I have been going to my local [Swedish Furniture Chain] to pick up bookcases, bedside tables, and whatever else I need for my new apartment. It’s about half an hour away from my home, so I have been going after work, still dressed up in work clothes. My job is an office situation, and I wear a shirt and tie, so I guess I can’t blame the confused-looking old-timer who accosts me in the “As Is” section.

Customer: “Do you work here?”

Me: “Nah, I just dress up.”

We share a laugh and he looks disappointed and lost. I guess years of retail work have me broken in because I then continue:

Me: “I can try to help if you like. What’s up?”

The old man looks thankful as he pleads.

Customer: “How the heck do you get out of here?!”

I’m not sure why, but in my absurd mind, I like to imagine that the old-timer might have been a young man when he first entered the store and that he has been subsisting on meatballs and sleeping on display sofas as he wanders endlessly. He is so close to the exit. Of course, I have to help him escape this Swedish purgatory.

Me: “Oh, yeah, I can help. Follow me.”

I politely walked him to the exit. He thanked me and was on his way, into a world much different than the one he knew when he first ventured into [Swedish Furniture Chain].

Sadly, they did not have the Billy bookcase I wanted, so I got the Kallax ones. But at least I did a good deed and used my weird middle management vibes for good and not for evil.

If you are out there, old-timer, I wish you well, not as an employee, but just as a helpful human.

I’m stacking shelves many years ago. A customer pokes me in the ribs — a big no-no, but I let it slide.

Me: “Yes?”

Customer: “Which colour is better? Orange or blue? Hmm?

She is holding two pillow covers. I would normally engage the customer, ask about the room, and discuss how the orange might give a warmer feel. But her poking me and her sour disposition have already annoyed me.

Me: “The orange.”

Customer: “No, you’re wrong! The blue is better.”

Me: “Okay, glad to have been of help.”

Customer: “Well, I’m ready to pay.

Me: “Of course. The tills are right over there.”

Customer: “Aren’t you going to do it?”

Me: “One of my colleagues is at the tills. Unfortunately, I cannot leave this stock in the way as it would be a trip hazard.”

She seems to think about this. I get the impression she wasn’t expecting a factual, to-the-point answer.

Customer: “You know, if you restocked the shelves at night, then it wouldn’t need doing in the day!”

Me: “Then how would I help all of our ‘lovely’ customers with their colour choices?”

Customer: “I don’t like your tone.”

Me: “Duly noted. Please pay at the tills.”

She gave up and stormed off. I heard her argue with my manager, but when I asked all he said was:

Manager: “Oh, yeah, the crazy lady? I just told her that I would look into it and walked away from her. I don’t have time for fake problems.”

I work in a famous furniture chain at the customer service desk. An angry-looking customer comes up to me with some opened boxes for a small table.

Customer: “I need a refund! These don’t work!”

Me: “Were there parts broken or missing?”

Customer: “No, it just… doesn’t build!”

Me: “Are you having trouble building it yourself? Because we—”

Customer: “Build it myself? Doesn’t it self-assemble?”

Me: “Sir, this is a bedside table, not a Transformer.”

I work in a well-known furniture chain. While we have a great refund service, we don’t do refunds on items and furniture sold through our re-use section.

I am at the register and my colleague is at the self-checkout service, keeping an eye on the customers in case they need assistance.

While she is doing her part, a customer approaches her from behind, wanting to get a refund for an item. She tells him she can’t help him and he has to go to the customer service that also handles refunds.

Customer: “I just was there and they didn’t want to take it back.”

She then notices what he wants to return.

Colleague: “I’m sorry, but we don’t do refunds on furniture from our re-use section.”

Customer: “I did not know that. You have to take it back.”

Colleague: “It says so at the section, so it’s not our fault you didn’t see that a refund isn’t possible. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”

She then turns her back on him, as to say she’s done with talking to him. After all, she can’t help him, even if she wanted to, as we don’t do refunds at the checkout.

He gets angry and kicks his furniture off the cart, which, of course, causes everyone to jump a little. He then starts picking it up, but when he sees that my colleague doesn’t pay him any attention, he throws it onto the floor again. At this point, another colleague calls for a manager to deal with this man.

The man then approaches my colleague he spoke to first and comes off as threatening. My colleague proceeds to tell him that a manager is on their way to help him. He seems angry that my colleague isn’t taking him seriously but settles to wait for the manager.

When the manager arrives, she too tells the man what he has been told by everyone: that he can’t get a refund, that it says so in the section, and it’s not our responsibility that he didn’t read the signs about refund from this section.

It ends with him leaving with his furniture, no refund.

Seems we at the checkout now have to explain to each customer buying something from the re-use section that it’s not refundable, all because some customers can’t bother to read.

I work at a furniture store that sells really nice office chairs. The chairs are very customizable. Some customers have trouble making a decision on what features they want — totally understandable.

The chairs take up to a month to come in. If the customer needs the chair sooner, we take payment, order the chair, and provide a similar loaner chair until we get it in. A customer comes in on a very busy Saturday.

Customer: “I came in several weeks ago and looked at a [Brand] chair.”

I look in our system and do see we have an order written up for him.

Me: “Great, I see the quote here.”

Customer: “I still haven’t decided if I want a headrest or not.”

Me: “Okay, I have one here with the headrest to try out.”

Customer: “You don’t understand; I need to try it out in my own home. I’ll bring it back tomorrow.”

The customer takes the chair and starts wheeling it towards the door. I am stunned.

Me: “Sir, hold on. We do need payment before a chair leaves the store.”

Customer: “I live close. I promise to bring it back. You’re going to lose my business if I can’t try it out.”

Me: “Sir, I understand. We don’t close for another six hours. Try it out as long as you would like.”

Customer: “God, you are stupid. I already told you I need to try it at my home! I need it!”

Other customers have started watching the proceedings.

Me: “Okay, here’s what I can do. We can order your chair now and give you a loaner chair until yours comes in. We do need payment on the chair you are buying, though.”

Customer: “No.”

There is a pause as he stares at me.

Me: “Okay, I can sell you that chair. You do have to pay for it.”

Customer: “I heard you. I don’t accept. My back hurts and you are causing me pain. I am borrowing it! You know, borrowing it!”

Me: “We don’t do that.”

There was another pause as he stared at me. I was not really sure what else to say, so I didn’t say anything. He shoved the chair at me and walked out

Several days later, he came back in and tried to get a lower price. I offered him a small discount which he did not accept. He said he could only afford to rent it for the week. I said we didn’t offer that, but we could do financing. He said no and walked out. I never saw him after that.

I’ve had rude customers before, but I have never had someone try to take a product without paying for it. I’d like to think he was maybe just fed up with his back pain and desperate for a solution. Stealing is never the answer.