Keep things crossed for me please. Serious problem at work

[OrmRenewed]

One of the systems I am responsible for has run up a bill of nearly 300k in excess charges. This is due to a command running but not being actioned. I can prove that we did what we were supposed to do. But I can't prove that I checked it was working because I didn't - have never had to before.

I have had a meeting this morning and as a result of that have created a report that shows we were doing what we should. But there are no guarantees.

Heart is in my mouth!
Not sure what the upshot of it will be if we do have to pay but it isn't going to be good is it?

Everything crossed for you. Hope it goes as well as possible.

Thanks.

Won't hear till next week anyway. So won't be enjoying my days off much.

Have they suspended you then?

No.

I'm still working but I have leave booked for the rest of this week.

No mention of disciplinary matters at all but I can't beleive they will just let it pass.

oh dear orm. if you don't have to check then presumably nobody else does? do you mean you don't hear whether you have to pay till next week?

if you have hte report hopefully won't incur charges.

Yes won't hear if they are going to waive the charges until next week.

Nope, nobody checks. We shouldn't need to but i guess in theory they could still insist that it's our fault as we didn't. Account manager was very sympathetic but can't be 100% certain it will be waived until she speaks to the main HO in the states.

I know it all sounds a bit vague....

These things happen- please try not to let it worry you on your days off.

I will cross everything for you but I also think this does not amount to gross misconduct (which they could fire you for obviously). I think it is something the company will have to swallow, you may be given a formal warning for it, and procedures will be revisited to make sure it never happens again.

Thinking of you- it is rubbish when something doesn't go well at work.

yes agree with prosecco, i don't think anything too bad could happen to you orm. just unpleasant

Thanks folks.

My manager has brightened up considerably since I sent him a copy of my report.

Prosecco - why should OP get warning if she followed all normal procedures? If the procedures are not adequate ( and presuming she is not the person responsible for setting the procedures) she cannot be held responsible as long as she followed them.

It is an issue for the company to consider their procedures and perhaps offer training, not for putting blame on an individual.

Just because a lot of money is involved does not mean someone must be held culpable. Sometimes stuff just happens and is not really any one person's fault.

Op - please do not worry, I know it feels rotten that this happened in your department, but as long as you followed proper procedures ( and you say you did exactly what everyone else does) then you are NOT to blame.

glad to hear that orm. looking on the bright side, it has revealed a flaw in practice which could have been even worse!

Ahhh....proper procedures. They are a very good idea. Must get round to writing some one day.

It's a very old system and the procedures such as they are are just word of mouth in a way. All I know for sure is that we ran the same commands as usual - but for some reason the network we were contacting didn't action them or let us know there was a problem.

And the 'dept' is me I am more or less solely responsible for this area.

Lordy Orm. Good luck with this.

Fingers crossed they are reasonable about it - it's horrible having things like this hanging over you....

Orm - so you followed the procedure that everyone else had used for years. As there is nothing written down then what you did must be the proper procedure as it has been accepted as such. Don't worry, you did everything right.

If there was a potential problem waiting to happen all this time it is not your fault.

Obviously the company should have a good look at setting up proper written procedures for staff and giving some training as this problem has now come to light.

But it is NOT YOUR FAULT that the problem only came to light "on your watch".

Sounds like it could have happened at any time to anyone in the company.

And maybe the very old system needs replacing!

Cheers all.

Will keep you posted.

cancarryon - many thanks for your comments considering the horrible time you are having atm I can't beleive the crap your ex-employers are putting you through.

I know this was a long time ago but the charges have been reduced from 349k to 25k as a gesture of 'goodwill to a valued customer' . As DH says that's a hell of a lot of goodwill. We managed to prove the problem wasn't directly caused by our actions so reckon they know they are at fault.

BTW our IT director is still refusing to pay the £25k but it's up to him to argue the toss now.

And we're planning to move to a different provider too. But haven't mentioned that fact yet.

Glad you are not getting the blame for this. Looks like your company is putting the blame squarely on your service provider, which is good.

Yes. They are! Thankfully. I even got an extra pay rise last month in recognition of taking on more responsiblities so I think I got away with it

That's great to hear, Orm. Has restored my faith in human nature!