Their Order Was A Pipe Dream

Caller #1: *Very huffy* “You sent us the wrong parts on my purchase order, and I need you to fix it.”

Me: “I’m very sorry about that. What is the PO, so I can take a look?”

She gives me the information, and as I pull it up and open all the pertinent emails and such, she continues.

Caller #1: “Do you see line one, there? My guy requested forty feet of pipe. I didn’t realize you were sending me eight at five-feet long. I was never informed. And I don’t think eight pieces is what he wants!”

I find that she requested a quote three days ago. We sent her the quote in writing, which stated not only the length of the pipe and how many pieces, but also had a note that said, “To meet your request for forty feet.” She then included the quote as a separate attachment when she sent over her purchase order document, which only referenced the quote number and dollar total.

In other words, yes, she was informed, but it’s somehow my problem that she didn’t bother to read the quote. Of course, I can’t say that.

Me: “Not a problem. If you can’t use the eight pieces of pipe, I can arrange to have those picked up. Where should I send the paperwork?”

Caller #1: *Sighs very dramatically* “Send it to [email address]. And are you going to send me the forty-foot-long pipe?”

Me: “I’m sorry, but we actually don’t sell a continuous forty-foot length of pipe. That’s why we ended up quoting you eight pieces at five-feet long.”

Caller #1: “Ugh, who has time to read those?”

This normally would be the end. But fast forward to two days later, when I get the following call.

Caller #2: “I’m calling to check on [PO number].”

I pull it up and see all my notes from when I talked to [Caller #1].

Me: “Okay, I have that pulled up.”

Caller #2: “Well, it seems I’m missing line one: eight pieces of pipe. It says delivered, but my receiving guys tell me it was sent back to you?”

Me: “Yes. A couple of days ago, [Caller #1] from your company contacted us to have those returned because what was needed was a continuous forty-foot pipe.”

Caller #2: *Mutters some impolite words* “It don’t matter; we were going to cut it up anyway!”

Me: “I’m sorry about that. I could certainly get them shipped out again—”

Caller #2: “Nah, it’s not your fault, and I wish I could tell you to go ahead, but everything needs to go through [Caller #1], and she doesn’t understand a d*** thing about anything we do here.” *Grumbles some more* “Okay, thank you. I guess I have to sort this out here.”

My guess is she doesn’t have time to read requisitions from her end users, either.