Millie

I ordered some yarn from Knit Picks over a week ago and it's not here yet. It's yarn that I want to use to knit my dad a scarf for Christmas. My dad lives in LA so I have to mail it and I am starting to run out of time! I didn't really think about this when I ordered the yarn or I would have had it shipped the quicker (more expensive) way. Now I don't want to go out and buy yarn, start the scarf and then have my knit picks yarn arrive the next day so I'm in kind of a bind. So, yesterday, I decided to call knit picks and ask them for the tracking number for my package so I could see where it is and maybe gauge when it might get here. Here is my conversation:

Millie: Hi, this is Millie. I can answer your questions regarding blah blah, blah blah, or knit picks orders.
Me: I have a question about my knit picks order.
Millie: Do you have the order.
Me: No, but I have my order number. (I tell her the number and she verifies who I am.) I haven't received my order yet and I'm wondering if I could get a tracking number for the package so I can see where it is.
Millie: I know you're anxious to get it, dear. We say that it should arrive in 5-14 days so it's a little soon to be worried.
Me: I understand. I'm not worried but it's been over a week and I would just like a tracking number. I'm just curious where it is.
Millie: Dear, I know things never come as quickly as we would like them to but you just need to be patient. It will get to you. I could track it but it would just say "in route" and that wouldn't tell you anything. We say it takes 5-14 days so give it some more time, dear.

At this point, I give up because I'm at work and am really not supposed to be on the phone so I can't take any more time to squeeze the tracking number out of Millie. The damn woman has it but won't give it to me!

Today, I asked my husband to call again on my behalf. Hey, my name is gender neutral, he could be Casey. I came home and he said that his conversation went something like this:

Mike: I'm wondering if I could get the tracking number so I could find out where the package is.
Someone other than Millie: Sure, I can look that up for you. . . . It is in Kent, WA but it hasn't reached the post office yet so it probably won't leave Kent until tomorrow.
Mike: Could you tell me the number so I could look it up on my own?
Someone other than Millie: Sure, it's blah, blah, blah.

Why do companies employ super UNhelpful people like Millie? It seems like I always get the Millies of the world. It was nice to find out where my package is and getting the number would be nice if it worked for anything. I can't actually use it to track my package, but giving it to me was a nice gesture, I guess. Hopefully it won't take another week to get here from WA and I hope your holiday odering is going well!