I shop for a new car. I enter the show room and find a car blocking my way. It has a sign that reads “Congratulations to family Something-or-other for purchasing this brand new model X.”

The car has its hood popped and a mechanic is frantically trying to get it started with a portable car battery.

30 minutes pass and I’m still kept waiting while the mechanic and two sales drones figure out how to start the damn thing.

Good signs these are not.

Deploying a new Drupal project we just developed, involved me contacting the customer’s hosting company to arrange some system maintenance preparations.

This was the very first time I ever contacted that company.

I introduced myself, we made arrangements and at the end of our 5-minute conversation I indicated I was having problems accessing the system through ssh. The sysadmin promptly looked up the root password and volunteered the info over the phone. No questions asked, no ID check. Just like that.

My customer is notified and they will no doubt be filing a complaint.