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Please just use your brain

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  • Please just use your brain

    My store accepts packages from a delivery service. It brings in no business for us whatsoever. People get the packages and leave, rarely buying anything. Whatever. Guy comes in today with a tag from his door wanting his package. We don't have it. I go and tell the guy. But he has the tag and he keeps showing it to me. It says available after 6 pm and lists our store hours. The time on the tag says 1:10, it's currently 3:30ish.

    We go around a few times and he walks away but doesn't leave the store. I see him on his phone. Then he comes back to me. I repeat that the driver probably didn't finish the route to drop the packages off. He even reads everything on the tag including the "available after 6 pm" Then he says "So my package is just out there and we don't know where it is?" I repeat again blah blah driver blah blah not done. And finally he leaves. It's like he was thinking the package was available before it was even dropped off at his house because it listed our store hours?
    I would have a nice day, but I have other things to do.

  • #2
    Oh, THIS crap. Yeah, I've run into it one or two or a hundred times. The expectations some people have for USPS, FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc. (and food delivery, for that matter!) are completely devoid of reality, I swear. I could tell a few stories myself, but I don't want to 'jack this thread.

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    • #3
      It said available after 6 PM, and he expected you to have it around 3:30??

      Can he even tell time?
      When you start at zero, everything's progress.

      Comment


      • #4
        Quoth MoonCat View Post
        It said available after 6 PM, and he expected you to have it around 3:30??

        Can he even tell time?
        Well, of course he did! Doesn't every delivery service run straight to the alternate drop off point after EVERY failed delivery??

        I did that once - showed up too early. However, I just realized that I was being foolish to expect my package to be there early when they explained it to me. I didn't mutter and scream and demand service.
        Have I been doing this wrong all this time?? oh my!

        Comment


        • #5
          Quoth MoonCat View Post
          It said available after 6 PM, and he expected you to have it around 3:30??

          Can he even tell time?
          But, it's six o'clock somewhere.
          "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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          • #6
            Thank you all for sharing my pain. Sometimes I think it's me, but I know it's not. And CyberLurch please feel free to highjack the thread. The only way to let go of the pain is to let it out.
            I would have a nice day, but I have other things to do.

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth Trixie View Post
              Thank you all for sharing my pain. Sometimes I think it's me, but I know it's not. And CyberLurch please feel free to highjack the thread. The only way to let go of the pain is to let it out.
              I wouldn't call it 'pain', Trixie. More along the lines of mild amusement at the complete disconnect some people have from reality.

              I'll relate a couple that stand out. Bear in mind these are both very old stories.

              I worked at a place very similar in concept to Mailboxes, Etc. - in that we accepted shipments for UPS, USPS, FedEx, and DHL. We would also pack items for shipment.

              So one afternoon, a Wednesday (that's important), a woman and her friend show up only about 20 minutes before our UPS pickup, wanting to pack and ship a package to East Booblyscrew, UT or something. So I pack it up for her, and we get it on the scales and enter the ship-to address on the computer and it spits out the options.

              The most expensive is Next Day Air. Guaranteed delivery Thursday by end of business. Options for this include an even more expensive AM delivery, and a ridiculously expensive 'Early AM delivery'.

              Slightly less expensive is Second Day Air. Guaranteed delivery by end of business Friday. Since this type of shipment would basically go on the same plane as a Next Day package, there was a good chance it would also be a Thursday delivery.

              Then there was Third Day Select. Technically this is the least expensive 'expedited' service, but in this case it was a non-competitor, because...

              UPS Ground, the least expensive option I had, estimated delivery by end of business Friday. However, 'by Friday' was NOT guaranteed. And here was the rub: At that time, UPS would not deliver to a residential address on Saturday unless it was a 'next day air' shipment - and even then, it was extra. So, if it DIDN'T get delivered Friday, it would be Monday at the soonest.

              I know, this is data overload. Bear with me.

              ALL of these estimates were contingent upon one very simple fact: It had to ship TODAY. As I said, it was only a few minutes now before UPS picked up, and only about 30 to 40 minutes before we closed for the day. And my customers were paralyzed trying to figure out which option to take. When I pointed out the time constraint, one of them chastised me for 'pressuring her'.

              FINALLY they make the decision to ship 'next day'... just as the UPS truck pulls up to the door. So, I generate the shipping label, slap it on the box, and hand it off the UPS guy as he picks up everything else that was processed that day. I complete the financial side of the transaction, hand the ladies their receipt and tracking number, and wish them a good day.

