Why do so many people not acknowledge help 27

[johnnymac43]

When a question is asked in a technical forum, the first reply is usually a useful piece of advice or a request for more details. In some tek-tips forums, the number of occasions when there is no response from the originator is substantial. In my view, a word of thanks or a simple answer to a question should be the 'normal' outcome.

I recently raised this topic in a technical forum. When it disappeared after a short time I was unsure whether it was because it was in the wrong place, or because the thread attracted some unexpected abuse:- (What is your problem?) (What are you complaining about?) (Why haven't you given more stars to us for our good advice to others?)

After some deliberation I have decided to try this forum in the hope of getting some serious discussion going.

Cheers

John

 

[DrJavaJoe]

edfair When someone post homework and expect the answer to the homework posted fully complete I agree with Semper, I don't give them the answer but maybe a hint on what to lookup in help.

 

[edfair]

Better to have them booted. You are only seeing one forum. Who knows what else they have already, or are planning on asking elsewhere. Unless you have looked at their posting profile and know for sure.
And rather than telling them what help to look for, would you consider just asking them if they are aware of the avialbility of built in help? Better to force them to find it on their own. Like here, being forced to ask a better question leads to clearer thinking.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[DrJavaJoe]

I always look at their profile before posting just to make sure that I'm not insulting. If it's a first time poster I see answering their question with a pointeer to where they may find an answer both help in the right direction and a hint that that this is not a help forum but a forum of professionals.

 

[kippy13]

Such is life.

"Sometimes I do not know but I try hard"- R.F. Haughty 1923

 

[Spirit]

OK, why don't people not only say thank you but why don't they search for the answer? I find myself - foolishly - cutting and pasting from my old posts with the same answer!

And still getting no thanks yet I continue to help everyone I can.

Perhaps I should take 10 seconds to read the "How To.." file on Tek-tips and insert a hyperlink instead or perhaps I should just post a question on how to do it..... then not say thank you when I am told the answer!

I think I said it about 100 posts ago but some people are just damned rude!

 

[medic]

Spirit,

I suggest you create FAQs for those posts. Then, you just post the reference to your FAQs when answering those questions. This way, you're giving hint to the poster that he/she should check out the FAQ section first before posting those questions.

 

[YNOTU]

I go thru the same thing all the time. I have actually try to educate some like this: thread333-733000 but it doesn't seem to help.

I many times google their questions, find the answer and post the google results link and sometimes get "I don't see it, all I see is links"

 

[Spirit]

But will they look at the FAQ's before posting? But worse than that what of those people who do search find the exact thing they are looking for but find no answer?

If people here think that people not saying thank you is upsetting what about a doctor who saves lives but eventually gets no thanks or worse gets sued for some mickey mouse reason?

Or how about a copper? Risks their lives dealing with the scum of society and get nothing but abuse and grief from those they are trying to protect?

Lets put a point to this we - as "IT'ers" - are amoungst the lowest of the low. We rank along side cleaners, no one even notices the cleaner until your bins not been emptied and there's not enough room for another plastic cup previously full of coffee and your empty bag of crisp (used to be full of AOL CD's too but they don't seem to be arriving as often LOL!).

We do a thankless job, we are seen as a burden on the asset sheet. Its always why have we got so many IT staff when everything runs fine and they don't do anything all day? Or "why do we have so many IT staff when everything is broken all the time any way".

If you want thanks everytime you post, create a second log on and leave thanks yourself otherwise.... don't ever expect it!

Iain

 

[ecobb]

In some of the programming forums I participate in, it seems that there is a growing number of people with the attitude of "Here's my code, here's my error. Fix it." They expect you to fix their problem and post the corrected code so that they may copy and paste it into their application. Never a star, never a "Thank You". The only way you know it worked is if you don't hear from them again, because if you do hear from them again, it's usually "I have a new error, fix it." I have actually seen one person who (I suspect) took his application and, piece by piece, got it written for him (for free) through Tek-Teps.

Over the last few days I've gotten to where I won't answer a post unless I can tell that the user is really trying and really needs some help. Maybe I'm fed up, maybe I'm burned out, maybe I'm just too busy at work. Whatever the reason, I've pretty much decided that I can't afford to waste my time researching problems and debugging other people's code if they're going to be ungratefull, or if they're too lazy to try to help themselves. Oh, I'll still watch the forums, and I'll offer advice from time to time, and in a few weeks (days??) I'll probably be back answering as many questions as I can, but for now...I'm on strike!


