I work in a call center, taking calls for various Internet Service Providers. Most of the calls are due to people’s Internet going out.

On Saturday night, I get another such call. I get the customer’s name and callback number, and we establish which of her two properties she’s calling about; she’s a landlady. Before we even get the call underway, it’s clear she’s already angry.

Me: “Okay, looks like I have the right account here. How can I help you tonight?”

Customer: “I’m calling because your Internet isn’t working.”

Me: “Okay, let me take a look at your account, and we’ll see if we can figure out what the problem might be.”

As I do a bit of troubleshooting on my end, she’s swearing at people in the background and snapping at her kid whenever the kid says anything at all. Her mood definitely doesn’t improve when I ask her if she’s onsite to do the troubleshooting.

Customer: “No, I’m in the car; I just left that place. But I’ll have my husband call the people there.” *To her husband* “Call them right now! This lady’s gonna tell me what to do to fix the s*** Internet!”

Me: “Um, just so you know, ma’am, it might be easier to just have them call us directly; that way you don’t—”

Customer: “I am the only one authorized on this account!”

I’m about to tell her that it’s okay, we don’t require people to be authorized to call in for troubleshooting, when she cuts me off.

Customer: “And I am not interested in authorizing anyone else!”

I try to calm her down a bit.

Me: “Oh, okay, ma’am, that’s fine.”

So, for the next ten to fifteen minutes, I get to take part in the most stressful game of Telephone ever. For the whole customer troubleshooting part of the call, I have to tell her what needs to be done next, she tells her husband, and he tells the people on the other line. This makes it so the call lasts a lot longer than it needs to, and I can tell that she and her husband aren’t passing on all the details I am giving her to the tenants.

Surprise, surprise, the initial troubleshooting doesn’t work. Our protocol then is to have the customer text us some pictures of how they have things hooked up. This makes it so we can check that everything’s plugged in correctly, as well as making it much easier for us to instruct the customer on what to do next.

I explain this to the caller, but she yet again insists on making things harder than they need to be, saying that she will have the tenants text the photos to her husband, and her husband will then text those photos to us. So the call drags on even longer. Meanwhile, we’ve gone way past the goal that management has set for us on how long our calls should be, on average. This is the one thing they’re always on me to get better about, so I’m getting a little nervous.

I know that sometimes people call in stressed because their service isn’t working, and it’s really messing up their day. I totally understand that. So I try really hard to make them laugh, help them feel cared about, and break up some of the tension they’re bringing to the call.

As the call progresses, I think I might be making some progress in that regard with the customer, since she seems to be a little less loud and snippy with me. That is, up until the very end of the call, when it becomes clear that I won’t be able to help them over the phone, so I’ll have to have someone in the main office call her back. Because it’s the weekend, this means they’ll have to wait until Monday. After a bit more swearing, she decides to take out her frustrations on me, personally.

Customer: “Oh, and before I go, I want to tell you that your attitude during this call has been horrible.”

I am shocked and confused since I’ve been putting extra effort into trying to be extra nice and calm her down throughout the call and was thinking I may have partially succeeded.

Me: “Um, I’m very sorry, ma’am; that certainly wasn’t my intention, and I apologize if I came across that way.”

Customer: *Still angry* “Yeah, you sound as if you really hate working there!”

No, I just hate having to deal with control freaks who insist on doing things the hardest way possible… Yeah, I definitely had to take a break after that call to cool down.

Come payday, I get my check on a card and usually hit the ATM to pull out cash for bills. As the card and ATM charge two different fees, I try to only hit the ATM once each payday. This time, I have a thirty-dollar bill due and a fifty-dollar bill due. Easy enough; I just need to split a twenty.

I go into the store to buy food with my card and split the twenty.

Me: *To the cashier* “How are you today, sir?”

The cashier is new; I’ve never seen him before. He says nothing to me but rings everything up silently.

Me: “I’d like to pay by card, but can y’all split this twenty for me?”

Cashier: “No. You can use cash or card, not both.”

