"No we're out right now."
"AHHHH BUT YOUR WEBSITE SAYS YOU DO HAVE IT! Hahaha I have owned you, you tricky LIAR!"
"The online inventory is frequently off."
"NOOOOOOOO!"
they call because the online inventory isn't reliable, which is in fact pretty annoying? would you rather they came to find out in person?
working in retail has calcified my position that no person should be allowed to enter any store for any reason
Every customer interaction with a store is the Money Python and the Holy Grail bit with the French soldiers insulting the English knights scene...
Edit: I should spell Monty correctly, but its too late now, I'm committed.
Yeah that's weird, I'll do this sometimes and just be like "ah fuck thanks, yeah i know how computers are"
Yeah I'm specifically talking people who get pissy that the online inventory isn't 100% accurate. But if you believed it to be accurate, why did you call first?
Just be like, 'Oh, you know what, it's actually here'
Customer ' Wait,uhh, are you sure? Can you check?'
'I'm sure, it's here'
'Have you checked?'
'As you said, The online inventory says it's here so it's here'
Both of them are on a shelf reserved for pickup by this guy who reserves tons of shit and never picks any of it up. No I can’t remove it and sell it to you, my boss has been very clear about that.
As someone in retail, online inventory is often off, which is why calling in is a good idea especially if the store's a long ways away. Asking for visual confirmation is a good way to ensure that the product is there. Customers want to believe that we have the product they want, though, and whether it's over the phone or in store I get many people every day going through the denial stage of grief when they hear that their precious product is not in store.
I don't think it's the call itself that's annoying, that's just a smart thing to do, it's the customer being an ass towards the employee that's the issue. Like when a customer asks to double check the back, they can ask politely & reasonably or they can be a complete ass about it and act like we're squirreling away half the store out of sight.
In this case it's the customer acting like the online inventory is the be-all-and-end-all arbitrator of what the store has in stock and then belittling the employee (who has 0 control over the website, stock, or pretty much anything) for being "wrong"
When I managed to escape the anglosphere for a while I remember going to restaurants where I would order something and they'd be like "Naa, we don't have it." It was really quite refreshing and it was a joy for me to just get what was convenient to cook as opposed to having some complicated logistical system to get me a treat. I want to patronize more taverns where they give me a bowl of what's hot for a silver coin.
I mean if the online inventory is frequently saying wrong things it's pretty natural to call the shop especially if it's the not-huge kind of a shop where the employees do see basically everything. And doubly especially when you have to move your ass pretty far from the village you live to the city and waste few hours of your time.
