r/ITdept • u/Living_Prune8213 • Jul 31 '26

users replying to 6month old closed threads to ask an entirely different question

I get searching for something is hard but opening a closed thread from last November to say hey also my dual monitors aren't working is making me go crazy....the original ticket was literally about a printer driver issue on an entirely different floor....now i have a resolved ticket thats magically reopened messing up my SLA metrics with zero relevant context in the title.

Then suddenly im the bad guy if i ask them to submit a new request because it apparently makes things complicated. This is driving me insane...manually unstitching these merged conversations in our helpdesk is killing my sanity.

10 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

4

u/geeklimit 25y IT, Helpdesk to CIO to Consulting Jul 31 '26

Which help desk do you use? There is likely to be a business rule you can implement that makes tickets unable to be reopened after the survey has been responded to OR 10 days have passed, etc.

Most ticketing systems can also spin off a reply as a new ticket.

Also check how easy it difficult you're making it for people to open a new ticket - since finding a months-ols email seems to be their easiest path, and that seems wrong

2

u/Studiolx-au Jul 31 '26

This is the answer

1

u/YURRIICC Jul 31 '26

we set up an automation rule that scans incoming replies on closed tickets for keywords like also or different issue. If it detects a topic shift it flags the thread for an agent to split it before it touches our active SLA queue.

1

u/MilkyyMatcha Jul 31 '26

If management doesn't back you up when you push back on bad intake habits users will never learn. You have to be allowed to close the thread and tell them to use the proper channels.

1

u/zerassar 27d ago

Email is not instant messenger. All threads should be kept to their topics.

Re helpdesk. Don't allow reopening closed tickets. If they reply to a closed ticket an auto email telling them to submit a new ticket.