The office where I work closes at 5:30 pm. We are usually very precise about closing on time because we are generally not allowed to stay later than our scheduled shifts. I receive a phone call on this day at just about 5:00 pm.

Me: “[Company], this is [My Name]. How can I help you?”

Customer: “I lost my [Company] card and I need a replacement. Can you help me?”

Me: “Yes, if you want to come in, we’d be happy to replace that card for you.”

Customer: “How late are you open?”

Me: “We close at 5:30, so you’ll need to get here in about half an hour or less.”

Customer: “All right. I’m on my way now. Can you wait for me?”

Me: *Getting a bad feeling* “How far out are you?”

At this point, my coworkers, overhearing my side of the conversation, are getting nervous.

Customer: “I’m about forty-five minutes away.”

Me: “Well, it’s already five o’clock, and we close at 5:30. If you get here in forty-five minutes, we’ll already be closed, and there will be no one here to help you.”

Customer: “But I need a new card!”

Me: “I understand that. If you can get here before 5:30, we’ll be happy to help you. Otherwise, we’d be happy to help you once we open again tomorrow morning.”

The customer goes quiet for a while, and I end the call after getting no further response. About fifteen minutes later, I can hear my supervisor on another phone call. It is the same person, and the call goes something like this.

Supervisor: “Our office closes at 5:30. You’ll need to arrive before then.”

Customer: “I’ll be there in about twenty-five minutes!”

Supervisor: “Our office closes in fifteen minutes. It may be better for you to come back tomorrow so there will be someone available to assist you.”

After the call concludes, we close the office at 5:30, with no sign of the person in question. We’ve already tried to explain twice that we can’t keep our office open past normal hours, and once we’re closed, everyone goes home for the night.

The next morning, I come in to open up for the day, and surprise, surprise. The overnight security tells me that someone came in trying to get to our office after 5:45 pm and was turned away, since we were already closed.

Related:
Closed To All Reason

I don’t actually work in this clothing store, but I work in the facility immediately next to it and get along very well with their staff. We sometimes have customers for the clothing store come to us for assistance, since we are in the same building.

The clothing shop is very small, with rarely more than two people ever working there at once. Therefore, if the staff take their lunch or ever have to go back into the shelves where they cannot see the front counter, they place a sign either stating when they will be back from lunch or inviting customers to use the phone near the front counter to dial the extension for the back of the shop to request help. These signs are large and centrally placed.

I frequently have customers like these.

Customer #1: “Excuse me, is [Clothing Store] open? There’s no one at the counter.”

Me: “Yes, they are. Did you see a sign at the front counter?”

Customer #1: “Yes. It said I should call a number for help.”

Me: “And did you see the phone at the counter?”

Customer #1: “Yes… Can you call them?”

Me: “No… I don’t work in [Clothing Store]. You’re more than welcome to use the phone at their counter. That’s why it’s there.”

Or:

Customer #2: “Excuse me! [Clothing Store] says that they’re closed for lunch!”

Me: “Yes, the sign should say what time they’ll be back.”

Customer #2: “Yes, it does, but I need help now! Can’t you help me?”

Me: “No… I don’t work for [Clothing Store]. Sorry. You’re more than welcome to wait. They usually are back a little early from lunch when they’re closed like this.”

Customer #2: “But I need help now!”

Me: “I’m very sorry, but there’s nothing I can do. You’re more than welcome to wait, or come back later. But I don’t work in [Clothing Store]. I work here.”

Or:

Customer #3: “Is [Clothing Store] closed?”

Me: “I don’t think so. Is there a sign on the front counter?”

Customer #3: “I don’t know.”

Me: *Stepping away from my counter* “Let’s see…”

I point out the painfully-hard-to-miss sign.

Me: “Oh, look. They just stepped away for a minute. If you give them a call, someone will be up to help you.”

Customer #3: “Oh.”

Related:
It’s A Very Bad Signs

I work in a large warehouse membership store. Management isn’t really that bad; summer and holiday seasons are hectic, but aside from that, there aren’t any issues… until 2017.

In 2017, I am moving further away than I expected, so I give in my two weeks’ notice, and two people sign the papers.

About two weeks after I move, to a place an hour away from my original location, I get a call.

Manager: “Where are you? Why didn’t you show up to work?!”

Me: “Um… I moved. I gave my two weeks’ notice beforehand, and it was signed off.”

They thought I was lying… and then proceeded to fire me.

I don’t even work there anymore.

It’s a big football weekend (pre-pandemic) and my friend is celebrating a milestone birthday. I’m the only person who’s still sober at this point in the party, so when pizza is suggested, I volunteer to collect it to save a few dollars on delivery in order to get enough food for everyone. I place the order, walk around and collect the payment of approximately $10 per person, and grab one slightly-less-drunk friend to help me carry the food. Then, we head off for the fifteen-minute drive to the shop.

We arrive as the pizzas are being boxed up, so I head up to the counter.

This is where everything goes wrong.

The young man behind the counter tries to hand me the huge stack of pizzas, garlic bread, and chicken wings, as the person behind me gets bumped by the crowd. He bumps me and I step aside, dropping two of the garlic breads on the floor. My friend grabs them and we get jostled into the corner. I think we’re missing a pizza, but the worker has the receipt, so I attempt to call over everyone’s heads and catch the eye of the people working, but no dice. The young man who handed me the pizzas is avoiding eye contact with me and nobody else can hear me over the noise.

Friend: “Let’s just take the pizzas to the car before we get squashed.”

We squeeze along the wall and get outside. At this point, we’ve figured out that we’re only short one garlic bread, so we decide to cut our losses and head home.

I pull out onto the main road and realise there’s a crunching sensation in my pocket; I never handed them the payment! We drive home, drop off the pizzas, and I attempt to call them. I’m out on hold for over ten minutes, the line cuts out, and I call back. Same problem again.

So, I drive down to the store. This is now forty-five minutes out of my friend’s party that I’ve spent driving around for pizzas. I try to get back to the counter. It’s wall-to-wall people and there are about two dozen standing outside. I attempt to get inside, am met with dirty looks, and am finally shoved back out the door.

Customer: “Wait your turn!”

In the end, I went back and sent an email to the head office saying what happened. Then I returned the cash to everyone at the party and started drinking.

I never heard back from the pizza company, so either they don’t read their emails or they didn’t care.

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: “…?”