Unfiltered Story #100596

(I work at a particular grocery store that allows customers to order their items online and pick them up later. One day, we get slammed in excess of 140 orders, and everyone is scrambling. A new hire is hastily taught how to do the shopping portion, and goes and does one on his own. Later, the customer whose items he picked arrives. The following scene plays out.”

Me: “Hello, order for (Name)?”

Customer: “That’s us!”

(I proceeded to rattle off items that were marked as out of stock. There were a lot for how many groceries she ordered, as the new hire wasn’t taught to do substitutions for out of stock items. The customer’s anger builds as I read off each item.”

Me: “So we waived the fee and took some extra off of your order due to the wait. I’m so sorry ab-“

Customer: *cutting me off* “This is unacceptable! Why are there so many out of stocked items?!”

Me: “Well, ma’am, this is our busiest day of the week. It is quite possible that those items are simply not in stock.”

Customer: “So (item) isn’t on the shelf if I went and looked right now?!”

Me: “Ma’am, according to the paper, it is not.”

Customer: “Well, you shouldn’t take so many orders then!”

Me: *beginning to get frustrated* “Ma’am, it is corporate’s decision on how many orders we get. We don’t have the power to draw the limit.”

(The customer proceeds to swing her car door open violently and storm into the store. A few minutes later, she comes up to the service counter.”

Supervisor: “Hello ma’am, how can I assist you?”

Customer: “You could start by telling your stupid kid employees to do orders correctly!”

(By this point I was at my boiling point. It took every bit of willpower and another coworker to physically hold me back from giving the customer a piece of my mind. She eventually complained to the store manager and lied to her about how I had told her that another store was better and that the particular day of the week was the wrong day to come in.)