You want me to do WHAT?!

By Shikole Struber

My company has several high profile clients. I legally cannot name them, but many are, or were, part of the Federal Government here in DC. One such client called in the other day asking about why his phone and internet bill was so high this month. I told him I'd call the company and get it all straightened out.

I had never had to deal with one of our high profile clients before. That was typically left up to more experienced, seasoned tech people in the office. Why would they have the Executive Assistant explain how to back up the very important servers that host very important documents for very important people when someone who actually knows what a server is could do that?

So I called the phone and internet company with what seemed like a simple question: Why did so-and-so's bill go from $360 a month to close to $1000. The answer I recieved was priceless.

"Well so-and-so's previous contract with us gave him the Federal Government rates. Considering he no longer works for the Federal Government he no longer qualifies for those rates."

Imagine having to relay that message back to the client.