Is anybody else stricken by the fact that the email seems to be too much like a boilerplate support email Yes, I find that email profoundly unhelpful as well;

Is anybody else stricken by the fact that the email seems to be too much like a boilerplate support email Yes, I find that email profoundly unhelpful as well; it sounds like generic level-0 helpdesk drivel. The client was promised 24/7 support (and is probably paying for that level), he hasn't been getting anywhere, and is meanwhile losing money. In that situation people are past looking for empathy, here it's no longer "about onion soup, Obelix, it's about sesterces. About mo-o-oney!" A competent secretary would have emailed something like "I contacted XY, who was supposed to be on on-call duty, but he is in hospital with food poisoning. I then contacted ZW, who is next on the on-call rota, he is looking at your ticket. His cellphone number is XXX-YYY-ZZZZ; he is waiting for you to call." In a well-run company a secretary has no place on the totem-pole, he can run up and down and talk to whomever he pleases. Good secretaries are worth their weight in gold, bad ones, on the other hand are only fit to serve as boat anchors.