I apparently have a bad memory.

[Ree]

I got a call from the front service desk, looking for an order for a customer.
There was no order. I checked the computer.
There was nothing.

The lady is one of those customers you just hate to see coming.
Everything is a problem. She never leaves the store without causing some type of hassle. You know the type.

The girl from the front called again and said, "It's apparently a warranty, and you ordered it in and called her last week to say it was in."

I was so confused. I have been under a lot of stress, and sometimes, I just get so much on my plate that I will sometimes forget things, but for the life of me, I just could not remember this.

I kept thinking back and going through it in my head.
I checked with someone in another department.
She said she had nothing.

I went to the front to talk to the woman.
We ended up with about 4 people trying to help her, and all the time, I kept telling the woman I had no order.

She said, "The woman who handles your special orders upstairs in the office was looking after it."
We called upstairs. Nothing.

The girl on the desk told her that "Ree" always handles warranty orders. I told her again that I had no record of the order.

I went back to look through my files one more time, because I honestly didn't have a clue about this item.

When I was leaving to go look again, the lady nodded in my direction and said to the clerk, "I think that girl hit her head or something, because she's got amnesia. I can't believe she's completely forgotten something she's been dealing with for over a month. How could anybody forget something like that?"
(I didn't hear her, but the cashier told me later what she had said.)

On a whim, I called our competitor, down the road.
As soon as I mentioned the customer's name, she sighed and said, "I have her part sitting right here."

I ran to tell the lady, but she had already left, all pissed off and complaining about our lousy service and how stupid I was.

So, I called and left a really patronizing and condescending message on her machine to tell her of her mistake.

Stupid cow.

[AnaKhouri]

Sweet!

I got to do that to this guy the other day...he claimed the other retail bookstore (B&N) in town had called and asked us to hold a book for him. The book is out of print, and we only sell new books. On a suspicion I called a local used bookstore...and that's where it was!

Bonus: The used book store is right next to the B&N. We are located about 25 minutes away.

[Spiffy McMoron]

On a whim, I called our competitor, down the road.
As soon as I mentioned the customer's name, she said, "I have her part sitting right here."

Ri-i-i-ight. You're the one with the bad memory...

[BookstoreEscapee]

For a brief time, we used to be able to look up orders for all the stores (they got rid of it because the search was so slow). Order numbers all start with the store number, so we could tell from that which store the book was ordered in. On a few occasions I got the great pleasure of telling a PITA SC that they were in the wrong store. And the nearest stores to where I was at the time were all at least a 20 minute drive or more away.

Though one guy I got was really nice so I felt bad for him

[rerant]

I'm very interested to know what you said in the message.

[SubwayGirl]

Oh vindication is great! To bad she wasn't still there and you could tell her face-to-face.

My Subway store is in the town of X. Now 30 miles from here there is town Y and their Subway happens to be on X street. So, middle of a lunch rush Sucky Lady appears for her 18 feet of party sub (a $200 order). I have no order. The lady is ranting and screaming at me. She can't believe I lost the order. She ordered it a month ago. She called in and confirmed it 3 times. I am really embarassed that this woman is screaming at me. I just couldn't believe there was anyway that I or my employees had lost an order that big. I tell her to calm down for a minute, which had the opposite effect of what I wanted. I go to the back to call the Subway in town Y. (By the way, she is now screaming because I had walked away from her). Get the manager on the phone and ask them if they had this order. Yeppers. They had it ready and waiting for her. Of course I felt completely justified in announcing so every customer in the store could hear that she had called in the order to a different Subway. She did not even apologize.

I later found out that when she did pick up the order at the other store that she thought she should get it for free because of the inconvenience of having to drive 30 miles to get her food! Dumb _bitch! Learn how to read the phonebook! The first clue would have been that you had to dial long distance for the store in the other town!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Ree, I really hope you able to rub her nose in it.

[Ree]

I said, "This is Ree at (Name of our store)." I gave the full name, which is really a bit of a mouthful, but I wanted to make a point that she was in the wrong damn store.

"You were in here a few minutes ago, looking for a warranty item that you had ordered. There was some confusion and you were upset because I didn't remember the order, and neither did any of the other staff. I think I have cleared up the confusion. The reason none of us remembers your order is because you ordered it from (Name of our competitor). When nobody could remember your order, I called them to ask if, on a chance, you had been mistaken about where you placed the order. As soon as I mentioned your name, they said they have your part."

When she had been in, she made a big deal about not remembering names, and said, "It could have been the Man in the Moon for all I remember..." so I said, "You mentioned you have a hard time with names, so may I suggest you write down the following information? You need to go to (our competition) and ask for (name of clerk). This is the girl who has been handling your warranty and she knows all about it, so I think it's very important that you write her name down so you don't forget again."

Then, just to be a bitch and rub it in, I reminded her one more time, "So...again, you need to go to (our competiton) and ask for (name of clerk). You placed that order with (name of clerk) at (competition) and NOT, Ree or (name of office girl) at (our store)."
Then I hung up.

I was sickeningly sweet and condescending.
I think she knew I was trying to rub it in.

Gee, maybe she'll never shop with us again.

[Spiffy McMoron]

I was sickeningly sweet and condescending.
I think she knew I was trying to rub it in.

I know how tough things have been at your store, Ree.

I'd like to think that making that one phone call made this whole week just that much better.

[Retail Associate]

Gee, maybe she'll never shop with us again.

One can only hope! Good for you, Ree.

Similar things happen at my store quite often. We have 3 Meijer stores in this relatively small town. People will call one of the other stores then come to mine and argue up and down that they called to have us hold something for them. And of course it's always my fault that we don't have the item they wanted.

Idiots!

.

[Lady Heather]

Actually she wasn't even a customer, just a crazy lady who was lost.

[Ree]

She does buy a lot of stuff from us, just not yesterday.

She was returning 2 bulk packs of paper towels, because she thought they were the type with the half sheets, and they weren't.

She said she didn't like the large towels because they filled up the landfill faster.
Seems to me, if she is that concerned about the environment, she wouldn't even be buying paper towels.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

She does buy a lot of stuff from us, just not yesterday.

She was returning 2 bulk packs of paper towels, because she thought they were the type with the half sheets, and they weren't.

She said she didn't like the large towels because they filled up the landfill faster.
Seems to me, if she is that concerned about the environment, she wouldn't even be buying paper towels.

What can we say? People are strange especially when it comes to "caring about issues."

I like the message you left for her . . . that's the nice way to let someone know they're being a moron.