Me: “Hi! Welcome to ***, how may I help you today?”

Caller: “Do you take credit cards? My husband has a huge party coming up. I need a basket immediately, the biggest you have.”

(I ring her up and then ask for her credit card number. I also ask for the CVV code on the back of her card. Big. Effing. Mistake.)

Caller: “Excuse me, you want my what now?”

Me: “Your CVV code, ma’am. The four-digit code on the back of–”

Caller: “I KNOW what a CVV code is, d**nit! I’m not giving it to you!”

Me: “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but it’s company policy. I can assure you–”

Caller: “I am NOT giving you my code! Get me your manager!”

Me: “Ma’am, I swear, it’s policy–”

Caller: (shrieking now) “You rotten children are just trying to ROB ME! GET ME YOUR MANAGER! NOW!”

(I get my manager.)

Manager: “Hello, can I help you?”

Caller: “You’re a bunch of thieves! No one asks for a CVV code nowadays! My husband has had dealings with the LIKES OF YOU!”

(At this point, she’s yelling so loudly that she’s audible to other employees in the room.)

Manager: “Miss, I–”

Caller: *does something inaudible*

Fellow Employee: “What just happened?”

Manager: *staring at the phone* “I think she just broke her phone.”

(I failed to complete a job in an hour for customer. She became upset, so I offered her a refund.)

Me: “I am sorry about this…we became extremely busy as you can see by the 5 people behind you now.”

Rude Woman “Well, how come you didn’t tell me you would be this busy?”

Me: “I seem to have forgotten my crystal ball at home and I am not quite able to tell the future without it.”

Rude Lady “WELL I NEVER. I want your name!”

Rude Me: “Okay ma’am, but you’ll look pretty funny being called Bryan.”

Rude Lady “I want your manager’s name!”

Ruder Me: “Seriously? Sure thing, maybe Rick will suit you better anyway.”

(She took her jewelry and stormed off. I called my boss a few hours later; she had contacted him and I was warned. Well worth it though!)

(I approached a youngish looking husband/wife couple checking out our bedroom furniture to see if they needed any help.)

Wife: *pointing to a headboard* “Do you have this in stock?”

Me: “Give me just one minute, and I can go check that for you.”

Husband: “But before you do that, what is it?”

Wife: “I was wondering that too.”

Me: “It’s a headboard.”

Husband: “But what IS it?”

Me: “It’s a headboard. For your bed. You attach it to the top.”

Wife: “But what does it do?”

Me: “It makes your bed look nice.”

Wife: “But does it DO anything?”

Me: “Makes your bed look pretty?”

Husband: “But WHY?”

Me: “Some people like the added touch.”

Wife: “But why should WE buy it?”

Me: “If you think it would look nice in your room, then it would be a great addition to your decor.”

Wife: “You still haven’t told me what it does.”

Me: “Um, it helps your bed match the color scheme of your room.”

Husband: “What’s a color scheme?”

Wife: “Does that have something to do with carpets?”

Me: “Um…kind of. Carpets, curtains, bedspread, furniture. People generally like them to match. The overall color is called the color scheme.”

Wife: “Oh. I had heard of that, but no one ever told me what it was.”

Husband: “So we would need a real bed for this?”

Me: “Well what do you have?”

Husband: “A futon.”

Me: “A headboard wouldn’t work with that.”

Wife: “So I can’t get this?”

Me: “Well you could, but you wouldn’t be able to use it with your bed.”

Wife: “Why not?”

Me: “It only attaches to a regular mattress bed frame.”

Wife: “Oh. But what does it do?”

Me: “Let me go find someone that can better help you.”

(I ran off to find my manager because I couldn’t contain the laughter anymore. It took her 15 minutes to explain to them what exactly a headboard was, and why you couldn’t use it with a futon. We’re pretty sure they still didn’t really get it.)

Me: “Thank you for calling tech support, this is Meagan. How may I help you?”

Customer: “Come mow my lawn!”

Me: “Excuse me, ma’am?”

Customer: “I said come mow my lawn!”

Me: “I’m sorry, this is tech support. Are you having trouble with your cable TV or internet?”

Customer: “I know who this is! I want you to mow my lawn! In the rain! I pay y’all enough every month, so you better come mow it!” *click*

Me: “…”

Me: “Can I help you?”

