(no subject)
Jun. 28th, 2007 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miko2Actual conversation with a customer today:
Customer: Hello, I need a rate quote.
Me: Okay, where is it shipping from?
Customer: From my warehouse. (Customer has not, mind you, identified himself yet).
(After we get a little further into the quotation process)
Me: What are we shipping?
Customer: It's 6 pallets and 4 bundles.
Me: What is on the pallets?
Customer: Class 50. It's steel and wood.
Me: Okay, how much does it weigh?
Customer: It's 6 pallets and 4 bundles.
Me: Yes, but how much does that weigh?
Customer: Eleven twenty six.
Me: (Entering a weight of 1,126 lbs, and then noticing the very light weight for 6 pallets and 4 bundles). Exactly what is the product? One thousand, one hundred and twenty six is a very low weight for 6 pallets and....
Customer: (Interrupting me, somewhat angrily) No, I said it was eleven twenty six!
Me: (After a pause). Yes, that's one thousand, one hundred....
Customer: No, it's eleven thousand and twenty six!
I tend to forget most of my customer stories a few days after they happen, but I did have a customer call up last week who was quite frantic. He'd gotten a quote, and then talked to dispatch. The problem? "I told the dispatcher that the shipment was ready, and he asked me where it was to be picked up. And then he just hung up! How is he going to know what the shipment is or where to deliver it to, or who to bill?"
I explained, of course, that this information needs to be put on the Bill of Lading. People seem to think that talking to a rate clerk or a dispatcher means that everything they say gets dumped into a magical shipment file that is magically attached to their shipment, but in fact, the only magical document attached to their shipment is the Bill of Lading, which the driver picks up with the shipment. If it's important then it needs to be noted on the BOL. Larry and Moe the dock guys don't see your pallet and automatically think, "Oh, that's the shipment that Bob called Joe the Dispatcher about! He told Joe that it needs to be delivered at 8:00 AM with a liftgate! And Karen in the rate department promised him a special pallet rate of $70.00!"
I had another call a couple of weeks ago. The shipment had just been picked up an hour ago, but the customer (in Tacoma) realized that he'd routed the shipment to Portland when it was supposed to deliver in Seattle. Could I fix it? Could I really catch it in time? Was it too late? He was amazed that I would be able to catch the shipment in time and get it rerouted -- as if the local pickup driver had left his dock and immediately started barreling down the I-5 freeway at top speed, headed to Portland.
Customer: Hello, I need a rate quote.
Me: Okay, where is it shipping from?
Customer: From my warehouse. (Customer has not, mind you, identified himself yet).
(After we get a little further into the quotation process)
Me: What are we shipping?
Customer: It's 6 pallets and 4 bundles.
Me: What is on the pallets?
Customer: Class 50. It's steel and wood.
Me: Okay, how much does it weigh?
Customer: It's 6 pallets and 4 bundles.
Me: Yes, but how much does that weigh?
Customer: Eleven twenty six.
Me: (Entering a weight of 1,126 lbs, and then noticing the very light weight for 6 pallets and 4 bundles). Exactly what is the product? One thousand, one hundred and twenty six is a very low weight for 6 pallets and....
Customer: (Interrupting me, somewhat angrily) No, I said it was eleven twenty six!
Me: (After a pause). Yes, that's one thousand, one hundred....
Customer: No, it's eleven thousand and twenty six!
I tend to forget most of my customer stories a few days after they happen, but I did have a customer call up last week who was quite frantic. He'd gotten a quote, and then talked to dispatch. The problem? "I told the dispatcher that the shipment was ready, and he asked me where it was to be picked up. And then he just hung up! How is he going to know what the shipment is or where to deliver it to, or who to bill?"
I explained, of course, that this information needs to be put on the Bill of Lading. People seem to think that talking to a rate clerk or a dispatcher means that everything they say gets dumped into a magical shipment file that is magically attached to their shipment, but in fact, the only magical document attached to their shipment is the Bill of Lading, which the driver picks up with the shipment. If it's important then it needs to be noted on the BOL. Larry and Moe the dock guys don't see your pallet and automatically think, "Oh, that's the shipment that Bob called Joe the Dispatcher about! He told Joe that it needs to be delivered at 8:00 AM with a liftgate! And Karen in the rate department promised him a special pallet rate of $70.00!"
I had another call a couple of weeks ago. The shipment had just been picked up an hour ago, but the customer (in Tacoma) realized that he'd routed the shipment to Portland when it was supposed to deliver in Seattle. Could I fix it? Could I really catch it in time? Was it too late? He was amazed that I would be able to catch the shipment in time and get it rerouted -- as if the local pickup driver had left his dock and immediately started barreling down the I-5 freeway at top speed, headed to Portland.
