Why do customer do this shit? "Hey I'm just calling to see if you have this thing in stock?"
Why do customer do this shit? "Hey I'm just calling to see if you have this thing in stock?"
"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!"
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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.