I work in a large home improvement store. The health crisis is at its peak in my state and lines are bonkers at our store — wrapped around the inside of the store to the back wall. As you may imagine, we have many crazies come in over this time, as well as just impatient and frustrated people, which is understandable.

There is a line at self-checkout and this guy is already huffing and puffing and causing a scene in line about having to use self-checkout and having to wait in line. He gets to the self-checkout and proceeds to reluctantly scan his items. As he gets ready to pay, the card reader declines his card due to a chip error — we still don’t know if it was the card or the reader, as our new readers do this a lot.

So, what is the natural reaction for the customer in this situation? Ask for help? Retry the card again?

No. The man straight-up sucker punches the screen, breaking the screen and damaging the LEDs in the screen, rendering the whole system useless as our registers are all on one computer.

My coworker calls over our store manager to notify her that this man has just damaged about $700 worth of stuff and caused a scene while doing it. The store manager shows up to speak with him, and what do you think she does? Call the police? Have Asset Protection put this man on a trespass notice and force him to pay for damages?

No. She gives him all his stuff for free and makes no effort to punish him for breaking our stuff. This makes our jobs more difficult as we have to wait well over a week for a new computer, and this is one of the only two self-checkout machines that take cash, so it slows our lines even more.

I’m so glad I’m out of retail and only have to deal with people yelling at me over the phone now!

I’m standing in front of my register in a home improvement store when a customer with a baby carrier walks up to me.

Customer: “I forgot something in the car. Can you watch my baby while I go and get it?”

I look at her like she has lost her mind.

Customer: “Well, you see, it’s because it’s windy outside.”

Yes, because leaving your kid with a complete stranger is much safer than a little wind. I am briefly contemplating telling the woman that I eat babies for breakfast because the look on her face indicates that if I tell her “no” out loud, we will have a six-hour-long argument about why refusing is unacceptable.

Thankfully, my boss steps in.

Boss: “Sorry, ma’am, we cannot be made to be responsible for children.”

She tries to argue, exactly as I predicted, and he shuts her down so completely that it cuts her off, mid-argument.

About twenty minutes later, she walks through my line, and the first words out of her mouth are:

Customer: “What kind of discount are you going to give me for refusing to watch my child?”

I bite my tongue.

Me: “There’s only one discount available: our credit card deal.”

When she learns that she can’t negotiate the interest percentage the credit card will charge her — “Guarantee me only 2% interest or no deal!” — she decides she doesn’t want it.

Customer: “No, I should get a discount as compensation for the inconvenience of not receiving help with my child.”

I refused to budge, and she finally moved on from that topic and put some paint up to be rung.

I oversee the self-checkout at a big home improvement store. Right next to the self-checkout is our indoor plant display. The display has an overhang of hanging house plants. As I stand there, a customer walks up.

Customer: “Do you have any plants? I want some and can’t find them anywhere!”

I laugh a little because I think they’re making a joke about the large number of house plants.

Customer: *Glaring* “I don’t know what you think is so funny. I am looking for a plant for my living room!”

Me: “Um, like those?”

I point at the huge display, part of which is literally hanging over the customer’s head. A spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum), affectionately nicknamed Jumbo, is currently making affectionate acquaintance with my shoulder as we speak.

Customer: “You all could make a clearer display.”

Me: “No, we literally couldn’t without physically hitting you with it. Have a nice day!”

The customer tried to complain to the manager, but he had been standing a few feet to my left and just laughed.

Related:
This Is A Bad Sign, Part 3
This Is A Bad Sign, Part 2
This Is A Bad Sign

I am working in the garden center. It’s one of those REALLY hot days and I am cashiering outside. No big deal for me, as it’s a preferable option to be able to stroll through the rows of flowers instead of standing at the end of a register inside.

An older woman comes in to browse for a few. I don’t pay her too much notice until I find her sprawled out on the ground. Rushing over, I help get her a seat and some water and then call for a manager who also comes out and offers assistance.

Customer: “I just came from a very air-conditioned car and the change from that to the extreme heat must have caused me to faint.”

The manager offers to call an ambulance, but she refuses.

Customer: “I left my car running for my dog who’s still inside the car. I don’t want to leave him alone.”

After we have her sign a release stating that she is refusing help, she limps off to her car and drives away. I am asked to write up an incident report and I think that is the end of it.

Nope!

A month or so later, the same woman shows up at the garden center again, this time sporting a crutch and a leg cast.

Me: “Oh! What happened?”

