Further Confirmation That Customers Don’t Read

Like most online shops, our system automatically sends a confirmation when something ships out. This is true even when it’s a replacement on an existing order; a new confirmation goes out for the replacement shipment.

Caller: “I just got an email that you’re charging my card for the replacement on [order number], and the guy I just spoke to told me we wouldn’t have to pay for that.”

I pull up the order and see a confirmation time-stamped one minute earlier.

Me: “Yes, that email we sent was a confirmation that a new shipment is coming your way, but we have it here as a no-cost replacement.”

Caller: “Then, why did I get an email from my credit card company that I was just charged for this item?”

There’s no way this can be true. Our payment system is leftover from the early 1970s, and credit card payments run overnight. There isn’t even a way to override that manually; the most we can do is a “preauthorization,” but even that doesn’t properly charge your card. This is beside the point because we aren’t charging him for the replacement, anyway.

Me: “I’m sorry, but our credit cards run overnight. There’s no way that email could be about this order. And you’re not being charged for the replacement.”

Caller: “It’s from MasterCard, and it says [Company] is charging my card for this order from today.”

Me: “Are there any other outstanding orders this could be about?”

Caller: “No, that should be the only one.”

I confirm this on my end.

Caller: “I don’t see why you people would charge me to replace something that ain’t my fault!”

Me: “Sir. We did not charge your credit card for this replacement, nor will we charge your card. It is not possible for us to have run a payment on your card right now because our payments run overnight. Now, if you received a message from your credit card company regarding a payment to us, that’s something I’m going to have to look into further and get back to you about. I don’t see anything related to that on my end.”

Caller: *Shouting to someone on his end* “Was that email from MasterCard?” *Some shuffling and muffled voices* “The email is from [Your Company] from [time stamp of the confirmation].”

Me: “Yes, as I said, that’s a confirmation of your replacement shipment.”

Caller: “Then why is my credit card on there?

It finally clicks.

Me: “It says, ‘credit card,’ on the confirmation because that is how you originally paid for the order. Again, we are not actually charging for the replacement shipment.”

Caller: “Hmph! You’d better not!” *Hangs up*