We recently asked customer service and retail workers in our BuzzFeed Community, "What's your wildest 'Holy heck, this customer is almost hilariously irrational' story?" Well, their absolutely unhinged anecdotes inspired others to share even MORE tales of C.S. terror!
So with that in mind, here are a few MORE of the most irrational customer stories shared:
1. This half-off confusion:
"My first job was at a world-renowned public botanical garden. I was answering phones when, one day, a gentleman called and was adamant that our website said we were 'selling our tickets at a 50% discount.' When I told him we weren't, he angrily claimed that we were 'trying to swindle him' by not honoring this. After lots of carrying on, I finally asked him where on our website he saw this and I found the page.
Above where the ticket options were listed, it said '1/2' in large type... That was the day's date. It was Jan. 2. After I pointed this out to him, he grew very quiet and sheepishly gave me his payment information to pay full price."
2. This not-so-rewarding experience:
"I used to work at American Eagle. We asked every customer if they have an 'AE Rewards' account with us and if not, if they wanted to sign up. I usually worked stock but I had to jump on the register because the checkout line was too long this one time.
This 30-year-old guy didn’t have a rewards account, which was fine, but he asked the teenage girls making a purchase with my store manager beside me if they wanted the points from his purchase. They said no (as they have every right to)! So I didn’t put in their number. I just proceeded with the purchase. He started yelling at me, saying that I was stupid because I 'didn’t use those girls’ rewards number.' I explained to him that they didn’t want their number used and he told me that didn’t matter, to 'just do it.' He kept yelling at me so my manager switched registers with me and finished his transaction so that I wouldn’t have to stand there and be yelled at for no reason."
3. This gross payment:
"At the height of COVID, I had a woman pay for her purchase of $2.50 entirely in pennies. She dumped a metal bucket filled with pennies, cigarette butts, and lint/dirt onto the counter, and refused to leave or move aside until I counted 250 pennies in front of her so she could make sure I wasn't 'scamming her out of her water jug.'"
4. This delayed anger:
"I work in a bookstore. Once, a customer was buying some books and — while I scanned her books at the register — I asked for her ID number so I could find her membership. The store was busy and loud so I had to ask her for her ID about three times because I couldn't hear her properly. Eventually, she took off her mask so I can hear her better but after I found her membership, she didn’t put her mask back. A coworker that passed by me kindly asked her to put it back on. She paid and left.
Then, about 15 minutes later, she came back just to yell at me. Whenever I tried to explain myself, she screamed at me to 'shut up and zip it' and 'respect my elders.' (Though, why would I respect you when you show so little respect for me?) In the end, my manager got involved and the customer had to leave the store."
5. This habitual returner:
"I was a Key Holder at Solstice Sunglasses. A woman came in one day holding a beat-up, old Gucci box saying she needed to return sunglasses she bought there. I asked for her receipt and she said she wasn’t given one, but she just bought them the other day from a different employee.
I opened the box. No case. Just old Gucci sunglasses snapped in half with completely scratched-up lenses. I told her we couldn't accept those as a return, as the item was damaged and not resalable. She went off, claiming, 'THIS IS HOW THEY GAVE THEM TO ME!'
I smiled and told her that absolutely no one in the store sold her these sunglasses in this condition with no receipt, no case, and no bag for like $350. She insisted someone did and she didn’t realize they were damaged until she got home and opened the box. She demanded her money back or brand-new sunglasses. I apologized but reiterated that I can’t do that. I told her the best I could do was give her Gucci’s corporate phone number so she could try calling them about getting them repaired (or possibly replaced). She yelled that we were all 'liars' and selling 'shitty fake Guccis that break' and were 'conning' her out of her money. She then said she would call Gucci's corporate and the police to report us and she stormed out.
There were two Solstice locations in my mall so I called the other one to warn them, but they told me she'd already gone to their location trying to return! We never did hear from Gucci corporate or the police."
6. This time traveler:
"I used to work in the call center for a travel company. They had a special that started every Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern time. One day, the Reservations manager transferred a call to my manager (who overlooked all of the other kinds of customer service). This call was from a woman calling at 4 p.m. Eastern time who was mad that she 'missed the thing she wanted to book' because she was 'in the Central time zone' and it wasn't her fault that we 'live in the future.'"
—Sara E Clauss, Facebook
7. This literal assault:
"The cinema I worked at had a 10-minute policy: So if you arrived later than 10 minutes after the movie had started, you would be refused entry. Usually, this was not a problem and people would just change movies or take a ticket credit.
However, one time I refused entry to a man and his girlfriend because they were over 15 minutes late. He got irate with me and said he was going in regardless. I told him no and stood in front of the escalator. Now, I'm a 19-year-old, skinny, 5’3" girl. I'm not intimidating to anyone. I was just making a point.
This grown-ass man pushed me so hard that I fell against the steps of the escalator with such force that it sliced through my shirt and into my skin. I had a massive bruise on my back, a massive headache, and had to leave work to go get a tetanus shot. He and his girl left in a hurry but I had already scanned their tickets (it’s how I knew which movie they were late for), so we easily found his name and reported him."
8. This "quality assurance" nightmare:
"When I sold men’s shoes, there was a fancy European brand that was very pricey but was well worth it. The brand was popular with older businessmen and the amount of times older white men would walk in with their old, VERY WORN shoes in a grocery bags DEMANDING we give them a brand-new pair because 'for the amount of money, these shoes should last longer than just 10 years!' was staggering. An actual conversation I've had:
Them: 'But I bought this shoe from this store and you still sell this brand!'
Me: 'Yes, sir, but you see, the model you have hasn’t been made in eight years—'
Them: 'SO?!'
