1 February, 2008

Computers are unreliable. They just are.

A trio of customers arrived in my section demanding that I find a certain cordless phone that we sold.

The problem? Boxing Day was the day before this encounter, and our shelves were cleared out, bare as a dry rug in July.

But the customers insisted.

"I was at (another store in my employer's chain) and spoke to (name of a person of absolutely no relevance to any of this location's staff) and he said you had fourteen (of these sold out cordless sets)."

Fourteen. Hmmph. Considering it was the holiday season, we never had fourteen of anything. What's left in the back warehouse was a collection of mothballs... literally.

Eventually, after contacting the rest of my department, we found one of this specific model that somehow hid itself during the Boxing Day sale in a little cubby that was part of store layout. It wasn't supposed to be there.

"Persistance... is the key," says the suddenly gitty man. No, you were lucky. I mentioned the name of a co-worker of mine who found this treasure that costs a treasure and he immediately claimed that he was the person he was previously talking to... in that "other" location. Jeez.

The sudden confusion in the aftermath of this event makes me ever so more angry. Computers are fearless, emotionless bastards that can't tell if a shipping peanut was in stock, literally.

Retail Life is a column for those wanting a different view within a "customer centric" retail environment. The identity of this column's writer has been obscured to maintain a healthy relationship with his employer.