Working in customer service can be a grueling experience. I've worked retail jobs, restaurant jobs, hospitality jobs, etc., and whoever said "the customer is always right" should be put ON TRIAL.
I asked the BuzzFeed Community to share their experiences dealing with nightmare customers, not only so we can all commiserate, but also in the hopes that we might publicly shame people into acting like civilized members of society.
Here's what they had to say:
1. "I worked retail and customer service for over 25 years. Once when I was the only cashier working and had a long line of people, I finished ringing up a lady and started to move on to the next customer. But then she said very loudly, 'Excuse me, but you overcharged me!' I was halfway through the next customer's items, but I took a moment to check her receipt and I couldn't see anything wrong. She said, 'You overcharged me on the spice. There's not supposed to be any tax!'"
2. "I used to work at a certain major retailer as a phone and computer tech. I’ve seen customers throw cups of coffee at people, people approaching the desk with nosebleeds, been yelled at by someone who had cocaine all over her nose, and threatened by a customer that my 'first born' would be his if I didn’t get him what he wanted."
"I've seen all kinds of tantrums thrown by grown-ass people, including this awful woman who came in right before closing when everyone was gone, demanding help, and threatening to throw two of my coworkers off the second floor balcony. Instead of escorting her out, the managers sat her down and talked to her as if she was there for a therapy session. I’m so glad the idea of 'the customer’s always right' and the nightmare managers who allow this shit are finally beginning to be questioned and rejected by society."
3. "I worked at a supermarket and this one woman threw a bag at me and said, 'Do your job.' I had no problem bagging people’s groceries, but seriously, don’t treat me like I’m dirt."
4. "I used to work at a very upscale store in a very upscale neighborhood. We once had a customer come in and 'release his bowels' in a garbage can in our changing room. It was the most vile thing I ever smelled in my life."
5. "I used to work at Jimmy John’s. They have a policy where they can’t take a sandwich back to cut it in half after you've already started eating it (food safety rules) and will instead give out a plastic knife. This guy got pissed at this rule when I kept offering him a plastic knife, and threw his sandwich down on the counter and was like, 'Remake my goddamn sandwich and this time cut it in half!' My general manager at the time took the plastic knife, cut in it half, and gave it back to him. 😂"
6. "I worked in an upscale women’s clothing store when I was in school. One morning as we were preparing the store for opening, my coworker had a literal seizure — like, fell on the floor, hit her head on something on the way down, and blood was everywhere. We were waiting for the ambulance, and as this chaos was happening, a woman was banging on the door. I opened it and politely told her that due to an emergency, we may have to open a few minutes late."
7. "I worked at a swimsuit store, and an angry woman stormed up to my coworker who was behind the register. The woman was angry because her daughter's swimsuit got damaged within an hour of wearing it. My coworker told her calmly that she herself could not handle her request due to company policy, but gave her a business card to contact the customer service desk in the store's corporate office."
"This woman would not take 'No' for an answer, and immediately started screaming. She yelled out several racial slurs at my coworker (who is Black), calling her 'stupid' and 'a lost cause,' and ended her 90-second rant by telling my coworker to 'Go back to Africa.' Thank goodness my manager was there. She made the woman give her name and contact info so that she would be banned from all of the store's locations."
8. "I work at a university dining hall. A kid directly emailed the university PRESIDENT because the dining hall was closed at 4 p.m. on a Monday, and described me as the supervisor on duty. If he'd BOTHERED to ask the 100 other people standing around, he would have learned we'd been evacuated for a fire alarm. This was in 2022. Some of these kids are ridiculously entitled."
9. "I used to work for Sears Jewelry right out of college. Once, a customer came in and demanded that I fix her gold anklet that broke. We didn’t actually fix the jewelry at the counter but I asked if she had purchased one of the two protection plans (one that allowed us to ship it to a local jeweler to be fixed, or the other that allowed either a replacement or a refund). I went to grab the receipt to see if she had, and before I could look at it, she ripped it from my hands and proceeded to take a swing at my face."
10. "I worked at a big box sporting goods store not long after 9/11. We would have cops and firefighters come in and demand the 'police and fire discounts,' which wasn't policy and actually against the county/city laws. They generally acted like a dick about it. We even had one firefighter get so mad about not getting his discount, he stole a very expensive pocket knife. He was caught on camera and arrested as he walked out of the store (as there happened to be an officer right outside coming in to shop)."
11. "I worked in a garden center for 28 years, and many irate people would buy azaleas while in bloom and then return them a week or two later because the flowers 'died.' I had to explain to them that azaleas only flower for about two weeks once a year, LOL."
12. "I worked at Walmart for a couple years after college, primarily the customer service desk, so I had my fair share of horrible customers. The worst was not one of the ones who yelled. No, the worst was the woman who insisted on returning a used pregnancy test, without a box or receipt, because it 'didn't work.' My shift manager at the time made me process the return because she 'didn't have the time' to deal with an angry customer should the customer begin yelling. Also, I was not provided with gloves — I had to process that return with my bare hands."
13. "During the holidays at my first retail job, I was the only cashier for a while and had a line all the way to the back of the store. Most of the customers were pretty understanding since they saw I was the only one. I had one lady come up and try to use a coupon on a giant bottle of shampoo that was already on discount, and I kindly explained to her that unfortunately, it wouldn't work on that item, and that she could use the coupon another time."
14. "I used to work at a women's clothing store. We had a regular customer who would come in and spend about 2 or 3 hours trying things on, coming back out to get more items, trying them on, etc. She would often talk about how much money she made with her investments, mention that her husband was a doctor, etc. When she was finished, she might purchase one item, but often not. Of course, the dressing room was a disaster — clothes everywhere, inside-out or crumpled, same with any jewelry."
15. "Things I heard while working retail/food service: 'You're so stupid, you couldn't find your ass if you used both hands.' 'Stupid bitch.' 'I know you was thinkin' of me last night.' 'You have an amazing figure. I love staring at that ass.' I was also getting groped by an old married man, and my manager LAUGHED. I hate people."
16. "I liked my retail job, I just hated the customers. I remember being called 'stupid' by a customer for not knowing which of our other stores were closest to the store I worked at when checking for more stock of an item. Truth be told, the three were all about the same distance. Since the guy called me 'stupid' and was an ass every single time he came into the store, I told him his best bet was the store that had just moved... up past one of the largest malls on the east coast, on a Saturday afternoon, between Thanksgiving and Christmas."
