(I am working as a cashier when a woman and little girl, maybe five years old, approach my register. The woman begins to unload her items while staring intently at her phone and ignoring the little girl. The girl starts running back and forth along the register belt with her tongue on the edge of the belt.)

Me: “Oh, sweetie, don’t put your mouth on that. It’s very dirty; you could get sick.”

Girl: *stops and looks at me, confused*

Woman: *looks up and gives me a death glare* “How dare you correct my child?!”

Me: “I’m sorry, it’s just that I don’t get to clean the register often, and people touch it and put packages of raw meat and other items like that on it all day. It’s probably covered with germs.”

Woman: “Look. No one tells my kid what to do but me; just keep your mouth shut and do your job!” *goes back to her phone*

Me: *goes back to scanning silently*

Girl: *looks at me smugly and goes back to licking the register belt*

(I work in a thrift store. Our policy is that we have a set price on all items within their category. For example: all children’s shirts are $2, all men’s shirt’s are $3.50, all women’s jeans are $4, etc. A man and his son come up my register with several kid’s shirts in a size large, and one shirt that is from a company that sells only adult clothing and is a size small.)

Me: “Your total today is $11.50.”

Customer: “Wait, you overcharged me for of those shirts! They’re supposed to be $2 each.”

Me: “Yes, sir, all of our children’s shirts are $2, but this one—” *removing shirt from the bag to show him* “—is an adult’s shirt, and costs $3.50.”

Customer: *starting to raise his voice* “That is not an adult shirt! Look at it! It is the exact same size as all the kid’s shirts there. My son tried it on, and it fit him, and he doesn’t wear adult sizes!”

Me: “Well, sir—” *checking labels* “—your other shirts are a size large and this is a size small, which is why they are pretty close in size. I can show you what a children’s size small looks like, for reference. Plus, the label here says [Store] and they only make adult’s clothing. I apologize for the confusion, but this does fall under our $3.50 pricing.”

Customer: “You are not going to scam me! There is no way that shirt is for an adult. I wear a size small. Do you think that shirt would fit me?!”

Me: “I’m not sure, but sizes do vary from company to company, and [Store]’s clothing does run on the smaller side.”

Customer: “It fits my kid, so it’s a kid’s size! You will not f****** lie to me and tell me that this is supposed to be for people my size!”

(The customer takes off the shirt he is wearing, gestures to his own torso, and then angrily throws his shirt at me. My manager sees this and rushes over.)

Manager: *to me* “What’s going on?”

Customer: “Your cashier is trying to scam me and sell me kid’s clothes for jacked-up prices!” *picks up the shirt in question* “Does this look like it would fit me?!”

Manager: “Sir, I cannot comment on what size clothing you wear, but that shirt is from a company that does not manufacture kid’s clothing. Also, we have a strict no shirt, no shoes, no service policy, and since you are no longer wearing a shirt, I will have to ask you to leave.”

Customer: “This is ridiculous! You’re all f****** idiots!”

(He stormed out shirtless, mumbling to himself. His son was clearly embarrassed.)

(I am working at the checkout counter, and we have a special on avocados from South America: two for the price of one. There are about four people in the queue; one of them is a regular. I see that he is holding two avocados and muttering to himself. As it is his turn, he hands me the avocados.)

Me: “Hi, would that be all for you?”

Customer #1: “No.”

Me: “No?”

Customer #1: “No, they are not ripe. You picked them too early!”

(And he hands me the avocados and walks away, having queued about ten minutes just to hand them back.)

Me: “…?”

(The next lady in line approaches.)

Customer #2: *laughing* “Yeah, you picked them too early.”

Me: “I guess I can have a sleep in tomorrow, then.”

(I work for a video game company doing technical support. Our customers are quick to complain, and as you can imagine, they can be particularly difficult, and often do not think twice about demanding… well, anything.)

Customer: ”I didn’t receive my pre-order bonus items; where are they?!”

Me: ”I’m sorry to hear that, sir. Did you pre-order the game?”

Customer: ”I bought it on the day of release.”

Me: ”Okay, sir, I’m afraid you need to have pre-ordered the game to receive the pre-order bonus items.”

Customer: ”BUT I WANT THEM! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO IF I WANT THEM?”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but there’s nothing I can do if you didn’t pre-order the items that are pre-order only.”

Customer: ”Thanks for nothing. This is the worst service I have ever received!”

(The customer hung up the phone and sent several abusive messages to us afterwards. I was just surprised that he didn’t understand that you had to pre-order to gain pre-order items.)

(I work in customer service for a phone and Internet company. I get a call from a customer who is moving his service from one address to another.)

Customer: “I have an appointment today for this morning. Could you please have the tech call me on my cell about 15 minutes before he comes out? It will only take us about 15 minutes to drive home and meet him. But see, the thing is, I am in an area with no cell service. I had to drive all the way into town just to call you.”

Me: “Sure, we can certainly try to call you when we are on our way out; however, what if we call and are unable to reach you?”

Customer: “What do you mean?”

Me: “Well, you stated that you are in an area with no cell service. What would you like us to do if we call and are unable to reach you?”

Customer: “FINE! I will just sit here and wait for the tech to show up. You know, this is really poor customer service.”

(I didn’t say anything in response, as it would have been unproductive. I sent the information to the tech as requested by the customer. Not sure what happened after that.)