I work for a ride-share and food-delivery app and you soon learn the best hot-spots for driving around to get plenty of deliveries. Since these orders have gotten more popular the food places at these hot-spots have a shelf inside where you can just go in, take the order that’s yours, and leave. It really helps to expedite the process of your deliveries so you can make more money.

I’ve come to know a few of the employees at this one place, and I also eat there before going home. At this time there are a lot of orders on the shelf so I’m scanning them to find the name and number that matches my order. I come across it and as I’m grabbing the bag a loud woman’s voice stops me momentarily.

Customer: “What do you think you are doing!? I’ve seen you once already! Are you stealing more food!”

Me: “Um, I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m not stealing food. I work for [Delivery App] and I’m delivering these food orders.”

I motion to my shirt that has the company logo on it. I bought it to look more professional.

Customer: *Screeching.* “You’re nothing but I liar and a thief! And I know one when I see one!”

She is actually blocking my path.

Me: “Listen Lady If I was actually stealing food from this place do you honestly think I would come back not ten minutes later to steal more? I’m just doing my job, honest.”

Customer: “Don’t sass me, young lady! And if you got away with it once already of course you would just do it again, and it’s about time somebody stopped you!”

She says this, putting her hands on her hips all puffing up and high and mighty.

Customer: “You need to learn your lesson so I’m calling the cops!”

She declares this while pulling out her phone. I just roll my eyes at her.

Me: “I don’t have time for this.”

I have clients waiting for their food. She tries to block me again but I just bypass her entirely as she isn’t able to cover all the exit doors. This crazy woman actually follows me into the parking lot and screaming.

Customer: “I’m going to call [Delivery App] and get you fired! I’m reporting your license plate to the cops! You’ll be arrested before the day is through!”

I just smile at her.

Me: “F*** off lady. Call [Delivery App] all you want and call the cops too, but since you have no proof the cops can’t do anything and you are not my client either so [Delivery App] can’t do anything either and won’t.”

Customer: Yelling. “You can’t speak to me like that!”

Me: “Yes I can. As far as we are concerned I’m just another person, I don’t work for this restaurant, and I certainly don’t work for you, so I can speak to you any d*** way I well please, that’s the beauty of being self-employed. So I’ll say it again just for fun… F*** OFF!”

I get into my car and make sure to lock the doors. This insane woman actually stands behind my car, which prevents me from pulling out. She is on her phone and I assume she is calling the cops. I just blare the horn on my car, which looks like it scares the h** out of her and she finally moves. I pull out and make my delivery just fine.

I work as a designer for a company that prints on lots of things. We are just winding down a tad from a very busy and successful retail season. Our company has been very busy with shipping orders and many of us have been out for the holidays. I got a call from a client today just as I am clocking out for lunch. I haven’t clocked out just yet, so I figure I will help the client and be nice right before I leave.

Me: “Thank you for calling [Company]. This is [My Name]. How can I help?”

Client: “Holy cow, an actual person! I’ve been trying to call for a week now.”

Me: “I’m glad I could answer, then. How can I help?”

Client: *Ignores me, apparently* “Do you even work in a building with other people?”

I am taken aback and honestly kind of offended.

Me: “Yes, I do.”

Client: “Well, you’re the first person I’ve talked to for a week now. I’ve been trying to call you guys. I have an order that’s been in since the twelfth and it still says processing. Can you tell me why?”

I know what to do in this situation since he got the wrong department.

Me: “I’m only a graphic designer, so I wouldn’t have the info on my end. Let me connect you to someone who would have that information and can help you.”

Client: “Okay. What was your name again?”

Me: “[My Name],”

Client: “Okay, you listen here, [My Name]. I’d better get an actual person and not a voicemail. If I get a voicemail, you will be hearing from me again.”

I’m feeling a little threatened.

Me: “O-okay. Just hold on one minute.”

I send him to customer service and clock out for lunch. I am starving and feeling a tad lightheaded, so I need to get something to eat.

When I get back, I have eight missed calls and a VERY nasty and curse-filled ninety-second voicemail from the client. I had no idea customer service was out when I transferred him. Here’s the main gist of the voicemail.

Client: “Hi, [My Name]. You just tried connecting me to someone, and what do you do? Connect me to a voicemail, and I specifically told you not to do that! I am a pissed-off customer and your company is horrible! I’ve tried calling for two weeks now and left voicemails in every f****** department and no one is calling me back! I’m going to f****** report you to the Better Business Bureau and give you bad reviews on EVERY SINGLE F****** SITE! You’re a f****** horrible company and f****** horrible service and employees. WHAT THE F***, [MY NAME]?!”

I feel even more threatened and talk to another rep about the client. They say he hasn’t even left ANY voicemails anywhere and most likely is lying and isn’t leaving them at all. I am told not to answer him again since his order doesn’t even deal with any sort of graphic design.

Apparently, we emailed him a few weeks ago about the status but haven’t heard back from him due to retail season and the huge number of orders for Christmas.

I forward the voicemail over to the necessary people, and lo and behold, he calls again. I ignore it as I am told and he leaves another curse-filled voicemail. This is the last part of it, since it’s basically the same s*** as before.

Client: “…and now you’re ignoring me, too? Great company you have there… NOT!” *Click*

His order was worth about $50 and his card hadn’t even been charged yet. We tried calling him back but ended up having to leave him a voicemail. The irony of it all made my day.

Related:
Voicemail Fail, Part 3
Voicemail Fail, Part 2
Voicemail Fail

I’m an assistant manager for a national rotisserie chicken chain. One Friday night, an employee comes up to me.

Employee: “Hey, I think there are some hours missing from my paycheck. Can you look into it for me?”

