Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
79 Times Customers’ Ridiculous Complaints Make It Really Hard For Employees To Keep A Straight Face
Many people seem to have a misguided notion about the concept of “The customer is always right.” They’re the ones who see it as a license to act entitled, thinking that they deserve to have all their demands met, regardless of how inane they can get.
Here are some stories from people who dealt with them firsthand. Their anecdotes alone not only warrant them a fat raise on top of a comfortable salary, but also mad props for what they go through regularly.
If you work in an industry that involves dealing with absurd customers, again, our respect goes out to you.
This post may include affiliate links.
RELATED:
#2
I was a server and had a lady get mad because she had asked for ice water but after sitting at the table for 45 minutes decided the water was "too watered down" cause all the ice had melted.
#3
"You guys finished that too fast. I wanted to go make a phone call and now I can't because my food will be cold!" Sorry?
#4
Bulk food store. An older lady once complained that the oats had bugs in them; upon closer inspection the bugs were the tiny shadows cast into the empty space between oat flakes. She simply would not believe me.
#5
We didn't have linguine, so I suggested fettuccine instead. She asked if we could just cut the fettuccine noodles in half. Um..no. No we can't.
#6
I had a lady bring her French fries back because they tasted like Potatos.
I was unsure how to make her happy, made her a new batch of fries and she
was happy.
#8
I saw a woman flip out at BK because she wanted a knife with her burger...so they gave her a plastic knife (also known as the only knife fast food places have). She wanted a real metal steak knife or something and lost [it]. Threw her food and drink at the employees behind the counter while screaming, pushed her way through people to leave the building...got in her car, tried to peel out, lost control and smashed into a cop car that was pulling into the drive through.
#10
A guy came into Dairy Queen, ordered a cheeseburger and an ice cream and sat down. When the server brought him his order he started yelling and berating them saying that he couldn't eat it because he was lactose intolerant.
#11
Used to work at a Chinese takeaway opposite a quiet small town train station. We would often get drunks stopping by before heading home.
We had two drunk young lads come in one evening wanting food to be ready before their next train came (last one that night) in 15 minutes or so. I explicitly explained that we couldn't guarantee it would be done in time, they decided to risk it and decided to order a banquet!! Their receipt was for £15/20 or so.
They missed their train and then tried to get the owner to front the money to pay for a taxi for the lads to get home because we '[messed] up their train home'. Boss told them politely to [get lost] and one of the lads put a chair through a double glazed window. Police came, lads were carted off and my colleague and I got to split the food between us.
Bill was paid, window was covered under the insurance.
#12
I worked at a movie theater. Some lady asked for extra extra extra butter on her popcorn. It was gross, she wanted so much that I could feel how much it was weighing the bag down. She came out after the movie and complained because the butter had gone through the bottom of the bag and onto her pants. She [complained] that she wanted us to pay for her $150 pants because you can't get that kind of butter out of clothes. I couldn't believe it. But that wasn't even the worst part. My manager ended up giving this woman $150.
#13
As a Starbucks barista, I once had a customer throw a fit because I responded to his "thank you" with "you're welcome." He started shouting, "Well, of course I'm welcome, I'm the customer! You shouldn't say you're welcome because it implies that you don't have to give me good service!" I wish I was making this up.
#14
I had one guy come in, order, open his wallet and try to pay in monopoly money. He was angry when the cashier wouldn't accept it. He kept saying it was real.
A woman [complained] that she didn't want pickles on her burger after she ate it.
Another woman [complained] that her coffee was too hot.
Devin Schmitt 34 minutes ago
My mom had dementia, and her husband put monopoly money in her purse. It satisfied her need to carry money.
#15
Hick threw a burger at my manager because he was Hispanic and took their jobs.
#16
I worked at a concert venue. I was always careful that our venue isn't loud enough to cause hearing damage for either the performers or the audience, having a few decibel readers throughout the venue. Sure, you can have it loud, but at some point you're just hurting people and the sound isn't any better.
I had this one lady come in, saying that she just had ear surgery, and that she wanted me to keep it WAY down. She said that she could experience permanent damage if I didn't keep the volume down. There was a thousand people in the venue, and she wanted me to keep the noise at a conversational level. I told her to leave, and when she wouldn't, I had her escorted out. There's no way I'm getting sued by someone that stupid.
#17
We sell expensive cardiac medical catheters. Our customer called livid that we shipped them catheters where all the tips were falling off!
They called back the next day and apologized because, turns out... they hired a new receiving guy that used a box cutter to open the package and sliced them all off.
#18
I once had a customer give a sales rep a low rating for being “too nice”.
