You Think Your Job Sucks? Then Take A Look At These 40 Employee Conversations With Clients From Hell (New Pics)
Everyone who has worked in retail knows that for every good customer, you get 2 horrible ones pulling up in the parking lot. It's a law. Like gravity.
But some people are so rude, so annoying, and so malicious, it's like they're on a quest to make as many workers miserable as possible. And sometimes they succeed.
When someone like that ruins your day, there's only one thing you can do. Vent online. I mean, you can't punch the jerk or anything—you're still in uniform. Pull off a stunt that damages the reputation of the company you're working for and you're out the door.
Bored Panda has compiled a list of these stories to show you that people in retail really deserve our respect; they go through these situations every day. For more similar experiences, check out our older pieces here and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
Glory hounding. Trying to do the right thing for the sake of appearances whether it kills anyone or not
In our piece on some of the most ridiculous customer demands ever, we mentioned one study that's relevant here as well.
Turns out, people treat retail workers worse when they're looking for bargains than if they were less price-conscious. The University of British Columbia (UBC) Sauder School of Business paper, which was published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology in 2017, looked at several factors to determine how customers treated employees.
One variable researchers analyzed was the words customers used when speaking to customer service workers.
"When shoppers focus only on paying the lowest price, they become less attuned to understanding the human needs of others, or even recognizing them," Johannes Boegershausen, a UBC Sauder Ph.D. student who co-authored the study, said in a press release.
I would use that even if my father didn't die... you got served and I wasn't rude to you... smiling is nice, but you can't expect someone to be smiling the whole day
Unfortunately. I have smiled the whole day. My face literally hurt. Certainly would not expect people to be held to that standard. What's worse is people want you to smile AND be genuine. My feet hurt and I've been here for hours getting yelled at by idiots. And you want a genuine smile? We're all doing our best, don't judge people!
Load More Replies...
If you want the baristas to smile, smile and be kind. Maybe they won't reciprocate the smile, but maybe you will be a small ray of sunshine in their day.
They get paid $7 an hour why would they want to smile for that? People are so entitled
This is exactly why we should be kind to people regardless whether they're nice to us. You never know the problems they have and maybe our kindness and smile can make a huge difference.
I have worked at a coffee shop before. People who expect those employees to smile all day are living in some fantasy world. Maybe if you're nice to them they might smile, but if they don't you take your coffee and leave.
I don't understand this obsession with smiles in the service sector. Why do you need a stranger who pours you coffee to smile in the process? What the f**k is there to smile about?
Knowing how hard my wife works (in retail), and knowing what they have to put up with, I would never judge someone for not smiling in any job role!
Good thing we're all wearing masks in the UK atm: no need for forced smiles. I expect someone serving me to be professional and attentive: they don't owe me a smile.
Hey! I never realised that! Can we keep it going after the whole business is over and done with? I guess not
Load More Replies...
The customers who tell you to smile are usually the ones you don't want to smile at.
Let's hope that keeps her up at night for the next few years =)
Doubt it. Too much entitlement, guilt won't carry over from one café to another in 5 mins.
Load More Replies...
I guess it's a cultural difference thing, but this fake costume smile gives me the creeps. I often find that when when I'm being polite throughout the interaction and thank with a smile I get an honest smile back.
Fake smile is a grimace, a grimace is ugly! A real smile has purpose and value.
Load More Replies...
I was bartending on the day 9/11 happened. Men kept telling me to smile. Two in particular got on my nerves so I made their drinks w only the rail liquor and only put it in their straw. It made them order doubles and I charged them for it all and every single thing they asked for. I shamed one when he didn't leave a big enough tip on such a sad day too. He threw 50$ at me and tried to complain to the owner. The owner put his hand up and blocked his face. I smiled at him as he walked out the door.
"When he didn't leave a big enough tip on such a sad day" so people died, families are crushed and changed forever...but self-centered @K Witmer needs a bigger tip. How does an incredibly sad day have anything to do with your tip in the slightest. You my friend are the poster child for entitlement
Load More Replies...
I have been told to “smile” so many times. One time someone I loved had just died. I started crying and ran into the bathroom. For some reason I got in trouble with the boss.
I don't mention not smiling, because my face is naturally ...sad resting face lol. But if I heard that, I would give the barista at least a $20 tip. yo, f**k a smile. And why would they put them on a shift dealing with people? They showed up to work, cool, but at least put them on the duties that don't require too much customer interaction.
