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Taking phone orders requires a few basic details, but even the simplest transaction can become complicated when a customer cannot provide their own address.

Now imagine trying to arrange a plant delivery for someone who knows they live near Winnipeg but cannot remember their postal code after two years – would you keep asking questions, or start searching old records yourself?

That is the puzzle facing one nursery employee as the customer provides increasingly vague clues and remains unsure even after hearing the address already saved to her account.

Can this order possibly reach the right house?

“I don’t know where I live”

I work for an online company tree nursery that ships plants through the mail.

Customers can make purchases online, but we also accept phone calls and create orders for them.

We also provide free shipping for orders that are $100 or more and are being delivered to an address near our warehouse.

But one customer, in particular, just didn’t quite understand why they needed an address.

This is a conversation I had with a customer one day:

Me: Can I get your postal code, so that we can calculate shipping and tax fees?

Customer: …My shipping is free.

So, the rep calmly explained the situation.

Me: Your subtotal is over $100, so that is correct. But our system calculates shipping and tax fees the same way, and I need your postal code to get the total amount.

Customer: But I don’t want to be charged for shipping

That’s when the OP got smart in conversing with this oddball customer.

Me: Do you live in Manitoba?

Customer: Yes.

Me: Then, you qualify for free shipping. The system will recognize your subtotal and your address and not charge you any shipping fees. Does that make sense?

Customer: Yes.

Me: Okay then. So…postal code?

But, this is where things get weird.

Customer: Uh, I live in Manitoba

Me: I am aware. Do you know your postal code?

Customer: It’s near Winnipeg.

The OP reminded the customer that wasn’t the correct answer…

Me: I still need your postal code.

Customer: Can’t you find it from the town name?

Me: A city or a densely populated area can have multiple postal codes

And yet, the customer still had no idea…

Customer: I live on a farm outside of Winnipeg…on the southeast side.

Me: That still doesn’t tell me much.

Customer: I don’t know where I live. I moved recently, and I don’t know the address yet.

Me: When did you move?

That’s when things got s-t-r-a-n-g-e.

Customer: Two years ago.

That doesn’t sound very recent…

Me: …You ordered from us last year, right? Were you living at the same address?

Customer: I think so.

Me: …Ok…Can you spell your last name?

Suddenly, the OP had become Carmen Sandiego.

I look up her customer file from our records and read out the shipping address I find there

Me: Does that sound correct?

Customer: I don’t know.

So, the rep took some liberties to make this order happen.

At this point, I really don’t see how this address could not be the customer’s, so I complete her order with that information.

I honestly can’t understand how an adult who has been living in the address for at least 2 years and has placed a mail order at least once for the same company with said address can forget her postal code.

What was up with this customer? Was it really that they couldn’t remember their address? Let’s see what Reddit is saying in the comments below.

Redditors were far more familiar with this behavior than one would think.

They even said they’ve been on the customer’s side.

And one user thought this was going to be the customer on bad behavior — but it was really just pure confusion.

Finally, one commenter wondered why the company put up with this at all.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a researcher who complained about being excluded from a trip only to watch the university cancel the whole thing.
This story proves that customer service sometimes involves solving mysteries nobody expected to encounter during a routine phone order.

Keeping an address written somewhere accessible would have saved everyone a lot of confusion, especially after living there for two years…

Perhaps there was a genuine reason for the customer’s uncertainty, but the employee still deserved credit for piecing together the clues and completing the purchase.

At least the plants had a better chance of finding her home than she did!