The last day of Christmas is a public holiday here in Switzerland.
Caller: “I tried to contact you yesterday, but nobody answered the phone.”
Me: “Yesterday was the last day of Christmas, so the office was closed.”
Caller: “I don’t celebrate Christmas; you should respect that!”
I work in a small bakery inside a supermarket. This occurs in November 2020.
Customer: “One piece of this cake here, please. And can I have a fork to eat that with?”
Me: “I’m sorry, but due to current health regulations, we do not offer seating at the moment.”
Customer: “But I can eat it outside!”
Me: “We do not offer seating outside, either.”
Customer: “I can still eat it outside!”
Me: “You want to stand outside in the parking lot and eat cake? In winter?”
Customer: “Yes! Now can I have a fork?”
Me: “Sorry, we don’t have any single-use cutlery. And I can’t be sure you won’t just take the fork with you if you use it outside.”
Customer: “So, no fork?”
Me: “No.”
I work at a well-known video game store. It’s the week leading up to Christmas, so we’re low on a lot of the high-demand items. Because I’ve been checking for most of these items at other stores over the past few days, I have a good idea of how hard everything is to find.
A middle-aged woman comes in, looking rushed.
Me: “Hi there. Can I help you find anything?”
Customer: “Yeah, I need a Switch and some games for it.”
Me: “Unfortunately, we don’t have any Switch consoles in stock. I know [Nearby Location] has a couple left, though.”
Customer: “I’m not driving out there! I came here for one!”
Me: “We don’t have any in the store, though. I can even call and have them hold one for you, if you’re worried about it being sold soon.”
Customer: “I refuse to drive all the way to [Nearby Location]! It’s too far!”
The location in question is about three minutes away. Even with traffic, it’d be no more than five minutes.
Me: “Ma’am, we do not have any Switch systems in the store. Not even used. I can sell you the games, but I have absolutely no system for you. I can call [Nearby Location] and hold one for you or I can have one ordered online and sent to your house, but there is no system in this store that you can purchase right now.”
Customer: “Fine! I’ll just shop at [Competitor]!”
I let her leave. The competitor in question was also sold out. The kicker? We got more Switch systems in the next day.
It is late December. My boss is upstairs working on a stock-take, and my two part-time colleagues and I are in the shop dealing with customers. Late in the afternoon, a woman comes in looking for light fittings.
Me: “Madam, it turns out the fittings you want are one of the most common ones we stock, so we have plenty in at the moment.”
Customer: “I need five of them.”
I rush upstairs to grab them and then bring them over to the till.
Me: “That will be [price].”
Customer: “What? No! That’s too much! Give me a discount!”
Me: “I have already discounted them.”
Customer: “Then give me a bigger discount!”
Me: “Sorry, madam, but I cannot give you any more of a discount. I’m not allowed to.”
Customer: “Then go and ask your boss for permission!”
I go upstairs — reluctantly, as I know what my boss will say — and ask him about the possibility of giving her a further discount on the light fittings.
Manager: “No, the profit margin on the fittings are so tight that we can’t go any lower than the price you’ve already quoted.”
I return to the shop and apologetically tell her that I won’t be able to give her a further discount. She takes this really badly, launching into a verbal attack on me, complaining about how awful my customer service is.
Customer: “It’s Christmas! You should show some festive spirit! I’m always in the shop so I should at least deserve a discount!”
I find this last one strange because I’ve been working there since May and have never met her before now.
She pays for the light fittings, still complaining and being genuinely unpleasant. I stand there trying hard not to cry and just wanting her to get out of the shop. I hand her the receipt and she snatches it and glares at me.
Customer: “Oh, and by the way, it’s Christmas! A f****** smile wouldn’t go amiss!”
She stormed out, and I stood behind the counter, fuming.
I have a popular coffee chain’s app that I use to order through due to the health crisis. Said coffee chain offers reward points, up to 400 points, which can be used for a free drink of your choice or other purchases. At this point, I have nearly 400 points due to not really using my points much, maybe once every two weeks to get myself a free drink. I order my usual drink through the app, only to find afterward that nearly half of my points are now missing from my app. I contact their customer support:
Me: “Hi there. I ordered my drink today through the app using my balance, but half of my points were removed without reason. I didn’t use them whatsoever, so why were they removed?”
Representative: “I see that you received 23.8 points for your purchase today.”
Me: “But I didn’t use any of my points, and I had nearly 400.”
Representative: “It does look like 150 points were used to get a free blended beverage two days ago.”
Me: “I know, but that was a part of the promotion for 150 points, and my points balance never changed afterward. The price for a free drink is the same as the promotion points.”
Representative: “I’m not seeing any purchases using them today, either. Your Points Balance is 291. Thank you.”
Me: “Exactly. What I’m trying to ask is why they went down. They were at 380 today, before I ordered, and then after I ordered, they were at 291!”
Representative: “If you have a screenshot showing the 380, I could look into this further for you.”
Me: “How am I supposed to take a screenshot of something that happened that I have no control of, that I wouldn’t know would happen? It’s not like I’m a crazy person who takes pictures of their points to show off to everyone. All I know is that before I ordered, I had 380, and now I’ve lost at least 100 points for no reason. It’s not like I could know I would lose the points, so why would I take a picture of my points?”
Representative: “We aren’t seeing any points being removed. That is why a screenshot would prove that more points were there before the purchase was made.”
Me: “Okay, I want some logic here. Why would I take a screenshot before a problem occurred? I didn’t know the problem would occur! If I had the power of foresight, I would use it for more than getting my hard-earned points back!”
I didn’t hear anything for half an hour, and then the chat was terminated. I still don’t have an explanation as to where my points went, nor how I am supposed to take a screenshot of something in the past.
