I work as a cafe barista on a UK campus. One morning, a customer who is infamous among the staff for being rude comes by and orders a latte. The transaction goes on normally, and she waits for her drink while I prepare it. When she collects her drink, she decides to add syrup to it.

Customer: “I want to add chai syrup to my drink.”

Me: “Sure thing, I just need to put the request through the till.”

Customer: “Okay, no problem; I can pay. How much is it?”

Me: “That will be 50p.”

Customer: “How much?”

Me: “50 pence.”

Customer: “No, I want four extra pumps of chai syrup. How much is that?”

Me: *In bewilderment* “It will cost you 50 pence.”

Customer: “No, I come here all the time! One, two, three, four! Do you understand?!”

I reply in a raised voice but trying my best not to shout.

Me: “Yeah, it’s gonna cost 50p!”

This goes on for a while. Luckily, it’s a quiet morning so there aren’t any other customers around. Finally, she takes out her card and asks one last time.

Customer: “Fine, I just want my drink! How much is it?!”

Me: *Pause* “It’s 50p.”

I add the syrup and give her the drink. By this time, my colleague has heard the commotion and arrived to hear her parting shot.

Customer: “You don’t speak English, by any chance?”

After the customer has left:

Colleague: “How did you not hit her?!”

I am not from the UK and don’t have a local accent, but English is my native language and I haven’t had a single problem communicating with anybody while in the UK. The customer is also not local, most probably from an Eastern European country based on her accent.

Related:
If At First You Don’t Succeed, Chai Again, Part 6
If At First You Don’t Succeed, Chai Again, Part 5
If At First You Don’t Succeed, Chai Again, Part 4
If At First You Don’t Succeed, Chai Again, Part 3

I work in a hotel. We have a cold snap in August and a pipe bursts in our laundry room. Almost all of our clean laundry is now sopping wet, I have just taken a “shower” fully clothed to turn the water off, and the water has reached several rooms.

Of course, this happens around 2:00 am. Our manager and the restoration company are already there by 2:30 am and pumping the water out and drying the carpet in the hall. We start calling rooms by the laundry room to let them know and to let them know that we will be comping their rooms.

Most people are annoyed but understanding — thank you to those that are very sweet to me! Then, there is this guest…

Guest: “Well, this was not a very convenient time for this to happen!”

The guest is completely serious and snappy, but I am polite.

Me: “I understand, ma’am. We’ve comped your room. The manager would also like to offer you a free night at a later date. Do you need any help with any luggage? Was it damaged at all?”

Guest: “No! But still, this was very inconvenient!”

Me: *Thinking* “Sorry, next time we will schedule our floods better.”

Related:
A Flood Of Complaints

I am female, which seems to play a part in this story.

Heading from the store to my car, I heard a man ask another man for a jumpstart. I slowed down in case [Man #2] said no.

[Man #2] answered, “I can’t do that. It will drain my battery.”

[Man #1] and I just stared as he walked away. 

I then turned to [Man #1] and said, “That’s not how it works.” 

He nodded.

I offered to help and told him I had jumper cables in the back of my car.

He refused my offer because, “Girls don’t know nuthin’ ’bout cars.”

It is my first day at work and I am being trained. A customer walks in.

Me: “Hello, sir, what can I get you?”

The customer just stares blankly. A few minutes go by; thankfully, the store isn’t busy.

Customer: “You guys should really fix your prices; they are too high and there’s not enough for your money.”

Coworker: “Sir, I apologize for the pricing, but I have no control over it; that’s the owner’s job.”

Customer: “Well, that’s stupid! Anyway, I want a small ice cream.”

Me: “What flavor?”

Customer: “Mixed vanilla and chocolate.”

I make a larger-than-normal portion of soft-serve small, in an ice cream cone, and hand it to the customer. He makes a rude face.

Customer: “This is it? I paid four dollars for a small ice cream cone and this is all I get?!”

Coworker: “Sir, that’s more than we normally serve; he’s new and getting the ropes down.”

Customer: “This is outrageous! I demand another!”

My coworker throws away the old cone.

Customer: “Well, why’d you throw it away?! That was good food and I would’ve taken it!”

Sure you would, dude.

My coworker makes a new, very large ice cream and hands it to the customer.

Customer: “This is too big! Why would anyone eat this much?”

As I open my mouth to say something — because my coworker is a very shy person — she quietly holds a finger to me to ensure I don’t say anything.

The customer pays and leaves the store without another word. Later on, the boss comes in and we tell him the story. He lets us know that the customer can’t decide what to buy and what’s too small as long as we fill it up the right amount. 

The customer comes back in an hour later.

Customer: “Hey, I dropped my cone before I finished it; I want another.”

I point out who the man is.

Boss: “Sir, unless you’re going to buy a new cone, please leave. You cannot demand a free cone because you dropped one.”

Customer: *Gets visibly angry* “The customer is always right! And I want a free cone!”

After about ten minutes of back and forth, the man walked out, frustrated.

Related:
When Ice Cream Really Does Make You Scream

I work in customer services for an energy company. This conversation happens through chat customer service.

Customer: “You guys are stressing me out by increasing my bills.”

Me: “I apologize for the inconvenience; let me get this checked for you.”

I check, and the bill was based on estimated meter reading as the customer had not provided them on time.

Me: “I see that the bill is based on estimated readings; if you can provide me the readings, I will be happy to revise it for you.”

Most of our customers provide the readings by themselves or have smart meters. For vulnerable customers, we have meter reading appointments.

Customer: “Are you serious? You are asking me to provide the readings? It’s not my job to get the readings. I recently had a liver transplant and my sister died because of cancer. I’m vulnerable and you are asking me to pay such a high bill.”

Me: “I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. Let me add you to our priority list. You can call our number to get the meter appointment at your convenience. Once we have the readings, we can revise the bill.”

Customer: “Now you are asking me to spend more money and call. Arrange a call back for me.”

Me: “I’m sorry, I don’t have access to book an appointment; we have a specialist team who does that. Also, we do not have a call back facility. I would ask you to please call our team and I’m positive they will help you further with this.”

Customer: “Okay, I’ll do it. You guys never help me. Because of you, I have anxiety issues and now I have to stay on the phone for thirty minutes and talk to a person.”

I know the conversation is not going anywhere so I try to push it toward a closing.

Me: “I’m sorry to hear that. To make this easier for you, I have removed the estimated bill temporarily; after the appointment, we will generate a new bill. I hope I was able to help you today. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Customer: “No, thank you.”

Me: “You’re most welcome. I hope for your speedy recovery from the transplant. Get well soon. Have a good day ahead.”

Customer: “I’m already recovered; I had the transplant ten years ago.”