UnclePanda 1 hour ago (edited)
We wouldn't have made any sort of comment but had to suppress giggles when a Chicago area waitress suddenly decided we were from the south and started laying on the y'alls thicker and thicker. We waited all the way across the parking lot and into the car before we burst out laughing.
#19
Worked as a lifeguard for five years as a teen. Once had a woman with young children come up to me and politely said that her children were scared of the water. I asked if they wanted a lesson. She instead told me that the water was too high and asked to drain the baby pool to about four inches of water instead so her children could play in it.
I was so floored that I don't even remember answering the question. I think I just left her hanging there.
#20
I worked at a bakery (counter) that has been around for 80+ years. I would have some of the older clientel come in and ask why the donuts don't taste the way they did when they were kids.
Now, lets take the fact that peoples taste buds change/lessen in older age. That withstanding, how would I know how they were made when you were a child 60 years ago.
#21
I used to work the games department at Six Flags, just for one summer. I was that guy on a microphone trying to get you to pay $3 to play a racing game and have a chance to win a toy that might be worth a buck. One day, I was operating a water gun race game (shoot the target to make a thing move up, first thing to the top wins), and I had one woman come in and try her hand. She lost pretty bad. So she tries again, and again. Then she switches to the other side and tries again. I think she played 5 total times, and never came close then left grumbling. Not long after, she and my manager came by. My manager asks how many times she played, I told her, and then my manager said "just give her a toy". So I did, happily.
My manager told me later, laughing, that the woman complained that I was purposely lowering the water pressure on her guns (not a possible thing we can do), and that I was definitely doing it because she was black. Welp :/.
#22
I am a Walmart Greeter. A lady wrote into the paper, where they have a "speak out" section for the public. An excerpt:
"I'm tired of walking into Walmart and having some young man scream 'Welcome to Walmart!' Do they pay him extra to do that, or is there something wrong with him?"
Queue general [complaining] about Walmart, then,
"And when I go to leave Walmart, that same man shouts 'Have a nice day!' It makes me want to open up a dozen eggs and throw them at his head!"
I have that article clipped and framed on my wall.
#23
A lady complained that there was too much cinnamon and we need to be more careful because she has a minor allergy, this would not have been a problem had she not started off with, “ I know I ordered cinnamon pancakes, but...”
Then there was just yesterday when a lady complained that we would not honor a coupon for a different restaurant.
#24
Selling shoes - This woman calls to complain that we'd sold her an empty box. Like, we had stolen the shoes.
Now, this was impossible, because we handled these shoe boxes so often that we could not only tell if a box had 1 or 2 shoes in it, but could usually tell the size of the shoe just by it's weight.
She yells, screams, threatens to call the police, threatened to get us all fires, threatened to have the mall close my store, and called us every name in the book. I got nothing, no idea what her problem is.
She called back an hour later to say she took the shoes out of the box herself and forgot. (I do give her points for calling back.).
#25
Had a customer come in and start rattling off something angrily in a language I didn't understand for a good few minutes. When my only response was a dumbfounded stare, she exclaimed, furiously:
"UGH! You don't speak Italian!!"
And then stormed out of the store.
I live in Florida.
#26
That our Canadian hotel was charging him in Canadian dollars even though he was an American.
#27
One time I was checking peoples to tickets at the cinema i work at.
This lady comes down the stairs behind me and grunts to get my attention. I had not even fully turned around when she started ranting that "the elevator is gone" and that we must have moved it.
I was super confused and pointed her to the sign pointing towards the elevator, but she just didn't believe it was there, so I literally abandoned my station to walk the 3 metres to the lift, I point at it, and she exclaims "why are you trying to trick me it wasn't there before, you moved it" before storming off.
#28
Worked at a call center. A lady once told me I sound like Patrick Swayze and she didn't like it.
#29
Not me but a friend had a customer order a chicken wrap and then come back complaining "it smells like chicken".
#30
I worked at an entertainment store, and my main job was shipping out online orders. The store would get a report of every refund and the reason for the refund on a monthly basis. One time I got a refund on a used Bach cd because the recording wasn't the original recording. They wanted the original Bach recording from the 1700's.
#31
Had a woman come in and order a burger, fries, and coke. Back in my day if you wrung those up separately, it'd come out a bit more than if you just wrung in the combo meal. So being the friendly guy I am, I put in an order for a combo meal.
She argued with me that she didn't want a combo meal, she didn't order a combo meal, and she wasn't going to accept a combo meal. It didn't matter that I was saving her money.
I canceled out the order, put it in the way she wanted, and told her the new total. She then [complained] about how much it was costing her.
#32
I worked at Arby's.
