Your Numerical Stores Identification System

This morning I received an email from your warehouse robot stating that order number 20010857141 has been put in a box and will 'soon' be shipped.

I have no idea what order number 20010857141 might consist of. None whatsoever!

I purchase substantial quantities of goods over the internet and I find it most difficult to identify a specific order from its order number.

I have spoken to a number of colleagues about this trend that seems to be overtaking the internet market place. They all agree that the matter is quite frustrating and in fact have stated more than once, their preference in dealing with human beings rather than robots and actually speaking to human beings in preference to trawling through reams of FAQ's.

Surely you must realize what works for a machine does not necessarily work for a human being. None of us can recognize an item from a sequence of numbers unless we have been specifically trained to recognize code groups and most of us don't have the time to wade through pages of data looking for clues as to what you are referring to in your emails.

The only piece of information I can glean from your robot's recent email is that 'something' has been put in a box and 'might' be posted 'soon'. Very vague people.... And practically useless. As a matter of fact about the only circumstance about your recent email that I can be reasonably sure about is that product checker #201 is a robot.

Why do you not identify your orders in a manner that ensures positive identification? What is so difficult about writing code to index a stock code to a stock identifier?

Furthermore, justifying your method of operation by saying that 'They all do it' is the last thing my people want to hear and hasten your demise as a preferred supplier.

Harris, Christopher
Harris Quality Assurance Systems