              The next day around 1pm, who is at my counter in a snit? Yes, one of the ladies from the previous afternoon, furious that she'd spent 'all that money' when there was no reason to... because somehow I'd 'pressured' her. She'd decided AFTER THE FACT that a ground shipment was what she wanted, and now she wanted to change the priority, mid-transit. I suppose what she wanted to do was technically possible, but....

              Problem: Her package would have been put on the truck first thing in the morning. So the logistics of her request, assuming it was even actually possible, were ludicrous. But before taking the next step (contacting UPS), I pulled up the shipment on the computer.

              DELIVERED less than an hour ago. It was already done. At least, so far as UPS was concerned.

              Customer: RAGE.EXE /whine /tantrum /demandrefund
              Me: bad command or filename: REFUND.BAT
              Customer: ECHO I'm never coming here again !
              Me: ECHO okay.
              Customer: THREATEN.EXE /lawsuit
              Me: ROLLEYES.EXE
              Customer: STOMPOUT.EXE /shriek
              Me: bad command or filename: GIVESHIT.EXE.

              I'll post more another day.

              Comment


              • #8
                Quoth CyberLurch View Post
                The expectations some people have for USPS, FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc. (and food delivery, for that matter!) are completely devoid of reality, I swear.
                I hear ya. I once worked for a guy who assumed that DHL could deliver packages to destinations 1,200 miles away...on the same day. Seriously, this schmuck forgot to send his daughter a Valentine's Day card, and wanted me to bother with the paperwork to get that taken care of. Er, did I mention his daughter lived in Miami? Long-ass trip from our west-of-Pittsburgh office to her apartment down there. No way it was going to happen, especially with the earliest pickup at 11AM, and the fact that the courier would pick up everything on his route before heading to the sorting center at the airport. So it would go out in the morning and get delivered sometime in the afternoon. Naturally, I got to hear about it, how it was "my fault," "she'll be upset," etc
                Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth protege View Post
                  I hear ya. I once worked for a guy who assumed that DHL could deliver packages to destinations 1,200 miles away...
                  Wait until you hear the next one.

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                  • #10
                    this schmuck forgot to send his daughter a Valentine's Day card,
                    THIS....was his hill to die on for that day??

                    I mean, nothing wrong with parents sending V-Day cards to anyone they care about, but ... it's not like an actual emergency, y'know?
                    When you start at zero, everything's progress.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      September 11, 2001. They say everyone remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when they got the news.

                      I didn't actually find out until about noon. The shop was in a radio 'dead zone', so radio was more of a frustration than anything else, so I never bothered. There had been no business that day.. AT ALL. Not even a phone call. I had no clue what had happened that morning until my coworker, T, showed up literally in tears. At first I thought she was joking, but tears like hers don't lie. I switched the radio onto the one AM station we could pick up, and that's when I got all the details.

                      INCLUDING the fact that all civilian air traffic, commercial or private, had been grounded until further notice. That little tidbit will be significant to our story.

                      I asked T if she wanted to go home. There would probably be no business that day – at least, nothing I couldn't handle alone. To T's credit she elected to stay. And thus bore witness to our SOLE customer of the day around 3pm.

                      The woman came into the shop with a large sheaf of papers and wanted to overnight them to California. And did not react well to the news that on that particular day, what she wanted to do was quite impossible, even after I'd explained why. I offered to fax them for her. No, it had to be the originals, no copies.

                      I pointed out that a short note on the cover page of a fax that the originals were en route might be enough. No, that would not work either. I also pointed out that most likely, the people she was sending these documents to would understand why they were delayed. No.

                      The best I could do for her, then, was to accept the packet as a priority shipment, and once the air ban was lifted, it would be delivered the next business day. Given that at the time we didn't know how long it would be, I could not give any sort of guarantee. No. Didn't I understand? It *HAD* to be there tomorrow!

                      All realistic options exhausted, I was forced to tell her that there was nothing I could do. I'd already given her my best options, and she'd shot them all down.

                      None of this seemed to penetrate her head. What she wanted to do required aircraft, and there simply weren't any available. We went round and round about this several times.

                      Well, it finally ended as many situations like this end – a screaming fit, an impotent threat, and her stomping off in an irrational rage. Though for a few moments I honestly thought I might have to call 911.

