30 People In This Thread Are Sharing Stories Of When Their Customers Got Mad For The Dumbest Reasons
If you've worked in retail (or read Bored Panda's article on clients from hell) you probably already know that the customer isn't always right. But in order to paint you an accurate picture of the lengths they're prepared to go to satisfy their unreasonable needs, we invite you to take a look at this Twitter thread.
It started when Kayla (@baz00per) shared her worst experience in front of the counter. "Last week, I had a woman yell at me for putting a straw in her soda cup because 'we need to save our oceans' and then proceeded to order a $55 party boat of raw fish because this is a... sushi bar [sic]".
As her tweet was going viral, other users started relating to one another with similar stories, suggesting that some people might need to wear a muzzle in public.
Image credits: baz00per
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When you forget the point of makeup is to trick the eyes you have flawless skin lol
Wouldn't that be awesome! I'd love to operate that printing press. "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Definitely ma'm, if you just sit down for a lil while'.
Upvote for mentioning the almighty Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
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"I'm sorry, sir, but we're still on 12th century technology here. So we have a little man out back who works very hard calligraphing new titles for people, he's a monk and he's a little older than he used to be so it takes him a while. He's in the middle of penning a Nora Jones romance for a young couple, and after that little Timmy wants him to draw a new Spider-Man comic book, but if you can wait a while I'm sure we can get him to stencil out your request."
My friend asked me to go online and buy her books that she couldn't get because they were old and out of print. I did so, found them, ordered them, paid for them, shipped them to her. All this was done during a phone call that lasted several hours. When the books began arriving at her house hundreds of miles from me, she called to complain that they were old and used.
Amazon print out of print books. It's called make on demand. I work there and got walked through the process while visiting another site this week. Really interesting stuff
Would you also have a wrinkled elder with a beautific smile binding the books once printed? I would by all my books there.
Here’s a business opportunity for a budding entrepreneur. Secure rights to print out of print books and charge them out the @$$!
Yeah seriously! I'm like how long does printing a book take? On demand books would be super dope...
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Oh, if I had a £ for every customer who came in for an out of print book and is shocked to find out that the childhood book they read in 1959 is no longer being printed, or that some authors go out of fashion and you can only get them by print on demand which will take 2 weeks.
I might be mistaken but I think I've seen special printers like that in a few big chain bookstores in the US like Barnes and Noble or Borders when they still existed, 10 ish years ago. They were the size of a phone booth and didn't seem to be used often if at all. Anyone else remember these? Or am I just completely mistaken? I guess they had a number of books they could print on demand. It's not as farfetched I guess, but still weird to imagine someone would think every bookstore would have those.
My favourite bookshop didn't have the book i NEEDED (it was a set lol) and i emailed them that they won't be printing it anymore... Next year after we got these 50€ sort of gift cards from the government to spend on books or school supplies they reprinted the entire series
When we were in the US on vacation, my wife once made me drive her to Bed, Bath and Beyond, then walked around the shop and seemed very confused. "I imagined it to look quite different". She actually wanted to go to Bath and Body Works, which fortunately was 2 doors down in the same shopping centre.
Honestly, this sounds like something my son would say. Not complaining about it or getting mad but, being on the spectrum and having OCD, he would point out that it was indeed longer than stated (same goes for 'we have to make a couple stops before town'. I get the 'a couple is two, we stopped at three places').
Note: this post originally had 65 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
The very first one I'll take customers side. Pretty sure she meant save oceans from plastic so the sushi you get won't be full of microplastic.
It's not just one time, but, happens all the time, especially with the shortage of new and used cars. They call in, ask if something is available, and we tell them yes (and we're actually checking since this mess began). They make an appointment for days out, and we tell them the chance of it being around then is low. And, it is. They show up and it's gone. Heck, they could be like so many who are very late for the appointment they set the same day and it is gone. They also get mad that a used car isn't perfect.