Me: “Sure. When things calm down a bit, I’ll be happy to do that for you.”

When I have spare time a few hours later, I go back into the back office computer to run the Time Punch Audit Report. It is a report that shows if any time punches have been changed on the computer.

I run it and… wow. She doesn’t have SOME hours deleted from her paycheck; she has around fourteen hours deleted… and she isn’t the only one!

Practically every employee has an hour or so, here or there, deleted from every single day that they have worked! Most were under the general manager’s sign in, but some were done under MINE!

For those, I immediately check the CCTV footage and I see that I was nowhere near the back office computer at the time that it happened… but the general manager was.

I go up to the employee that same night.

Me: “Yeah, you had fourteen hours deleted off your paycheck. Do me a favor: keep this quiet for now? I’m going to see our area manager about this in a meeting on Monday. I’ll be printing some stuff up, and then I’ll tell him and give him the proof.”

The area manager is in charge of around eight restaurants. On Monday, I see him and give him the reports. He is in disbelief at first.

Area Manager: “I… can’t see why your general manager would do this. You guys are always in great shape on labor.”

Me: “Well, I think I know why we’re always in great shape.”

He didn’t seem to have anything to say to that.

After a few weeks of investigating, we found that our area manager had around 600 pages, dating back six months, of altered time punches. We wound up having to pay every current — and quite a few former — employees back pay of almost $10,000 due to time deleted off.

Our general manager was fired, though I don’t know if anything else was done on the legal end. I suspected that the whole “altering time punches” thing was an unspoken, company-wide practice, since I discovered that quite a few other managers ended up being no longer with the company shortly afterward.

Our new supervisor is a piece of work. For whatever reason, she doesn’t like me or my pregnant coworker, I think because we’re both blonde women. She’s yelled at me before for a minor infraction and for being too quiet. She forced my pregnant coworker to use a ladder for a heavy object and then wrote her up for dropping it.

One day, some people from corporate show up, including a blonde woman. Our new supervisor doesn’t realize she’s from corporate; she just thinks she’s here for an interview, so she’s rude to her.

Woman From Corporate: “How are your employees treated?”

Supervisor: “These two—” *gestures to us* “—are crap. They’re both bimbos. That one got herself knocked up and she’s probably not even married.”

Woman From Corporate: “…”

My supervisor was fired immediately and blacklisted, so she can never work for our company again. And all our write-ups were destroyed.

This story is part of our Best Of March 2021 roundup!

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Read the Best Of March 2021 roundup!

I work for a pension provider in the finance department. I am not customer-facing and do not usually deal with members of the public as part of my job. I do, however, sit near the customer service team.

I have been off for a few days and on my first day back, I get a call on my telephone from an external number which I answer. I copy the customer service teams’ intro to the best of my ability.

Me: “Thank you for calling [Pension Provider]. You are through to the finance department. How can I help you today?”

Customer: “Transfer me to the customer service department.”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, I cannot do that. But if you call [number], they will be able to help you.”

Customer: “No. That telephone number is for [Completely Different Organisation who are in no way related to my company].”

I double-check the website.

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but that is the number on our website. It will take you through to the customer service department; they have been answering calls all day.”

Customer: “You’re not listening to me. Transfer me to the customer service department now.”

Me: “My phone can’t transfer calls, but I assure you that if you call that number, you will speak to our customer service department.”

Customer: “Are you stupid? That number doesn’t work! Are you running a scam or do you just not want to help me?! Transfer the call or click on your computer and help me yourself.”

Me: “I do not have access to the customer service department’s system, but please confirm your query. If it’s something I do not need to use the computer system for, I may be able to help.”

Customer: “None of your business. I want to speak to your manager.”

My manager is the Chief Financial Officer and will not want to speak to him.

Me: “Please hold.”

I put the idiot on hold and go over to speak to the customer service team leader. As soon as I start to explain the situation, she puts her head in her hands and sighs.

It turns out that while I have been off work, this customer has been calling random telephone numbers in our organisation demanding to be transferred to the customer service department. We believe that he does not want to incur charges for calling the customer service team directly — there is no charge — and has obtained a copy of our internal telephone list from a member of staff.

She reluctantly takes the call from me.

Team Leader: “Hello, Mr. [Customer], as I have advised you repeatedly, you need to call [number] to speak to a member of my team. Please stop calling random members of staff.”

Customer: “Are you that girl’s manager?”

Team Leader: “No, sir, I am not. As I have advised you previously, I am the customer service team leader. I am the only manager you need to speak to.”

Customer: “No, I want to speak to her manager. She was very rude and refused to help me in any way.”

Team Leader: “Sir, I cannot keep having this discussion with you. Maybe if you could confirm your query, we could resolve this?”

Customer: “No. Transfer me to the customer service team.”

Team Leader: “Sir, I am the customer service team leader. I can assist with your query and then you won’t need to repeatedly call incorrect numbers.”

Customer: “Fine. Idiots. I need to know the day my pension will be paid.”

Team Leader: “The twenty-fifth. It’s paid on the twenty-fifth of every month except December when it’s paid early, on the eighteenth, to account for the holidays.”

Customer: “Well, that’s all I wanted to know. Why couldn’t anyone else help me?!”

Team Leader: “Sir, I am now ending this call. Please call the correct telephone number in future.”

She hung up on him before he could speak again and walked over to the kitchen to sit in silence for a while. Once she had calmed down, she sent an email to all internal staff advising not to answer calls from that customer’s telephone number.

I later heard that, after my call, he called ten different members of staff on that day alone and continued to call for another week; all of the calls were unanswered. I don’t know what’s wrong with some people!