Here’s the scoop. Last week, the power adapter for my new laptop broke down. So… I called the manufacturer, and they agreed to send me a new unit. When I asked when I can expect to receive it, they said, “We’ll be sending it on Friday, so you can expect to receive it soon.”
When Friday came, I called to ask for a tracking number for this package. After some bustling about, their call center representative told me, “Oh, we don’t have the part in stock. It’s on backorder. We don’t know when we’ll be receiving it.”
JThunder: “WHAT?!?!?!” I said. “You don’t have it in stock? Then why did you tell me that sooner? That way, I could have made alternate arrangements, if necessary.”
Customer service: “We had no way of knowing. Our ordering system doesn’t let us check inventory levels.”
JThunder: “Then why did you assure me that it would be shipped on Friday, if you didn’t even know if you had it in stock?”
Customer service: “Well, we had to tell you something. We had to give you a timeframe, right? Would you rather that we didn’t tell you anything?”
JThunder: “Then why not say, ‘We expect to ship it on Friday, if we have the item in stock’? Or how about ‘We’ll have to see if we have the item in our warehouse. If we do, then we can send it to you this week’? Is that so hard?”
Customer service: “Well, we’re not fortune tellers.”
JThunder: (Exasperated) “Yes, yes. I know that… but your response made it sound as though you had the part on hand, when you didn’t know that was the case.”
Customer service: “It’s company policy. We have to tell you something, and so we give you a timeframe.”
JThunder: “So your policy is to tell your customers that a part is shipping out on a given date, regardless of whether you have it in stock or not?”
Customer service: “That’s how our procedures work. It’s our international policy. I can’t change this.”
JThunder: “Then your procedures are wrong.”
Customer service: “Well, the customer should know that we don’t know if a part is in stock or not. That’s just understood.”
JThunder: “Nonsense. There are plenty of companies that can have computerized inventory systems, and that can look these things up immediately. If your system doesn’t work that way, that’s fine… but if so, you need to tell the customers that you need to verify part availability first.”
Customer service: (Clearly missing the point) “Well, this is how it works. We first place an order with our warehouse. After that, we don’t hear from them until the part is delivered. That’s just how it works.”
JThunder: "I don’t care. That doesn’t excuse telling your customers that a part will be delivered on Friday, if you don’t even know if you have it on hand.
Customer service: “Well, that’s how it works. I’m not a fortune teller.”
AAARRRGGGHHHH!
I really don’t think this customer service rep had any clue as to why I was so agitated.