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The customer service industry is not for the faint-hearted, and yet most Americans, 107.8 million people, work in private service-providing industries. 16.7 million of them work in the leisure and hospitality sectors, meaning they handle customers’ orders on a daily basis.

And if you've ever worked in a restaurant of some sort, you’d know this is not a walk in the park. Although you do meet lovely people and locals you can call by their name, and the loyal clients who always get their usual, sometimes things are not that pretty. Entitled customers, spoiled kids, and clients who don’t even know what they want are also part of the job.

So when the Twitter user @Kealy22 posted the question “Customer service workers, what is the complaint that broke you?” on her thread, people had a whole bunch of stuff to share. So get ready for stories about customers from hell.

Shouting, complaining, calling corporate, speaking to the manager, acting aggressively, wasting everyone’s time—these are some of the most dreadful real-life client incidents that will change the way we look at customer service workers for good.

Image credits: Keally22

Image credits: Keally22

Image credits: Keally22

Image credits: Keally22

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People-Share-Customer-Service-Complaint-Stories

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Raine Soo
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love your response! Was the customer clever enough to understand it?

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Bored Panda reached out to Tay, who goes by the Twitter handle @taylorkiwi, who joined the viral thread to comment on her experience working in the customer service industry. Tay’s tweet read: “customer where I work at a golf course. I kindly asked a member not to move the patio chairs around as it was a Covid rule. She proceeded to lick her hands and touch ALL the chairs on the patio as a 'joke.' Her friends did not laugh. I did not laugh.”

Tay said that she always loved working in customer service, but it’s been challenging. “I mean I hate it, but I love it. As frustrating and irritating as people can be, finding out ways to work and relate to different types of people is a learning curve.”

In fact, Tay confessed that she has been “yelled at, talked down to, and personally insulted.” But “learning how to handle these moments has helped me grow,” she added.

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Tay said that when it comes to dealing with entitled, impolite, and challenging customers, she takes on a “killing with kindness” strategy. “Typically if it’s someone much older or much younger, I ensure I do everything right and everything perfect. It’s a very satisfying feeling knowing that they are having a mental struggle trying to come up with something to complain about.”

But the best moments are when “you have an awful customer sitting with a friend who really isn’t so bad. By being kind to them when they are clearly trying to belittle me, I know they feel foolish and their friend is embarrassed.” Tay said it’s the perfect way to ruin their day while making their day the best it can be.

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Ty Stratton-Quirk
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some people, you just wish would find a Huntsman spider in the front seat of their car.

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Samantha Lomb
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's nice to see managers stand up for employees instead of throwing them under the bus

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Raine Soo
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How does one not know the difference between a fingernail and a slice of onion?

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When asked if she agrees with the saying that the customer is always right, Tay replied: “Hell no, the customer is usually never right. I am paid to be an expert in what I’m doing, even if it’s just an expert in the menu and serving.”

She added: “Oh really, last time you were here you were allowed to substitute chicken for shrimp? Well, I’ll have you know the protein is cooked into the sauce and you can’t change it out.” Although Tay agrees that the customer should be accommodated as best as possible, it doesn’t mean they’re right.

If you’re thinking of working in the customer service industry, Tay said you have to be able to adapt to each person you interact with. “The correct answer for one person might be insulting to another. They have different personalities, different ways of interpreting information, and different ways of socializing.”

There’s no one copy-paste way to behave with clients, so you have to be extremely versatile to be able to handle both pleasant and not-so-much situations that happen daily.In the end, Tay revealed that smiling through a painful customer is also a part of the job. “There’s nothing I can do during a shift that’ll make me put on a real smile if I’m working with an awful customer.”

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On the other hand, “the thought of me complaining and having my friends and coworkers agreeing with my struggles during our after-work glass of wine makes it all worthwhile.”

#16

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Samantha Lomb
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hate people with ill behaved children who don't bother to discipline them.

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Samantha Lomb
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How do adult humans NOT know coffee contains caffeine? Though good move quitting rather than strangling her

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Samantha Lomb
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Were they fried in lard? That is possible though unlikely and some shortenings contain pork

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BusLady
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Lady, they are not going to buy a round table and put your name on it.

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Samantha Lomb
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The worker likely had to know before entering the rest of the order because of the ordering system. Some people are just insane

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BusLady
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would think that legally, the money belonged to you. The police would have regarded it as a nuisance call. And what a lousy boss.

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Raine Soo
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do you ever get the feeling that some folks just wake up angry at everything and everyone?

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BusLady
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Personally, I prefer beer in the bottle. I'm sure she lost a lot of respect for her prof after that.

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Samantha Lomb
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If that is not done right and very carefully, it constitutes child abuse as kids don't get the proper nutrients.

