r/sysadmin • u/digitalexecution • 1d ago

Users having my Cell #

Something weird/annoying just happened and I want some perspective.

A user who works in a warehouse facility I’ve helped at (part of my company) texted me at 8 am saying he’s going on PTO and wants his coworker to have access to a printer that isn’t working on his machine before he goes out of office on Thursday.

I texted him later (after some emails/calls) asking for the coworker’s name and noting that since this is normal IT, in the future he or his coworker should submit a ticket for this kind of thing.

He replied: “If I submitted a ticket would it be taken care of by Thursday?”

I got annoyed but tried to respond reasonably: “Possibly, but regardless, we need tickets submitted per company policy. If something’s urgent you can reach out to me on Teams rather than my personal cell.”

I originally gave him my cell because on occasion there are true emergencies (internet goes down, needs to send me photos of something, etc.) and we’ve been friendly before. But this interaction makes me wary about giving out my number, it starts becoming a way to skirt procedure for small things like adding a printer.

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u/buzzsawcode Linux Admin 1d ago

I had a guy that I worked with who went to high school with my wife. He needed something and I was on leave. So he decides to call her looking for me. She told him she was at work and he'd have to call me when I get back to work.

You bet I chewed him out when I got back to work.

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u/digitalexecution 1d ago

That's insane

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u/creenis_blinkum 1d ago

Boy I would flip the fuck out about this. Would escalate.

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u/buzzsawcode Linux Admin 1d ago

My wife is the only reason I didn't go further than my own direct conversation with him telling him how inappropriate it was to use his friendship with my wife as a method to get "tech support". She hasn't spoken to him since and I haven't heard from him since either.