Sadly, Many People Can Re-Late

I work at a furniture store. Early on in 2020 (when the world was going crazy) when stores like us were seeing delays in product arrivals unlike we’ve seen before, we called a customer to let them know their order was being delayed by the manufacturer. My coworker spoke to them first:

Customer: “We have renovations being done and this needs to be on time. I want a discount.”

Coworker: “Unfortunately, we cannot offer discounts because the manufacturer delayed the items.”

Customer: “The delays are over and there’s no excuse for this. I want to talk to the store manager.”

My coworker transferred the call to me (I’m not the store manager but since we don’t have one at this time, I’m taking those calls). Our phone system has a transfer button that she hits and inputs my extension. I’m three meters away so I already know what’s going on and watch her transfer.

I explain everything the same as my coworker, which of course didn’t make her happy, but we eventually got her off the phone.

She then emails our regional manager saying that of course we were rude to her and she wanted compensation. Thankfully, he didn’t give in.

In her email, she says that the first person she spoke with slammed the phone down when transferring her. This is of course impossible as it’s a button press. The most they would hear a click.

Also, a few weeks later when their furniture was ready for delivery, they couldn’t take it yet. Their renovations have been delayed as the builders don’t have the materials to finish it.