Renamed And Shamed

(This takes place at our order collection till. The system is down and as such we can’t check whether customers’ orders are in or not. It’s also close to Christmas and we’re full of customers. A woman approaches my till.)

Me: “…and what name—”

Customer: *quotes her order number*

Me: “Sorry, ma’am, our system is down. Can I please have the name it’s under?”

Customer: “[Customer].”

Me: “And how many items is it?”

Customer: *sighs* “Can’t you just check?”

Me: “Sorry, like I said our system is down. How many items are you expecting?”

Customer: “One.”

Me: “Okay, ma’am. I’ll go get it for you.”

(I go into the stockroom and search under the initial of her last name. I can’t find any under her name. So I go back to the customer.)

Me: “Hi, sorry. I can’t seem to find your parcel. Can you just write down the full name it’s under?”

(Customer writes it down, sighing the whole time. I go back and still can’t find the parcel.)

Me: “Is it possible it could be under another name?”

Customer: “No! I think I know my own name! What kind of stupid question is that?!”

Me: “I understand. It’s just, sometimes—”

Customer: “Just go back and check! You know this is supposed to be a faster option! I’ve been waiting in this line for half an hour.”

Me: “I apologise, ma’am.”

(I go to the stockroom for the third time. This time asking for the delivery team to help me find it. They tell me to leave and cover other customers. while they continue searching. I go to the customer and tell her the delivery team are looking.)

Customer: “You know, I’m getting sick of waiting!”

(She continues ranting at me and ‘terrible service at this store’ until her phone rings.)

Customer: *on the phone* “I’ve been waiting for ages! They’re all useless! It can’t be that hard to find a parcel for [Customer]. It’s not exactly a common name.”

(Suddenly the customers face goes white and she looks away from me.)

Customer: *hangs up phone* “It… er… it may be under [Different Name].”

(Lo and behold it was under Different Name. And, surprise, surprise – I didn’t get an apology.)