I refused a customer some beer because he seemed drunk. Customer got angry, picked up someone else's beer and threw it at me. My big Arab boss saw this and went after him... drunk guy fled the bar... my boss ran after him. Unfortunately my boss was a smoker and couldn't keep up lol
I worked at a department store and one of my coworkers was doing makeup on a woman who without warning dropped the adjustable seat and severed my coworkers finger at the top knuckle. While she was running away literally holding the top of her finger in the other hand the woman was chasing after her screaming, “so you’re not going to finish?!” 😳
Lately a lady called the shop to complain that her car was stuck in a queue outside. “Isn’t someone going to come out and help me?” I’m not sure how to help you with that?
I've had a few... One customer rang to demand why he had received a statements (Because you still owe us money?) when had earlier that month sent a cheque. When I checked his account he demanded I checked our online bank statement repeatedly. I said his cheque must have got lost in the post which he refused to beleive because he had it still in his cheque book... IN HIS F***ING CHEQUE BOOK... "But Sir, the reason why we've not received your cheque, and why we've not paid in your cheque and cleared your account is because YOU STILL HAVE THE CHEQUE". He still wasn't having any of it. You can't educate pork or Pidgeon Chess Champions...
Music store in the 90s. Customer comes in with a CD that’s sticky from having beer spilled on it, and has lint and hair stuck to it. No receipt. Mad that he can’t get cash back for it.
I have so many of these from when I was selling cars. Within three minutes of meeting this woman she was yelling at me & as I walked away called me a bitch. I turned around & said "did you seriously just call me a bitch? Lady, what you put out is what you get back." I walked inside & my team leader looked at me & just knew. He went out to talk to the lady & ended up yelling her to leave. I was in my late 30's & this lady was easily in her 50's. Now that I'm in finance I've had people calling & yelling at me about why isn't their loan done. One guy was yelling at me & I sat silent. Finally I said "I'm trying really hard to be polite." He started yelling at me to say what I wanted to say. So I did. I told him if he paid his bills the. He could have driven the car home the day he'd been in the dealership. But because he had such shitty credit he was going to have to wait.
I find that being patient and understanding will get you everywhere. Finance got stuck on another person and I had to wait 3 hours for them to get to me. I watched tv and relaxed while they did their thing. As an apology for the wait I got free clear coating on my car. They offered I didn't ask - that would be rude. It's not like they could dump someone else for me. I'm not the center of the universe.
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Used to work for FedEx on the copy side. We always had to have customers sign off on 2 proofs and we took a % of a deposit. Depending on the total cost, dictated the deposit. Some customers were always 50%, we knew how they always behaved. We did 2 proofs, one each for them and us. They'd still try to say they lost it, didn't get one, etc. We always have ours. They'd try to get the job for free saying it was wrong, etc. Nope. We had decent management so they always had to pay, and rarely got any discount. Entitled cheapskates! And they still came back to get stuff printed! Crazies
I have a great idea. Everyone is chipped (bear with me, it's worth it) and store doors only open based on your chip. Service people have a little remote and every time someone is an asshole, they can zap them with the remote. When you get to 5 zaps, you are unable to enter any store for 24 hours. It's a rolling total. If you get to 10, you are barred for a week. If you get to 20, two weeks, 30, a month, and so on. You are basically not able to interact with people in public anymore if you are a k**b. I would actively promote us all getting microchipped just for this!!
Can I just say, it is so thrilling to finally see the k-word censored on Bored Panda when it's not meant as "dial," "handle." It IS a real cuss word! This made my day.
Load More Replies... Question please...Why are all of these posts dated August 2019? Thanks.
Because, More Thinking Needed, not all of the stories on BP are current. They are taken (not stolen, though) from other sites and curated here for us. So a few tend to be older. Still interesting, if not completely up to date.
Load More Replies... Had an event guest tell me he paid to be there, so he could do whatever he wanted. I replied "actually sir, when you purchased you purchased your ticket you agreed to a code of conduct. If you cannot or are unwilling to comply with the code of conduct you agreed to, then I will have to escort you off the property." Guest looks dumbfounded. Me, "so will you treat my staff politely now or will you be leaving?"
I frequent the NAR website and forum. And strangely this collection of events has made me angrier than any of the posts on that site - which is designed to highlight wnakers like these. WTF is wrong with people?!
When my mom was a Realtor, her favorite expression was "Buyers are liars."
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There is a reason I refuse to work with the general public. I would be fired for telling people like this to f**k off and never return after paying.
