I’m a former car insurance agent. I once had someone screaming at me that if we didn’t do what he wanted, then he would cancel his policy. What he wanted was illegal, so it wasn’t happening no matter who he complained to. After he was repeatedly denied, he kept telling us to cancel his policy.

Me: “You should really get new insurance first; our state has mandatory insurance requirements on active registration.”

Customer: “Cancel it anyway, RIGHT NOW!”

So, I did.

A couple of days later, he called back, VERY pissed.

Customer: “I couldn’t find new insurance, and now my driver’s license is suspended, I have a court appearance, and I’m suspended from my job!”

He was caught driving without valid insurance, so on top of the normal issues of no insurance on active registration, so he now has a very expensive ticket, too. His job also required a valid license, so he couldn’t work until everything was resolved. I warned him, but he didn’t listen.

I’m not commissioned, so when I tell you something, try listening; I’m just trying to help you and advise you about the law.

I head to a popular coffee shop one morning before work because I am lacking in the sleep department due to traffic getting home the night before. My brain isn’t all there yet when I get to the counter.

Barista: “Hi! What can I get started for you?”

Me: “Can I get an iced coffee and a chocolate croissant?”

Barista: “Do you want that warm?”

Me: “No, iced.”

Barista: “…”

Me: “…”

Barista: “…”

Me: “Oh! You mean the croissant! Oh, my gosh, yes, please. Sorry, I’m not all here yet.”

Barista: *Laughs* “No worries. One iced coffee and an iced croissant.”

This is back in the 1970s when I am a young teen. At the time, local calls within the city are very cheap, but long-distance calls that require a 0x prefix are not. Basically, a call beginning with 0 is expensive; one that does not is 20c for unlimited talk time. There are two exceptions to this: 000, which is the emergency number, and the recently introduced free call 008 numbers.

Our home phone number begins with an 8. For simplicity, let’s say it’s 88-7777. Numbers were short back then.

The phone rings. I am alone in the house, so I pick it up. I do not sound like an adult, and I am definitely not using a business voice or business language.

Me: “Hello.”

Caller: “Is that [Insurance Company]?”

Me: “No, you’ve rung a private residence.”

A few minutes later, it rings again. 

Caller: “Is that [Insurance Company]?”

Me: “No, it’s still a home number. What number were you dialing?”

Caller: “00887777.”

Me: “That’s our number if you take off the two zeros at the beginning. We are not an insurance office.”

I hang up, but seconds later:

Caller: *Now angry* “I want to speak to [Insurance Company]!”

Remember, I am a kid, and I have never worked in an office.

Me: “I think your phone system is ignoring leading zeros to stop you dialing interstate or international numbers.”

Caller: “I don’t understand why you won’t let me speak to [Insurance Company]!”

Me: “You are ringing our home. I cannot help you. You will need to contact your switchboard to place this call. Goodbye.”

Seconds later…

Caller: “Put me through to [Insurance Company]!”

Me: “I have no way of doing that. Talk to your switch. If you don’t stop calling, I will have to report you to Telecom as a nuisance caller.”

I can’t remember if it stopped then or if there were more calls. I don’t think I had to resort to making an official complaint, but it was close

I am paged to come help a customer who has a question in the beauty department. Walking up, I’m already annoyed as it is an older gentleman, which usually means that his wife has sent him to pick something up without giving him any information. 

Me: “Did you need help with something?”

Customer: “My wife sent me to get this sunscreen, but I can’t find it with the others.”

I look at the bottle and see it’s a foundation that has an SPF.

Me: “This is a foundation. Do you know what shade she needs?”

Customer: “No, it’s sunscreen. See, it says so right on the bottle.”

Me: “Can I look at the bottle?”

He keeps going on about how it’s sunscreen while I look to see if a shade is listed. Thankfully, I find it and lead him over to where the makeup is. I see we are out of the shade he needs.

