Welcome to the Inferno

I was going to say "Hell", buuuuut I guess I shouldn't be so harsh on my job (although, Inferno and Hell pretty much carry the same connotation, but "Inferno" sounds a little more...poetic, maybe) - mainly because it's a job, and it pays. And it's in an air-conditioned office, which, given the recent tally of over-100 degree days in NC, is a great thing. But those are about all of its redeeming qualities. So, to all 4 readers of my blog, I present... (drum roll please) the list of things that suck about my job (job, company, etc.):

1. The training. Or, more accurately, lack thereof. I could write an entire blog entry just on this. But suffice it to say, I'm expected to do technical support on products for which the training consists of about 5 minutes in a conference room, with me hastily scribbling notes on a notepad as my supervisor talks a mile a minute.

2. The lack of resources. Once again, I am expected to provide technical support on products for which we have no user manuals... not even a leaflet... not even a product image. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada. Null (I'm running out of ways to say NOTHING). Now, one day I made the mistake of actually questioning this, asking one of my supervisors, "I was just wondering, I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, but... why do we do support for products that we don't even have a user manual on?"... Let's just say I received a less-than-satisfactory answer on this one, as well as a look that basically said, "How dare you question our ridiculous policies?"... YEAH... won't make THAT mistake again.

3. My supervisors. I basically have 3. One is cool, the other two are... well, not. Quite frankly. Look, I understand that their job doesn't revolve around answering my questions 24-7. But answering questions from their employees is certainly PART of their job. And when I ask ONE question in a 5-hour time period, I'm pretty sure I haven't maxed out my quota of questions for the day. But to judge by the looks on their faces when I go to ask them a question - I mean, they look at me as if I've suddenly sprouted 3 heads! This isn't exactly what you'd call encouraging.

4. The customer service policies of the company as a whole SUCK. And I have no control over them. Which for whatever reason, the customers calling in don't understand. "People!", I want to say to them. "I'm a peon in this company! I'm a tech support rep! I have no control over what goes onto the packages for these products! Believe me, if I did, I sure as heck wouldn't put GUARANTEED to work on there, because I KNOW it's not!" But alas, they don't seem to get this. Or maybe, they just need a scapegoat - so they choose me. So I get cussed out because the product they bought doesn't work, or because they're too stupid to read the manual and figure it out. Oh well.

5. I'm sure there's a 5th reason, but I'm kind of tired of typing for now, so I'll leave that for another day ;)

Sorry, fellow bloggers... sometimes it just helps to vent. And to realize that 2 months from now (Lord willing), I'll be back in Chile con mi amor! :)