I work in a restaurant with a bakery. As someone who’s worked in customer service for quite some time, entitled customers don’t surprise me anymore, though, to this day, I find myself asking, “What is freaking WRONG with you people?!”

On this particular day, we were hit hard with a busy lunch rush, and we have a GINORMOUS order for tomorrow, so we need all hands on deck.

Our breads are super-popular; they sell like hotcakes around the holidays. A guy comes up to my register with a literal armful of said breads. I ring him up like usual.

Customer: “Can I get these fancy-wrapped?”

For the record, customers can get their breads wrapped in cellophane and tied with pretty ribbon — for a charge, and when there’s someone around to do it, of course.

For obvious reasons, we stopped allowing customers to wrap their own stuff ages ago. We can’t even sell the ribbon by itself anymore.

Me: “It costs two dollars per loaf.”

Customer: “That’s fine.”

Me: “But there’s no one available to wrap these. We’re all busy right now.”

Customer: “Can you find somebody?”

There’s already a line practically going out the door behind him, along with our half-packed restaurant, to say nothing of the mountain of boxes for our future order. Another cashier has to come to give me a hand.

For the sake of good customer service, and to humor the man a little, I step into the kitchen, where my manager is up to her elbows in sandwiches and salads.

Me: “Is there anyone who can wrap some bread for a customer?”

Manager: *In her best you-gotta-be-kidding-me voice* “We can’t! We’re busy!”

Me: “I know, I know… but he’s not budging.”

After getting the expected answer a second time, I return to my customer.

Me: “I’m sorry. No one’s available right now.”

Customer: “Well, can you sell me the ribbon? I can do it myself.”

Me: “Sorry, the ribbons aren’t for sale.”

Customer: “Can I just take some ribbon with me, and I’ll pay you the difference?”

Me: “No. Too many people were misusing our ribbon, so we can’t sell it by itself anymore. I’m sorry.”

Customer: *Pointing to some of our pre-made gift baskets* “You use the ribbon for the gift baskets, right?”

Me: “Yes.”

Customer: “So, can’t you just give me the ribbon and I’ll pay you the difference?”

Seriously? What part of “not for sale” is this guy not understanding?

Me: “I’m sorry. But the ribbon’s not for sale.”

Customer: “I’d like to speak with your manager.”

Unfortunately, this is not the first time (nor will it be the last, I fear) a customer disregarded my word until my superior told them the exact same thing and they were finally “convinced” I wasn’t bluffing.

With the utmost reluctance, I went to the kitchen A SECOND TIME and got my manager. She wasn’t happy as she walked out to oblige him, and I couldn’t blame her.

I don’t know how it ended, because it was out of my hands by this point. But when my manager came back, she was merely shaking her head with a “why me?” expression on her face. I thought it best to give her a little extra space and focus on my job.

If you absolutely must have a pretty package, that’s what FREAKING ORDERING AHEAD is for! Don’t just waltz right in and take your chances, least of all in a big crowd, and don’t give us the attitude because we can’t give you everything you want at the drop of a hat.

I have a favorite breakfast bakery and cafe near my office. When I’m asked to get breakfast for a work event, they’re the first ones I think of. I go online and place the order, but the earliest time they have available is 8:30; 8:00 would be perfect for me. I go ahead and place the order anyway because I want to get breakfast from them.

As soon as they open that morning, I give them a call and they tell me that, unfortunately, they can’t have my order ready early. No problem. I shift some things around so I can make it work.

I get to the cafe at 8:35 and there’s a line to the door. The guy behind the counter is not in a hurry; of the people in line in front of me, I see five of them leave because it’s taking too long. I finally get to the front of the line at 8:45 and tell them I’m picking up an order… and they tell me they haven’t even started putting it together yet.

It takes until 8:55 — a full ten minutes later and twenty-five minutes after my pick-up time — for everything to be packed and ready. I race back to the office for our 9:00 start time and everyone barely gets a chance to grab something to eat before the meeting kicks off.

I love that cafe and will go there on my own again — as long as I have fifteen minutes to spare, apparently! — but I won’t be ordering their takeaway breakfast again!

I work at the bagel shop owned by my father and three other people. I am considered “in charge” when I am working even when the owners are there because we all have zero experience in food service and I am in the store most often. We sell three types of bagel dogs: a standard hot dog, a polish dog, and a hot link. They can be difficult to identify wrapped in bagel, but with time, people usually learn the difference.

We have a customer that comes in and orders two bagel dogs for her son who’s around age five. The son comes in regularly with either his mom or dad.

Regular: “Two bagel dogs.”

Owner: “Got it, your total is [total].”

The owner bags the bagel dogs and gives them to the customer, and the customer leaves. Thirty minutes later, the phone rings.

Owner: “Hello, this is [Bagel Shop].” *Pauses* “Yes, I remember.” *Pauses* “Oh, I’m so sorry.” *Pauses* “Let me get the manager.” *To me* “Yeah, she’s mad. Help me.”

I take the phone.

Me: “Hello, can I help you with something?”

