I work at a coffee shop with a lot of older customers. This exchange happens at least ten times a day.

Customer: “I would like a cappuccino.”

Me: “Large or small?”

Customer: “Normal.”

Me: “…?”

I am working at a well-known fast food chain and this customer comes through the drive-thru. We currently have a special offer where you get stickers with your kids’ meal.

Customer: “You didn’t give my child any stickers.”

Me: “I’m very sorry to tell you, but unfortunately, we are out of stock.”

Customer: “That’s fraud. In the advertisement, you said that my son would get stickers with his meal.”

Me: “It also said that we only have a limited supply and that you get the stickers as long as we have them in stock.”

Customer: “That’s fraud. I will sue you. You are making false promises. I studied business management; I must know.”

Me: “It‘s just advertising, and it’s not fraud since we never promised to give you the stickers. The advertisement said that there is a possibility you will get them.”

Customer: “You know nothing! You’re just a young, stupid girl that hasn’t even finished school yet, so don’t try to tell me that I’m wrong. I studied business management, so I know that what you’re doing is fraud.”

He continued yelling at me, but I was pretty fed up so I just closed the drive-thru window and waved good-bye. His TEENAGE son was visibly embarrassed, and I could see from the look on his face that that wasn’t the first time this had happened.

Customer: “I want that burger from the advertisement on the television.”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but we have advertisements for multiple burgers, and I don’t have a TV so I don’t know what advertisements are running.”

Customer: *Visibly annoyed* “The one with the star.”

Me: “We have multiple burgers with stars, but I suppose you are talking about [burger]. Do you want to have your burger classic, with guacamole, or with BBQ?”

Customer: “What’s guacamole?”

Me: “It’s avocado with spices and tomato.”

Customer: “Avocado? What is that?”

Me: “…”

Customer: “Whatever, okay.”

Me: “Do you want chicken or beef?”

Customer: “This is ridiculous. You’re asking way too many questions. I just want to buy a d*** burger, but it’s taking me ages because of you.”

He then stormed out the door. The customer after him was his neighbor and he told me that I shouldn’t take it personally. Apparently, that happens sometimes. After two or three months, I saw the customer again and he apologized. He had a bad day and didn’t mean to let it out on me.

Related:
Holy Guacamole!

I am working at a famous fast food chain and am serving a customer who ordered multiple burgers, fried, drinks, and one pack of shrimp worth 35€.

Me: “Sir. Unfortunately, we don’t have the shrimp that you ordered. We just ran out of stock a few minutes ago and I wasn’t notified yet.”

Customer: “I want my money back.”

Me: “Of course! Since you will not receive any shrimp, you don’t have to pay for them, either.”

I proceed to give the customer his 3€ something back and close the cash register again. I give the customer the rest of his order and end the order on my screen.

Customer: “No, I want all my money back. I will not buy anything here.”

Me: “You want to cancel your whole order because we don’t have shrimp?”

Customer: “Yes! You lied to me. I will not buy something from a person who lies to me!”

After ending an order, you cannot cancel it in the system. My manager had to take out the money manually to give it back to the customer. Later that evening, I had to explain to my store manager why my cash register was over 30€ in minus.

Related:
No Shrimping Violet

I’m the executive housekeeper of our hotel. We are hosting a wedding tonight and wedding guests tend to arrive early, usually trying to get a free early check-in, if they can. We’re usually happy to accommodate, but we can’t this time, as we had a lot of late-checkouts this morning. Most rooms could only be cleaned starting at noon, and these guests arrive at 12:30 pm.

I am busy helping the housekeepers to clean as fast as possible when my phone rings.

Front Desk Agent: “Hi, [My Name], could we clean room forty-seven immediately? The guest is already here.”

To be honest, I can feel my blood boil as I hear this. Front desk only informed me of all the late checkouts — about 90% of all arrival rooms for today — this morning when I got in. All the rooms are a mess — food, garbage, glasses, and bottles scattered all over — so we’re already in a pickle to get everything done by three pm. Usually, I don’t mind doing a room first, but not if I have to try to systematically power through a mess like this.

Me: “Sorry, [Front Desk Agent], it’s not looking good. Did they book an early check-in?”

Front Desk Agent: “No. But they are here, and they’re kind of angry already.”

Me: *Sighs* “Okay. But just this one. Seriously, we can’t do this multiple times today.”