* customer complained that I had raised the prices. Me. The 17 year old cashier. I said it wasn't my doing but he didn't believe me. I finally told him I would discuss it with Jim Arby (or some other made up name) next time at the country club. He was satisfied.
* old guy berated me for not counting out his change. It was a dime. So I said 'ten' and he berated me for my attitude. His eon apologized and shuffled him away
* ten minute argument with an old lady where I tried to tell her I couldn't accept tips and she kept insisting on giving me one. She asked to speak to my manager, who said if they see me put money in my pocket they will think I'm stealing. He tried to give her a coupon for a free shake. She stormed out.
* guy in the drive through asked if we had beef. I jokingly said no. He apologised and drove off. **Edit: he meant did we *serve* beef.**
* lady brought in a couple of ketchup packets saying she hadn't wanted them and could she have a refund
* another lady was upset we didn't sell pancakes
* 8 year old kid came in, slapped a five on the counter and asked for as many fries as $5 would buy. It was a lot of fries. He went out and his mom came in yelling at us for letting her kid buy just fries.
#33
Many years ago I had a customer at Wendy's order a "Double with cheese, hold the cheese." So I said a double burger then. He gets agitated and says "No! I want a double CHEESEBURGER, just don't put any cheese on it!" Again, young naive me tries to save the dude some money but he gets irate and demands a manager. The conversation repeats. That was the day I learned you can't fix stupid.
#34
"Some of your plants are wet."
#35
That he would have to pay more money if he wanted extra things. This was then followed by screaming about the jews and how the restaurant was run by "money grubbing jews" as my manager escorted him out the building.
#36
I served Chinese food at a grocery store, and had a customer complain about the orange chicken because it wasn't orange on the inside.
#37
Pizza delivery driver here. Customer complained because she ordered a large meat lovers with *double* the amount of meat, added two servings of black olives, extra pepperoni (again), with bacon cheese stuffed crust. Called a few minutes after picking it up, said it was too greasy.
#38
I worked in a shoe shop and someone once demanded discount because a shoe had been in the window and was slightly warm.
#39
There was also that dude at Starbucks who expected me to read his mind.
"What can I get for you today?"
"Coffee."
"Will that be dark, medium, or blonde roast?"
"Ugh, why do I have to answer so many questions? I just want coffee!"
*puts him down for medium (our most popular)* "Okay, what size would you like?"
"WHY DO I HAVE TO ANSWER SO MANY QUESTIONS"
*puts him down for a grande*
When I hand him his coffee: "THIS IS WRONG, I WANTED A VENTI DARK ROAST!"
And he proceeded to call my manager and tell him about my horrible service.
#40
I worked in a call centre for an electricity company and once got
"Can you see the debt on my account?"
"Yes, it's currently at £2500"
"I know that, I've had a payment plan for over a year now; it was originally £5k"
"OK, so how may I help you?"
"Can you just wipe the rest of it off?"
"You want me to write off £2500 that you owe us? I'm sorry but I can't do that"
"This is ridiculous! You can clearly see that I've been paying it off!"
"Do you mean that you want to pay off the remainder in one lump sum?"
"NO! I don't see why I should have to pay the remainder at all!!"
"Umm....because you used £5000 of electricity and we gave you the option of a payment plan or a card meter to pay off you debt."
"You don't get it do you?! I can clearly afford to pay you back as I've been doing it for the past year"
"I'm sorry but I don't see the problem here?"
"Look, I can afford to make the payments but I don't see why I should, can't you just accept the fact that I can afford to pay and we'll forget the whole thing?"
"OK, let me get this right. You used £5000 of electricity, have paid back half of it, and now think that you don't have to pay the other half because we are trying to make some kind of point?"
"Exactly!"
"Let me get my manager for you..."
My manager ended up passing it to her manager after another hour of this. I never did find out what happened in the end!
#41
When I worked at chipotle we had this old man come in with his granddaughter. She got a quesadilla so he decided to get one too. He had never had Mexican food. He loved his quesadilla so much he started frequently bringing in his family. I had served him probably half a dozen times when one day I went on break and sat at the table next to him. He was loudly complaining that the cheese was melted. I had served him and I guarantee that everytime his quesadilla was properly toasted. I don't know if he saved it till later or he just forgot he was eating a Mexican grilled cheese.
#42
I use to work in a sports retail store. One morning I had a lady try to return a pair of shoes that she bought from our online store to train in for her up coming marathon. She said the shoes gave her blisters but still ran in them for a week hoping they would become worn-in. I said "no problem, they're probably just the wrong size." I opened up the box to find a pair of Birkenstocks! This [woman] was training for a marathon in heavy leather sandals... She read on Facebook that they were the most comfortable shoes and figured they would be great for training in.
