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Anyone who has worked in retail knows that there are good customers, there are bad ones, and then there are people who have just come out of hell and are on a mission to make everyone's life miserable.

Recently, Twitter user Pigeon Fancier posted a question: "What's the most ridiculous demand a customer has made of you?" and the answers have been flooding in nonstop! From returning a fully consumed rotisserie turkey because it was too dry to demanding a book with real dinosaur photos, here are some of the wildest replies.

Image credits: isabelzawtun

#1

Entitled-Customers-Ridiculous-Demands

DorianPlum Report

One study found that 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 study, which was published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology in 2017, looked at several factors to determine how customers treated employees. One variable researchers looked at was the words customers used when speaking to customer service workers.

#4

Entitled-Customers-Ridiculous-Demands

Frenchie1904 Report

They found that customers at the cheap airline Ryanair used fewer humanizing trait words than those who were flying Lufthansa. Researchers believe that plays a big part in how customers treat people who are working there to help them. 

#5

Entitled-Customers-Ridiculous-Demands

paulteta Report

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troufaki13
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even if you worked there, putting a finger on your face and threatening to get you fired is beyond disgusting. Who do these people think they are??

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#6

Entitled-Customers-Ridiculous-Demands

DoISmellFood Report

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

I hope the police were called on him. In front of his kids. A lot of the time religion is stupid.

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"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.

#7

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

I strongly believe that those crying for the EUR to be abandonded (or the whole European Union) would be the first to get angry if they cannot pay with their national currency on holidays anymore...let alone take Europe-wide phone calls without costs.

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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.

#9

Entitled-Customers-Ridiculous-Demands

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

Should have asked them what they did for a living then demand that from them right there and then.

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#10

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

What do you mean? You can obviously change the weight of the bags easily. Using essential oils! Laws were made to be broken.

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"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.

#11

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30yroldrunaway Report

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

a bit like arguing with the creator of Dairy Milk because it doesn't taste the same as a supermarket knockoff

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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.

#15

Entitled-Customers-Ridiculous-Demands

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

For lords sake, This is why I'm not a retail worker. People are STUPID.

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#18

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

No there should not be a door here. Windows are used to bring in light. Specsavers appointment long overdue.

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#19

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

An elderly relative once asked me to photoshop a group of people out of an old photo "so I can see the building behind them"

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#21

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

I once got a mouthful from an American because we didn't accept dollars. In Dublin. In Ireland. On a separate continent.

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#22

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J. F.
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sure, why not read which number to call (112 in all of Europe) before traveling somewhere?

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#24

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

I probably would have told him that if he managed to suck it out and spit it into a bucket, I would be happy to give him a refund. 🤔🤭😵

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#26

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

I think he simply wanted to have a regular coffee with ice cubes in it. Just to be sure to prevent the melting...come on, customer is king, changing the thermodynamic laws of the universe cannot be so much of a deal.

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#30

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

This list is beginning to read like a list of people with mental health issues.

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

What is this about bookstores that makes people think the employees can do everything their hearts desire? When I was working in one, I had a lady INSIST, for a cool 15 minutes straight, that I fix her phone. Because she was "told to come here". I gave her directions to the electronics store that could help her, I tried to tell her that we're a bookstore and I not WON'T but CAN'T fix her phone, I tried every way I could think of to convince her that no, I'm not lying and I'm not just being lazy, this really is a bookstore, but somehow, nor I, nor the stacks of books, the people buying books, or the signs saying "BOOKSTORE" tipped her off.

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

that woman should go to the karate dojo to get her eyes checked

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

I work at a print and copy shop. Someone once phoned and asked us to tape something off the TV for them ... !

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

omg I would've done it, just to watch the meltdown and then be like , ummm we sell books, not haircuts but you insisted soooo ... enjoy! That'll be 22.95

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

say, "of course, I'll take you to a hairdressers" and show her the opticians

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

I really hope these humans are not reproducing! The species is f****d as it is. We don't need it more f****d up with these morons!

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

Any good book store would stock "Cutting hair for absolute beginers!"

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#36

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do many places have smoking and non smoking areas anymore? I know in SA that it is illegal to smoke anywhere indoors (except home). It is also illegal to smoke a certain distance near a park, bus stop, school grounds etc. Pubs, Restaurants, Sports clubs have a small seperate section outdoors designated for smokers but no food is allowed and it is literally like a closed in box with no roof, some plants, maybe a couple of chairs/stools and maybe a table or two with ashtrays (if your lucky), sometimes it is standing only with ashtrays.

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#37

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

And yet they ate.. It all? They must like dry things then. Like their personality and scamming tactics, for example.

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#40

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

I hope in this case the answer is "all I can do is give you another ice cube"

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Note: this post originally had 144 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.