Customer: “Yeah, I came in and ordered two bagel dogs, and that stupid girl gave me hot links. What am I supposed to do with these? My son can’t eat these. That idiot gave me the wrong thing.”

Me: “I’m so sorry. Sometimes telling the difference between them can be confusing. If you come back, I’ll give you the correct items, no problem.”

Customer: “I can’t come back, and I don’t want to if that stupid girl is going to give me the wrong food. How dare you? We are regular customers. You know, this place has really gone downhill, and that idiot isn’t helping.”

Me: “If you can’t come back now, how about I replace the bagel dogs next time you come in? You can keep what you have now. Again, I apologize for the mix-up.”

Customer: “That’s not good enough. That stupid girl messed up! How is my son supposed to eat this—” *more ranting calling the owner stupid, dumb, an idiot, etc.*

Me: “Ma’am, that ‘idiot’ is one of the owners, and she was my substitute teacher when I was your son’s age, so please stop talking about her like that. I know you and your family well; your son is in my oldest goddaughter’s class at school, and he always shares his gummy bears with us when he comes in, so I always try to make sure your order is right due to how sweet your son is. If you can’t come back now, your entire order the next time you come in is on me.”

Customer: *Sputters* “That’s still not good enough.”

Me: “Well, what else would you like me to do?”

Customer: “Fire her, obviously.”

Me: “Fire the owner? Really?”

Customer: “Okay, fine, but I am going to order a lot next time I’m there.”

Me: “Fine, I’ll also apologize to your son when I see him later today. I’m picking up my goddaughter from school. I’ll see you next time you’re in.”

A week goes by and she calls to place her order. I recognize her number so I take the call.

Me: “[Bagel Shop], how can I help you?”

Customer: “Yeah, I talked to the manager last week, and she said I can have whatever I want for free, so don’t bother telling me I can’t.”

Me: “Yes, that was me. Glad to hear from you. What can I get you?”

Customer: “Oh. Just the two replacement bagel dogs, and make sure that… girl doesn’t pack my order.”

Me: “I will handle it personally and bring it out to you. Tell [Son] I say hello and that [Goddaughter] said thank you for sharing his muffin yesterday.”

She at least had the decency to look embarrassed at her fit when I brought the food out to her, and she said thank you. I apologized again for the confusion, and she left, hopefully feeling a bit silly.

The family continues to come in regularly. The son is around eight or nine now. He is ALWAYS far more polite than his parents, continues to insist on sharing his candy, and always passes on a hello to my goddaughter.

I work at a bakery, and I have become the cake consultant for weddings and special events. I get a call from a woman.

Caller: “Do you make cakes?”

Me: “Yes, we do! When do you need your cakes by? I want to make sure we have availability to take your order.”

Caller: “I need them next weekend.”

I let her know the sizes we can accommodate with this amount of notice: three sizes of sheet cakes as well as some tiered cake sizes.

Caller: “That sounds good!”

Me: “What sounds good, ma’am? What are you looking to order?”

Caller: “A big, fancy cake! We are just excited to have a fancy cake for the party.”

Me: “Could you please be more specific about the size you need? How many people are you looking to feed?”

Caller: “I’m not really sure. We just need a big, fancy cake!”

Me: “Ma’am, the pricing will depend on the size you need as well as additional charges for premium cake or filling flavors. I need a bit more information to take your order.”

Caller: *Angry now* “I just want a big, fancy cake! This shouldn’t be so difficult! Put your manager on the phone!”

Me: “I am the manager.”

Caller: “Well, this isn’t so difficult! We just want a big, fancy cake!”

Me: “I have explained to you several times now that I need more specifics. If you would still like to place an order, please call back with that information, but now I’m disconnecting the call.” *Hangs up*

Since the call wasn’t going well, I had walked over to the owner of the bakery while on the phone to ensure she heard what was happening.

The phone rings again almost immediately, and the owner has me give her the phone. Sure enough, it’s the same caller. The owner listens for a moment and interrupts, speaking loudly as the customer will not stop speaking.

Owner: “Ma’am, I have been standing next to my manager for her entire call with you and what you’re saying is simply not true. If you had told her a number you needed to feed, she could have proceeded to assist you with your order.”

Caller: “Fine! I will order my big, fancy cake somewhere else!” *Hangs up*

Owner: *To me* “I kind of wish I knew what ‘big’ and ‘fancy’ meant to this woman. Is the cake for a birthday, a wedding? Oh, and she said you called her an idiot and cussed her out before hanging up on her.”

Me: “May I have one of those vegan Thai curry slices, please?”

Employee: “Are you a vegan?”

Me: “No, I’m not. I just fancy it.”

Employee: “These are for vegans.”

Me: “Yes, but can I have one anyway?”

Employee: “No, you can’t; they’re for vegans. What would the vegans do if the meat-eaters ate all their food?”

Me: “What if I decided I wanted to be a vegan after all? Okay, I’ve just decided, I’m a vegan. Please, may I have a Thai curry slice?”

Employee: “No. I wasn’t born yesterday.”

Me: *Sigh* “Can I have a cornish pasty instead, then?”

Employee: “See, I knew you weren’t a vegan.”