12 Of The Most Awful Parent Customers You’ve Ever Seen
From the NARchives: Here are 12 stories about bad customers who are also bad parents!
1. The parent with an alarming lack of concern for her lost child:
A little girl walks up to me and my coworker. She is crying.
Me: “Oh, honey. What’s wrong?”
Girl: “I can’t find my mom.”
Me: “Well, I can page over the speaker for her. What’s her name?”
She gives me the name. My coworker gets a description of her mother as I page. When it’s a lost child, all we say is ‘We have something of yours’ for safety reasons. This is to make sure the child does go with their actual parent.
Girl: “I think she left.”
Coworker: “No, she didn’t. She’s probably looking for you.”
Girl: “She said she was going to leave me if I didn’t keep up.”
Me: “She didn’t mean it. Don’t worry, she’ll be here.”
We get the girl to talk about her school and dog to keep her mind off how scared she is. It is the longest we have waited for a parent to come. Her mother finally gets there, and stops as soon as she sees her daughter.
Mother: “Oh, you! I thought I lost my credit card. Well, come on already! You’ve slowed me down enough.”
The girl quietly walks over to her mother.
Mother: *to me* “Next time, just say it’s my daughter so I know not to rush!”
2. The woman whose approach to parenting was essentially throwing rocks at glass houses:
I am babysitting for a woman who refuses to leave the house. I am outside while her children are playing. She is watching us from the window.
Me: “[Child], don’t throw rocks. They’re painful.”
When the child continues to throw the rocks at me, I take the rocks from him and put him in a time-out.
Mother: *rushing out of the house* “Don’t punish my children! Who do you think you are?”
Me: “Ma’am, my employer requires me to give the children a time-out if they are doing anything dangerous.”
Mother: “Wait, what? I thought you were just here to play with my kids!”
Me: “Well, yes, babysitters usually do some sort of activity with the children.”
Mother: “Why would I hire a babysitter if I’m here?! Why did you come here?”
Me: “Ma’am, you called the company and asked them to send a babysitter to your house.”
Mother: “Don’t punish my children!”
She chased me out of her yard with a duster. A few weeks later, she called again for a babysitter. She was going to court because a neighbor’s child was hit in the head with a stone.
3. The mother who got caught in a lie by her own children at the checkout:
I am checking out a mother and her two young children at my register.
Customer: “You didn’t have [Brand] ice cream in stock. What will you do to satisfy me?”
Me: “I apologize, ma’am. We should actually be getting a new shipment overnight, so—”
Customer: “What will you do to satisfy me now?”
Me: “I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do to—”
Customer: “I need this to feed my kids tonight. What will you do to satisfy me now?”
Child #1: “But Mommy, you said [Brand] ice cream is only for Mommies!”
Child #2: “Yeah! It’s for wine o’clock, after bedtime!”
The customer stares at me. I stare at the customer. I happen to be checking out her wine bottles at the time. I do not break eye contact.
Customer: “They meant nine o’clock.”
4. The rude parent who didn’t care about smoking in front of other children:
I’m a high ropes instructor and work with kids in the forest. There are “No Smoking” signs posted all over the place, but I see a woman smoking right next to a sign.
Me: “Ma’am, I’m sorry. There’s no smoking in this area.”
Customer: “Why not?”
Me: “Because it could start a fire.”
Customer: *snottily* “Well, I’ll make sure not to do that.”
Me: “Ma’am, you still can’t smoke in this area. There are children everywhere… the smoke’s not good for them.”
Customer: “Well, they’re my children, so it’s really my decision to make, isn’t it?”
Me: “Actually, as this is our property, it’s our decision. Please take your disgusting habit elsewhere.”
Customer: “Your FACE is disgusting.”
Me: “Well, ma’am, as soon as my face starts causing cancer, you can complain.”
5. Another customer looking for a freebie but got called out by her own daughter:
A customer approaches with a half-empty bucket of popcorn.