I had a customer explode because while testing a pc monitor he said hadn't worked from the box, I plugged it into the wall. He said it never told him to do that in the instructions. My answer was that vacuum cleaners also don't tell you to plug them in but you do it. To my eternal suprise he came back with yes but a vacuum cleaner is an electrical appliance.... Hmm PhD for this guy
I had 2 old ladies yell at me once because I could not honor their coupon. They told me they were given it a couple of days before. But the date on it was for 2 years prior. There was no way the system would accept that. I even gave them as many discounts as I could find and they were still screaming at me in the department store. For 10 bucks.
One of the angriest customers I ever "caused" was at the library. She needed to use a computer to do an assignment for Uni, so I set her up on one of the computers in a quieter area and went back to the desk. A few minutes later she comes to the desk and says "You left?" and I said "Yes, sorry did you need something else?" and she said "I need you to write this assignment". I told her I can't do that, I don't know anything about the subject and it's not my job and suggested if she needed help researching she could ask at the information desk. Anyway, she stood in the door way for about 10 minutes screaming at everyone who came in that this library was full of bitches who won't help you. I mean *screaming*. I sometimes wonder if she passed her course.
I had a customer threaten to kill me because our company did not allow to cash back on debit card returns. The system literally would not allow us (managers) to override it. My security had to call the cops. She stood in front of the cops and screamed that she was going to follow me home and kill me. They let her go because 'she calmed down '. 🙄
Proof that the customer isnt allways right???! Why.. everyone should by now understand that its just a old myth. Customer was never right and will never be
The saying actually goes 'The customer is always right in matters of taste' People have just used the part they want, not the entire saying.
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You're one of the customers in these stories, aren't you?
Load More Replies... The very first one I'll take customers side. Pretty sure she meant save oceans from plastic so the sushi you get won't be full of microplastic.
It's not just one time, but, happens all the time, especially with the shortage of new and used cars. They call in, ask if something is available, and we tell them yes (and we're actually checking since this mess began). They make an appointment for days out, and we tell them the chance of it being around then is low. And, it is. They show up and it's gone. Heck, they could be like so many who are very late for the appointment they set the same day and it is gone. They also get mad that a used car isn't perfect.
I refused a customer some beer because he seemed drunk. Customer got angry, picked up someone else's beer and threw it at me. My big Arab boss saw this and went after him... drunk guy fled the bar... my boss ran after him. Unfortunately my boss was a smoker and couldn't keep up lol
I worked at a department store and one of my coworkers was doing makeup on a woman who without warning dropped the adjustable seat and severed my coworkers finger at the top knuckle. While she was running away literally holding the top of her finger in the other hand the woman was chasing after her screaming, “so you’re not going to finish?!” 😳
Lately a lady called the shop to complain that her car was stuck in a queue outside. “Isn’t someone going to come out and help me?” I’m not sure how to help you with that?
I've had a few... One customer rang to demand why he had received a statements (Because you still owe us money?) when had earlier that month sent a cheque. When I checked his account he demanded I checked our online bank statement repeatedly. I said his cheque must have got lost in the post which he refused to beleive because he had it still in his cheque book... IN HIS F***ING CHEQUE BOOK... "But Sir, the reason why we've not received your cheque, and why we've not paid in your cheque and cleared your account is because YOU STILL HAVE THE CHEQUE". He still wasn't having any of it. You can't educate pork or Pidgeon Chess Champions...
Music store in the 90s. Customer comes in with a CD that’s sticky from having beer spilled on it, and has lint and hair stuck to it. No receipt. Mad that he can’t get cash back for it.
I have so many of these from when I was selling cars. Within three minutes of meeting this woman she was yelling at me & as I walked away called me a bitch. I turned around & said "did you seriously just call me a bitch? Lady, what you put out is what you get back." I walked inside & my team leader looked at me & just knew. He went out to talk to the lady & ended up yelling her to leave. I was in my late 30's & this lady was easily in her 50's. Now that I'm in finance I've had people calling & yelling at me about why isn't their loan done. One guy was yelling at me & I sat silent. Finally I said "I'm trying really hard to be polite." He started yelling at me to say what I wanted to say. So I did. I told him if he paid his bills the. He could have driven the car home the day he'd been in the dealership. But because he had such shitty credit he was going to have to wait.