Customer: “I finally decided to go to the doctor after I got home, and I found out that I had a broken ankle.”

I express genuine concern when hearing that. She then goes on to talk about how much it costs and how much it hurts… and then hits me with this zinger:

Customer: “I’m going to find out how much I can get from this store!”

Then, she limped her way in to find the customer service desk. Sure, lady. Lucky for us, there was a paper trail of her refusing treatment and cameras capturing her fall. She didn’t get a cent.

My husband and I buy our first apartment. Our renovation budget is considerable as I have saved well for a few years. We both make lists of all the renovation work that’s needed and hire a handyman to help us with it. My husband talks to him about the plumbing, carpentry, floor tiles, etc., and I talk to him about the electrical sockets, paints, curtains, mirrors, etc.

Out of all the changes, there are two electrical sockets that are important to us: one in our bedroom near the headboard for the bed-lamp, and one in the kids’ bedroom so that the existing socket doesn’t touch the bunk bed and instead is moved to the lower level. I explain these two specifically to the handyman along with all the other changes. He seems to nod at everything instead of making any notes or measurements. His quotation is not very high and appears to be with very little profit margin. We agree on the quotation, but we make plans to have some buffer amount.

One day, while the work is going on, we go to visit the progress. My husband goes to the master bedroom and I go to the kids’ bedroom. I see that the sockets are missing but the first coat of paint is already done. I am furious as this would mean that we would not have enough outlets in the room and have to use a power extension cord. With my toddler running around, this is a hazard. I go into the hall to discuss this with the handyman and hear this.

Husband: “Hey, what happened to the bedside sockets?”

Handyman: “Oh, looks like we have forgotten. But we have started painting already. Do you actually need the sockets?”

Husband: “Yes, that’s non-negotiable.”

Handyman: “Okay, let’s do it!”

Me: “Yeah, you may want to do the same to this room, too. Sockets are missing here.”

Handyman: “But we have started painting the walls.”

Me: “Yes, you shouldn’t have. You should have completed the socket work.”

Handyman: “No, we cannot do it anymore!”

He mumbles something and walks away, leaving my husband and me staring at each other.

Me: “Did he not just agree to do the same thing in our room? Why would he not agree for the kids’ room?”

Husband: “No idea! Let’s ask him.”

When we go around to find him, I talk to his workers and gather that most of the items on my list are not being planned for at all. I pull my husband aside to talk.

Me: “Looks like he has completely ignored my list of work. He’s planned for only things that you explained.”

Husband: “Yeah, but we texted him both our lists, right?”

Me: “The way he talked about the sockets makes me feel like he’s not paying attention to what I am saying. He’s just doing whatever you are asking him to do.”

My husband is upset listening to this. He calls over the handyman in a loud voice.

Husband: “Hey, why can’t you do the kids’ room socket?”

Handyman: “Because we painted the wall.”

Husband: “So what? You’ve painted this room, too. Moreover, we said it was important.”

Handyman: “But in the kids’ room, we have to drill over the door frame; it will impact stability.”

Me: “No, that’s not right. I have measured the space.”

I take a measuring tape and marking pencil and mark the drilling point and prove to him that there would be enough space between the bed and door frame to get an electric pipe. In response to the handyman’s surprised look, my husband says:

Husband: “Yeah, we’re both engineers, though she’s better at electrical and civil stuff than I am.”

The handyman mutters something and finally agrees. A while later, the handyman’s brother, who’s handling painting work, comes over. 

Brother: “If you choose the colours and designs, we can continue with the paint work.”

Husband: “Yeah, about that… You may have to redo the ceiling and first coat. Socket work is pending. Apparently, your brother did not listen to my wife at all.”

[Brother] stares at the handyman for a second and then turns to us.

Brother: “No problem, we will redo the first coat and then move ahead. Please select the colours and patterns.”

I take a look at the catalogue and select some really fancy patterned designs for four walls. I am conscious that it may go over budget, but I really like it.

Handyman: “That’s not possible to do. It takes a lot of time.”

Husband: “No, again, non-negotiable.”

Brother: “Sir, we will do it. It may take just a day more than plain walls but we’ll manage it.”

The rest of the work was smooth as we approached the handyman’s brother for all changes. He asked for the list again and made sure he got done all that we asked. Our house was perfectly renovated with really cool paints. The budget went over 20% more than the original quotation and the handyman was not happy that he made very little profit on our work.

Though his work is good, we never contacted him again for anything.