OfficeMax: We’ll deliver… eventually

So Karen ordered two filing cabinets and a telephone from OfficeMax to equip her new office. Because the order was expensive enough, she got free next-day delivery.

Except that OfficeMax apparently has a different idea of “next day” than we do. Further, OfficeMax’s customer-service system seems to be several years behind the times.

When the delivery didn’t come on Friday, when it was supposed to, Karen called OfficeMax customer service. The rep could not tell her what happened. He did not know where the stuff was, and said he had no way to track it. It would probably arrive Monday, he said. But he wasn’t sure. He had no way to tell us where our order was.

Today is Monday, and still no OfficeMax truck. And still no way for the company to find our stuff. It’s out in the ether, and OfficeMax doesn’t have the systems to track it.

I can track a UPS, FedEx, or USPS package in seconds through the Web. Other stores offer real-time inventory checks — you can see if something you want is in stock. Shipping companies use cell phones and GPS to track their trucks all across the country; a flower distributor near us can follow an order of roses from Florida to his loading dock.

But OfficeMax can’t tell us where our delivery is or when it will arrive — nor can they cancel it. (Our only option is to refuse delivery… if someone’s home when it comes.)

Wow.

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