#43
"He doesn't look like he wants to be here."
Me who was a recent college grad, working retail, on a holiday weekend.
#44
Back when I was working in retail, a customer wanted to return an iPad because they'd dropped it as soon as they opened but blamed the packaging then changed to "It was like this when we opened the box".
#45
I had a lady mad because I couldn't tell her the day the leaves fell off the trees.
#46
"I wanted wirelss internet and you're telling me I need to plug the router into the phone socket?!? This is [nonsense]. I want to cancel".
#47
I’m a probationary secondary school teacher. A parent sent in a complaint about women who works with me for using ‘too red a pen’. Apparently it came across as ‘threatening’ and ‘abrasive’ and required a sit down meeting with the parent and senior management. We have to use green pen for that pupil now (who by the way is 16).
#48
When I was working at a poll during an election and a guy came in said his wife couldn't make it and asked if he could vote for her. He wasn't happy with the solid no he got.
#49
Worked at a grocery store, had a lady wanting to return her cat litter. She said "I have been feeding it to him for 3 days now and he refuses to eat it."
#50
I give people with low credit scores loans. People will sign contracts, and then months later complain about getting charged interest. Not sure why a bank doesn’t wanna give you a loan buddy....
#51
Customer: *orders brownie sundae*
Me: *makes brownie sundae*
Customer: *complains about brownies being in the sundae*.
#52
Some of our clients get sent a survey after a meeting with us in order to gauge our customer service skills. I had a guy give me 10s in everything including "was your request completed to the level you expected?" Guy gives me a 7 in his overall rating (which significantly dragged my overall percentage down) because "this request should have been handled by someone older."
#53
I was told on the phone that she didn't want to speak to me because I didn't have a TV.
She was referring to a commercial and I'm poor. I also prefer Sirius radio and crosswords but that's another story.
"You companies are all alike. Don't call out to tell us jack and this is why no one likes you. You need to be like that commercial I saw the other day."
"What commercial, Ma'am?"
"So Macduff, you haven't seen the commercial???? Do you have a TV?"
"No ma'am, I don't."
"You don't have a tv? I REFUSE TO TALK TO YOU ANY FURTHER. ONLY CERTAIN PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE TVS AND IT SAYS MUCH ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER. ONLY MEAN PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE TVS OR SELF RIGHTEOUS [JERKS]."
"Ma'am I do not need one right now in my life and I'd like to talk about your policy..."
**click.**.
#54
At a restaurant I used to work at, a woman ordered a Caprese salad then complained that it had tomatoes on it.
#56
This kid shoplifted from upstairs and his mom said it was our fault because we don't provide entertainment while her child waits for his appointment.
#57
A man once filed a complaint against me because after pulling out every coin in his wallet he was still 10 cents short of his total. I personally spotted him the change to be nice and the next day he came in tell my manager about how I had "embarrassed" him and "held up the line," (which consisted of two people who weren't even ready to pay yet). The one thing I'll never understand is, if he was so embarrassed why didn't he pull out that dollar bill he had in his wallet.
#58
I was in line at a McDonald's in a food court once and someone complained that they don't do Meatball Marinara Subs.
There was a subway right next to the McDonald's.
#59
One time a woman and her son come into my store and place an order like normal, after telling them the amount for their food the mom asked me why I did not acknowledge the fact that her son had a speaking disorder and discount the food because of that. I was just like..."we only have military and senior citizen discounts" she was appalled by this and demanded for a manager and then she got her food for free and I got scolded for doing my job.
#60
Worked at a Jamba Juice. Dude wanted his smoothie warmed up and when we said we couldn't he said "Do you want my business or not?"
We couldn't do it cause:
1: The only thing we could heat it up in was the oven which would melt our plastic cups and make a mess
And 2: why do you want fresh fruit to be warmed up, that is disgusting.
#61
I once had a customer flip [out] because one of my employees said "Have a good night, man" to him.
#62
Passed a lady a slice of cake on a plate from the fridge unit. Which obviously involved touching the plate with my hand. She flinched like she'd been slapped and squealed that the plate "was too cold to be touched!" I was honestly dumbstruck, thankfully her son was with her and just rolled his eyes and took it from her. I guess she had those little incapable moments regularly.
#63
Guy came into the Little Caesar's where I work and said, with complete conviction I might add, "I'd like a Canadian pizza please!" So I sold him one and he left... then came back five minutes later, freaking out because "This isn't a Canadian! It has mushrooms on it!" A Canadian pizza has pepperoni, bacon and mushrooms. That is literally the definition of a Canadian pizza. I explained this to him and he asked how much it would cost to swap the pizza for a Meat Lovers... "$9.60", I said (the full price of a Meat Lovers, since we can't take a pizza back once it's left the store).
