Unfiltered Story #245299

When a customer places an order, we are supposed to confirm what they ordered line by line. These used to be pretty lengthy – “That’s an oversized 6″ x 6″ x 1/2″ thick 4140 steel bar for $36.50” – and we got a lot of negative feedback from customers that it took too long, and most of the time they just match it up by price. So a while back, we changed it to basically be the item only and the price – “That’s a steel bar for $36.50.” We will, of course, still do the longer descriptions upon request.

Caller: I’d like to place an order, and can you give me descriptions so I know I didn’t copy the numbers wrong?

Me: Certainly. What’s the first item?

The guy had 10 items – a short list for me, but the descriptions take a bit because he’s ordering all raw materials. He is getting more agitated with each line, speaking faster with each new number and just talking over me by the time we get to line number 8. As we finish the last item…

Me: Okay, we’ll deliver all that tomorrow.

Caller: Great. Hey, can I give some feedback? You should really find a way to shorten that up. It felt like we were on the phone for forever! I look up the numbers ahead of time and know what I’m ordering. I usually just match it by price. Can you tell your bosses?

It didn’t seem worth it to remind him that he asked me to give him descriptions. I just agreed to pass it along and rolled me eyes.