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Welcome to Bored Panda, how may I help you? Ah, I see. So, you Pandas work in the food, retail, and services industries and started the week off dealing with some incredibly dense customers. Denser than the core of Planet Earth, you say? Well, don’t worry about it, plenty of us have been there.

In fact, our team has collected a whole bunch of examples of the dumbest things that customers have said and done, to make you feel better. Trust us, you’re not alone in this. Of course, this isn’t to say that all customers are dumb: most are polite and decent. However, a small proportion of them are nightmare material and don’t even know what chicken wings are. And here’s the proof. Grab a soul-healing cup of tea, scroll down, upvote the situations that made you laugh, and share your own retail nightmare scenarios in the comments.

Bored Panda reached out to Save the Student, a British project that advises students on how to make their money go further, about how the pandemic affected the job market and what to do if you feel like you're stuck at a job where you feel demeaned. Jake Butler from Save the Student said: "It does depend on location and other factors, but finding a job during the pandemic, specifically lockdown, has been extremely difficult for students. It's true that some businesses, such as supermarkets and delivery companies, have increased recruitment, but large student employing sectors such as retail and hospitality have really stuttered due to being closed for many months."

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TmKhr
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I too want to lemonade some important papers while I drink some laminate soda

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Jake from Save the Student added that while some retail and hospitality jobs are returning, many students are "shunning them as there are worries about job security and also working conditions." According to Jake, one of the main worries that many have is that the market is weighted towards the employers and not the employees.

"For those that feel demeaned in their current job, I would suggest it's worth studying the rights you have as an employee," Jake told Bored Panda what we can all do if we find ourselves being treated less than humanely at our workplace. "Even during the pandemic, there is no excuse for an employer to break the law at your expense. And if you feel you're being treated especially poorly I would suggest looking to switch jobs, but doing so wisely."

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fallen-gravity Report

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TmKhr
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A woman in a Finnish Facebook sales group didn't want to tell her clothes' size because she didn't want anyone to know how big she was.

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Otter
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is "BLT with cheese" going to be the new "See you next Teusday"?

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It’s easy to stay professional when the customers who you deal with are nice, pleasant, and see you as a human being. But the challenges start when you come face to face with someone who demeans you, acts overly entitled, or simply asks incredibly dumb questions. All of which makes you question why the nation’s education system has set the bar so low.

Earlier, I’d spoken about how to deal with difficult customers with Alexander Kjerulf. He’s the founder and Chief Happiness Officer at ‘Woohoo inc.’ and knows a lot about helping keep employees motivated, happy, and using their skills at their best.

Alex put it very simply that if you feel like you’re forgetting that you’re a human being worthy of humane treatment at your job, then you should seriously consider moving on. “Quit, and find a better place to work, where they actually care about their staff. And quit sooner rather than later. The longer you stay, the more they will grind you down until you lose all the energy and optimism you need to move on and find a better job,” he told Bored Panda.

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sarge-m , twitter.com Report

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TmKhr
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You're right, there's no one here, it means you've broken in and police are on their way to arrest you

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imgur.com Report

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

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...but sometimes, none are needed.

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Jessica Aubé
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s the point .. no words are needed if the picture is worth a thousand of them lol

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Dash Blue
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I saw a woman doing this exact thing once! Had she never shopped using a basket before?

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Tamsin Far
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

While I`m almost sure I never did this, this is pretty much the kind of malfunction my brain is capable of. It works pretty nice on most occasions but sometimes just fails in spectacular ways (today it obviously could not decide if to drink out of a glass or the straw - getting me pretty wet.. everywhere). Is it okay if I apologize here in advance just in case I will ever do this?

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Chloe *Leah* Pheonix
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Imagine the noise it makes, SCRRRRRRRRCCHHHHHHHHHHH *stops for a minute* SKRRRRRRTTTT

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Beatrice Multhaupt
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My best friend is this perfectly normal, above -average intelligent guy, until he takes the pain medication he occasionally needs to control severe episodes of rheumatoid arthritis. I'll bet those drugs are rated as having practically no side effects.

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Vasana Phong
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You gotta wonder, did she not know, or just didn’t feel like bending down with just the one basket

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Aryan Aryan
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Exactly. She did not want to carry a heavy basket, that's all. And there are rollers there, so zero f-s given to other customers convenience, but the lady is not dumb at all.

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Nope IWont
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

iirc, this was a stunt people were doing for reddit and imgur. Idk why they thought it was funny but people were doing this for months and posting pics of it.

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

I have two thoughts about what might be going on: 1) they have so many things on in their mind they are not really paying attention and 2) they don't want other people to know they don't know how to operate something so simple 😀

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Jan Grangaard
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I guess she doesn't know her own strength! She's used to pulling her load!!

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

They were probably wedged together so tightly that she couldn't just get one..ever think of that?

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David Herz
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The two part process was just too complex. You have to find the wheel part and put the basket in it. Advanced engineering, just pull the whole lot, probably a new form of calisthenics. In fact I had to examine closely to realize she is pulling the basket holding the carts which each presumably have their own wheels. Must be strong.