Me: “It looks like we are currently out of that shade. Do you want to call your wife and see if another shade will work?”

Customer: “I mean, this is SPF 30. Are there other SPFs in this brand?”

Me: “Sir, please listen. This is a foundation. It’s makeup with an SPF but it is not solely sunscreen. The shade your wife wants is gone. You are going to have to call her and see if another shade will work or you will have to go to another store.”

He still could not comprehend and ended up leaving. Women, please stop sending your clueless partners to shop for makeup for you. It never works out.

I’m in my final year of university. My boyfriend and I are in a long-distance relationship; he lives on the British Columbia coast while I am in southern Alberta.

During spring break, I decide to book a plane trip out to spend the week with him. As it is a short trip, I want to have as much time with him as possible; therefore, I am looking for an early flight. Due to previous problems with other airlines, I don’t like to book with anyone except a specific airline.

I notice that their 10:00 am flight is quite expensive, around $200 one way. Not happy with that, I keep looking and am quite pleased to find a much cheaper flight, about $100 one way, for a 9:00 am flight! Wanting to scoop that deal up before the prices change, I book my flight with a one-way ticket, thinking I might be able to get a better deal booking my tickets separately rather than together.

A small part of my gut is telling me there is something fishy about that 9:00 am flight I found that is cheaper than the 10:00 am. Stupidly, I push that down and instead just look forward to my trip.

The night before my flight, I find I’m not able to check in. I find this strange, but again, I push it aside and strive to just check in with an agent instead at the airport. The next morning:

Me: “Hi, I’m having trouble checking in for my flight. Would you be able to help me? I’m not sure what’s wrong. I’m due to fly out in about an hour.”

Agent: “Sure, no problem. What’s your name?”

I tell the agent, and the agent types it into her computer and frowns at her screen.

Agent: “Hmm, that seems to be a bit strange. I’m not sure why you’re having trouble checking in. Let me look a bit further.”

I’m slightly worried. I booked through a third-party website to try and find the best deals on flights, and now I’m concerned that I was not properly registered for this flight. After a couple minutes, I see the agent’s eyes widen in realization and fear. As she turns to me, I can practically see her trying to curl in on herself.

Agent: “I found the problem. You’re not scheduled for a 9:00 am flight this morning; you’re scheduled for a 9:00 pm flight tonight.”

Suddenly, the cheaper flight makes sense and my heart drops into my stomach. The agent is leaning as far away from me as she can get, clearly prepared for the explosion of rage she thinks is coming her way.

I let out a string of expletives under my breath as I look away from her so she doesn’t think I am directing them at her. It isn’t HER fault after all but mine for not reading the times properly. Once I compose myself, I turn back to her.

Me: “Okay, well, I don’t really want to wait until 9:00 pm tonight and lose a whole day with my boyfriend. Is there anything I can do to fix this?”

The agent looks a little relieved but still apprehensive.

Agent: “Well, I can bump you to the 10:00 am flight, but there will be a fee of $150 to do that.”

I whisper more expletives to myself. As a student, money is tight, and this trip is already pushing it for me.

Agent: “Or you could call [Third-Party Website] to see if you would be able to change your flight through them?”

I realize I will have to bite the bullet for this and hope they will be able to accept a different credit card from the one on file.

Me: “No, I don’t know how long that would take, and I don’t want to miss the 10:00 am flight. I’ll just pay the fee and move to that one, please.”

The agent nods and glances back to her computer, typing information and making the changes I’ve requested. In the meantime, I’m digging in my purse to pull out my wallet and the card I want to use. As I glance up, my card in hand, the agent is holding my boarding pass out to me.

Me: “Wait, what about the fee?”

Agent: “I waived it this time, but please be sure to be more careful in the future.”

Me: *Nearly in tears* “Thank you! Thank you so much! I promise I will!”

I accepted the boarding pass and scurried off to security. As I promised that agent, I’ve never made that mistake again and my boyfriend and I are now happily living together.