Customer: “Excuse, but this popcorn made me feel really sick.”
Me: “I am so sorry. Was it too salty?”
Customer: “I don’t know. What can you do for me?”
The customer’s daughter, who looks about eight years old, speaks up.
Customer’s Daughter: *to the customer* “Then why did you eat the whole thing and get a refill?”
Me: “I am sorry, but there really isn’t anything we can do for you.”
6. The clueless customer who had zero idea what carbs were:
A well-dressed woman and her teenage daughter are out to lunch at one of my tables. I have already brought them their drinks.
Customer: *waving me over* “Miss! I asked for a diet soda.”
Me: “Oh, I’m so sorry. I must have picked up another server’s order by mistake. Let me get you a new one.”
I fill a diet soda myself and deliver it. Before even tasting it, she speaks up.
Customer: “No! This isn’t diet soda! I’m on a very strict diet and I can’t have carbs!”
Me: “I filled it myself. I assure you that it is diet.”
Customer: *poking the drink with a straw* “Then what are these? I can see the carbs everywhere!”
Me: “You can see the carbs, ma’am?”
Customer: “Yes! Are you blind? Can’t you see the bubbles?”
Customer’s Teenage Daughter: “Oh, my God, Mom! ‘Carbs’ mean carbohydrates, not carbonation!”
7. The angry library patron who needed to be taught manners by her own child:
Supervisor: “Well, it says here that you have five books that are overdue. Would you like to renew them?”
Patron: “What do you mean, overdue?”
The supervisor shows the patron the overdue titles on the monitor.
Patron: “We returned those books! I can’t believe this kind of stuff happens! What kind of library is this anyway?”
Patron’s Young Child: “But, Papa, I saw one of the books at home, remember? In the–”
Patron: “Shut UP!”
Ironically, one of the books he claimed to have returned was, “Teaching Your Child Good Manners.”
8. The customer whose own son caught them lying about church:
I am in high school working at a dollar store. It’s a small town so Sundays are usually busy after church services. This man, his wife, and his young son are in line.
Me: “That will be $25.30.”
Customer: “I’ve only got $15… We gave $20 at the offering today. You think you could give me a break?”
Customer’s Young Son: *innocently* “We didn’t give any money at church today.”
9. The misbehaving mother whose own kindergartener chastised her:
I am working in a kindergarten where over half of the kids are Maori. The Maori word for scissors is ‘kutikuti,’ which is pronounced ‘cutty cutty’.
Me: *to a child* “Can you pass me the kutikuti please?”
Mother: “What did you say to my child?”
Me: “I asked her to pass me the scissors.”
Mother: “Don’t talk baby to my child. She’s smart enough to use adult words.”
Me: “I wasn’t. I was using the Maori name for scissors.”
Mother: “No, you said cutty cutty. That’s not Maori. I’m Maori, and I think I know Maori when I hear it.”
The child interrupts. She grabs her mom by the hand and drags her off to a poster on the wall which has a few art objects and their Maori names under them.
Child: “Mom, why do you always have to pick fights with people? I’m very disappointed in you!”
When her mother left I gave the kid the biggest sticker I could find to put on her good behaviour chart.
10. The grandmother who needed to be doing a bit more grandmothering:
A woman comes into our high-end shoe store with her daughter and young grandson and granddaughter. The little girl starts running around, so one of the salespeople approaches.
Salesperson: *politely* “Please stop running before you hurt yourself.”
Grandma: “Should you be the one telling her that?”
Salesperson: “No, you should, but you’re not, so I have to.”
11. The entitled mothers who mistreated the “help”:
I work in a store in a wealthy neighborhood. Three or four women come into the kids’ department with several children, all quite young. The women sit themselves down in the storytime area to chat and sip coffee. The children are running all around, completely ignored by the adults, and I am doing my best to straighten in their wake. One little girl who can’t be more than three has discovered the “Dora the Explorer” display.