Customer: “I’m looking for non-fiction.”

Me: “What kind?”

Customer: “Just non-fiction.”

Me: “Okay…do you want history? Or science? Psychology?
Business?”

Customer: “No, just NON-FICTION!”

Me: “Ma’am, most of the store is non-fiction. You’ll have to be more specific.”

Customer: “Don’t you get it? I just want some non-fiction!”

Me: “All right. Do you see over there, where it says ‘Fiction?’”

Customer: “Yes.”

Me: “All the books but those. Good luck.”

(Once a month, we send out a mailer advertising our business. Like most ads it reads, “Call Now!”)

Me: “Thank you for calling, how can I help you?”

Customer: “Yes, I received a card in the mail that said I should call you.”

Me: “Oh, you’re interested in our free design consultation? I’d be more than happy to set one up for you.”

Customer: “No, I don’t want anything like that. It just told me to call.”

Me: “So you’d like a free estimate for new floors?”

Customer: “No! The card you sent me in the mail! It said to call you, so I’m calling you! Why do you want me to call you?!”

(I’m selling a camcorder to a man and his girlfriend. The guy is clueless about cameras and the girl knows a little bit more.)

Guy: “I don’t really know too much about cameras, she knows more than I do. I just want something good.”

Me: “Well this one is good because…” *explaining*

Guy to girl: “Honey, do you understand any of this?”

Girl: “Yeah, don’t worry. I think I know what we want.”

Guy to me: “Look, if you had to choose a camera to take naked pictures of her *points to girlfriend*, which would you choose?”

Me: “Well…this one has a built in hard drive so you can tape for longer without changing tapes.”

(The guy’s phone rings and he leaves me alone with girlfriend.)

Girl: “Do you get that a lot?”

Me: “More than you would think.”

Customer: “So it says ‘message sent’…does that mean it’s been sent?”

Me: “Yep.”

Customer: “Oh okay. So they should receive that, then?”

Me: “Yep.”

Customer: “Okay. And I mean, if they received it, will they get back to me right away?”

Me: “Well, it depends how long it takes them.”

Customer: “Oh. So how do I know if it’s sent?”

Me: “It says ‘message sent’ on the screen.”

Customer: “Oh okay. So when should I expect a reply?”

Me: “…”

(Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time this routine has been carried out, with the same person.)

Me: “Alright, ma’am. And may I have your zip code?”

Woman: “No.”

Me: “Well, it’s something I have to take. Don’t worry, we–”

Woman: “No!”

Me: “I, uh–”

Woman: “No! You’re not getting my zip code.”

Me: “Right. Because I’m going to TAKE that zip code and knock on the door of EVERY house in the code just to FIND YOU!”

(The customer left, but I felt a lot better.)

Me: “Hi, I understand that you’re having problems with your delivery.”

Customer: “Yes, your stupid SOB driver won’t deliver to my apartment. I saw him through the window and thought he’d be right up, but he never came up.”

Me: “Ma’am, I see that you live in an apartment complex, is there a security code or call box on the gate that the driver would need to use to gain access to your complex?”

Customer: “There isn’t a call box or a gate code. The gates stay locked all day.”

Me: “Well, without a gate code or a call box at the gate, my driver can’t get through to your gate. Furthermore, if you saw him outside of the complex, why didn’t you go out to greet him?”

Customer: “That’s not my problem. I shouldn’t have to leave my apartment to get my package. It’s your job to deliver it to my door.”

Me: “Actually, it is your problem if you’d like to receive your package today.”

Customer: “You can’t speak to me like that! I demand to speak to your supervisor!

Me: “Ma’am, I *am* the supervisor. I also dispatch to the driver to reattempt delivery to your address.”

Customer: “I still don’t see why I have do half of your job. You’re the delivery company.”

Me: “No problem ma’am. We’ll bring it back to the building tonight and we’ll try it again tomorrow. If we can’t reach your door tomorrow, then we’ll try again a third time and after that if it gets sent back to the shipper, you’ll have to address it with them.”

Customer: “NO! NO! NO! Fine! I’ll prop the gate open, it’s medication that I need today!”

Me: *looks in system, it’s Victoria Secret*