It’s A Long Drive For An Oil Change

(I work in the call center of a major dealership in Sanford, North Carolina. There is also a dealership in Sanford, Florida, and it is not uncommon for us to get calls intended for them.)

Me: “Thank you for calling [Dealership] of Sanford. This is [My Name] in sales. How may I help you?”

Caller: “My name is [Caller] and I’m calling to see if my car is ready.”

(I assume that he has purchased a car and is waiting on delivery, but I cannot find a customer file on him.)

Me: “Sir, spell your name for me? Who did you buy the car from? I cannot find your customer file in the system.”

Caller: “Well, I was just there! You better not have lost my car. It was just an oil change!”

Me: “Oh! Your car is in service?! Sorry about that; I don’t know how you got to sales. Who was your adviser?”

Caller: “Freddy! From what he told me they should be done! I have an appointment to be in in Orlando in two hours, and I need him to hurry up!”

Me: “OH! Actually, you do have the wrong dealership. You called Sanford, North Carolina, not Sanford Florida. Happens all the time.”

Caller: “Nooooo! I called [Dealership] of Sanford! This is the number on Google!”

Me: “Right! And this is [Dealership] of Sanford, North Carolina.”

Caller: “This is ridiculous! I am very busy and you all are wasting my time! I don’t even understand why you would advertise that you are in Sanford when you are not… It’s confusing!”

Me: “So sorry about that, sir! The dealership you are trying to reach is not actually called [Dealership] of Sanford; they have a different name, so unless you include the state in your search, you will get our number, instead, because that’s our name.”

Caller: “But why would your name be [Dealership] of Sanford when you are not located in Sanford? You are causing confusion to your customers by pretending to be something you are not!”

Me: “We are a dealership located in a town called Sanford.”

(A few more rounds of trying to explain geography versus search engine optimization, and I just look up the number for him while he demeans me. After ending the call I realize my entire department is staring at me.)

Me: “Apparently, it’s my fault he doesn’t know how to use Google.”