It’s Not Even A Competition

(A coworker calls me over the headset to help her find a certain bird food for a customer. When I get there, the customer is already annoyed, telling my coworker that she knows she bought this food here before.)

Me: “Okay, maybe it’s just out of stock. What’s the brand?”

Customer: “It’s blue.”

Me: “The food is blue?”

Customer: “No! The bag, obviously.”

Me: “Oh, okay. Well, we have [Brand #1], [Brand #2], and [Brand #3] in blue bags. What kind of bird do you have?”

Customer: “I already told her all of this. I just want my food.”

Me: “Without knowing which brand or bird, I’m not sure how to narrow down your search.”

Customer: “I bought it at your store in [location 45 minutes away] last month!”

Me: “That store is considerably larger and they have a greater variety. I can call them if you’d like.”

Coworker: “Or you can order it from our website and have it shipped to your house.”

(The woman glares at my coworker. She crosses her arms, cocks her head, and retorts:)

Customer: “For all that trouble I’ll just go to [Former Online Competitor].” 

(The look on her face gives me the impression she expects us to jump and give her what she wants. We all stand there in silence for a moment.)

Me: “Well. We don’t seem to carry what you’re looking for. I’m sorry for your trouble.”

Customer: “Then I guess I’m going to [Former Online Competitor]! You’ve lost a sale!”

(She storms out, leaving us standing there, dumbfounded.)

Coworker: “How can we lose a sale when we never had her product to begin with?”

Me: “I’m not really sure. But we bought [Former Online Competitor] over a year ago so her money is still going to the same place.”