                      I was off the next day, but I was told that she had been in that day to fax the documents and complain about how 'totally unhelpful' I was.
                      Last edited by CyberLurch; 01-27-2019, 04:03 AM. Reason: clarification

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                      • #12
                        Definitely a special kind of stupid there. Wow.
                        I would have a nice day, but I have other things to do.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth Trixie View Post
                          Definitely a special kind of stupid there. Wow.
                          T and I talked about this afterward. T, being somewhat more perceptive than I, thought that perhaps it was a form of mental break brought on by the events of that morning, with the footage of people dying by the hundreds shown over and over and over again. The mind can only cope with so much stress before it has to start rejecting things.

                          That's me giving her the benefit of the doubt, by the way. Unfortunately, there were times we had people who simply were really THAT kind of clueless in normal, day-to-day life.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Quoth CyberLurch View Post
                            Customer: RAGE.EXE /whine /tantrum /demandrefund
                            Me: bad command or filename: REFUND.BAT
                            Customer: ECHO I'm never coming here again !
                            Me: ECHO okay.
                            Customer: THREATEN.EXE /lawsuit
                            Me: ROLLEYES.EXE
                            Customer: STOMPOUT.EXE /shriek
                            Me: bad command or filename: GIVESHIT.EXE.






                            I especially love that final line.
                            Last edited by Seanette; 01-28-2019, 02:48 AM. Reason: formatting
                            "Crazy may always be open for business, but on the full moon, it has buy one get one free specials." - WishfulSpirit

                            "Sometimes customers remind me of zombies, but I'm pretty sure that zombies are smarter." - MelindaJoy77

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                            • #15
                              I worked at UPS on 9/11. Teleservices, First Level Technical Support, Las Vegas Office.

                              My shift started at 4am Vegas time. Two hours later, we were informed of the news by our supervisors. A TV was wheeled into the break room. It was announced that anyone who needed to go home and contact loved ones could. As long as we didn't spend our entire shift in there, or hang up on a customer, we could take a break to watch the news whenever we wanted. Normally, you had 30 seconds after the end of your break to login to your phone, and they were strict about that.

                              Everyone was in shock, since many of us were from the east coast. I elected to stay for my 10 hour shift, since it would be over a little after 2pm. That was the earliest I could get a ride home, anyway. As was to be expected, we had few calls that day, but those we had... hoo boy.

                              Most people who called, wanted to know the status of their packages going to and from the WTC. Their PACKAGES. At least one person cursed me out for not being able to tell them if their package was safe. For one thing, most of us were worried sick about the PEOPLE. Also keep in mind we were NOT customer service, we were Tech Support. I still don't understand their logic.

                              One gentleman with a THICK foreign accent kept calling, claiming to be one of our drivers, and asking for information about various routes and distribution centers. Anyone who refused, got death threats. We were told to hang up on him after recording that he'd called.

                              And then there was the woman who kept calling and DEMANDING that every UPS truck in the Tri-state area drop EVERYTHING out of their trucks. Instead, she wanted them all to carry emergency supplies to Ground Zero. Nice idea, lady, but Not Happening. When politely told this, she started with personal attacks, accusing reps of not caring and possibly being terrorists ourselves. We were told to hang up on her as well, after she made at least one rep cry.

                              After I got home, I ended up taking my HT Ham Radio and relaying messages. Those were sent to me from the local emergency message center one of the Vegas Ham Radio clubs had set up. I also got several requests relayed to me from fellow Hams back east, via email from *their* emergency message center.

                              For a couple weeks after, we had to deal with calls from people about their shipping computers locking up, due to lack of Internet near NYC. The UPS shipping programs won't allow new shipments if the daily manifest hasn't been sent to the UPS servers for longer than 3 days. 3rd level had fun with THAT workaround, finding ways for people to send in the manifests via floppy, then manually telling the machine the data had been sent. Not everyone was Happy with this, and we all got cursed out multiple times about it.

                              Most of my training class got laid off soon after, and I went back to Pennsy the following January. Too much mental stress. The only reason I wasn't laid off, was that I'd made it clear I was planning to leave on my own. That bought me a couple months. 9/11 was the day that proved phone support was NOT for me.
                              Last edited by Dragon_Dreamer; 01-31-2019, 02:24 PM. Reason: Fixed spelling

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