Me: “Okie doke, no problem.”

I pay with a card and we finish the transaction.

Me: “Now can you split this twenty?”

Cashier: “Nope. You have to buy something first.”

Me: “Okay?”

I grab a candy which comes out to eighty-eight cents after tax, and I lay down twenty-one dollars.

Me: “I’d like that change in fives or tens, please.”

Cashier: “I don’t have any tens.”

Me: “Okay, fives are fine, too.”

The cashier hits the button for exact change, the drawer pops out, and he tries to hand me the twenty back with no coins.

Me: “Sorry, but I need fives. Or even ones. I don’t need a twenty.” 

The manager comes over and redoes the transaction, having to tell the cashier to type in that I gave him twenty-one dollars for the eighty-eight-cent candy.

The cashier hands me four fives, zero coins. Then, he slams the drawer, turns away without a word, and simply walks off.

Me: “I didn’t get… Never mind.” 

If that’s how he acts to polite customers, he won’t last long.

I work in a pet store. A middle-aged couple comes in with a rottweiler they obviously don’t control very well.

Since my coworker had an incident with a customer’s rottweiler a few weeks back, I decide to keep my distance while asking if they need any help. They say no; they already know what to buy, as my coworker has already shown them the harness they want.

When it’s time to pay, they make a big fuss.

Female Customer: “We always get a 15% discount on everything in this store, plus we get a 20% discount on backpacks.”

Me: “Why is that?”

Female Customer: *Shrugs* “We just always do, and we’re loyal customers.”

I do not give them the discount, as I have no idea why they’d get one.

Female Customer: “We’re gonna report you to your manager!”

My manager doesn’t hear a thing from them and assures me that nobody in the store gives out any discounts I don’t know about. She doesn’t even know which customers I am talking about, which means they’re not really that regular in our store.

A few weeks later, the same couple walks in with the harness and wants to give it back.

Me: “Hello! How may I assist you today?”

They just wave me off as they are heading for the dog food. I reckon that they don’t want any help and stay put behind the counter. 

When they come up to me to return the harness and buy the dog food, I give them a credit note with their remaining balance, as is our store’s policy, and since they claim they are regulars, I reckon it’s not a big deal as they will spend this money in our store anyway. 

They both totally snap at me at the same time.

Female Customer: “You need to learn the rules! You’re breaking the law by giving us a credit note instead of our money back! And you! You’ve never once asked us if we needed assistance; you’re just always hanging around behind the counter doing nothing!“

Then they both angrily walk out while saying stuff like, “She doesn’t fit in in this store!” All the other customers all of whom have been offered assistance, look shocked. 

Then, the husband comes back in, points his finger at me, and yells:

Male Customer: “When is your boss back at work?!”

Me: “My boss works from nine to three every weekday. She also answers messages on our Facebook page.”

Male Customer: “Then we’ll be back on Monday to talk to her and make this right! And we’ll be sure to tell her how you’re behaving!”

Me: “Okay?”

He stomped out again. 

Of course, I called my boss to prepare her for a very blue Monday. Monday came, Monday went, nothing. Not a word. When I talked to her later, she told me, “Yeah, sometimes customers try to do that to those working in the evening; they just try to scare them in order to get their money back or a discount. Sometimes people fall for it, and when they don’t, they get yelled at.”

We haven’t seen them since.

Related:
Don’t Discount The Customer’s Ability To Discount, Part 16
Don’t Discount The Customer’s Ability To Discount, Part 15
Don’t Discount The Customer’s Ability To Discount, Part 14
Don’t Discount The Customer’s Ability To Discount, Part 13
Don’t Discount The Customer’s Ability To Discount, Part 12

My store holds a big summer sale every year. People camp out for our six-am opening as all products are half-price or less.

There’s a woman who’s a regular customer. She comes in at least three times a week, spending £100 each time. When the sales come round, she brings all the clothes she bought back to refund them and repurchase at the lower price.

