(We have a customer who occasionally comes in who is in a wheelchair. So, to make things easy, he just calls us when he’s in the parking lot and asks for assistance. We come out and take care of getting movies for him. This happens right after I come back in to grab him a movie, and hop back on the register. There is one other person in line.)

Customer: “This is absolute bulls***. Why can’t he just get out of his car like everyone else?!”

Me: “Sorry, guys, but he’s a paraplegic and this would just make things easier on him.”

Customer: “That’s no excuse! He should come in like the rest of us! I want you to take care of me now. I was first in line!”

Me: “With all due respect, no, you weren’t. He called long before you got up to the register, and I’m not gonna make him get out of his car and potentially hurt himself to save you an extra 20 seconds. I will be with you in a second.”

Customer: *shuts up*

(I work as a cashier. At the checkout, the display on the cash back screen shows the amounts. Underneath is a large “No Cash Back” button, and below that in the corner is a small “Cancel” button.)

Me: “Your total is $25.88.”

Customer: “This will be debit.” *swipes card* “Oh, I hit the ‘Cancel’ button.”

Me: “That’s okay. You’ll need to swipe it again.”

Customer: “I don’t get why you can’t make this clearer! I don’t want cash back.”

Me: “Then you need to hit the button that says ‘No Cash Back’, not the ‘Cancel’ button.”

Customer: “That’s just dumb! Why don’t you make a button that just says ‘Cancel’ if you don’t want cash back?!”

Related:
When Intelligences Cancel Out

(Although I don’t look like it, I am fluent in Japanese and Korean. I am working at a register, checking out a Japanese family that is buying snacks.)

Father: *in Japanese* “Son, when the cashier isn’t looking, put the candy bars in your pockets so we don’t have to pay for them.”

(Hearing this, I add the candy bars to the purchase. The family pays and leaves. Two minutes later, the father returns.)

Father: “Why did you charge me for four candy bars?! I didn’t buy any candy bars! You just charged me to make extra money! I want to see your manager!”

Me: *in Japanese* “Maybe you should come up with your plans to steal 89 cent candy bars BEFORE you come up to the register.”

(The father was stunned. He apologized and left embarrassed.)

(A customer obviously having a bad day comes through my line. She throws her stuff down on the belt.)

Me: “Did you find everything—”

Customer: “JUST DO YOUR JOB!”

Me: “Yes, ma’am.”

(I give her the total, and she all but throws her money at me and rips her change out of my hand.)

Customer: “TOOK LONG ENOUGH!”

Me: “Have a nice day, ma’am!”

(The next day, the same customer comes through my line. I greet her and start putting her items through.)

Customer: “Look, I want to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I was having a bad day and had no right to treat you that way.”

Me: “That’s alright, ma—”

Customer: “NO! IT MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT ALRIGHT!”

(My mother and I are on a drive to Florida when we stop at a small gas station. A customer and her six- or seven-year-old daughter walk away from the restrooms to the counter.)

Cashier: “May I help you?”

Customer: “Your bathrooms are DISGUSTING! Let me talk to a manager! They make me SICK!”

Cashier: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but the manager isn’t in right now. Would you like me to file a complaint?”

Customer: “No! I want you to clean the GODD*** BATHROOMS!

(At this point, the little girl is trying to drag her mother away and is telling her to calm down. The cashier is clearly shaken and on the verge of tears.)

Cashier: *tearing up* “I’m sorry, but that’s not my position, and the janitors aren’t in right now. Is there anything else I can do?”

Customer: “NO, GODD*** IT! JUST GO CLEAN THE D*** TOIL—”

(At this point, my mother has had enough and speaks up in defense of the cashier.)

My Mother: “Look. She has told you she can’t clean it. She has offered solutions. Now use the dirty toilets or you can leave! You don’t have to be such a b****!”

Customer: *taken aback* “Well, I…I…HMPH!”

(She storms out, dragging her kid by the arm. After we leave a second later, we see the woman and her little daughter in the parking lot.)

Customer’s Daughter: “Goodness, Mommy! you didn’t have to be so mean to that lady. She was crying!”