Girl: “Dora!”
Me: “Yes, that’s Dora.”
Girl: *grabs another toy* “Um…”
Me: “That’s Swiper.”
Girl: *suddenly terrified and starting to sniffle* “SWIPER, NO SWIPING! SWIPER, NO SWIPING!”
Me: “Oh, honey, it’s okay. Swiper won’t swipe anything while I’m here.”
Woman: “Why are you talking to my daughter?”
Me: “She seemed upset, ma’am, so I was—”
Woman: “You don’t need to talk to my daughter. You’re the help.”
Me: “…”
Woman: “Just do your job and don’t bother us.”
So, I do. I go and begin shelving books, ignoring the children. In less than ten minutes, the noise is such that the adults can’t hear themselves think.
Woman: “You need to manage these children better.”
Me: “Ma’am, you’ve already directed me to ‘just do my job,’ and looking after the children is not it.”
Woman: “I spend a lot of money in this store!”
Me: “Yes, ma’am. The Dora doll your daughter is chewing on is $5, and the book she tore the cover off of is also $5. What else will you be purchasing today?”
The women gathered up their kids and left. I learned later that the woman complained about me to a manager, but the manager made it clear that my job was not to babysit. She was also apparently forced to buy the toy and book her daughter damaged.
12. And finally, the customer whose child gave an employee a black eye but got what they deserved in the end:
I am working at a retail portrait studio. A woman brings her young son in for an appointment and I’m going over the details of their session.
Customer: “…and then I want a picture of him throwing a baseball at the camera.”
I know we have a foam baseball available, so I agree, and we get started. I hand the little boy the foam baseball.
Customer: “No! It has to be this one!”
She hands the ball to her little boy.
Me: “Ma’am, that is a real baseball. I can’t let him throw that toward the camera.”
Customer: “Oh, relax, it’ll be fine! Throw it, [Child]!”
He throws it, but I have to put the camera down and duck out of the way.
Customer: “You missed it!”
Me: “Ma’am, I’m serious. I could get hurt, you could get hurt, the equipment could get damaged… I can’t let him throw the baseball at the camera.”
Customer: “He’s not even three yet; he can’t throw that hard! It’ll be fine!”
Me: “I’m sorry, but we cannot do it. He can hold the ball, but if you want him to throw a ball, it has to be the foam one.”
She calls me a name under her breath, but I choose to let it slide.
Customer: “Fine. I guess you don’t care about serving the customer. We can let him hold it only, but you can bet I’ll be leaving a negative review!”
She hands him the real baseball and I pick the camera back up and get ready to photograph again. She waits until I’ve taken a couple of pictures of him holding it.
Customer: “Okay, now throw it, baby!”
He throws the ball at me as hard as he can, and his little aim is dead on. He breaks the lens hood on the camera, sending it flying back into my face and giving me a black eye.
Customer: “Did you get it? Tell me you got it!”
Me: “No, ma’am, our session is over.”
Customer: “What?! I had a whole other outfit!”
Me: “No. The camera is broken and now I have to fill out an incident report.”
I get up and exit the room, and she follows me, screaming.
Customer: “I’m not leaving without my pictures! I want to finish the session!”
I am trying really hard to stay calm, but I’m literally shaking as I speak.
Me: “I am ending the session. Your images will be sent to our corporate office so they can assess this violation of our safety procedures. They will contact you if they can release the photos.”
Customer: “You f****** b****! I will have your job!”
Me: *putting my hand on the phone* “If you don’t leave, I’ll have to call security.”
It turned out that I didn’t have to call them. The woman started screaming bloody murder — seriously, horror movie loud — and the optical department next door called for me. Security escorted the woman and her bewildered son out of the store. She never got her pictures. I felt so bad for the poor kid, who didn’t do anything but try to listen to his mother’s directions. I hope he turned out okay.
Have you ever met anyone who was a bad parent? Share your story or leave a comment below!
