My Lack Of Contact Information Is YOUR Fault!

I work at a library. There are several ways for customers to renew their loan period, including visiting our web catalog and calling. However, it is only possible to renew twice, which is why we ask the customers for an email address when renewing online, although this is optional due to data protection laws.

It’s usually my task to work through the renewal applications which come in through our web catalog. This has to be done manually since the city council, who provides funds to keep the library running, doesn’t allow us to implement an automatic renewal.

It is quite ordinary to come across renewal applications for media units that have already reached the maximum of two renewals. Usually, people provide an email address so we can contact them to let them know that they need to bring them in in order to avoid late fees. However, they don’t always, which regularly leads to situations like this:

Me: “Oh, it’s [Customer] again… Two renewals went through and now she requested a third one.”

Coworker: “Did she at least provide an email address this time?”

Me: “Nope.”

Coworker: *Sighs* “Well, guess she’ll have to figure it out by herself, then.”

The next day, I’m again going through the applications.

Me: “[Coworker], believe it or not, it’s [Customer] again… for the same books as yesterday.”

Coworker: “Are you kidding me?”

The next day, the phone rings and I answer it.

Me: “[My Name], [Library]. How may I help you?”

Customer: “Hello, this is [Customer]! I tried to renew my books twice, but it hasn’t gone through and I haven’t heard anything from you about it.”