Me: *Calls manager and attempts not to show my utter contempt as said manager then explains that we can’t give them a free pair of replacement shoes, even though they're a 'big fan' of them.*
Retail truly made me disgusted with people at a rate that I didn’t realize was possible."
9. This "dirty" conveyor belt:
"I used to work in a big UK supermarket but one where some of the customers truly believe they're better people because it's more expensive.
I had this old lady come to my checkout one Saturday evening and — instead of putting her items on the conveyor belt — tell me that she wouldn't because it was 'dirty.' I proceeded to clean down the entire belt in front of her. I dried it, too. She refused again, even after I insisted it was very clean now. This was met with scolding and general old lady anger. So instead, she passed me EVERY SINGLE THING from her trolley, telling me I had to pack it all immediately, too, because she didn't want it touching the back of the conveyor either.
After I did all of this, she had the AUDACITY to complain to customer services and I got yelled at by my line manager. Honestly, I will never work in customer service again. Some customers are idiots."
10. This surprise:
"When I worked at Target, I was in electronics back when they had those huge boats surrounded by cameras. This woman came over and saw me seated and started making all sorts of comments about how 'retail workers are lazy' and 'unmotivated' and blah, blah, blah. The look on her face when I rolled around it in my wheelchair was priceless. It's enjoyable to see someone realize they are actually a bad person."
11. This plate thief:
"While I was serving at a two Michelin–starred restaurant in NYC with an open kitchen, a man didn’t finish his main course and asked me to bring him 'some foil.' I asked for clarification and he said he 'wanted foil to wrap up his food in to take home.' I went to pick up the plate and said, 'Oh, I'll pack this to go for you!'
Guest: *Snatches plate back* 'No, I don’t want you to touch it.'
Me: 'Okay, sir. I’ll bring you the box and bag!'
Guest: 'Are you an imbecile. I don’t want a box and a bag. Just foil. I asked you for foil.'
Me: 'We don’t have that so, again, I’m happy to pack your food using the materials we have.'
Guest: 'Go get me someone else. You have foil. You have a kitchen.'
Me: 'No, sir. Everything is cooked to order and made using expert techniques, so we don’t use foil during the process at any time.'
Guest: *Points to industrial plastic wrap he can see in the back of the kitchen* 'You have foil. It's right there!'
Me: 'That’s not foil, sir. It’s plastic wrap and I can’t give you that either. The plate your food is on is a $45 plate and property of the restaurant. You can’t wrap it and take it with you. Would you like me to bring you a box?'
After that, the guest had to be physically stopped from walking out with his plate. We packed his leftovers regularly and he remained upset until leaving."
12. This babysitting bakery:
"I worked at a bakery several years ago and had a lady leave her baby in the store. As she walked out, I yelled, 'Oh! Ma'am, you forgot your child!' She then proceeded to yell back, 'No, I didn't. I don’t want to bring her into the furniture store next door. Can you watch her for 10 minutes?'"
—Genevieve Marie, Facebook
13. This...just ew:
"I was a manager at an adult boutique for many years — so, needless to say, I have lots and lots of stories — but peak awful was when a D-list reality “star” came in and demanded to return a USED AND VISIBLY DIRTY dildo. They’d put it in a ziplock, hadn’t even bothered to wash it, and when we refused to exchange it for them (because no, absolutely not, never), they threw it at us and stormed off."
14. This butterless lobster:
"I worked as a waitress at a fancy country club back in college and I once had two female customers ask for our special (which was lobster), but they didn't want any butter on it. I told them it is prepared with butter, but they didn't care and wanted it without.
When I brought them their meals, they were so upset that the lobster 'didn't taste right' and 'wasn't as good as they'd had previously.' I reminded them again that they didn't want butter on it and that was probably why, but they insisted I was wrong and demanded their meals be comped. Because it was a special, I couldn't do that (our policy), so I went to the kitchen and mentioned it to our head chef. He then decided to go out to their table and explain it himself, to which they actually listened. He came back from their table with the lobsters in hand, saying, 'Uh yeah, so they want butter now...'"
15. This "moldy" sandwich:
"I once had a woman fling her sandwich at my face because 'the bread was moldy.' After checking the sandwich, it was a smudge of avocado. Avocado was the main ingredient of the sandwich."
—Julia Ragalie, Facebook
16. This dedicated register user:
"One time, a man was waiting by a till near the front of the store. That one would usually be the first one open, but that particular day, it had a technical fault so the one next to it was opened instead. I was on that till. I had no queue and was ready to serve.
I called over to him but he refused to move, saying, 'I always use this till. Why don’t you come here?'
I tried to explain the till was broken and won’t be opening today, but he didn’t believe me. He just stood there stubbornly waiting for someone to open it. It took a long talk with my exasperated supervisor to convince him to move across to my till. That was 17 years ago and I’ve never forgot it."
—Daniel Thompson, Facebook
17. And finally, this story that actually made me spit out my coffee:
"I work for a major insurance company that has a very memorable jingle, which is used in all of our commercials and advertising. As a team manager in the Claims Department, I often deal with irate customers but this one takes the cake:
I once handled a complaint from a gentleman who explained to me that he was in a car accident. He sang the jingle out loud but no one showed up to help him.
At first, I thought this was a joke and I played along, but then I realized he was serious. He said our commercials were 'false advertising' and he sincerely thought that we had the power to make someone instantly appear at the scene of an accident if he sang the jingle out loud. When I tried to explain the magic of television to him, he demanded that we 'make the commercials stop.' That is one conversation I will never forget."
You've read theirs but now it's your turn! Share your wildest "irrational customer" story in the comments below! Oh, and be sure to check out the first list for even more tales of terror!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.