I think some people expect too much from service workers. I am selling you coffee, not endless joy. If you want endless joy watch a Disney movie.
No one working in the service industry OWES you a smile! What a douchebag!
I thought smiling is earned. You smile first and be nice. Its easy to earn a smile.
Can someone tell me why she’s even working the day after? We should glare at corporate greed as well.
Everyone deals with loss differently and maybe she doesn't have the means to stop working.
Load More Replies...
Remember that everyone has something difficult going on in life. Be kind.
Why oh why would you be working the day after your dad died. And please spare me the whole "maybe she needs money thing" I get that I do. I even get maybe getting fired if you miss a day, but here's the thing, if / when my dad dies I will NOT be at work the next day and if you fire me for it, well I'll be job hunting with a smile knowing you will be burning in hell for that one day. Family is ALWAYS first. Oh and to anyone saying "maybe she wasn't that close to her dad" well if she wasn't then I doubt she would've started crying then and there. And regardless of the situation..... stay home if your parentals pass away my lord.
Maybe she ACTUALLY NEEDS the money! You know-bills, food, etc. This is not selfish and I can see her family understanding, I hope. Not everyone has it so easy, so get the fuckk over it.
Load More Replies...
Researchers also analyzed customers' feelings towards the employees by showing them pictures of a flight attendant in the Ryanair (bargain) uniform, the Lufthansa (luxury) uniform, and a neutral uniform. Customers viewed the Lufthansa and neutral flight attendants as equally human, but they saw the Ryanair flight attendant in a poorer light.
"We simply varied the brand, and found that people ascribed lower capabilities for experiencing emotions and feelings to the Ryanair flight attendant," Boegershausen explained, adding that this subtle dehumanization can take many forms and is not necessarily intentional.
Another experiment had participants communicating in a live chat with a rude customer service representative. They were then offered the chance to punish the employee through a complaint. The researchers found participants were 18 percent more likely to give a rating that would lead to disciplinary actions against the employee when shoppers were adopting a price-conscious mentality than when they were not.
The researchers say the findings could help owners and management of discount stores, as the problem could affect their employee retention—previous research has shown that employees who experience rude and inconsiderate customer behaviors report higher levels of emotional exhaustion, job dissatisfaction, and burnout.
Judging from these posts, retail employees deal with a lot of dumb stuff. At least they're strong enough to laugh from their misery.
Ohhhh I've been there. I really have. There is genetic variation within every race... You can't say "you're not caucasian, because your nose is too big". I don't appreciate idiots who think they know your race better than you
It's so sad... Even if you don't like lgbt, you could at least be civil enough. Surely there is some area between best buddies and worst enemies. I know this because I met people who believe i am going to hell, but they're still my friends :)
When I worked in a garden center, a really friendly customer laughed and told me he had just embarrassed himself at another garden center by asking employees there, “Do you have chlamydia?” He said they just stared at him for a moment, so he followed up with, “Do you know where I can find chlamydia?” He then realized that he meant to say “clematis” and immediately turned around and left. I helped him find our clematis, and, as he was leaving, said, “At least you didn’t say you were having trouble finding the clitoris!”
Ok, we'll rename this fee to education-fee and raise it by 50%. The lesson you've learned is that you don't pretend to be rich when you haven't got a dime to spare.
Note: this post originally had 65 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
Are any of these real? What is the point of this thread? (I've only read the first few so far...)
Me too, I had to stop because it's difficult to believe these are real, however, when you think about it, people can be pretty stupid, so who knows? (I read about four, and yeah, they just get worse and even more difficult to believe that some people are THAT stupid)
Load More Replies...
Customers can suck. My mother received a call from an African American lady, a person she made a cake for. The cake was said to be cut on a Saturday. She received the cake on a Friday. She called again to say the cake was uncooked and that's why they wanted her to keep it in the fridge, now she wants a refund. What actually happened was she ate a slice of the cake. It was totally fine, and then she took a 4 day trip to Vegas without putting it in the fridge as suggested. Since the cake contains butter, when she came back, the cake was collapsing. My mom tried to tell her this, The lady called my mother a fraud and that the "real" restaurant was owned by a white man.
Jeez some people are like Neanderthals when it comes to common sense. I was like 😵🤦♀️ the whole time reading this. 9_9
I can handle naively dumb. I qualify there frequently. But mean, self righteous and stupid? We had a president like that. He’s gone. Let’s keep the likes of him under a large Boulder please.
