I work in retail. We buy jewelry (not expensive). We use a system where the carrier picks up the package from our warehouse and hands it to the post office, and they are the ones who deliver it to the customer. The post office does not provide insurance for packages, so basically the customer has to dispute the charges. (It’s a pain and everyone hates it.)

I get this call from a customer. We start the call fine. He asks about the status of an order, so I pull it up.

Me: “The package was already delivered by the carrier yesterday. If you didn’t receive it, you can check with your local post office, since sometimes packages stay there.”

He starts yelling at me, stating how “lazy” I am and that I am the one responsible for contacting the post office, like I care for this man’s package. He asks for a supervisor.

I message mine, and she tells me to just send him to my manager, so I do. Then, she sends me a message that I was wrong for what I did because, basically, the post office did not make the delivery; it was the first carrier, and I needed to file a claim. Mind you, two weeks ago, the person in charge of the claims told us that even if the carrier does not hand it to the post office, the claim does not apply.

Then, I get a call… and it’s the same man. He’s PISSED. He starts telling me how disrespectful I am and how lazy I am because I should be the one interested in his package arriving.

Me: “I apologize, sir. We are filing the claim for you.”

I do so and give him the time frame, and he starts yelling at me AGAIN.

Customer: “I don’t want to wait! Give me your name!”

Me: “[My First Name].”

Customer: “I want your employee number, and your last name, too!”

We are a really small department — eight or nine people — so I tell him:

Me: “Sir, I do not have an employee number, and I cannot provide you with my last name per the company’s policy, but I’m the only one with my name in this department, so they will know you are referring to me.”

Customer: *Yelling* “I don’t want to take you out for dinner! I want to file a complaint against you!”

Me: “Sir, you are more than welcome to. Since I am the only [My First Name] working in this department, management will know you are talking about me.”

Customer: “YOU ARE SO USELESS AND LAZY! YOU DONT WANT TO WORK!”

And then, he hung up. After he did it, I immediately started crying. I’ve never been treated this way before by a customer, and I spoke to my manager about it.

I am scared because, the way our queue works, they redirect the calls from numbers you’ve previously spoken with — that’s why I got him the second time right away — and if he calls again, there is a huge probability I will get him.

I just hate how people want us to magically solve everything for them when I couldn’t give two s***s about him or his package not arriving.

I had a low-value item being delivered for a party from a company in Europe. It was sold through [Major Online Retailer], and I didn’t notice that it wasn’t from within the UK when I ordered, but they had a quick turnaround because it was customised and sent out within a week.

As soon as [Delivery Company That Recently Changed Its Name And Has A Terrible Reputation] got their claws on it, they immediately sent it back to the seller. When I queried them and the manufacturer, [Delivery Company] never replied, of course.

The manufacturer answered:

Manufacturer: “There’s a postal strike in Britain, but as soon as we get it back, we’ll send it back out.”

I replied:

Me: “1. Please don’t send it back; it’ll be too late by the time it arrives. 2. The strike is a couple of instances, lasting around one or two days at a time, about a week apart, so they could’ve just kept it overnight. 3. The postal strike has nothing to do with [Delivery Company]; they’re a private company and the strike is for the national postal workers. 4. I doubt this will affect who you use as a delivery service, but they have a terrible reputation.”

The company refunded my money immediately, and about four days later, the parcel appeared at my door.

I work for an online company. Customers make their orders, we ship them, and all are happy. Sometimes mistakes happen at the warehouse, but we try to fix them as best as possible. But some mistakes are a tiny bit… special.

Customer: *Slightly confused* “I’ve received my parcel, but… I don’t think this is correct.”

Me: “I’m sorry to hear that. What has happened?”

Customer: “I’ve received a huge parcel with machinery in it. I only ordered a sweatshirt from you.”

Yep. The customer’s order had gone from a small parcel with a sweatshirt to a huge dishwasher-size or bigger parcel with some sort of machine in it. The thing that made this all confusing is that we’re a clothing company. The only thing close to machines or electronics that we have is headphones.

We helped the customer arrange for a pick-up of the parcel with the delivery company because there was no way they could return the parcel themselves. We never really got an explanation for how this could have happened, but the most likely explanation seems to be that the delivery label on the parcel from us somehow fell off the parcel and attached itself to this monster of a parcel. How the delivery company didn’t notice the mistake is a huge mystery to us since our logo and name are very well known to them.

Our customer was, of course, refunded.

As supply chains become more and more broken, we are experiencing more problems with deliveries and orders, as you would expect. What I find surprising is how companies that used to be really great are now less than optimal. One of our major suppliers has been particularly troublesome.

I sent an email to this supplier to place a “special order” for items not normally carried that would have to be shipped in from overseas. We were given a week during which we could expect the delivery, during which the package did not come. An email was sent to find out a new ETA.

Supplier: “The package was shipped, but the courier got lost and didn’t call anyone.”

Still? Is he out in the woods burning the product somewhere to keep warm? Or does somebody know where the courier — and our package — is now?

A flurry of emails followed.

Me: “Okay, so do we have a new ETA?”

Supplier: “He got lost with the truck.”

Me: “Right. So, does that mean the truck is gone forever? Should we just order this again? Or is the original package going to show up at some point?”

The supplier responded with a copy of our invoice for the product that was lost.

It wasn’t until Accounts Receivable was contacted and told that this (very expensive) invoice wouldn’t be paid — and why — that someone decided it was probably important that we still got our product.

I work in the mail room of a huge government office. I sign for a delivery of about seventy boxes for us — a big delivery but not too unusual. Fifteen minutes later, the courier comes back and starts shouting at me.

Courier: “You signed for a package that wasn’t yours, you idiot! I need the package back immediately!”

Me: “I signed for about seventy boxes, and if one of them wasn’t for us, it’s your fault, not mine. I’m too busy to check them all immediately, so you’ll have to wait.”

Courier: “I want to speak with your manager!”

I call my manager happily, who then gets shouted at, too.

Courier: “Your clerk here is treating me like an idiot!”

Manager: “Well, sir… are you being an idiot?”