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Dahungryfella
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I will probably get downvoted for this but People should not be so quick to judge this woman. Here is why. Maybe the carts were simply stuck due to the fact they have to be stacked one way, maybe she was in a rush, maybe there were more than sufficient carts left. It just seems really unfair to judge this woman based on this photograph which heavily implies she is stupid. when there could be perfectly valid reasons why she did this. This is the problem with the internet. Would people still be judging this woman if the caption read:" company refuses to stack carts correctly so customers stage fun protest."? I am not saying that is what happened here but honestly i get annoyed with this whole trial by media crap. Why not start by giving people the benefit of the doubt?

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Dahungryfella
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Edit: one user in the comments probably called it by saying this was an internet challenge thing. Which, if true, illustrates my point. Stop taking pictures online at face value when they imply the worst like being placed in a thread about horrible customers.! It could literally destroy someone's life if it goes viral or show up years later. The internet is forever. (Sorry for the rant everyone. I will stop now.)

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Mumchkin
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've seen someone do this. When an employee approached "Ma'am, you can't do that, your only supposed to take one and carry". She said "I can't carry the basket". He offered to go get her a cart, and she demanded to see the manager. He just pointed at his name tag, she turned and walked out. I can only assume he's the manager.

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Brittany
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder if this was staged. If not, this is amazingly bad. XD

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Persp Gold
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

she's kind of a problem solver. why use a large push basket when you can use a cumbersome stack of small carry badkets

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Mya Lugar
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am entitled to it allllllll ! NOone else can have the convenience of a rolling cart!!!! Meyahahaaahh!

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Donald Holder
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well it looks like she's in the right ilse because she definitely needs to go back to school.

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Josey Griffin
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because people are just a little preoccupied. Wont say stupid.

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Nola Dorothy
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How is she going to move them after she fills them all? (Ha!)

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Jean Gibbens
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm just enjoying the fact that this woman appears to be rather young.

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UNICORN EM
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At first I was like whats going on in this picture scrolling down thinking there was gonna be a story under it and then realized there was no story scrolled back up and then realized what was actually going on!!! LMFAO

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CLEMSONFAN
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Does she think she's getting more storage space by taking more? Like hello, these things have bottoms.

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Marcellus the Third
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've been in a supermarket where there was a trail on the floor, so... I must not give a hoot? I'm not getting this logic.

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He said that it’s common in restaurants to treat their customers like kings. And some places complement this by treating their employees badly. However, this is far from all right! It shouldn’t be the norm.

“99% of people are nice, but the occasional rude client is unavoidable," Alex noted that you will have to deal with difficult customers sooner or later. It’s not something that you can avoid forever and ever, no matter how good (or lucky) of an employee you are. "You can learn tricks to deal with them, and that's great, but no one should have to put up with mistreatment."

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Mihai Mara
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The rule "an eye for an eye" should have been applied: "here's your HOT latte!" *splash*

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Ancsuri
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do you have to give a tip in the US? How does it work? Cause by us, you can give a tip if you want to, but you can choose to pay just the price of the food.

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Working in the service industry doesn’t mean that you have to be a doormat, however. If you find yourself constantly being walked over, belittled, and demeaned, you have to reach out to your manager for help. They should be willing to step in and help you deal with anyone who isn’t acting like a human being should.

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Catlady6000
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember replying something about how if nobody came in to shop, they wouldn't open, and the customer continued to sympathize and wonder why they opened on a holiday

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“You have to remember that in many cases a customer who behaves badly is not necessarily a bad person—it can be a good person having a bad day and that’s why they’re acting out. But the sad truth is that some customers act this way because they’ve learned that it works and will get them discounts or preferential treatment,” Alex said that some customers might be nightmare material by accident while others are very Slytherinish and sneaky.

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Michele Ferretto
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is not the first time I hear a pregnant lady be called fat by other woman. For the love of God, what's in their mind!?!?

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Eslamala
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Real actual cheddar or that laminated orange plastic you get in the U.S??

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Pamela H.
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes there is no "grass fed" chicken meat at the store, but Chickens do eat grass. Obviously you don't own a chicken.

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Michele Ferretto
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Since you were there you could make him notice the size of the chip, so it could very hardly be injected with any vaccine (I bet he believes that too).

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Mihai Mara
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Make sure you never run out of blinker fluid. It's very important in traffic!!

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KatHat
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The full original phrase is: "The customer is always right in matters of taste". ie, if they want to paint their house screaming purple or buy a gold sequin pantsuit, you say YES that's wonderful. It was never supposed to mean what it's come to mean.

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Mihai Mara
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now I am curious how you explained it and what the customer finally understood.

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WilvanderHeijden
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's the entitlement of "I orderded a cheeseburger without cheese and that's what I'm getting and paying for. You do not chance my order without my divine consent, you underpaid wage slave."

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RaroaRaroa
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The guy's an idiot, of course, but who ever cuts anything in quarters at Subway? Sure, if someone asked, but they don't normally do that do they?

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Note: this post originally had 59 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.