When They’re Putting You Down, Make Them Look Up

This happens while I am a clerk in the CD/DVD department at a bookstore. I get this distraught call from a cashier.

Cashier: “I’ve got a customer here saying we called her and told her that we received the CD she ordered, but I looked everywhere and can’t find it.”

Me: “Hmm, well, you wouldn’t. We hold orders here at the department desk. Send her my way.”

I see the fuming customer stomping towards my desk.

Customer: “You guys need to get your s*** together! You call me and tell me you’ve received my stuff but then you can’t find it.”

Me: “I’m sorry, we usually hold orders at the department’s desk; maybe my colleague wasn’t aware of that. May I have your name?”

The customer gives her name while impatiently tapping her fingers on the counter.

Me: “All right, let me see.”

I then proceed to look in the box where we keep order receipts. I can’t find her name. I look at the items we’re keeping. Still can’t find it. I go to the back store. Still nothing. I am confused and apologetic.

Me: “I’m terribly sorry, but there must have been a mix-up. I can’t seem to find any trace of your order…”

Customer: *Hysterical* “I can’t believe it! [Competing Store across the street] called me yesterday and told me you had received my order, and now you can’t find it? What kind of s***ty service is that?”

Me: *dumbfounded* “Wait, did you say [Competing Store]? Because this is [My Store].”

Customer: “Oh…” *Uneasy laugh* “Right.”

She left without apologizing. For the record, the name of the store was written in big, bold, five-foot-high letters over the entrance, and you couldn’t possibly mistake it for its competitor as they both had unique logos, colors, and store layouts.