not.

 

[sapphirescales]

Almost all browsers now keep an accessible list of passwords and if the customer is telling you that they 'never had one', it's odds-on that the browser is pre-filling it for them. Same with at least some email clients. So that's where I look. I know we all know this - just a bit surprised no-one's mentioned it in this thread.

This. WebBrowserPassView is a lifesaver.

 

[britechguy]

This. WebBrowserPassView is a lifesaver.

Indeed. It's also a clear demonstration of why having browsers save passwords is an appallingly stupid practice.

It may make our lives easier, as far as using a utility in the class of the aforementioned one, but it also makes it equally possible for a minimally creative hacker to do precisely the same.

 

[Philippe]

This. WebBrowserPassView is a lifesaver.

You're lucky. Most of the time they've tried & saved a dozen bad passwords before they call me...