I work in customer service - these are not fake. I had a man two days ago demand a refund and repurchase using "mall gift cards" tell me I could do it while he was outside my store during a lockdown. He didn't understand that I can't use my register for any reason. My registers are closed: I am a fulfilment centre only: as his order clearly states.
I know, I read a few then stopped cos I already read these on their website. And yes, to those saying they're a bit unbelievable, sorry to say customers really can be that entitled, which is why they started this vent site in the first place!
Load More Replies...
It's natural for us to ridicule and scoff at those who do stupid things. But, friends, those people are still human. The more intelligent we are, the more responsibility we have to understand that those who are less intelligent need help, support, and patience, not ridicule. Just because "everyone" laughs at these, doesn't make it right to do so. Bored Panda, I love you but you make fun of people all too often, and that is not only cruel, it sets poor standards for readers.
Not a client but a vivid memory of me and my brother. I asked him to help clean up before our mo got home and he said no. I offered him a piece of gum if he did help clean up he agrees. We clean up and I have music on, I toss a book into the hallway asking him to put it away. No response, I look up. He's not there, he sitting in his room with his laptop. I ask him why he isn't cleaning, he says, "Yeah I did." We go back and forth, I never gave him gum and mom was on my side saying he had to clean up till it was all clean and THEN he would get gum.
It's entertaining yes but I sincerely hope most of these are made-up. I would lose too much faith in humanity otherwise.
Fair point. I am glad that these are probably fake.
Load More Replies... 
Some of these give me headaches, some of these are obviously fake, and some of these make the customer seem like an idiot when in reality they really aren't.
This entire thread could be titled: "Life In A World With Boomers"
Are any of these real? What is the point of this thread? (I've only read the first few so far...)
Me too, I had to stop because it's difficult to believe these are real, however, when you think about it, people can be pretty stupid, so who knows? (I read about four, and yeah, they just get worse and even more difficult to believe that some people are THAT stupid)
Load More Replies... Customers can suck. My mother received a call from an African American lady, a person she made a cake for. The cake was said to be cut on a Saturday. She received the cake on a Friday. She called again to say the cake was uncooked and that's why they wanted her to keep it in the fridge, now she wants a refund. What actually happened was she ate a slice of the cake. It was totally fine, and then she took a 4 day trip to Vegas without putting it in the fridge as suggested. Since the cake contains butter, when she came back, the cake was collapsing. My mom tried to tell her this, The lady called my mother a fraud and that the "real" restaurant was owned by a white man.
Jeez some people are like Neanderthals when it comes to common sense. I was like 😵🤦♀️ the whole time reading this. 9_9
I can handle naively dumb. I qualify there frequently. But mean, self righteous and stupid? We had a president like that. He’s gone. Let’s keep the likes of him under a large Boulder please.
I work in customer service - these are not fake. I had a man two days ago demand a refund and repurchase using "mall gift cards" tell me I could do it while he was outside my store during a lockdown. He didn't understand that I can't use my register for any reason. My registers are closed: I am a fulfilment centre only: as his order clearly states.
I know, I read a few then stopped cos I already read these on their website. And yes, to those saying they're a bit unbelievable, sorry to say customers really can be that entitled, which is why they started this vent site in the first place!
Load More Replies... It's natural for us to ridicule and scoff at those who do stupid things. But, friends, those people are still human. The more intelligent we are, the more responsibility we have to understand that those who are less intelligent need help, support, and patience, not ridicule. Just because "everyone" laughs at these, doesn't make it right to do so. Bored Panda, I love you but you make fun of people all too often, and that is not only cruel, it sets poor standards for readers.
Not a client but a vivid memory of me and my brother. I asked him to help clean up before our mo got home and he said no. I offered him a piece of gum if he did help clean up he agrees. We clean up and I have music on, I toss a book into the hallway asking him to put it away. No response, I look up. He's not there, he sitting in his room with his laptop. I ask him why he isn't cleaning, he says, "Yeah I did." We go back and forth, I never gave him gum and mom was on my side saying he had to clean up till it was all clean and THEN he would get gum.
It's entertaining yes but I sincerely hope most of these are made-up. I would lose too much faith in humanity otherwise.
Fair point. I am glad that these are probably fake.
Load More Replies... Some of these give me headaches, some of these are obviously fake, and some of these make the customer seem like an idiot when in reality they really aren't.
This entire thread could be titled: "Life In A World With Boomers"