Front Desk Agent: “Okay, thanks! Ten minutes okay?”

Me: “Twenty-five! I’ll let you know if we’re faster.”

My housekeepers work their magic and we’re actually done in fifteen minutes. I call down and the guest comes upstairs immediately. She still looks grumpy. Oh, well.

Five minutes later, the elevator opens and six guests come pouring out, rushing to their rooms, which are not ready yet. One couple surprises one of my housekeepers who’s busy cleaning a bathroom.

Housekeeper: “Oh! I’m sorry, but this room is not ready yet!”

Guest #1: “I can see that! Can’t you hurry up?”

Me: *Rushing over* “Excuse me! Would you please wait in the lobby while we clean your room? We’ll let you know immediately when it’s ready for you.”

Guest #1: *Eyeroll* “Yeah… but you better hurry! I’ve got to change before the wedding, you know!”

They waltz off to the one room that’s already done and decide to hang out there — not that I checked or cleared that room for check-in either, of course. Immediately, I run down to the front desk to check what’s going on. On my way there, I meet my general manager.

General Manager: “Are you all right? You look stressed!”

Me: “Well, six guests just tried to get into their rooms right now, so I’d like to know what’s going on.”

General Manager: “Wait… Front desk didn’t check with you first?”

Me: “No.” 

General Manager: *Sighs* “All right, I’ll handle this. Where are the guests now?”

Me: “Room forty-seven.”

General Manager: “Okay, I’ll talk to the front desk and then I’ll come upstairs to talk to the guests.”

I am really happy to get back to my housekeepers, so I leave immediately. Shortly, I get a call from my general manager.

General Manager: “Hi, so, they told front desk that the owner told them their rooms would be ready, so she didn’t question that and just sent them up. I’m so sorry! I reminded her to always check with you first. Are the guests still in room forty-seven?”

Me: “They are. But they keep peeking out the door and glaring at my housekeepers.”

General Manager: “Oh, great. I’ll be there in a minute.”

My general manager knocks and joins the guests in the room. When she comes out, she has an “I’d like to murder you, but I’m a pro at customer service” smile on her face. Here is the conversation she relays to me.

General Manager: “I’m terribly sorry for the wait. Unfortunately, we had a lot of late checkouts today and our front desk forgot to check with housekeeping before checking you in. We’re doing our best to accommodate you as soon as possible.”

She was ready to upgrade the couple to a suite that was already ready, but…

Guest #2: *Snooty* “You should be! Your boss told me all our rooms would be ready at twelve!”

General Manager: “Oh, [Owner] guaranteed that your rooms would be ready?”

Guest #3: “No. Not [Owner], your boss! [Head Barkeeper]!”

General Manager: “I’m sorry, but [Head Barkeeper] is not our owner. He is in charge of our bar. He can’t guarantee when a room will be ready.”

Guest #3: “How long have you been working here?! He’s the general manager!”

Aaaaand, they lost their upgrade.

General Manager: *Stumped* “Mr. [Head Barkeeper] is our head barkeeper. Not our general manager or our owner.”

Guest #4: “Don’t you know you own d*** boss?? He told us that all rooms would be ready for us!”

General Manager: “Um. Our owner is Mr. [Owner], and I am the general manager. I’m sorry, but neither I, nor the front desk or housekeeping, have been informed of any early check-ins for today.”

Guest #3: “Well, that’s not my problem. I want my room done; I need to take a shower.”

General Manager: “We’ll try our best to make that possible for you, but I can’t promise anything, madam. Check-in starts at three pm. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay with us.”

The general manager’s order for me?

General Manager: “Don’t stress over them. Do the rooms in the order that’s most convenient for you and let them wait until three pm if that’s how you like it. I’m gonna back you up.”

In total, the wedding was a horror story from start to finish. Everyone tried to use their acquaintance with our head barkeeper to get freebies and discounts, culminating in a showdown between the bride and the general manager about a special cleaning fee for messing up the hardwood floor in the ballroom. They made a royal mess and changed rooms for ludicrous reasons.

I’ve never been happier to see a wedding party go. Neither has our head barkeeper; he apparently never guaranteed anything and was completely embarrassed by the spectacle everyone put on.

Related:
Why Barkeeps Should Rule The World, Part 4
Why Barkeeps Should Rule The World, Part 3
Why Barkeeps Should Rule The World, Part 2
Why Barkeeps Should Rule The World