This happened a few years back when I was an intern at a small law firm.
I was fresh out of college and, as such, my workload was very light and I was often relegated to helping other employees, like photocopying and scanning documents, bringing customers to the meeting room, bringing them water, tea, etc.
One day, there was this customer who came thirty minutes before closing time. He was loud and demanding, and he was asking for our boss, one of the senior lawyers in this firm. I was helping out at the front desk at that time.
Me: “[Boss] is out attending a meeting with a client right now.”
Customer: *Huffily* “Fine. Then fetch [Senior Employee].”
Me: “All right. Wait here, please.”
[Senior Employee] came out to meet with [Customer]. They discussed the work, which [Senior Employee] had apparently been handling for a while for [Customer]. [Customer] didn’t sound happy about something, and he was working himself up. He demanded that [Senior Employee] finish something right there and then.
After a few minutes of heated discussion, [Senior Employee] asked if [Customer] would like to return the next day as it was nearly closing time.
Customer: “No! I want you to finish [project] today! And I’m not leaving until you do so!”
Senior Employee: “Okay. Wait here; it will take a while.”
And he returned to the workroom in the back.
[Customer] waited impatiently in the waiting room. He waited until closing time and glared at any employees who were on their way home. I was closing up my desk and preparing to head home myself when [Customer] suddenly came up to me.
Customer: “Where is [Senior Employee]?”
Me: “He’s probably still in the back, working.”
Customer: *Pointing behind me* “You mean in there?”
The reception area and the employees’ room were separated by a floor-to-ceiling glass pane that was covered with a privacy film, and there was also a glass door that had a huge “Employees Only” sign on it.
Me: “Yes…? Well, he shouldn’t be long. I can call him to ask if you like, sir.”
Customer: “No need for that!”
And then [Customer] proceeded to walk to the door and push it open. I tried to stop him from entering.
Me: “Sir? Sir! You can’t enter that room!”
Customer: *Pointing a finger at me* “Shut up, kid! This doesn’t concern you!”
He pushed me aside and barged into the room. I followed [Customer], who marched straight up to [Senior Employee]’s desk.
Senior Employee: *Surprised* “Sir, you need to wait outside.”
[Customer] wasn’t having it.
Customer: “Why is this taking so long?!”
They got into a heated argument, where [Senior Employee] tried to make [Customer] leave, while [Customer] insisted on watching [Senior Employee] work until he finished what he needed.
That’s when our boss arrived back at the office. I went back to the reception area and, sure enough, the sounds of [Customer] and [Senior Employee]’s arguments could be heard all the way up front.
Boss: “What the h*** is happening back there?”
I told him about [Customer], and [Boss] simply sighed in annoyance.
Boss: “Oh, it’s that guy again… No matter. I’ll handle this. You stay here.”
[Boss] went into the employees’ room, and there was another heated argument. [Customer] tried to blame [Senior Employee] for being slow, and [Boss] wasn’t having any of it. In the end, [Customer] was escorted out of the employees’ room and out of the office by [Boss] and [Senior Employee].
There was more shouting outside, most of which I didn’t manage to catch, but [Customer] did say something about never coming back to this law firm again, and [Boss] said that we had camera recordings in the office and he could sue [Customer] if he wanted to.
[Customer] never returned after that.
