A gentleman called me and wanted to place his order for a few stamps from my pricelist. But to place his order, he only sends a fax. As a small, part time dealer with access to the Internet, I don’t have a fax machine.

I explained that I don’t have a fax machine. The gentleman replied that he can only send his order by fax.

“But I have you on the phone now. If it’s only a few stamps, tell me what they are and I’ll get them for you.” Nope, only by fax.

“You can also mail in your order.” All he had to do was mail me the printed copy which was going to go through the fax machine anyway. Sorry, only by fax.

At this point, the gentleman was pretty perturbed at me for not having a fax machine. OK, but I’m just a small dealer. I can’t justify the expense of a second dedicated phone line and a fax machine for the handful of orders that would arrive that way. I could use my regular phone, but then it’s tied up when a fax is coming through. Or if the phone is in use, the sender is going to get busy signals which will just make them mad.

I was trying desperately to get this new customer to send me his order. However, he insisted on only sending a fax.

Most of my customers order by regular USPS mail. Some prefer email. A few like to phone in their order. I’m fine no matter what.

Why this gentleman was so insistent on sending his order by fax only, I don’t know. To the few dealers out there who still have a fax machine, I have a customer waiting for you. I don’t know what he’s going to do when fax machines go the way of the dinosaurs. Eventually fax machines will be piled up beside everyone’s old VCR machine. Can you even buy a VCR anymore?