(I have recently started working at a service (gas) station and I’m still in training. One day a girl around 15 years old comes in and the following takes place:)

Customer: “Can I get a [Brand] recharge voucher, please?”

Me: “Sure.” *I start to press the various buttons on the computer required to print said voucher*

Customer: *scathingly* “We tried to get it at another service station but the girl there was NEW.”

(I barely acknowledge her insult and continue with the transaction. When it’s done…)

Me: “Oh, and by the way, this is my third shift here. Have a great day!”

(I’m walking a customer to a product she has asked for when she suddenly stops walking and grabs my arm.)

Customer: “You know, I just wanted to tell you that I had a really bad experience in this store. I asked a woman for help, and she said she was too busy to help me.”

Me: “I’m so sorry about that. When was this?”

Customer: “It was about a year ago. I’ve regretted not saying something all this time!”

Me: “A year ago? Ma’am, I apologize, but there’s not much I can do to track down an associate and discipline them for something that happened a year ago.”

Customer: “It was a woman!”

Me: “…”

(I work at a home improvement store, specifically in the appliances department. I get a call from a customer who has me look up an order of hers. It’s currently December 2014.)

Customer: “I really want to get this dryer fixed, but I can’t remember when I bought it exactly.”

Me: *reading purged order* “Okay, ma’am… looks like you bought it in September of last year, so the manufacturer warranty is expired.”

Customer: “Oh, shoot. Oh! Did I buy an extended warranty?”

Me: *scrolls through order again* “No, ma’am, you didn’t.”

Customer: “Oh… what if I go to another [Company] store and don’t tell them anything and buy the extended warranty?”

Me: *pauses* “Well, you only have 90 days from date of purchase to buy the extended warranty, ma’am.”

Customer: *with serious disappointment* “Oh, so they’re all smart, then?”

Me: “…”

(I am working at a call center that works directly with insurance companies. This is about the third call I have taken since my shift started, and this particular customer is not covered for the service, and is therefore required to pay. My company offers a discounted rate over the phone; otherwise we just send someone out to do the service and the customer has to pay whatever that service provider charges.)

Me: “And that will be [discounted price]. Are you able to provide a credit card over the phone to pay for services?”

Customer: “Yeah.” *provides card information*

Me: “Okay, sir, I am showing that this is an invalid account number. Let me repeat the information back to make sure we have everything correct.”

(I repeat this a few times, until finally I am sure it is correct and it is still displaying the error.)

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, it is still showing as incorrect.”

Customer: “Well, yeah. That card doesn’t work anymore. I didn’t realize you actually needed a card that you could take money off of. Can you take cash?”

Me: “Well, you can pay cash directly to the service provider, but it will be at their rates. That means it won’t be [price].”

Customer: “Why can’t I pay you cash?”

Me: “We aren’t really able to take cash over the phone.”

Customer: “Why not?! What am I supposed to do?”

Me: “Like I said, without a credit card, you can pay cash directly to whoever comes out there, but it will be at whatever they charge.”

(The customer then proceeded to yell at me because I was unable to take cash over the phone, and hung up.)

(A customer walks up to me asking for a deposit slip, which are in English and Spanish. When I hand her one she looks at it and immediately starts huffing and puffing.)

Customer: “I don’t read Spanish!”

Me: “The slip is in English and Spanish.”

Customer: “Well, I don’t know what you want me to put. This is Spanish!”

(The first line says account title which just means customer name.)

Me: “You just put you first and last name.”

Customer: *who is clearly angry at this point* “You need to give me an English one!”

Me: “It’s okay, just fill in your first and last name.”

(After going back and forth with the customer for 30 seconds about the slip she gets fed up and proceeds to tell me my customer service is horrible, and storms over to my manager standing across the room. I am still in earshot.)

Customer: “Your employee refuses to give me an English slip. You need to tell your employees that this is horrible service! If I want an English slip you should give me one!”

Manager: “Ma’am, I’m very sorry! Unfortunately we can not do anything about the slips as they are the only kind we have.”

Customer: “Well, your employee over there was rude. I can’t read Spanish! I wanted a new form and she refused to give me one!”

(After the manager explained once again what I had just said she continues to grow infuriated.)

Customer: “I work in customer service and this is not how you should treat customers!”

Manager: *who is taken aback* “So since you work in customer service how would you react to coming into your place of business in the manner that you are? Shouldn’t you be understanding to someone who is trying to service you?”

(The customer was shocked and realized she wasn’t going anywhere with her arguing, bowed her head down, and quickly walked out, shooting a glance my way that definitely looked like she realized she lost.)