While my job generally annoys me anyway, one of my least favorite things to do is deal with customer service and problems when people place orders for gift cards through our website. The task really has nothing to do my job description, but it was given to me six years ago when I was the "new girl" and unfortunately, it stuck.
Customers who order gift cards online are given the option of choosing regular first-class mail shipping for free or expedited FedEx shipping for a charge. One time we received a very large order for 100 gift cards at $50.00 each, and the purchaser had specified regular first class mail shipping. Our office had been having some major problems with entire outgoing mail shipments being "lost" and I was not too trusting of the Post Office at that point. I didn't feel like dealing with deactivating and reissuing the cards if the shipment got lost in the mail, so I decided to be proactive (a word they love to use around here) and give the customer a call.
Now, in fairness to me (lest you think I am a total dumbass) the shipping address on the order page was to some business park but there was no actual business name on the order page. Also, the customer answered her phone by stating her name (not the business' name) when I called. Really, I had no idea what I was about to get myself into when I made the call:
Me: Hi, I am calling about your online order for 100 gift cards. I noticed that you specified regular mail shipping on the order, and I just wanted to ask if you'd like me to ship the cards to you via FedEx because I don't trust the Post Office to handle such a large order and I wouldn't want your order to get lost in the mail.
Customer: Um, this IS the U.S. Post Office.
*awkward silence*
Me: Well, then I guess I'll go ahead and send this to you via regular mail! (dies of embarrassment.)
And that is the story of how I managed to offend the U.S. Government. Go me!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment