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“You Can’t Make This Up”: 30 Retail Workers Recall Their Wildest Encounters With Customers
Interview With Author
Working in retail is not for the faint of heart. On paper, the job might include folding clothes, greeting customers with a smile and ringing up shoppers once they’ve found everything they need. But in reality, it can feel like working in a war zone. Aggressive customers, ruthless managers and being required to stay on your feet all day can suck the life out of anyone.
And if you’re lucky enough to have never worked in retail, you can learn all about the experience from this list, pandas. Retail workers have recently been sharing some of their wildest stories on Reddit, so we’ve gathered the most shocking ones below. Enjoy scrolling through these tales that might help you learn to appreciate your office job, and be sure to upvote all of your favorites!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My first job other than babysitting or casual household labor as a teenager was at an antiques store. Mostly I just came in after school to dust and vacuum, help with heavy lifting, etc. But if the owner had an errand, I was fully in charge. It was quite a nice job.
One afternoon, a lady came in to shop. She brought her notebook, and borrowed my measuring tape when she found a dining room table that suited her style.
"I would like to order this table, but 4 inches longer."
Um...
"Ma'am, we aren't sourcing our European antiques from a workshop, you know? I can refer you to someone who could build a reasonable facsimile to your specifications, but there's literally no way for me to order what you want."
An absolute s**t fit was thrown.
Apparently, she called my boss the next day. Boss suffered no fools, didn't need money, and only opened the shop because her husband retired and boss didn't want to stay home with him all day.
I don't know exactly what was said on the call, but I got a $20 slipped into my hand - the way grandmothers do it - when I got to work that afternoon. "Baby, you earned this for putting up with that old b***h."
And $20 was real money circa 1985!
Carilyn Beverly 10 months ago
"the way grandmothers do it"! My grandmother did this with "gas money". I still have the last $20 she gave me before she passed away
RELATED:
#2
Had a woman berate me for 5 solid minutes about why I was working on Christmas day. I finally said "because of people like *you* that can't plan ahead. "
She abruptly left. I didn't tell my manager for a year. Never heard about a complaint.
Bryn 10 months ago
i don't understand why people berate others for working at the service they are using. like, where's the logic?
UKGrandad 10 months ago
Like the Sunday morning church crowd who go from the service to a restaurant only to berate the staff for working on God's special day.
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UpupaEpops 10 months ago
I have one like this. During the Census, the Sunday crowd *demanded* from city officials that the office be open on Sundays. Which meant that for 2 months straight, I was working a full 7-day week with 0 days off. So I drag my a*s in on our first Sunday, only to be greeted by an irate gaggle of middle-aged women, giving me grief about how I was late. Office hours began at 10, with me arriving at 9:45. I point to the sign, lock the door behind me and get ready for work. Doors open at 10 and while normally it took me about 10 minutes per person, this lot had suddenly forgotten all about church and dissected every question and answer, taking me almost an hour and a half to finish with the five of them. Then the chief God botherer had the absolute audacity to stop on her way out, turn around, look me up and down and inform me that while I should be ashamed of myself for not honouring the Lord's day, they will make sure to pray for me.
The Doom Song 10 months ago
Last time I worked Christmas day, a customer came up to me and said " I bet it sucks working today right" My reply "yeah it does suck. I'd much rather be at my parents house poolside sipping on a cocktail but nope I am here coz people don't want to cook Christmas lunch" Face on the guy was priceless
Bananaramamama 10 months ago
I 100% agree that no one should HAVE to work on certain holidays, but as woman who is naturally scatterbrained at times I am so grateful for those who do! On those days any delivery people, store employees definitely get a generous tip from me regardless of whether or not it would be customary. I can remember one specific Instacart shopper who saved my butt when I accidentally ruined a large portion of a holiday dinner, had two young kids, husband working late, family on the way that evening and no car at my disposal. By the time she arrived I was practically in tears I was so grateful. She got a tip that was more than half of what I paid for the replacement food. No one should ever be shamed for making our lives a little easier!
#3
Worked at a pet store and a dude brought in a dead fish and demanded that I, 17 year old kid, tell him how his fish died. If that wasn’t funny enough, a bystander rescued me by asking “don’t you have a fish autopsy kit?!?” It was funny enough to get the dead fish dude to leave me alone.
LizzieBoredom 10 months ago
"E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!"
ArchangelLoki 10 months ago (edited)
Beautiful plumage though. I'd replace it, but we're all out of parrots.
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To find out how this conversation started in the first place, we reached out to Reddit user Professional_Song419, who invited retail workers to share their "you can't make this up" stories.
"I decided to post this question on r/AskReddit after a discussion with some of my friends who worked in retail while in college," the author says. "They shared some crazy stories, often involving misbehaving kids, negligent parents, entitled customers, and those with no understanding of courtesy and hygiene."
#4
Best buy. Lady comes in with a 10% off coupon and asks me how much it'll get her off on an $80 antenna. I explain $8 to which she is surprised, and angrily picks the $50 one. While ringing her up she asks why the antenna is $45 and when I explain how 10% off works again, she replies "I thought you said $8".
Bookworm 10 months ago
I can't do the mental math for percentages to save my life (thanks, phone calculator!) but the number of people who truly have no grasp of what they are at all is kind of terrifying.
SirWriteALot 10 months ago
if it's 10%, just remove the last digit from the dollar-amount. Like 80 bucks becomes 8 bucks. 20 % ... is twice that, so 2x8=16. 15 % is tricky ... so just say it's somwehere around 8 and 16 bucks :-D
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#5
Target we have a “code yellow” for missing kids. Whole team drops what they are doing and we all help. Usually child is found within minutes.
One case on a slow night the missing boy, 10, could not be found. Parent is frantic and getting more frantic. “Would he have gone to the car on his own?” I offer. Which got me screamed at about he would never and he’s been kidnapped and I’m not taking things seriously.
He had gone out to the car on his own.
Ellinor 10 months ago
To be honest, if I was a parent and lost my kids, I would panic too. But that's not an excuse to yell at people.
Kirsten Kerkhof 10 months ago
I worked at a theme park as a student. It is quite amazing how many parents do NOT know their kid has been missing for 45-60 minutes. I'd been walking around with the child, having them look for their parents/guardians, and when we'd find said adults, they'd be surprised the kid wasn't with them. I even got yelled at once for bringing the kid back because their child wasn't supposed to walk with strangers. Madam, it's only because of strangers that your kid has been returned to you.
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ElfVibratorGlitter 10 months ago
I did this as a kid before. Got lost in the hardware store with my dad and figured he'd know to check the car. He EVENTUALLY did, but after that I learned that I'm supposed to go to customer service. I wasn't the smartest kid, to be sure.
Bookworm 10 months ago
As kid logic goes, it's actually a pretty reasonable idea - go to the car, they definitely can't leave without you.
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Geoffrey Scott 10 months ago
Always a good idea to at LEAST check. Had a teacher and husband bring the grandchild in one night. Frantically looking all over, I asked "could he be out in the car?"..he was. Got bored and left.
g90814 10 months ago
My mom left me and my brother in a small store when we wouldn't come with her to leave. She waited just outside to have us come out in a panic. Smooth move, Mom.
Robin Roper 10 months ago
I know for a fact that the first place security look for a missing child at the NC State Fair is the parent's car; the kid is pretty much always there unless the another parent has the child and didn't tell the parent who is looking.
#6
Was working retail at a Sam Goodies record store many years ago and training a young girl at the cash register. She was very quiet and shy. It was her first job ever and she was very very nervous.
An older gentleman came up to the counter with a cassette tape that he was very excited about. Apparently he had been looking for it for quite some time and had finally found it at our store.
In his excitement, as he spoke, his dentures popped out of his mouth, bounced across the counter, and hit this young trainee right in the waist.
She let out a screech, threw her hands in the air, and jumped backwards about 5 ft.
The old gentleman yelled "Aww Thit"... reached across the counter, grabbed his dentures and popped them right back in. The whole event took about 3 seconds.
It was hilarious ....but this young girl was just shaking like a leaf and in disbelief of what had just happened to her.
It was hilarious.
Janissary35680 10 months ago
Like this isn't the first time it's happened. XD
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Kelly Scott 10 months ago
Working as a bank teller in the 70s, I had a customer who pulled out his checkbook and his little can fell out, too, opening up and spilling his weed all over the counter. He scooped it back into the can real fast, telling me, "You didn't see nothing, did you?"
Carilyn Beverly 10 months ago
My dad had partial dentures; sometimes they came out on their own, sometimes he would just take them out for one silly reason or another LOL
Robert Beveridge 10 months ago
He didn't Fixodent, he forgot it. (and I need to know what the tape was!)
LGBTQpanda 10 months ago (edited)
Poor thing. 🦷 Probably still telling the story of that experience to her kids!
"I also recently heard news about how, in some stores, retail workers are not allowed to take breaks or even sit down during working hours while working long shifts for minimum wage," the OP continued. "I think this has made me more sympathetic to the challenges that retail workers face on the job."
"Plus, who doesn't love a good story? I wanted to create a post where former or current retail workers could not only vent about the weird stuff they have been through, but also laugh about these challenging moments with some strangers like me who are curious about their wild stories," Professional_Song419 shared.
#7
A customer once refused to buy granola from me because I’m not vegan. The granola was vegan, but I, a salesperson who had nothing to do with making it, was not. They said it was against their morals.
ElfVibratorGlitter 10 months ago
Hahah, okay, that's unhinged. I don't care if the person selling me food is vegan...
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 10 months ago
If you did, presumably you'd almost never buy anything? And do they apply this logic to all goods, or just to food? Do they ask the guy selling them a TV if he's vegan?
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SirWriteALot 10 months ago
But you're human, and by being treated like that you suffered. That was not very vegan of them.
Donna Peluda 10 months ago
He would basically stave to death if he only ate food produced and or handled by vegans at some point.
#8
Worked in a middle class British supermarket chain about 10 years ago.
Saturday morning shift, not overly busy but plenty of footfall.
Our chilled dairy section was more or less opposite the tills, when I started hearing raised voices from the chilled section.
Turns out an elderly lady, roughly 70 years old or so had collapsed face first into the cheese chiller.
Lying there face down in a mix of butters and non dairy spreads.
Fairly serious stuff, CPR being given by bystanders and staff.
I didnt get involved directly (only 17 or 18 at the time) only keeping other customers from rubbernecking and giving thid old dear some dignity, when i hear a large, disapproving huff from this is when a middle aged woman stood behind me.
Think, middle class Karen.
Hair up in bun;
Designer leather jacket;
Designer bag,
Designer boots,
Face butchered by so much filler and botox it was giving Michael Jackson a run for his cash.
With that quintesential, entitled British degrading tone.
In my nicest customer service voice.
Explain that there is an ongoing medical emergency and this aisle is closed.
She huffs again, getting impaitent.
Replies in the most condesending tone of "Well, I don't have all day to wait, go and get me these things" as if I was her servant.
I again, politely inform her I couldnt as the products she wanted were directly where this elderly lady was.
She huffs and snarks, and proceeds...without any hesitation, to push me out the way with her trolley, push her way past another member of staff, parks her trolley next to the woman being given CPR, REACHES OVER HER and the staff giving her CPR, and grabs two blocks of cheese. Puts them in her trolley and trots off like nothing was happening, oblivious to what was happening.
I was in speechless disbelief on how cold people could be.
Retail. Never again.
Lee Gilliland 10 months ago
I've had a female like that stand in the way of an ambulance in order to get to her reserved table, right next to a dying man and then sit down. Some people are just a*sholes.
Orysha 10 months ago
"Face butchered by so much filler and botox it was giving Michael Jackson a run for his cash." I'm totally stealing this.
Lace Neil 10 months ago
Had a Karen do something similar in the petrol station where I worked. An old lady passed out in the store. I was performing first aid while my colleague called an ambulance. Enter Karen, demanding that I authorise her pump. I just gave her a blank stare while continuing keeping the old lady alive. She stormed out of the shop and attempted to complain but was told to eff off in the nicest possible way by my manager. The old lady lived, by the way. Her husband came in the week later and gave us a box of chocolates each to thank my colleague and I. As for Karen, I never saw her again which was no great loss.
Jill Waters 10 months ago
I used to work in a theatre where a major sporting event was held (still is) and someone in the audience collapsed. Obviously there was noise but one of the stewards told everyone to be quiet and actually stepped over the casualty!
#9
Worked customer service at well known superstore. A few times I had moments of just complete brain shutting down shock at some of the s**t people tried to pull.
The most memorable was coming back from break I’d go through all the clothing areas to avoid customers. I went around a corner and bumped into a lady in the shoe aisle with an armful of boxes. I helped her pick up the boxes she dropped and went back to the service counter.
About 3 minutes later that same woman walked up, put the boxes on the counter and said she’d like to return them. I kind of stopped and stared at her. I told her I just saw her bring them directly from the floor over to here. She repeated she wanted to return them. I didn’t get paid enough to argue so I keyed in the code for a manager, made the return for her (like $200 on a gift card) and off she went. The manager and loss prevention got her before she made it out the door.
Another time two guys came in to pick up a moneygram. He showed a Cali license so I asked what he was doing all the way in Iowa. He told me he was on the run from the law. I just laughed and dismissed it as a joke.
20 minutes later a guy in a Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts cuts to the front of the line puts a badge down and tells me he’s a U.S. Marshall. I told him I thought the guy was joking about being on the run and the Marshall says “he actually told you that!?”
Anyways they pulled me to go speak with the store manager so he can let her know they will be arresting the guy as soon as he leaves the store. I ask if I can watch and the Marshall says sure why not and the store manager tells me to get my a*s back to work lol didn’t get to see it go down.
Sophia Athene 10 months ago (edited)
I asked my husband, who worked in retail as a manager for a long a*s time, why they processed the transaction for the shoe lady. He said that she had to accept the money before they could arrest her. Just trying to get the "return" isn't stealing if no money changes hands. The beauty of being a manager is witnessing Loss Prevention stop, accost, or tackle a thief.
Kelly Scott 10 months ago (edited)
I was covering for a friend at a bus station (selling tickets) which was on the end of town (town was about 6 blocks long - that was the whole main street). There was a town party to celebrate some team winning a soccer game and the main drag was closed down to traffic. Hundreds of people were celebrating in the street. Then the bad element came in and local police asked for help. The nearest city sent motorcycles, mounted patrols, and riot police. I was outside the bus station and they told me everything and everyone in town was moving that way, but if I stayed on my side, I'd be all right. So I got to watch an entire riot control unit move hundreds of people out of town and/or into jail. It was quite the experience.
While the author says they've personally never worked in retail, they wouldn't be opposed to the idea. "I just think that those who work in retail are very patient, socially adept, and efficient workers," they noted. "After all, the reason they encounter such strange situations more than people like me (office workers) is that they have to interact with a diverse group of customers every day. These customers can be stressed, angry, very talkative, self-absorbed, drunk or intoxicated, which, of course, can increase the likelihood of strange situations happening."
#10
Not me, but a story from my sister who's not on reddit. She worked at a craft store for her first job out of high school. One day, they had a bird in their store. No one could catch it, it would always fly away and perch on a high place in the store out of reach. It was in there for a couple days when it finally got too weak to fly very high anymore. My sister finally was able to approach it and offered it water and it drank it out of a bottlecap. My sister grabbed it and put it in a small cardboard box so it could rest and regain its strength for release. She put the box in the break room and wrote on it "DO NOT OPEN! BIRD INSIDE!"
Later that day they were in the break room and one of her coworkers walked in and *opened the box*, releasing the bird again. My sister asked her why she opened the box and she replied that she thought it was a prank or something. Thankfully the bird was only confined to the break room and my sister caught it again and immediately released it outside and it flew away.
"DO NOT OPEN! BIRD INSIDE!" became a meme among her friends and coworkers. Emails with "DO NOT OPEN" attachments that was just a goofy bird picture or gif, actual boxes with "Do not open" on them that contained stuffed bird toys or bird figurines. She left that job some months later, but she left an impact!
Robert Trebor 10 months ago (edited)
My ship was training for a week off the Virginia coast and when we were on our station, someone noticed an large owl in the helo hanger. The Captain decreed that the single interior door from the hanger was to not be opened except in an extreme emergency to keep mr owl from getting deeper inside the ship. Somebody just had to open the door to go look but fortunately asecurity watch found the owl in residence ( hanger door was open for mr owl). Insdide door was manually blocked . When we went into port on Friday, I was on the helo deck, and was able to report to the bridge that the owl flew out and toward land. I pity the first small furry being the owl saw because our atempts a catering were pretty ineffectual.
Seadog 10 months ago
I work at a dealership. Birds get in the shop area. Then at closing the shop is pretty dark with the lights off so the bird goes to the only light it can see, the parts dept. They usually stay there and try to get out the window that doesn't open. Sometimes they go to the retail area. Either way they make a complete mess of everything and getting them out of the building is nearly impossible.
Huddo's sister 10 months ago
My friend found a mouse and her babies at work one day. She put them in a box to release them or take them home or something. Her manager made fun of her for saving them, then stomped on the box and killed them!
#11
We had an employee whose daughter died. We sent her flowers, gave her time off, told her to come back when she was ready etc. She then came back a few weeks later working shortened hours with a “support friend” by her side. She soon got fired for letting the “support friend” use the services for free.
A couple months later- she came in as a customer and HER DAUGHTER (that had died) WAS SITTING IN THE CAR PLAYING ON AN IPAD. We called her out immediately- it was awkward.
and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 10 months ago
Hey now it’s not HER fault her kid is the second coming of Jesus!
Libstak 10 months ago
My biggest and best reason for never pulling stunts like that is i feel like i am cursing the person im claiming is dead. I mean if they then die any time i am still working over so many years i will never live down the guilt. Closest I've ever come is a grand dad that was already many years dead when i was young and stupid and just started working, felt like he was kicking my a**e from beyond and never tried such a stunt again.
Leg less In Minneapolis 10 months ago
As a mother whose child did actually die, people who do this should be taken out back and shot
Crystalwitch60 10 months ago
I’m with you on this totally was my first thought love n hugs to you so sorry for you loss blessed be
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Grace Note 10 months ago
I can't imagine pretending anyone I know has died but your own child?! The woman is sick in the head and a vile person.
Neopet22 10 months ago
I can't believe people would actually use their kids in such awful excuses. I had a team member who told me their daughter was kidnapped. I of course was empathetic and worked with my manager to get them time off so she can focus on finding her child. She was found a week later and she mentioned was very traumatized so of course we supported her and while I did want to believe her,something felt iffy. I kind of kept checking for amber alerts in my city and even looked it up last week ( this happened in Nov of 2023) and never saw anything about her child. Our city has a lot of amber alerts and usually post them as soon as they happen. Overall throught the year this person had a lot tragedies happen to them and to this day,I feel like most were made up.
Margie Ang 10 months ago
I've read quite a few similar stories and wonder, don't they have to produce a death certificate to be entitled for such leaves? At least for 1st degree relatives... I've taken bereavement leave only by giving such documentation.
Crystalwitch60 10 months ago
NOW THAT SKANK IS ALL KINDS OF FREAKING SICK 🤬🤬omfg the pain of losing a child is off the scale using it as an excuse is the most DISTURBING DISGUSTING thing I’ve heard fr from funny !
#12
Working at a sports bar / restaurant there was a little office party going on and the boss ended up biting an employees earlobe off. We found the earlobe outside the next day, earring still in it, and gave it to the police.
Finally, we asked the author what they thought of the replies to their post. "I have to say that I was (sadly) not that surprised by the number of cases involving poop and [pee] in these stories," Professional_Song419 shared. "The story about an elderly customer's dentures popping out of their mouth and hitting an inexperienced trainee made me laugh out loud! I was quite shocked by the comment from a Redditor who shared that a customer once refused to buy a granola bar from her because she was not vegan."
#13
Had a lady come in, disgusted at the state of the store (she was on her hands and knees looking under the racking), she left and came back with plastic bags, gloves, a mask, and cooking tongs. She proceeded to start pulling dust bunnies out from under the permenant racking.
She asked for a broom, to which ai politely obliged. End of the day (store closing), I walked her out and thanked her for bringing this to our attention. Never saw her again. Manager called me an a*****e for letting her go on like that. She wasn't bugging anyone and she seemed calmer the more she did this.
The whole thing went on for about 3 hours.
Untamed Snark 10 months ago
They're welcome to come to my place, I'll even cook for them if they clean.
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Carilyn Beverly 10 months ago
While a bit bizarre, no harm done and the police were not needed
#14
2 ladies were doing a bold shoplifting spree. City police were at every store exit, waiting for them to leave the premises. Store security was tracking them thru the store. We were told to leave them totally alone if they came into our area.
Sure enough, here they came into my area.
One woman was pushing a stroller with a little boy in it, approximately 2 years old.
The other one was pushing of those old-fashioned baby carriages (like from the 1920s) with a blanket thrown over it. I heard later that someone had asked her about her baby, and she said it had breathing problems and needed privacy, thus the blanket over the entire carriage.
They shopped all 3 floors of our store, filling up the carriage, any room in the stroller, and filling girdles under their clothes, getting physically larger the more time they spent in the store.
They finally attempted to return to their car with $5000+ worth of merchandise and we're stopped by police.
Rumor has it they even had 16 pairs of earrings stuffed into their underpants. The baby that has breathing problems was revealed to be a plastic baby doll.
Nikole 10 months ago
I was in a grocery store once buying wine, and these two women with a blanket-covered stroller who had been in that section with me got stopped by security as they headed for the exit. I watched as security pulled back the blanket, and in the stroller were bottles of alcohol. I saw at least one bottle of Saphire, so their taste wasn’t completely awful.
Warren Peece 10 months ago
"we're stopped by police" Why were you and people with you stopped by police?
#15
I work as an optician, and (quite recently!) had a client come in for a “check up” (at the optometrist’s, for sight). His eyesight was about -3.50 and -8.00 (those who wear glasses know that this is bad news). He shrugged and said “ah! Will do. Been working as a truck driver with this vision and I see great!” (he doesn’t wear glasses).
Me and my colleagues thought about asking for his work schedule to know on which days we shouldn’t leave the house….
ArchangelLoki 10 months ago
I'm a dispensing optician and on one hand it DOES depend heavily on the patient's uncorrected visual acuities, but on the other hand OOF. I woul have had to get them to sign their record accepting that we had warned them otherwise.
Feathered Dinosaur 10 months ago
That's why career truck drivers in Germany have to get a medical check up - including an eye test- before they get their license- and every 5 years from then on. The need to wear glasses/contact lenses will be printed on the license, so when police check it they will see if the driver is complying or not
SirWriteALot 10 months ago
Is this even legal? I mean ... surely there must be some way to prevent this guy from driving a truck
Laserleader 10 months ago
I feel like there should be a way for optometrist to notify the DMV when a person has a Commercial Drivers Licence and they have less than legal vision. I know my CDL specifically states I must have corrective lenses and I had to pass an eye exam every renewal. This guy must be driving without a licence
Any 10 months ago (edited)
Can confirm. Optician here. It's absolutely unreal how many people out there drive with absolutely bad sight and don't even try glasses to get it better. I work in this job for 9 years now and it still happens now an then. I am absolutely for mandatory checks or your drivers licence gets revoked.... for everyone not only truck drivers....
Crystalwitch60 10 months ago
I don’t you have to inform the revelant people about this you do in uk you have to contact dvla if a patient is told they need glasses it’s against the law not to ! big time so if they are hgv drivers
Sheena Leversedge Wood 10 months ago
in the UK, if your eyesight is below a certain quality, you are required to wear glasses to drive. if I drive, I would be required to wear my glasses. I think they put it on your license and everything, so if you get caught driving without them, you're pretty much driving without a valid license. my husbands eyesight is borderline. he can legally drive without glasses, but they recommend he does, as it makes sign reading easier
#16
I once accidentally locked a pregnant woman in the store to take my break.
I was working the store in the mall alone and we had just had a rush. Everyone cleared out I locked the gate to take my dinner break.
When I came back 15 minutes later, a security guard was trying to figure out how to get her out. Apparently she was in the fitting rooms and I didn't realize it. She was so mad, naturally, and let me know she was going to complain to corporate. I called my manager after she left to own up to my mistake before she heard from the customer. Later the customer called me after she calmed down and let me know she wasn't going to tell on me and asked me to be more careful next time.
The manager let me go the next day due to my own admission.
Robert T 10 months ago
If you think that's bad, there was a recent incident in the UK where someone passed away in a disabled toilet and wasn't found for 2 or 3 days! They somehow managed to open it without the key and lock themselves inside. Staff didn't think anyone was in there because no-one had asked for the key.
Tamara Ford 7 months ago
I read about something like that. I think she was reported missing by her daughter. I think (might be wrong on this) that you need to wait for the person to be missing 24-48 hrs before reporting. It happened in a restaurant, if I recall right, and no one thought to check the toilets. Not even to clean them.
Load More Replies... SirWriteALot 10 months ago
S****y manager. It's rare people own up to their mistakes so you need to keep them.
Rob D 10 months ago
Unless said mistake that stupid could lead to harm. What if there was a fire?
Load More Replies... Seadog 10 months ago
80's. Worked for a bank. A teller from the main office was relieving another at a branch. This small branch only has one vault, so when you enter the vault you're in the safe deposit box area, The was a steel wall and door beyond that where the cash was kept. Procedure for counting the vault at the end of the day was to close the outer cage door and leave the inner door open so everyone would know someone was in the vault. (you know where this is going) So MO teller goes in and closes the inner door behind her. Another teller comes by sees the door closed, calls out "anyone in here?" to be sure. No answer because MO teller couldn't hear her with the door closed. Teller closes main vault door and spins the dial. It's Friday. Of course she comes out, sees the inside of the main door and starts screaming. This sets off the alarm. Alarm company calls the manager. He figures a jake brake set it off and has them just reset it. Alarm immediately goes off again so he goes to the bank and
Seadog 10 months ago
hears her in there screaming. There's a small ventilator built into the wall so when this happens you won't suffocate, and the ventilator can be removed and food and drink can be passed through. So they get Diebold on the phone, they have the manager pass the teller a screwdriver so she can remove the inside panel of the door so she can trigger the release for the lime lock. Took them about 3 hours to get her out of the vault.
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 10 months ago
At least they aren't childcare workers who left a child on the bus and they weren't found for 2 hours!
#17
20 years back I was working at Walmart and someone asked me to hold a ladder so they could change the pricing on the sign, this was suspended over the photo center.
Well, as he went to change a number the hook or whatever holding it up let go, the entire sign made out of heavy metal and plastics smashed me right in the face, somehow missed my nose and I was left with an inch gash above my upper lip and a tear on the right side that of my nose where it’s like connected. I have scars now.
The hr person asked me to come in a few days later to sign “paperwork so I could return to work when I was better” and it was a return to work form, they bait and switched me and had me back working several days later with stitches still in my face and my lip swollen like a golf ball.
F**k Walmart.
Nads 10 months ago
I am not dumb, but I can’t understand anything written by a lawyer. And many people have a terrible instinct to not be rude, to just go along with what others are saying, to avoid being disruptive. Mostly woman. 😔
Load More Replies... ElfVibratorGlitter 10 months ago
This is kinda nuts, I had a photo frame fall on me and clip me beside my nose when I was little. Still have a scar by the side of my nose, probably just like OP, except mine's on the left side of my nose.
Gracie Mae 10 months ago
I had a fall at work and reported it to my supervisor. I was in a great deal of pain and he wanted me to wait until after my shift, 3-4 hrs later, to go to the hospital (where I had to drive myself). I told him I would give him an hour and I was leaving; being nice enough to give him time to find someone to cover for me. That was only due to the nature of my job & being unable to leave the position unattended. I shouldn't have been that nice & made him have to cover it
Geoffrey Scott 10 months ago
Trying to avoid work comp 'experience'. I got after the head of HR (union shop) when he required an employee, who everyone knew would not 'milk it', climb a flight of stairs up to the office to prove his 2nd degree burns suffered on the job prevented physical work. They still had him come in to shuffle papers, thereby negating a claim other than medical. I'm of 2 minds on this. Comp pays 80%, on the clock pays 100%?
#18
I worked as a supervisor in a 24 hour convenience store, one night a coworker's mum came in drunk and threatened to slit 2 of our throats because her daughter was a terrible worker who needed to be prompted to do even the most simple of daily tasks, so she had started getting told off frequently.
The daughter quit the following day and her mother was permanently trespassed.
Nads 10 months ago
Suddenly it’s understandable why the daughter wasn’t the employee of the month…
Load More Replies... Seadog 10 months ago
Place I worked hired a kid whose dad was on the EPA's most wanted list. Thankfully the kids dad never showed up at work and soon fled the country (or so we were told). Wanted for what? Illegal tire dump that the EPA had to send in a team to clean up. Best I remember the fines against this guy was $10G/day. This guy probably couldn't come up with $10G if you gave him $20G. Forget the millions in fines he'd already racked up.
#19
I worked at Walmart in the auto center. Got pulled into the manager's office one day, and was told I was being written up for working on my own car. I didn't. So I obviously argued with them. Turns out I worked on a guy's car who has the exact same name as me.
badger 10 months ago
thought experiment: would it be wrong to work on your own car if you were paying Walmart to have you work on your own car?
Damned_Cat 10 months ago
Mechanics don't write up service tickets for themselves when they work on their own cars. The manager should have known better.
#20
While working at Home Depot one night we had a man come in who was clearly high on something. He wandered around the store for a while and eventually took a 50 pack of Olfa knife blades from the hardware department. He then took those blades to a shower display and closed himself inside the shower. He then proceeded to take out each blade individually and try to put them in his pants pockets in order to steal them. These knife blades being razor sharp, proceeded to cut up his hands and legs very badly. He was dripping blood all inside the shower stall. We called 911 for assistance, but before the ambulance got there, he already had left the store with most of the 50 pack of blades in his pants pockets while leaving a trail of blood from the shower stall to the parking lot. During this whole time, he did not say a word or show any sense that he was experiencing pain. The first responders intercepted him in the parking lot. We had to quarantine off the area and bring professional cleaners in to clean up the biohazard.
Austzn 10 months ago
No, no no. I've used these type of utility blades before and they are beyond razor sharp, thin so it doesn't take much force to cut stuff, and have sharp points that are designed to break off to reveal more sharp tips! You're supposed to only use 1 section at a time then snap it off to get a fresh part of the blade that's like 5 inches long for this purpose. 😱
#21
Worked at a liquor store. Had a guy come in, so drunk *when he got there*, that he fell out of his lifted truck and bashed his face open on the curb. A customer came running in and said there's someone bleeding in the parking lot, so my manager and I went out to check. He was absolutely hammered, no clue how he successfully drove there. Anyways, after getting blood all over me and my manager, he told us he wanted to sleep it off in his car. At noon on a Saturday at 95°F.
He got arrested.
Edit: Another story. The gas station next to us got robbed. Not the usual holdup, no, this was an inside job. They came at 3am with a saw and cut out the back wall where the safe was bolted, and hooked it up to a truck and yanked that b***h out and drove off. As far as I know they never solved it.
Bookworm 10 months ago
The gas station people thought they were in a movie... and it actually worked 😳
Rob D 10 months ago (edited)
Worked as in didnt get caught. Willing to bet they didn't crack that safe though.
Load More Replies... Seadog 10 months ago (edited)
Re: Gas station. We had 2 robberies like that locally, one has a wood frame building, so that was easy. The other was a block building so a bit more to it. As for the hooking up the truck part, idiots tried that at a local bank in the 80's. They actually thought if they pulled the front off the night deposit they could get the money (that's not the way those work). So they hooked a chain to the bumper (wait for it) and to the handle on the night drop. Yep, ripped the bumper clean off. They panicked and took off. One guess where the license plate was. Btw, the actual safe the deposits drop into was 2 stories down and the chute is too small for a human to pass through.
Seadog 10 months ago
Guy blows the doors off a trooper (fully marked car) one night. Trooper lights him up and he promptly locks it down, rolls out and says "where the hell did you come from?" Trooper told him he just blew by him and the guy says "I thought you were a taxi." Arrested. Guy asks about his friend, trooper inquires why he wasn't driving and the dude tells him that guy is drunker than he is. Trooper told the guy he wouldn't under arrest as long as he stayed in the car and didn't get behind the wheel. Trooper came by to check on him multiple times and said the guy never left the passenger seat nor did it ever appear that he exited the vehicle to even pee.
#22
Working at a Borders in downtown DC (18th & L). I was at the Info desk during the rollout of the proprietary e-reader and was wearing a "eReader Certified" badge.
An old lady came up to ask a question, saw the badge, stopped mid sentence and said: "oh. How nice. You can read." Turned and left the store. My manager and I were cracking the f**k up.
Crystalwitch60 10 months ago
😂😂😂😂😂I’m 60 n I’m gonna be this woman when I’m old lmao being a white witch I’m already on the way 😂
#23
While scanning groceries, I hear a loud commotion, which included a shopping cart colliding into the service desk and two people rushing out of the store. My manager comes around shaking her head and I couldn’t help but to ask what happened.
Apparently, someone stole a display model of a microwave and tried to return it, saying that “they bought a faulty microwave” but didn’t have a receipt or even the box it came in. My manager had heard about the theft earlier in the day and squinted her eyes at the story about how this microwave had no cord and was extremely light to pick up, leading her to ask straight out if they were the ones who stole the microwave—hence them storming out of the store pretty quick.
Java Addict 10 months ago
Once had a guy bring up a display to buy, it was tethered to the big plastic price sign. He didn't understand why we couldn't sell it and refused to take one in a box instead.
Seadog 10 months ago
About 10 years ago I had a customer come in to buy a Lowrance unit. Turns out he bought one off eBay at a great price. A little too great. What he bought was a display model. It shows a simulation all the time, has no brains to actually allow a transducer to be hooked to it and used.
#24
Worked at Walmart for over a decade.
The three memorable stories:
1. I worked nights and was stacking food onto a cart so I could stock. Some guy asks my name. I tell him since it was clearly visible on my name tag (and because I'm dumb lol). He asks if I want him to "be my man". I told him no because I had a man. He told me he had a woman and he'd "take care of both of us". Told him no thanks and took off to do my job.
Three days later, there's an ANGRY woman looking for me BY NAME because apparently I hit on her man.
I didn't wear my name badge for about 3 years after that.
2. The power went out in the section of town the store was in. They had us raid sporting goods for headlamps and flashlights and made us stock anyway. Store manager called someone by the wrong name that night and almost got a box knife in his heart🫣
3. The lawn mowers were stacked too high in garden center and were apparently touching the overhead heaters in garden center and they smoldered til they caught fire. We noticed on our lunch break and had an "extended lunch " while the FD cut the flames.
detective miller's hat 10 months ago
#1 is the reason the managers at Panera had us wear name tags with fake names.
Neopet22 10 months ago
It's crazy that they made you stock in a power outage. I worked at Walmart for almost 5 years and during that time we had quite a few outages. They always made us get the frozen food out of the freezers and move it to the backroom freezers which I guess had a generator operating them. And some people we sent home early if the outage was expected to last for a few hours.
Seadog 10 months ago
#3 reminds me of a Circuit City store I was at. New refrigerator was sitting just inside the entrance heavily discounted. I asked what was up? Turns out they had them stacked 3 high and use a squeeze lift (like a forklift but squeezes from the sides). They had been put on the shelf one at a time with a conventional forklift, so no one knew the bottom 2 weren't packaged for a squeeze lift. So when they picked up all 3 with the squeeze lift, they all came crashing down. The first to hit the floor was rendered completely useless thanks to the other 2 landing on it. The second was used for parts since it's landing was cushioned by the first but still had to endure the impact of the third. The third was the one for sale as it just ended up heavily dented.
#25
Worked at Walmart, the first wic order I ever did had 8 cans of tuna, this was when wic was still on check form so you had to fill all of it at one time. The lady with the check had 9 cans of tuna, when I explained to her she had one to many cans but that was perfectly fine it’s just one wasn’t going to go through on her wic check and she would be responsible for the cost she looked me dead in the eyes and said “NO 4+4 is 9 use your damn fingers” ummmm what?
Lee Gilliland 10 months ago
Women, Infant, Children in need, for those not in the US. Supplementary food income.
B 10 months ago
I had qualified for WIC 35 years ago. The paper checks were a pain because you had to wait to get them in the mail & then I always felt embarrassed to use them. I think now you get a card with the benefits on it you just scan. It was a life saver for me as a young mom with an Ex that never paid child support & would quit his job rather than have them garnish wages. I'm sure it's on the project 2025 list because you know force people to have babies & then don't help the ones who can't afford it to feed them. Side rant: you know who was the worst about me being a teen mom on WIC the bible thumpers that say no abortion but let me judge the S^&t out of you for having a baby young & needing help. My family was awesome & took turns watching him while I worked to support us & my aunt videoed him while I was at work so I wouldn't miss anything
Robert Beveridge 10 months ago
Your supposition is correct, it looks exactly like a debit card from a distance these days.
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Ace 10 months ago
WIC is apparently some sort of food stamp equivalent for specific groups of underprivileged folks.
ElfVibratorGlitter 10 months ago
It stands for Women, Infants, and Children, which provides nutrition education, "healthy" foods, breastfeeding support, and healthcare referrals to low-income pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and children up to age five. The program aims to improve health and nutrition for these vulnerable populations. And back in the day there'd be paper vouchers with what you could get for free, e.g. 8 cans of tuna, 1 lb of cheese, 64 oz powdered formula. :)
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Michael Largey 10 months ago
I would indeed have given her a display of my finger usage on the spot.
Seadog 10 months ago
My wife worked for social services. Aid you would not believe how many people sell their EBT card (similar to WIC except it's a card like a credit card) after they've used it up and the idiots that bought it actually call social services and expect them to reload it. Selling, trading and/or buying an EBT card is illegal.
Dont Sellmyinfo 10 months ago
The woman may not have had the best math or communication skills, but that’s not why she was on WIC. That program has helped millions of families feed their children. We were denied SNAP because we made 23,000/ year for a family of 3. WIC took our application, all I needed was an active Medicaid card, and they gave us vouchers for formula, a bit of food, and nutrition information. I am forever grateful for WIC. 10 years later my child is thriving, I am about to finish a masters program at a top 25 school, and we have a fridge full of food we can now pay for ourselves. I work in health and human services and have the opportunity to give back what was once given to me; empathy, assistance, and hope. I hope you enjoy this one precious life you have. Have a great night.
Load More Replies... #26
I used to work in an Apple Store and I get an appointment with someone who has forgotten some passwords and needs help with their account. Simple enough. I meet with them and the guy is some sort of greasy looking anime guy, nothing really out of the ordinary. He hands me a notebook full of smudged red ink and says it’s his notebook of passwords. I’m looking at it and all the writing is smudged and illegible. I ask him casually why it’s all smudged, and he responds with, “oh yeah, I wrote it with my blood.”
“I’m sorry…?”
“All the writing is with my blood.”.
#27
I started working when my store was very understaffed. So understaffed that the managers were doing cashier work.
I had to use the restroom once in the middle of my shift, and apparently while I was in there some Karen got in a snit with the manager at the register.
So I come out of the restroom to catch the tail end of the argument. Important to note here is that managers and cashier's wore different colored shirts, and it was just me and a bunch of managers that day.
So I come out from the back, in shirt that is colored different from everyone else at the counter, and the lady locks onto me. She starts lecturing me, a cashier, about keeping my employees in line, making sure they respect customers, all that jazz. She's telling me to discipline my managers, in particular my boss, who she was arguing with.
Finally she runs out of air, and leaves in a huff. I look at my boss, he looks at me.
"She thought I was the manager."
We both bust out laughing... and the lady comes back inside, screaming about us thinking she was a joke. We deescalate, I apologized and she leaves, but I never forgot about that.
Pferdchen 10 months ago
They missed a once-in-a-lifetime chance to chew out all the managers and possibly getting away with it.
Crystalwitch60 10 months ago
I’d have been like how many more times to I have to tell you NOT TO argue with Karen’s heheh
#28
One time had a woman when I worked at Spencer’s Gifts chalk up a convo with me how she was buying her husband (soon to be ex husband) a tshirt for Xmas, after she went and speculated he was having an affair with a guy, she decides to go onto Craigslist to pretend she was a dude and straight up found her husband seeking men, husband had no idea he was taking to his actual wife and thinking it was some dude, would send videos/photos to him, then by the time she gathered enough evidence she presented all to his family and him on thanksgiving exposing him but yet here she was still buying him a “f**k you” t shirt from Spencer’s …….I was 18, first retail job, maybe 1 month into working there 😭.
Kallen Kneeland 10 months ago
. . . and none of that pain and drama would have been necessary if the poor man had simply been accepted as gay or bi and didn't have to marry a Karen to pass for someone else's emotional comfort.
Nikole 10 months ago
Don’t look for that to get better any time soon here in the good ole USA…
Load More Replies... Scott Rackley 10 months ago
Is Spencer's Gifts still in business? Last time I saw one was 15 years ago or so.
#29
I worked at a Ross clothing store in high school. I smelled something foul at closing time and started tracking it down. Someone had gone in the middle of the very long pants rack and taken a giant dump. I told my boss who asked me to clean it up. I told him that I am a minor and it's against the rules of my work permit. I had no idea if it was against the rules, but he believed me and left a note for the cleaning crew to clean it up.
*Editing to add that I once was out at a bar with some coworkers about 6 years ago and the single guy in the group started chatting up some girls at the bar. I overheard one of them tell him that she worked for Ross HQ. I couldn't wait to tell her my story. Probably ruined my coworkers chances though.
Bookworm 10 months ago
I learned by accident that the company I work for has a special cleaning service to call for things like this
Janine Randall 10 months ago
I think you have to be certified bio hazard something to clean up human waste. Ugh.
#30
I worked in a garden centre for a few years. There was a lady who'd come in once a year to drop hundreds on plants and plant accessories. She always refused the free delivery so it was down to me to somehow fit all of that s**t into her Fiat 500. The boot was loaded with compost and the rest of the car looked like a plant pot on wheels. Took nearly an hour each time, it would have been so much simpler and safer for her to just take advantage of free delivery.
ArchangelLoki 10 months ago
For a second I thought this might have been my grandma, but she's never had a Fiat 500 lol
Lace Neil 10 months ago
I worked in a garden centre once, and one of my most memorable customers was the lady who ranted at me for about half an hour cuz she'd bought 100 hyacinth bulbs and one was pink and the rest were blue. Nothing I said was good enough. She didn't want a refund or a replacement, she simply wanted to bìtch about the single pink hyacinth in her blue hyacinth bed. I only got rid of her cuz my boss came over to see why I wasn't serving any customers in the ever increasing line that was forming behind this woman. He basically told her to get lost, cuz I had already offered her all the options and she'd refused every one. She left, swearing and screaming about going to the paper about the hyacinth issue. As if they would care. She got the nickname of Hyacinth Bucket after that incident.
#31
Assistant Manager starts hooking up with another female employee. Assistant Manager has a wife that works at another location. Wife finds out what is going on. Assistant manager drives a sports car. The wife drives a large pickup truck. Wife decides to drive her truck over his sports car in our parking lot.
General Anaesthesia 10 months ago (edited)
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
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#32
My first shift at the grocery store I'm working at: a man wants to buy potatoes, and the sign says like 1kg for $1. This absolute dumbass takes 2-3 kgs and has the nerve to get angry at me when they don't cost $1... The floor manager had to come out and explain (very condescendingly) how prices work to that a*****e old man.
#33
Worked Aeropostale at local mall in college. Woman brought in recently purchased panties for return. Pulled them out of retail bag and laid them on register counter - all of them had been period’d on.
I was speechless and completely froze. She broke the silence by triumphantly pulling the receipt from the bag saying “Oh I didn’t even realize this was in here!”
Receipt had been period’d on as well.
I switched to back stock room duty after that.
#34
I was a Manager of a Toys R US Electronics section. So many crazy stories. Off the top of my head;
1. At the end of the night, I'd have to print out the Console Count. How many we had at the start of the day, how many sold, how many left. The list had Video Game Consoles, Tablets, iPads/iPods, and Cameras. I would do my count, call over the Store Front Manager to double check, then the SFM would unlock the Electronic Closet to finish the count. The Closet had at least 2 Security Cameras, and you had to be watched while there as well.
We were HEMORRHAGING Nintendo 3DS and Apple Products. My counts would look like "Day started with 37 Nintendo 3DS. Zero sold today. 22 Remaining" but the only people with the Key to the Electronics Closet were the SFM and Store Manager.
Turns out, the Store Manager would turn off the cameras, sneak into the closet, and stuff his jacket. Watched him get escorted out by the Police and never saw him again.
2. On Black Friday, two new hires worked the front counter together. With every purchase, they would ring a $5 Gift Card with the order, and pocket it. They were both escorted out by the Police around 4am, and my manager said it was over $1k each in gift cards.
3. A group of guys casually walked to the Sports section, ripped a bunch of Basketballs out of their packaging, and ran out at max speed holding as many as they could.
I have more!
detective miller's hat 10 months ago
When my friend worked at Toys R Us back in the 90s, one of the store managers was caught stealing I think it was Lego sets. There was a blind spot in the security cameras not too far inside one of the store entrances, so he was sneaking these boxes of Legos or whatever up into the ceiling, I guess planning to go back for them later? Well he stacked too many on top of one acoustic ceiling tile and one night it came crashing down on top of a customer who had just walked in.
Kelly Scott 10 months ago
We had a manager colluding with three employees at Kinkos. They would run printing jobs for thousands, have the customers make the checks out to them for a significant reduction in price, and then let the jobs walk out the store. I have a real contempt for the customers who did this, because we were located in a very rich town and there was no way they didn't know what was going on.
#35
I was a big box store cashier in high school. Ringing up stuff at the register closest to the door.
I hear commotion and turn and see a guy, covered in blood, pushing a shopping cart with a tv and a crock pot and he's running toward the door. Our asset protection security guy is giving chase, and he tackles him right by the front door. They fight and the guy's arm is just spewing blood everywhere all over the floor right at the store exit. The TV he was stealing was a display model on the top shelf and he had sliced his arm open on the metal shelves when pulling the TV down.
Security gets a hold of the guy. Some random customer goes over and beats the thief with her purse and yells at him. Police are called, they arrest him. The blood spill meant we had to call professional hazmat cleaners. They came and did all their cleaning while the store stayed open for business (lol). Everyone who got blood on them had to get blood work done to make sure they didn't contract anything.
It was a fun day that day!
JB 10 months ago
Does anyone else think it’s weird that when there’s blood, a professional hazmat team must be called to clean, but if a customer takes a dump 🤷♀️ the normal cleaners can deal with it? What am I missing here?
Mikah 10 months ago
The laws were changed in the early 90s due to aids fears
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#36
I worked for a major cell company for way longer than I should have. The amount of crazies deal with on a daily isn't something the average person could comprehend.
People coming in pissed that we shut Thier phone off even though it hadn't been paid in months. Upset we wouldn't replace the phone they lost or broke for free. A lot of physical violence threatened toward me because I didn't know the password for Thier apps/bank accounts/misc loggins/company servers.
I had one particular guy that swore his phone was hacked. Wouldn't take any answer we gave him that it wasnt happening. I came up with the bright idea of telling him he needed to swap his sim card every 3000 minutes to keep it secure. It got him out of the store but he sure did come back religiously every few months to get it changed.
White Sauce Hot Sauce 10 months ago
They can, if they speak in a calm and respectful manner.
Load More Replies... #37
Worked in automotive at Walmart. One day someone calls. The department manager picks up thr phone. She's confused. She passes me the phone. The person on the phone asks how much for a rim job. I laugh and laugh then hang up. The department manager is still perplexed. I explain what a rim job is.
Dawn Marie 10 months ago
I use to work for Summit Racing and when I first read this I was thinking new wheels installed. I AM old!!
#38
A customer came up to me holding women’s stockings and flats and asked me if he could get a second opinion. I assumed he wanted a woman’s opinion on something for his wife, so I said sure. He explained that he had lost a bet and had to dress up as a woman for work. His friends had even bought him a dress. He said that he was starting to get cold feet and asked me if I would go through with it if I was in his shoes. I told him that at this point it was too late to back out, which he seemed disappointed by but still accepted my answer. He then asked if I thought it would be okay if he changed in the restrooms and after I gave him an answer he went on his way.
#39
I once had a customer demand that Apple cover the repair of her cat pee laptop. I tried explaining that this was considered a biohazard and wouldn’t be able to be repaired. She would have to buy a new one. She just wouldn’t take no for an answer and demanded that we replace it for free, after all it wasn’t her fault, right? It was the cat.
My manager jumped in and is trying to explain the same thing and at some point after we’re going no where with this customer my manager asks her why she feels that this is something that Apple should cover and she acted so offended at this question. That up to that point we had been providing good customer care, but somehow we crossed a line. So bizarre.
A day later we get her written feedback about how rude the manager was and how we crossed a line when we asked her that. No idea.
Also, in positive intent I opened the bottom of her MBP and the pee had crystallised and fully stunk up the repair room. .
#40
In college, I worked for a locally owned dollar store. We had no public restroom, but there was a McDonald's across the street we always directed people to.
One night, an elderly lady comes in asking if we have a restroom. I told her no and that McDonald's across the street did. She just says ok and disappeared into one of the aisles. I go back to what I'm doing, and about a minute later, she left like her hair was on fire. Checked that aisle and yep, p**sed right on our carpeted floor.
Kelly Scott 10 months ago
There was a woman who wrote into our newspaper once complaining about not being able to use our private restrooms (private as per the building owner, not us). She said she made her two sons go over in a corner and pee on the carpet there to get revenge. She actually bragged about that and sent it into the opinion section of the newspaper.
#41
Worked for niche grocery store across the street from a retirement community.
Old dude cuts a turd while walking, shakes it out of his pants leg and keeps right on walking...
Old lady in a mobility scooter intentionally ran over my manager's foot and stopped to gloat about it. She actually shouted "GOTCHA!"...
Someone blast-painted the entire lower half of the wall behind the toilet with s**t. Manager had to clean it herself because everyone she tried to assign it to noped out...
Good times, good times. Part of me misses that job.
Kelly Scott 10 months ago
I'll match that with the bathroom funnies at 7-11. One person sprayed shaving cream all over the toilet, one guy sprayed s**t all over the walls and floor, a couple people used the bathroom to sit on the toilet and get drunk, a few shot up, one person refused to come out, but when my manager heard about one customer slipping and suing all the other businesses in the building, that's when she finally closed the toilets to the public. My coworker was told many, many times not to let customers use the bathroom. He finally caved, just once, and that customer store the handle to the hot water faucet.
#42
I worked at a retail store at the mall for a winter break in college. They are known for selling bachelorette party stuff and c**p for your dorm room.
They had recently been bought out by a larger company and change their inventory system. Whenever a product was sold, they would ship four more of the exact product. The problem was that they had a sale on lava lamps just before Thanksgiving. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we had lava lamps stacked floor to ceiling and in the back room. We didn't want them there and we also didn't want to sell more too.
I had to go back to college after the break so I'm not sure if/when the inventory system was fixed and what they ended up doing with hundreds of lava lamps.
Geoffrey Scott 10 months ago
My ex-niece works at Family Dollar. Several years ago, we went in to shop and there was end caps, shelves and any 'dead space FILLED with 6pk toilet paper . I made some crack to her saying something along the lines of them not having enough toilet paper. She grabbed my wrist and dragged me to look down the aisle. Above the back rooms were cases, and cases of it. Not sure if they got a HUGE deal on it, but, there it was.
Dragon mama 10 months ago
Someone kept ordering it during covid and when the order wasn't fulfilled kept ordering more and then blam all of the orders hit at once and they got like 6 months worth of it all at once. At least that's my guess
Load More Replies... #43
Was working in a major hifi retailer in tv/stereo sales. I had an older customer come in with her daughter and buy a cheap TV/DVD player combo. She haggled as hard as should could and just to get rid of her I gave her a really sweet deal, probably made about $3 commission off the item.
She then proceeded to harass myself and other staff members for months, claiming that the DVD player inbuilt into the TV was scratching her DVDs. She demanded we replace all her DVDs and give her a brand new TV. She bought a few DVDs in as "proof" and it was clear as day she had scratched them herself (really brutal scratches). After much deliberation we replaced the TV, BUT, only with one condition, I would have to go to her house and install it for her.
It was like something out of a horror movie. She had the worst house on a nice street, it was filled with rubbish and stuffed animals. I felt like, this is it, she's gonna m****r me. I got it installed so fast that I'm pretty sure I didn't do it correctly.
A month later I got transferred stores, and thankfully a mate of mine took my place, so when she came back in looking for me, he told her I'd quit and didn't work for the company anymore. She then demanded my phone number.
That was 12 years ago, and I still get the ick thinking about it.
#44
Barnes & Noble. Early morning. I’m restocking magazines.
Keep in mind. Super blue state. Super blue county.
A kindly older woman sidles up to me in magazines, smiling.
“I like coming this early. No ni**ers!”
as if I was gonna respond with a beaming smile and vigorous nod. Insane.
Rinso The Red 10 months ago
It's the natural assumption that you must feel the same way that always blows my mind. Like, what kind of echo-chamber do you normally live in?
Michael Largey 10 months ago
And if you had expressed any disapproval to her, she would have complained to your manager about how rude you were to her.
Kelly Scott 10 months ago
I had to deal with this in Washington state. Guy was hauling my new bought trailer in and was setting it up and made a remark like this. What makes these people think it's all right to say things like this? People who talk like this give me the ick, big time. I don't want to be near them.
#45
Back in late 90's I was a cashier at a big box store. Had an elderly regular who was a menace. I rang up all her stuff and she refused to write me a check until I balanced her checkbook. I quickly balanced it and got her out of my line. Fifteen or so years later I am shopping and hear a customer screaming at a cashier because she forgot her debit card pin number and it was cashier's fault. As I passed i realized it was same lady still being a pain in everyone's a*s.
Janissary35680 10 months ago (edited)
In 2011 I was back in the US for two weeks. I was astonished to see people writing checks in supermarket checkout lines.
Upstaged75 10 months ago
No one does that anymore. I wonder if you were in an area with a large elderly population? They're the only ones who still seem to write checks.
Load More Replies... #46
OMG, some of these are so terrible. Mine is not as bad, but it was gross to me, and completely baffling.
I worked in a store with display beds. I think there were five. People would let their kids play on them, so I had to remake them every night after closing. At least once a week I would find a pair of women's panties, which had clearly been worn.
The beds were out in the middle of everything, clearly visible in the crowded, brightly lit store. I have never been able to figure out how or why anyone would leave panties there. I guess it would only take a minute to stuff them under the covers, but why? I was supposed to put them in lost and found, but I always put them in the garbage instead.
#47
Worked at Barnes & Noble.
Two real bro-y dudes wearing my old high school lacrosse uniforms came in. They’re talking loud. Laughing loud. They head back to use the bathroom.
I happen to go in about a minute later…
…to the wet, lotiony sounds of these two dudes in one stall aggressively whacking each other off, grunting and s**t.
Five minutes later they leave. Talking loud. Laughing loud.
#48
Worked in receiving for Sears in 2008. This woman comes in one night to pick up a grill that she had bought and had assembled at the store. It was a liability for us to tie a purchase down for a customer, but we could offer them twine to do so themselves. She backs up to the loading dock, I load her grill onto her truck bed, and insist on giving her some twine to tie it down. She says that it’ll be fine, she doesn’t live that far away. Alright, cool, I did my job.
I show up the next morning and one of the managers comes running through the back looking for me, shouting “Where the f**k is he?! Is he here yet?!” She finally finds me and starts yelling “Did you load a grill last night?! Why didn’t you tie it down?!” I told her that yes, I did load a grill and no, I did not tie it down because we’re not allowed to, but I kept offering the customer something to tie it down on their own and they refused.
She’s so mad that I did what I was supposed to and didn’t do anything wrong, yells at me that their grill fell of the back of the truck on the highway and shattered.
#49
Was working the cash register at a card shop. 3 kids each about 15ish years old walk in and buy a booster pack each. The last one pays with cash but is about 25 cents short. He lets out the disgusted-teenager sigh and asks, "can I have a quarter?" I was confused and told him no. We then have a long conversation about how he needs the quarter to pay for the booster pack, I tell him that's not how a store works. He finally sighs and says, "fine I'll just use my store credit." THIS KID FIGHTS WITH ME OVER A QUARTER FOR 3 MINUTES WHEN HE HAD $20 IN STORE CREDIT THE WHOLE TIME. He bought his booster pack, opened it, and dropped the wrapper on the floor in front of me...
SheamusFanFrom1987 10 months ago
Additional card pack to literally "boost" the strength of your main deck i.e. your current playing cards. I played Pokemon TCG back in the day and booster packs ate up majority of my allowance. Got a few sweet 1st-issue rare ones though.
Load More Replies... #50
I was working the register at around 11 pm when this cute intoxicated girl in a sundress came through my lane and asked where the restroom was
as i was pointing it out she says “nevermind” and walked away
there was a puddle of p**s on the floor.
SirWriteALot 10 months ago
Strange ... the peeing seems to only be done by women, according to these stories.
Janissary35680 10 months ago
Cystitis. It's significantly more common in women than men because of the way the plumbing is designed and works.
Load More Replies...
What do you think ?
wowbagger 10 months ago
A few weeks ago a customer started yelling at my manager, right in the middle of the store, about how the manager never should have allowed her to apply for financing for her very large purchase, because the manager should have known she'd never be able to afford the payments. Apparently, she'd just received her first monthly bill and couldn't pay it, so of course it was the manager's fault. My manager actually did a pretty good job of de-escalating.
JohninND 10 months ago
While working in a book store I had a customer come in and very pleasantly tell.me about his invisible standing army, aliens from space, all manner of things. We talked about 20 minutes. I.humored him, then it was over and he left. With my two female coworkers watching warily from the back. No problem. Sometimes one must embrace ones own inner lunatic, let it out for a walk then pack.it away til.next time.
Nads 10 months ago
Ah, no, this is sad… 😔 There’s no need to be wary… This person probably had schizophrenia, if I understood the story correctly. It’s sad because people have so much prejudice and irrational fear of people who have schizophrenia, and because it’s really tough convincing them to get treatment, as they often aren’t aware they are ill. 💔 I’m glad you were kind to this customer. You must be a nice person. I apologize if I understood the story incorrectly and it was just some ufologist roaming around.
Load More Replies...
talliloo 10 months ago
worked at lane bryant which is a store specializing in women's sizes 14-46. two came in w/their mom. one sister ("A")was about 30 while the other ("B") was around 21. the youngest was dressed 'normally' but the other looked like she had raided her grandmom's closet: shapeless/baggy, long unstyled hair, no make-up, etc. A took me aside & told me B lived w/mom who kept her in 'old ladies' styles. A finally got B to enroll in college & wanted to set her up w/new clothes to give her confidence. i worked w/B for a couple of hours, including pinning up her hair & touch of her sister's make-up. mom kept trying to steer B to baggy outfits but A gently maneuvered her. we literally started w/basic undergarments as she wasn't wearing the right size & built her a modest wardrobe. first time she looked in mirror w/complete outfit/make-up/hair she started to cry. she turned to her sister & said 'i'm pretty! i didn't know i was pretty.' meanwhile mom was doing a slow burn but didn't interfere.
Nads 10 months ago
Oh god! This is very emotional. Few people free space in their minds to think about and help strangers. You’ll probably have a lifelong impact in that woman’s life!
Load More Replies... Sand Ers 10 months ago
I worked overnight shift at an all night gas station with a small attached convenience store. We were on the frontage road right at the end of a freeway off-ramp, and it was a spot where there was no corresponding on-ramp. To get back on you had to drive to the ramp about half a mile down the road. One night a guy came in driving a late model Porsche, looking for beer. We weren't too sure about his condition but we told him how to get to the nearest 7-11 where they sold it. And because we weren't too sure about him we wrote down the license number of the car. He drove out, turned left instead of right, drove back up the off-ramp he'd just come down, made a u-turn onto the freeway, and headed off. We called 911 and told them where to look. They called us back about ten minutes later and told us they'd picked him up in the 7-11 parking lot.
Tonyah Mcanelly 10 months ago
people are off the hook. I work at a car dealership. I work reception let me tell you i have seen some crazy things. You don't need a Netflix subscription to get some pretty good live drama Just keep popcorn handy . We had a guy purchase a 24 mustang . His check for his down payment bounced we alled him for another form of payment and he gave us credicard info that declined. We sent a certified letter demanding the car back . after 10 days he comes in wearing a motorcycle helment asking for finance. i managed to have some small talk with him and he does not own a motor cycle . He bought it to drive his car. after a few hours with finance we repo the car. He accused us of stealing his car he feels he paid for so he calls the police on us for stealing his car. The police show up and after 10 minutes of him trying to convince them we stole his car . The officer replies " You have to pay for it before you can claim it"
Dl B 10 months ago
Worked in the electronics section of major department store in the 1980s. We sold a item which was basically a box with a mirror inside for transferring slides to VHS. stick your slide project in one hole and your video camera in the other and record your slides on VHS. Store had a no questions asked return. People would buy this thing, record their slides and then return it. After the 4th or 5th time management marked it as nonreturnable. We worked on commission so every time we sold it we would know that in a few weeks it would come back and we would lose the commission.
wowbagger 10 months ago
A few weeks ago a customer started yelling at my manager, right in the middle of the store, about how the manager never should have allowed her to apply for financing for her very large purchase, because the manager should have known she'd never be able to afford the payments. Apparently, she'd just received her first monthly bill and couldn't pay it, so of course it was the manager's fault. My manager actually did a pretty good job of de-escalating.
JohninND 10 months ago
While working in a book store I had a customer come in and very pleasantly tell.me about his invisible standing army, aliens from space, all manner of things. We talked about 20 minutes. I.humored him, then it was over and he left. With my two female coworkers watching warily from the back. No problem. Sometimes one must embrace ones own inner lunatic, let it out for a walk then pack.it away til.next time.
Nads 10 months ago
Ah, no, this is sad… 😔 There’s no need to be wary… This person probably had schizophrenia, if I understood the story correctly. It’s sad because people have so much prejudice and irrational fear of people who have schizophrenia, and because it’s really tough convincing them to get treatment, as they often aren’t aware they are ill. 💔 I’m glad you were kind to this customer. You must be a nice person. I apologize if I understood the story incorrectly and it was just some ufologist roaming around.
Load More Replies... talliloo 10 months ago
worked at lane bryant which is a store specializing in women's sizes 14-46. two came in w/their mom. one sister ("A")was about 30 while the other ("B") was around 21. the youngest was dressed 'normally' but the other looked like she had raided her grandmom's closet: shapeless/baggy, long unstyled hair, no make-up, etc. A took me aside & told me B lived w/mom who kept her in 'old ladies' styles. A finally got B to enroll in college & wanted to set her up w/new clothes to give her confidence. i worked w/B for a couple of hours, including pinning up her hair & touch of her sister's make-up. mom kept trying to steer B to baggy outfits but A gently maneuvered her. we literally started w/basic undergarments as she wasn't wearing the right size & built her a modest wardrobe. first time she looked in mirror w/complete outfit/make-up/hair she started to cry. she turned to her sister & said 'i'm pretty! i didn't know i was pretty.' meanwhile mom was doing a slow burn but didn't interfere.
Nads 10 months ago
Oh god! This is very emotional. Few people free space in their minds to think about and help strangers. You’ll probably have a lifelong impact in that woman’s life!
Load More Replies... Sand Ers 10 months ago
I worked overnight shift at an all night gas station with a small attached convenience store. We were on the frontage road right at the end of a freeway off-ramp, and it was a spot where there was no corresponding on-ramp. To get back on you had to drive to the ramp about half a mile down the road. One night a guy came in driving a late model Porsche, looking for beer. We weren't too sure about his condition but we told him how to get to the nearest 7-11 where they sold it. And because we weren't too sure about him we wrote down the license number of the car. He drove out, turned left instead of right, drove back up the off-ramp he'd just come down, made a u-turn onto the freeway, and headed off. We called 911 and told them where to look. They called us back about ten minutes later and told us they'd picked him up in the 7-11 parking lot.
Tonyah Mcanelly 10 months ago
people are off the hook. I work at a car dealership. I work reception let me tell you i have seen some crazy things. You don't need a Netflix subscription to get some pretty good live drama Just keep popcorn handy . We had a guy purchase a 24 mustang . His check for his down payment bounced we alled him for another form of payment and he gave us credicard info that declined. We sent a certified letter demanding the car back . after 10 days he comes in wearing a motorcycle helment asking for finance. i managed to have some small talk with him and he does not own a motor cycle . He bought it to drive his car. after a few hours with finance we repo the car. He accused us of stealing his car he feels he paid for so he calls the police on us for stealing his car. The police show up and after 10 minutes of him trying to convince them we stole his car . The officer replies " You have to pay for it before you can claim it"
Dl B 10 months ago
Worked in the electronics section of major department store in the 1980s. We sold a item which was basically a box with a mirror inside for transferring slides to VHS. stick your slide project in one hole and your video camera in the other and record your slides on VHS. Store had a no questions asked return. People would buy this thing, record their slides and then return it. After the 4th or 5th time management marked it as nonreturnable. We worked on commission so every time we sold it we would know that in a few weeks it would come back and we would lose the commission.
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