He got very angry, said something like "Well fine, I guess I'll just EAT IT THEN", and stormed out.
#64
"The prices weren't that high a few days ago when I came, let me talk to your manager."
You think I make the prices?
#65
The guy wanted his sandwich to look exactly like the ones in the pictures. I made several sandwiches and none of them were perfect. All of these were thrown away. I eventually made one that was good enough.
#66
Worked at an Olive Garden in not the best neighborhood years ago. It was a common issue that people didn't believe they had to buy something to get salad and breadsticks. 5 people would come in, only 3 would order, and then the other 2 expected free salad and breadsticks. They'd ask for 4 refills on salad (salads are portioned by amount on table) and then be mad when the bill came and there was an extra charge on their bill for them having salad! So frustrating working there, especially with their "here's a gift card cause you're mad" attitudes.
#67
At the airport I worked at we had a self serve Tim Hortons past security where the worker only stocked stuff and worked till, you make your own coffee or whatever. Someone complained that their coffee was made wrong there.
#68
I'm a security guard and apparently an employee yelled at my boss complaining about me. I told her to move her car because she was parked diagonally, taking up two spots, in the most occupied part of the parking garage.
She wanted me fired.
#70
Customer: I can't eat this, it has bacon on it.
Me: What did you think the 'B' stood for in BLT?
#71
Oh, I have so many at the last few jobs I had, but none as dumb as the [stuff] i dealt with as a Lifeguard at a water park:
* Complaint was filed because the lifeguard saved her drowning child, but did it "too violently" (She grabbed the girl's arm and dragged it to the rescue tube.)
* Complaint was filed, and mother wasted the paramedic's time because I was spinning the tubes at the top of the ride before i released them to amuse guests. Mother thought her kid had whiplash. Child was embarrassed.
* Woman filed a complaint and actually sued the park and my friend because her kid fell off an artificial wave ride, and into the wave, where he hit his shoulder on ~4 inches of foam which cushioned his impact, as designed, and he slid to the ride's exit...as designed. She sued and lost. My friend had to give a deposition I think.
#72
Big box retail, electronics counter manager on duty, Black Friday.
Customer: "Ad says buy one get one free on memory cards. Here's my receipt from [competition] for the one I bought, let's have the free one."
Me: "I mean...obviously you need to have purchased the one from--"
Customer: "SHOW ME IN THE AD WHERE IT SAYS THAT."
Me: "It won't say it because it is safe to assume a person would underst--"
Customer: "SHOW ME IN THE AD.".
#73
I over heard somebody at McDonald's say "why is there no fries" and showed them the receipt. All they ordered was a burger.
#74
I worked at an incredibly high volume cafe. Some of my favourites include the guy who was upset because his smoothie was too cold, the lady who made me wash off her credit card with soap before I returned it to her and the lady who yelled at me for twenty minutes because her lemons were cut into wedges when she had asked for slices.
#76
I've gotten a few complaints that i don't give out my real name and address....
As a cam model....
No, it's not personal that i won't tell you.
#77
I worked in a produce department.
Guy comes in and picks a pear off the shelf. Takes a huge bite in front of me.
I tell him he can't do that. He says he'll ask the cashier to ring up the core. I say it's by the pound so you seriously can't do that.
He gets angry and proclaims "In my country this food is all free!"
I tell him he can go back there if he wants then but still can't eat the pear for free and he storms off.
He was busted for shoplifting. :).
#78
I work at a restaurant that is known for selling all local products (protein, dairy, produce, etc.) and we even get our plates and such from local flea markets. Well I was waiting on a table about a month ago and they ordered a few appetizers. I brought them some plates and about 10 minutes later they got up and said they needed to leave (without any of their food). It was weird, but sometimes people have emergencies and need to leave... whatever. The next day my manager gets a call and they complained that the plates I gave them didn't match. NONE of our plates match, that's kind of our gimmick. But instead of asking me for new plates or asking why they didn't match, they were literally so weirded out by the unmatching plates that they got up, left, and called to complain the next day.
#79
Lady ordered five chicken wings, came back to the counter after eating 3 saying she didn't like the flavor so we made her another five wings with a different flavor.
Five minutes later she come back to the counter and says she didn't like the new flavor after eating another three. The GM is so scared of costumer complaints to corporate he gives her another five wings for free with another flavor sauce.
This woman did stuff like this all the time.
The most frustrating part was her son was one of the cooks.
What do you think ?
Related on Bored Panda