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Toujin C'Thlu
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

*sighs* What is with men thinking that women don't understand machines, simply because they're women? Especially these days.

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Oskar vanZandt
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Same defective gene that makes those individuals mansplain everything... In my experience (as a witness NOT a doer), I think it's even worse when the female person is young/er... dismissed even quicker.

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Leo Domitrix
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do peopl enot realize the Dems live in states that have majority-not-only Repoublians, and Republicans live in states that have majority-not-only Democracts? Who cares if this was a "very blue" state. The customer was paleolithic, end of story.

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Becca Gizmo the Squirrel
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Exactly what I was thinking. My family and I are very blue in a blood red state (Alabama).

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BusLady
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I worked in a camera store where all the salespeople were men. I was customer service. A guy came in and looked around and saw that all the guys were busy with customers. I asked him if I could help him and he brushed me off. The owner (a woman) was standing nearby, and she asked if she could help him. He also brushed her off, saying he would wait on one of the guys. She gave me a knowing smile as he walked away. I still laugh about it to this day.

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Thomas Robb
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What does the politics of the state have to do with anything?

makaylabolton avatar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wish I could feel good enough about myself to admit that I look pretty, much less THINK I'M ACTUALLY PRETTY

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Bill
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is when you as the manager ask her a technical question she knows in front of the ahole as if you didn't know.

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Saara .
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It has to be said that liberals aren't as intellectually advanced as they put forth. They fall short just like conservatives do.

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JP Doyle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have known many women who know a hell of a lot more about engines and machinery than I do. Just because I am a man doesn't mean I know jack about mechanical stuff. My knowing male insight tells me there is something wrong if the vroom-vroom doesn't make noise when I twists the inny-outty piece, even if I'm pushing the footy things. That is the extent of my mechanical knowledge.

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CatWoman312
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think he just felt like like a fool a woman could school him

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CharliAnn Olney
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I traded my Honda 90cc for a Triumph Spitfire that was only a Chassis and body. Not a problem for me. My ex-spouse thought I was nuts. I built and put in the engine, transmission, etc. Put it all together and drove that car for almost a decade! When ever it had maintenance due I took it to the base auto shop and did it myself. Usually the only female there. Many times I had to fend off "mansplainers" but was able to shoot them down with my knowledge. Grew up with only brothers and male cousins. One brother was a stock car driver. I was on his pit crew. Yep. I know cars. Well, not so much any more. 67 and cars are rolling computers now. LOL

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M Kate McCulloch
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's kinda funny. When my old mechanic retired, I "interviewd" three new mechanics. My jeeps UV joint was shedding ball bearings as the ring was busted. One mechanic didn't even mention the UV joint in his estimate. One said both sides needed replacing, as well as the tie rod ends, cam, shocks and struts (shocks and struts had been replaced 3 months prior). The last guy says, "With the age of this car it's probably better to either get a new ring and repack the bearings or buy from a junk yard. There's a couple other things that will need attention eventually (lists them) but nothing that would make it dangerous for you to drive." I thanked him. told him I had been a mechanic for two different shops for four years (until I just couldn't stand being that dirty all the time), and gave him my business for the next 13 years til he retired. Fortunately, he sold his shop to a guy who worked with him for years and I haven't had to move.

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Kim Bush
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The lines to that old country song just popped into my head... "Lord it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, I get better looking each day... " 😂 😂 😂

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Charlotte Sandoval
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I work in a hardware type call center. Cannot tell you how many men tell me to go get them a man because I clearly can't know hardware

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Stannous Flouride
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sexism, like all bigotry, doesn't pay attention to state boundaries.

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OLIVIA WESTON
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Most blue states suck some don't because of their pretty landscapes.

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Celtic Pirate Queen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I taught my straight, male, almost 30 year old neighbor how to replace his oil & how to change a tire. I think I was about 19. (I only mention straight because most of my gay male friends would never dream of getting their hands dirty unless it was in the organic, rainwater only, tastefully designed raised beds in the back yard).

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Boopie Dew
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What does blue state have to do with it? An ass is an ass. Both red and blue are capable.

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Emilingo
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"I am a sweet looking quiet girl w long pretty hair and a pretty face. Men love to flirt with me."

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Id row
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wish we could put guys like this on a rocket to the sun.

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Patrick McKemie
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What does "Blue State" have to do with it? They're are people of all political persuasions in every State. One person represents your entire State population's political view?!? This sounds disingenuous to me and merely an attempt at "owning dem Libs".

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AnimalMetalHeadUK
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I stopped reading at "pretty hair, pretty face, men love to flirt with me".

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Full Name
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3 years ago

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What does blue state have to do with it? Populations aren't monolithic. Also, the left has the majority of publicly proud racists yet they complain about racism. Humanity is full of contradictions.

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