On this occasion, I am serving her and have to put through the refund.

She has over 200 items of clothing. Each one has to be scanned, refunded if they were cheaper, and then purchased again. It takes me well over two hours to do, and the shop has actually closed during the process, leaving just me and my manager in the shop.

After all the work and a refund of £500, which has to be on gift cards for security reasons, she complains that she wanted it in cash because that was how she originally paid, and she doesn’t want the gift cards. Cue the whole transaction having to be discarded and her items all repacked.

I quit the next day.

Related:
Refunder Blunder, Part 48
Refunder Blunder, Part 47
Refunder Blunder, Part 46
Refunder Blunder, Part 45
Refunder Blunder, Part 44

I work at an office supply store that also has a print shop. This particular day, our lead has called in sick, so I started early and am on my own for the day. We don’t normally do on-the-spot service, and today will be worse; I won’t be able to take as many same-day orders for the evening since I’m alone manning the counter and doing orders.

About halfway through my twelve-hour shift, a lady comes in needing a job done. It’s late afternoon, so it’s pretty dead traffic-wise and she is the only one at my counter.

Me: “Hello, I’m [My Name]. How can I help?

Customer: “Hey. I’m in a pinch and need to file these before the court closes in a few hours. How fast can you get these done?”

Me: “Unfortunately, I can’t take any more on-the-spot orders as we had a sick call and I’m alone all day. If it’s just a straight print job, you’re welcome to use self-serve. Otherwise, you’re looking at tomorrow morning at the earliest.”

Customer: “Okay, I’ll do that. I’ll be back.”

I say okay, not knowing what she meant. I probably should have taken a hint that this would turn into more. But in my defense, I am running around and stressed.

After about twenty minutes, she comes over with three copies of a 250-page document.

Me: “Hey, did you get your stuff printed okay? Do you need a box?”

Customer: “A box would be good. I’m going to browse the store until you’re done.”

Me: “I’m sorry?”

Customer: “I need them bound. I can’t file them like this.”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, I really can’t. As I explained, I already have a bunch of orders and I’m by myself.”

Customer: “What do you mean? There is no one here!”

Me: “No, there isn’t right now, but we were busy all morning and it took up all my availability, unfortunately. Sorry about that. You could try [Store about fifteen minutes away] since I know they aren’t as busy. I could call them quickly to check, too.”

Customer: “No, I want you to do them!”

Me: “Ma’am, I really can’t at the moment. I’m really sorry.”

Customer: “Well, sorry doesn’t cut it. I’m a f****** lawyer who needs them done now, or I swear I will sue your a**. Get me management!”

I call a manager who comes up immediately.

Manager: “What seems to be the problem here?”

Customer: “I need these files in two hours and your lazy employee here won’t do it! It would only take like ten minutes, and there is no one else here, so I should get priority because I’m here!”

Manager: “Unfortunately, ma’am, we had a few sick calls, so this young lady is alone today.”

Customer: “Don’t give me excuses! You have a duty to do my order or else I’m calling head office!”

I immediately shudder because, for base-level employees, a call to head office, no matter how unjustified and ridiculous, results in a write-up.

Manager: *Sighs* “I suppose we can pull someone from the floor; however, you will have to pay additional labour fees and rush fees.”

I know exactly what my manager is trying to do and I’m interested to see what will happen.

Manager: “So, in total, we are going to charge you twenty for the three binds, and since it will take about twenty minutes to bind them the way you want, twenty dollars in labour fees. Does that work for you?”

Customer: “That’s insane! I’m not paying that much.”

Manager: “Well, there isn’t much else I can do. Sorry, ma’am.”

Customer: “You’re not f****** sorry! I swear, I will sue you all! How dare you treat a representative of the law like this?! I will have all your jobs! I’m never coming back here!”

She then stormed out after pushing all her documents on the floor. About twenty minutes later, she sheepishly walked in and asked for them. I gave them to her and she walked out, saying profanities. She was back a week later and acted like the whole thing had never happened.