# Wow, thanks, Mister IT Guy **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 10, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021 "2013-05-10T20:05:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/1 "2013-05-10T20:05:40Z")
I needed to update a particular login I have in the lab. I use this account to order DNA sequencing, which I haven’t needed in several years. I had to change labs a while ago, so the account is associated with the wrong lab, which means the sequencing would be charged to the wrong account, which would be bad. However, my work is stuck until I can get this sequencing done. So I found a support contact email for this particular account, and sent them a detailed explanation of exactly what I need updated and why. That was three days ago. Yesterday I finally found someone else through a completely different channel who was able to fix my account for me. Finally, today, I got a response from that support email account. It said, and I quote, “Hi, I changed your account password to \*\*\*\*\*. You should be good to go.” 😕😕 That’s not even CLOSE to what I needed. Of all the things you could theoretically do to my account, that’s the least helpful option. Even if you had deleted it entirely, I could have then registered a new, correct one. Did you even READ my email?? Whatever. Good thing there’s someone else out there able to do your job correctly for you. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/2 "2013-05-10T20:27:14Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Did you even READ my email?? Aha! I think this may have been the problem. Try fewer words. Maybe “I need to set up a new account. Please call me at blah blah blah”. ETA: I can’t read either. I see the problem has been fixed! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/3 "2013-05-10T21:39:01Z")
Some of you will remember the “Bastard Operator From Hell” files. Heh. That was me, for a lovely twenty-year career. Ah, the power! The power! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/4 "2013-05-10T21:40:28Z")
On top of everything else, that’s a really insecure password. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/5 "2013-05-10T21:46:58Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Some of you will remember the “Bastard Operator From Hell” files. Heh. > > That was me, for a lovely twenty-year career. Ah, the power! The power! BOFH is a gawd!!! [http://bofh.ntk.net/BOFH/index.php](http://bofh.ntk.net/BOFH/index.php) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/6 "2013-05-10T22:07:09Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > On top of everything else, that’s a really insecure password. If you watch people type their password, it seems like almost everyone uses it though. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/7 "2013-05-10T22:29:40Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > It said, and I quote, “Hi, I changed your account password to \*\*\*\*\*. You should be good to go.” Well, Rule #1 is generally: YOU DON’T FUCKING PUT PASSWORDS IN EMAILS YOU TWATWAFFLE! So hey, less than useful and pretty stupid all around. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/8 "2013-05-13T05:07:00Z")
Don’t you know that IT emails are just bots that check for words like “password” and then send an automatic response? The delay is just to make them seem more human. ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/9 "2013-05-13T05:22:27Z")
Did you try turning it off and turning it back on again? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/10 "2013-05-13T12:25:07Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Well, Rule #1 is generally: YOU DON’T FUCKING PUT PASSWORDS IN EMAILS YOU TWATWAFFLE! Really? I get passwords in emails all the time, with instructions to log on and immediately change the password. I never considered it to be a bad practice - am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/11 "2013-05-13T13:35:14Z")
It’s not necessarily a bad practice when the e-mail is associated with the account, but if you just send out replacement passwords to anyone who asks for one it’s not a very good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/12 "2013-05-13T13:55:37Z")
It’s an even worse idea to send out replacement passwords to people who didn’t even ask for a new password, but asked instead for completely unrelated things. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/13 "2013-05-13T14:26:42Z")
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**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/14 "2013-05-13T14:43:44Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > It said, and I quote, “Hi, I changed your account password to \*\*\*\*\*. You should be good to go.” I must be missing something. How do you know that he also didn’t do the other things you need such as linking the account to the other lab? The email didn’t say he didn’t, just that you’re good to go and here’s a new password. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/15 "2013-05-13T17:53:22Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > I must be missing something. How do you know that he also didn’t do the other things you need such as linking the account to the other lab? > The email didn’t say he didn’t, just that you’re good to go and here’s a new password. As an IT guy, if I’m looking at a 4 day old request for a password change, I’m going to contact the person first to make sure she didn’t call in directly or find some other way to get it reset. The last thing I want to do it lock her out in the middle of a work day several days later. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/16 "2013-05-13T18:03:35Z")
ETA: Complety misread OP. Disregard. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/17 "2013-05-13T18:13:52Z")
Sigh, I miss being in IT. Not. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-thanks-mister-it-guy/658021/18 "2013-05-13T18:59:49Z")
I went through this whole thing a year ago getting my Nursing license back in British Columbia. I sent several emails… what I needed was my BC nursing registration NUMBER. I kept getting told that to reset it I needed to mail them personal information, and my mother’s maiden name, then I could log in with my Registration number and my new reset password. I kept the email because it went back and forth about 6 emails where they kept requesting things I stated but not giving me my registration number. Because of the time difference between BC and Ontario I had trouble contacting them by phone. Finally I just took my husband’s cell phone (mine was work-issued) to work and called them because NO ONE responding to my emails would give me my number. (I know I should have kept old registration cards, but I didn’t. It happens.) They told me they didn’t give out those numbers over the phone, to try emailing…:smack: Finally I called a completely different area asked them if I needed any upgrading to my license, and THEY looked up my number for me, and told me. It should not have been that difficult, but it was.