I find that being patient and understanding will get you everywhere. Finance got stuck on another person and I had to wait 3 hours for them to get to me. I watched tv and relaxed while they did their thing. As an apology for the wait I got free clear coating on my car. They offered I didn't ask - that would be rude. It's not like they could dump someone else for me. I'm not the center of the universe.
Load More Replies... Used to work for FedEx on the copy side. We always had to have customers sign off on 2 proofs and we took a % of a deposit. Depending on the total cost, dictated the deposit. Some customers were always 50%, we knew how they always behaved. We did 2 proofs, one each for them and us. They'd still try to say they lost it, didn't get one, etc. We always have ours. They'd try to get the job for free saying it was wrong, etc. Nope. We had decent management so they always had to pay, and rarely got any discount. Entitled cheapskates! And they still came back to get stuff printed! Crazies
I have a great idea. Everyone is chipped (bear with me, it's worth it) and store doors only open based on your chip. Service people have a little remote and every time someone is an asshole, they can zap them with the remote. When you get to 5 zaps, you are unable to enter any store for 24 hours. It's a rolling total. If you get to 10, you are barred for a week. If you get to 20, two weeks, 30, a month, and so on. You are basically not able to interact with people in public anymore if you are a k**b. I would actively promote us all getting microchipped just for this!!
Can I just say, it is so thrilling to finally see the k-word censored on Bored Panda when it's not meant as "dial," "handle." It IS a real cuss word! This made my day.
Load More Replies... Question please...Why are all of these posts dated August 2019? Thanks.
Because, More Thinking Needed, not all of the stories on BP are current. They are taken (not stolen, though) from other sites and curated here for us. So a few tend to be older. Still interesting, if not completely up to date.
Load More Replies... Had an event guest tell me he paid to be there, so he could do whatever he wanted. I replied "actually sir, when you purchased you purchased your ticket you agreed to a code of conduct. If you cannot or are unwilling to comply with the code of conduct you agreed to, then I will have to escort you off the property." Guest looks dumbfounded. Me, "so will you treat my staff politely now or will you be leaving?"
I frequent the NAR website and forum. And strangely this collection of events has made me angrier than any of the posts on that site - which is designed to highlight wnakers like these. WTF is wrong with people?!
When my mom was a Realtor, her favorite expression was "Buyers are liars."
Load More Replies... There is a reason I refuse to work with the general public. I would be fired for telling people like this to f**k off and never return after paying.
I had a customer explode because while testing a pc monitor he said hadn't worked from the box, I plugged it into the wall. He said it never told him to do that in the instructions. My answer was that vacuum cleaners also don't tell you to plug them in but you do it. To my eternal suprise he came back with yes but a vacuum cleaner is an electrical appliance.... Hmm PhD for this guy
I had 2 old ladies yell at me once because I could not honor their coupon. They told me they were given it a couple of days before. But the date on it was for 2 years prior. There was no way the system would accept that. I even gave them as many discounts as I could find and they were still screaming at me in the department store. For 10 bucks.
One of the angriest customers I ever "caused" was at the library. She needed to use a computer to do an assignment for Uni, so I set her up on one of the computers in a quieter area and went back to the desk. A few minutes later she comes to the desk and says "You left?" and I said "Yes, sorry did you need something else?" and she said "I need you to write this assignment". I told her I can't do that, I don't know anything about the subject and it's not my job and suggested if she needed help researching she could ask at the information desk. Anyway, she stood in the door way for about 10 minutes screaming at everyone who came in that this library was full of bitches who won't help you. I mean *screaming*. I sometimes wonder if she passed her course.
I had a customer threaten to kill me because our company did not allow to cash back on debit card returns. The system literally would not allow us (managers) to override it. My security had to call the cops. She stood in front of the cops and screamed that she was going to follow me home and kill me. They let her go because 'she calmed down '. 🙄
Proof that the customer isnt allways right???! Why.. everyone should by now understand that its just a old myth. Customer was never right and will never be
The saying actually goes 'The customer is always right in matters of taste' People have just used the part they want, not the entire saying.
Load More Replies... You're one of the customers in these stories, aren't you?
Load More Replies...