Dear dimwit on the phone

It just strikes me as odd when retailers can't reload by mid-December.

 

Sometimes, you don't know something is popular until it's popular, and I imagine there is still plenty of lead time for producing things. The odder thing to me is that it's still tough to directly "queue" an item from a manufacturer. Like if Sony's shipments of PS4s to stores for Christmas are out, why can't I just put in an order with them online, and they ship directly to me? I imagine it's to prevent retailers, who they're still going to do the bulk of their sales through, but still...

 

Manufacturer may have been caught off guard. Store managers didn't realize they'd be a hot idea. Who knows? I do know that we had dozens and dozens, then we didn't. They sold fast. Not sure if that's word of mouth, the sale ...

 

sgreenwell's point is well-taken. Sometimes, you just don't know for sure which items are going to sell out.

Or, you never know who is going to order big, or why, or to just what extent.

You could get one customer who wants to buy 300 of something, whether for his own purposes, or for charity. Just like that, a store could be unexpectedly out, and you could suddenly be a week or two from Christmas, and every other customer may be out of luck if the next supply orders can't arrive quickly enough. Or, the corporate office may say, "No, we only have 400 of these left, and we're not going to send 300 of them to you at just one store (at least, not without another guaranteed sale).

 

Back when I was in college, I worked part time at Gamestop. We had an unexpected run on the Nintendo DS, which was not a new system. But, all stores in our area, plus our competitors, sold out).

 

You must be somewhat young. Back when I was in college, none of that crap had been invented yet. Clothes were the hot item, IIRC.

 

Dear American married to a foreign national,

Yes, the time you're waiting for your wife's visa is normal. No, I cannot do anything to speed the process. Yes, I know you called your congressman. He can't speed the process, either. No, I cannot check on the information for you. What I can tell you is to email the address you were given. The people who check that know the deal, not me. Finding this number isn't some golden key to success. I really don't know, but that is their job. No, you're being an American won't speed up the process -- everyone applying for the visa your wife is applying for is in the same boat. No, it doesn't matter that you are attending Ivy U at this time. I don't care what your professors told you.

And yes, I know you called the another department to whine earlier this week. You don't remember me, but I'm the one you talked to.

 

Dear Father Involved in a Child Custody Case:

No, we are not available for hire to take notes for you during your court case. No, I don't know for certain if you can take a tape recorder for yourself. You'd have to ask the court. But we're not a transcription service.

 

I thought court reporters did that.

 

Really? It's usually not as simple as calling the factory and ordering 4,000 Xbox Ones. There are probably dozens of factors in the production, transportation, demand and any number of things

 

Do you ever get someone who calls in just to rant like you're supposed to be some sort of sports talk radio show? Twice now some guy who doesn't even live in the state calls in to complain about one of the local teams, goes off for five straight minutes, then concludes the call acting like we had some sort of meaningful conversation and hangs up. I don't even have to listen to a word he says and in fact, the second time I didn't even have the phone against my ear while he was ranting and raving, and he didn't know any better.

 

My buddy worked in Green Bay...and yes, it was like clockwork with some callers. Some callers must believe that everyone that works in a sports department is best buds with the head coach and star QB and asks the desk for advice on how to call a game.