(I work as a sales receptionist for a luxury car brand. There are four of our brand dealerships in the state, but none of us are actually linked as businesses. I receive this call late in the afternoon.)

Me: “Hello, welcome to [My Dealership]. This is [My Name] speaking!”

Caller: “Hi. I want to talk to [Other Dealership], but their phones aren’t working!”

Me: “All right. We are a completely different company, but I can check their phone number on Google for you.”

Caller: “Please do that.”

Me: *gives her the number*

Caller: “That’s the one I have tried; I need to speak to marketing!”

Me: “All right, well, they do have an option to be contacted via email or through the website. Could I give you an email to try?”

Caller: “Excuse me, but not everyone has a computer.”

(She has been pleasant so far, so I have no reason to not want to help. I plan to offer to email her phone number to them so they could call back. I have a couple of calls coming through, so I ask if she minds if I place her on hold for a moment, and she says she doesn’t mind. One call is quick, but the other is taking a while, so I put that call on hold so I can update the lady looking for the other dealership.)

Me: “I am so sorry for keeping you on hold. There is a high level of calls at the moment, but it will only be another minute until I am able to keep assisting.”

Caller: “I don’t believe you. Goodbye.”

(And then she swiftly ended the call, leaving me a little surprised and upset, but able to continue assisting our actual customers.)

(I work as a receptionist at a car dealership.)

Me: “Thank you for calling [Dealership]! How can I direct your call?”

Customer: “I just want to refill my prescription.”

Me: “I’m sorry. Can you repeat that? I think I might have misheard what you said.”

Customer: “What did you say?”

Me: “Can you please repeat what you said at the beginning of the call? I think I might have misheard you.”

Customer: “Do you need my prescription number?”

Me: “Ma’am, this is a car dealership.”

Customer: “What?! Do you need my prescription number?”

Me: “No, ma’am, this is a car dealership. You may have dialed the wrong number.”

Customer: “You know what? I’ll just call back later.”

(She hung up before I could explain to her this was not a pharmacy. I just hope she was able to get her prescription!)

(I work in a service department for an extremely busy dealership, and I am the ONLY woman in the entire department. We have a business office staff of ladies that filter all calls for the dealer. I get at least one call a week similar to this, but this conversation was particularly rude and has stuck with me.)

Me: “Thank you for calling [Dealership] service department.”

Customer: “Are you f****** kidding me?! I just talked to you! I told you to transfer me to service!”

Me: “I think you spoke with one of the young ladies in our business office. I definitely haven’t spoken to you until just now.”

Customer: “But I asked for service and she transferred me to you!”

Me: “Seeing as how I work in service, I believe she transferred you to the right place!”

(I’m keeping my voice friendly because calls like this happen all the time. However, what this customer says next is one for the books.)

Customer: “You… work in service?”

Me: *extra friendly* “Yep!”

(The man on the phone actually starts laughing.)

Customer: “Yeah, okay, sweetheart. Transfer me to one of the service men.”

(Oh, no, he didn’t.)

Me: “About that… They are actually all currently on the phone helping other customers, and it might be a while. Is there anything I can do for you?”

Customer: “I highly doubt that, babe. I’ll wait.”

(Truth be told, there is no wait to speak to a service advisor. I let the guy stay on hold for about ten minutes before I pick it up again. I am careful to keep my voice polite and bubbly, because I am actually pretty pissed off about the way this customer has been addressing me.)

Me: “Still waiting to speak with a service man, correct? I do apologize about the wait; they’re taking longer than expected. Are you sure there isn’t anything I can help you with?”

Customer: “I already told you that I want to speak with a man. How much longer?”

Me: “Shouldn’t be too much longer; I’ll transfer you as soon as the next advisor becomes available.”

(I put the customer on hold for another eight minutes before I pick up the phone again.)

Me: “I am so sorry, sir. I still don’t have a service man available. Would you like me to take a message and have someone call you back?”

Customer: “This is bulls***! All I want to do is make an appointment for an oil change!”

Me: “Oh, my, you should have said something sooner, sir. Our service department doesn’t make appointments for oil changes.”

Customer: “What?!”

Me: “I’m sorry if the line is breaking up, sir. I said, ‘We don’t make appointments for oil changes.’ They’re walk-in only.”

Customer: “I WAITED OVER HALF AN HOUR TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT, AND YOU’RE TELLING ME I CAN’T MAKE ONE?!”

Me: “That is correct.”

Customer: “WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SOMETHING EARLIER?!”

Me: “If I recall correctly, sir, you specifically said you only wanted to speak with a man, and I did ask if there was anything I could help you with.”

Customer: “I’ll be at your dealership in fifteen minutes, AND I DON’T WANT TO F****** WAIT!”

(The customer hung up, and I went up front and told the service advisors what happened. They put a note in the computer, and they made the customer wait three hours for an oil change. Sexism doesn’t fly in our department.)

While driving my parents’ car on a long trip at night, the engine just stops and all the warning lights come on. I’m able to get the car off the road and open the hood. There is a massive amount of smoke and steam coming from the engine and after checking, I find that there is no coolant at all in the reservoir. I get to wait by the car while arrangements are made to pick both the car and me up.

The next day after examining the car, it is determined that a coolant hose came off while I was driving, and that caused the engine to overheat and seize. Over the next few days, my father acquires a new engine and swaps out the old engine with the new one. We then find out that my brother had taken the car in for some repairs a few days before my trip to dealership, and it was one of the hoses they worked on that came off.

My father is in contact with the dealership, but they say they are not at all at fault and refuse any kind of compensation. So, my father decides to take them to small claims court.

After a few months, we are all at the courthouse. The judge comes in and the case is read to her. As soon as the dealership’s name is mentioned, the judge asks for the lawyers — both ours and the dealership’s — to come forward and have a private discussion. This seems very odd, but all we can do is wait for our lawyer to come back and tell us what’s going on.

After a few minutes, our lawyer comes back with a smile on her face. Apparently, the judge is also having “issues” with the dealership, so she has to remove herself due to a conflict of interest. We can’t believe it.

Once the judge has officially removed herself from the case, the dealership settles for everything we wanted.

(I am the phone operator for the service department of an auto dealership. I take incoming calls, schedule appointments, and also notify people of scheduled maintenance and recalls.)

Me: “Hello, this is [Auto Dealership]. My name is [My Name]. How can I help you?”

Caller: “The back-up camera on my car went out.”

Me: “Okay, let’s schedule an appointment for you to bring the car in and get that looked at.”

Caller: ”I also need a loaner car.”

Me: “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but our policy is only to provide a loaner car if the customer’s car is broken down or unsafe to drive. Is there something else wrong with your car?”

Caller: “No, but how am I supposed to see behind me?”

Me: *without even thinking about it* “Use your mirrors?”