Florida Man Makes An Order

Customer Service, Lazy/Unhelpful, Stupid, USA | Right | November 15, 2021

Caller: “Hi, this is [Caller]. I just received a voicemail from [Employee] over at your company about shipping out replacements on my order. I wanted to confirm that that was in the works?”

If we have a record of the phone number, it will bring up their account information and thus easy access to their order history. This caller’s phone number has no matches.

Me: “Okay, let me find the order and confirm that’s in the works. What’s the order information?”

Caller: “Oh, I don’t have any of that. It’s on my computer, but I’m not there right now.”

Me: “Okay, let me see if I can track it down. Is it under your name?”

Caller: “Try William [Last Name].”

Me: “And the name of the company?”

He gives the name of a large multinational conglomerate with dozens of locations worldwide.

Me: “Okay, and which address did it ship to?”

Caller: “Uh, I don’t know. I think it’s somewhere in Florida? Orlando or Miami, maybe?”

This is not helpful information. I find several locations for the corporation in Florida, but I can’t find any recent requests in our system for any of them.

Me: “I didn’t see anything under that name. Was it placed online? What’s the email address?”

Caller: “It was placed online, but I don’t know the email address. But it was for [item].”

Me: “Do you have the part number?”

Caller: “No, but it’s [item].”

My company sells many different types of that item. Pulling up all orders would not be worth anyone’s time.

Me: “Um, okay, do you know the date it was placed?”

Caller: “Maybe a month ago? A month and a half? Two or three months?”

So, no, you don’t know. I am growing frustrated but am trying to keep my customer service voice on.

Me: “I’m sorry, but I need some more information from you to get this going. There are too many locations of [Large Multinational Conglomerate] in Florida to search through. We can’t narrow down the date range. I couldn’t find anything under your name.”

Caller: “Oh, try Jeff [Same Last Name As Before].”

I finally find the order after several more minutes. It was placed six months ago under Jeff, NOT William. The order shipped to [Large Multinational Conglomerate] in Nebraska.

Me: *Finally wrapping this up* “Did you want the PO number in case you need to call back again?”

Caller: “No, it’s on my desktop.”

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

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