How crappy can customers be?

For the past 2+ weeks, customer never say need to do anything extra. Everytime we provide updates, they never requested for us to do anything extra.

After all our tests completed, had a discussion with customer. Now customer request to do 2 more test cases.

WTF? In the first place, you never asked us to do it. So why suddenly change story? Now have to do extra tests for 2 days: Sunday and Monday. I already made my travel arrangements and cannot stay for another day. The best I can do is go back to KL on Sunday, then come back to Penang on Monday to support on the test. What a stupid waste of energy, money and time. If in the first place customer already requested for us to perform these additional tests, then we would have known how to schedule it into the timetable. But NOOOO it had to be an ad-hoc addition to the existing schedule. So what can we do but to oblige? We cannot say no. We have already pushed the original schedule so far back, that we have absolutely no leverage to negotiate with them.

This is actually not unexpected. I had already anticipated that they will ask us to repeat some of the tests, but not so soon! And not on an entirely new test condition!

What lesson to be learnt from this episode? That we should have initially set into paper all our agreed points to be tested? That we should have better negotiated the entire test matrix to suit our own agenda? That we should have been more rigid in saying what we can test and what we can't test? That we should have opened a WBS for this whole project?

Seriously speaking, I believe in the power of aspiration. If we make positive aspirations in the beginning, we will be able to succeed in whatever we do. That was what happened for the past 2+ weeks. We made good aspirations to successfully complete the tests, and we did in record time! Why customer did not ask us to squeeze in the new tests into the one extra day we had is not entirely clear.

So now, we have to improvise a quick solution. What I suggested was for one of the less complicated tests to be performed by our subcontractors, since it does not involve too much inter-department coordination. But for the other test, I think that experience counts. And only a few of us who have actually done it have the relevant experience.

What can be done now, except to say "too late"?

Life after dark...

I've been working like hell for the past 4 nights. Since Sunday night, I've been working between 10.30pm to 6.30am daily, and this is expected to continue until 28 August when the testing period is finally over.

I will be on the road, connected to the Internet via 3G-HSDPA technology. I'm getting 1.8Mbps wireless broadband connection. Apart from the sleepless nights and the tiring afternoons trying to make up for lost sleep time, life here is pretty fine. There will be an interesting update soon, once I find the time to get the material ready.

Stay tuned ;)

I feel insulted!

Big talk Najib Razak is so sure of himself when he issues this arrogant statement:

"These post-Independence kids do not realize that racial harmony today did not happen on its own.......

"They do not understand how difficult it was for us to develop this country from a poor nation to one that is highly regarded...."

To Mr. Najib... please get a bigger brain instead of shooting down "post-Independence kids", as if we are some nuisance that you'd rather not have living in this country.