Hope This Helps!

Ecobb

"Alright Brain, you don't like me, and I don't like you. But lets just do this, and I can get back to killing you with beer." - Homer Simpson

 

[jrbarnett]

I have a similar experience to ecobb as he mentions above.

There is one tt member who classifies himself as a programmer, but asks the most basic questions relating to the programming language that he is developing in. I don't think he is a student because the scenario he presents is too complex for a typical university assignment and goes on for too long, but unfortunately, he seems to work within the health industry and write systems for hospitals.
With regards to the complexity of his problems, they are the sort that experienced developers will know the solution too off the top of their heads.

I would hate to have to use anything he has written (or had written for him by tek-tippers) which he has cobbled together.

Anything by him now I ignore, but other people do answer.

John

 

[medic]

Spirit,

"If people here think that people not saying thank you is upsetting what about a doctor who saves lives but eventually gets no thanks..."

I would agree with this if doctors does it for free like what we do. Although personally, I always thank my doctor (and I pay for the services).

 

[Spirit]

Medic, but THAT is exactly why you participate in this post, because you DO SAY THANK YOU!

The point I was trying to make was a more general one regarding IT troubleshooting not many users actually take the time to say thank you.

Having said that I am so used to people not saying thank you or letting me know a solution worked that when someone does say thank you it really gives me a warm glow and a big smile perhaps if everyone said thank you that feeling may become diluted?

Iain

 

[mrdenny]

I'd have to agree with Ecobb. Some days I want to go on strike. It's amazing how few people bring basic manors from the real world into the online world, including Tek-Tips.

It seams at least to me, that many people just are posting questions not realizing that there is actually a person at the other end of the web page typing in the response. To many people it is just a web page. It is there to give information without thanks. Would you thank Google for answering your search request?

The one thing that keeps me from simply flying off the handle some days is that it seams that many of the people posting questions are speaking English as a second language. At least I hope that they aren’t native English speakers. If they are they need to step away from the computer for a few days, and collect themselves. I'm not a social engineer, or a student of social policies (or what ever the actual term is). So I don't know what the standards in other parts of the world are. I'm sure that there are some places where not saying "Thanks" is just as polite as saying thanks. I have no idea.

Personally I do enjoy the star, and/or that little effort of saying thank you. Looking back over my last few days posting, on days when I got a thank you of some sort I came back to the forums most often that day. Am I being petty? Probably, but if you’ve just saved hours or days or hunting around the web trying to find a resolution to a problem, and you can ask someone to point you in the correct direction then take the 10 seconds and say thanks.

Just my $.02.

This is the end of today’s rant.


Denny

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

 

[Spirit]

On the subject of manors.... why is it when ever I call the American offices they never say goodbye to end a conversation, and you have to sit there and think; did they hang up, did the conversation end or were we cut off?

 

[Nortellian]

cheap labor

 

[SQLSister]

Gee spirit, must be a compnay culture thing. Every American office I've ever worked for, the people say goodbye.

 

[mrdenny]

Spirit,
That could either be lazy reps, or the script.

Many call centers have a script that the agent must follow. That's why they will always answer the phone the same way, and end the call the same way.

Or a compination of the two.

Some call centers I've looked at are so anal about the script that if you don't follow the script to the letter you are in major trouble (includes being fired). If you can't troubleshoot your way out of a wet paper bag, that's ok, as long as you follow the script.

Other times the rep just hates his/her job and doesn't care. They are just doing the job until something better comes along.

Non of these are an excuse for poor manors over the phone, but they are the reasons. At lease in my experiance.

Denny

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

 

[Spirit]

Maybe people just don't like me? :'(

I must admit that I phone tech support somewhere down south and the tech said that I would have to phone back as the tornado siren was going off and apologised..... for like a minute!

Me? I would have been down in the Storm cellar before the handset hit the desk!!!!!

I guess I go back a few posts (well about a hundred) some people are nice and hold the door open other will let it close in your face!

Iain

 

[SemperFiDownUnda]

edfair - Off topic I've been train in all of the following
0331,1391,3533,4063,5711,8811

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

For poor manors, I place blame solely on bad architects.

Cheers,


Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door