(I am a cashier. A customer comes up and I ring out his items without any problem. He hands me a $100 bill and, as company policy states, I hold it up to the light to check for counterfeit.)

Customer: “I am appalled!”

Me: “Excuse me?”

Customer: *look of disgust* “You just looked at that bill like it was fake!”

Me: “Well, company policy says that I have to check all large bills for counterfeit. We’ve had issues with it recently.”

Customer: “I know you’re just doing your job, but I am appalled.”

Me: “Um… Okay. Well, I apologize for offending you.”

Customer: “No, you’re just doing your job. But I am really appalled.”

Me: “Have a nice day, sir.”

Customer: *walks out shaking his head* “I am just appalled.”

(Our store has a designated food pickup counter at the very back of store. The registers are at the very front as soon as you walk in. I have a guest waiting on their food. I assume the man behind her is with her. He is not. After handing the first guest her food she walks away and the man walks up.)

Customer: “I need $20 on nine.”

Me: “Sir, this is the food pickup window. You need to go to the front register to pay.”

Customer: “No. I need $20 on nine.”

Me: “Sir, I don’t have a register here. You have to go up front to pay for—”

Customer: *cutting me off* “I SAID $20 ON NINE!”

Me: “You… you have to pay at the front, sir.”

Customer: “Do you have three mouths and no EARS?! TWENTY! ON! NINE!”

Me: “I have no register. I have no cash drawer. I can literally not ring you up, sir.”

Customer: “MANAGER! NOW!”

(I quickly explain to my manager who goes over to the customer.)

Manager: “I’m sorry, sir, but—”

Customer: “TWENTY ON NINE! TWENTY ON NINE! TWENTY ON NIIIIIINE!” *throws money at the manager and storms outside*

Me: “I wonder what he’s going to do when he realizes there is no pump nine?”

(The customer was then seen yelling and ranting outside before peeling off in his car. We put the $20 in the charity bucket.)

(I work part-time in a call centre alongside my studies. I work for a telephone, TV, and broadband provider where if you cancel, everything must be sent back; otherwise, there will be a fine that will rise if not paid.)

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

Customer: “You need to come and collect my equipment.”

Me: “Okay, what you will need to do is fill out a returns slip, which I am sending right now for you, free of charge. Then, you take this to a collect plus store; from there they will send it back to us.”

Customer: “No, you are not listening. You need to come and collect it.”

Me: “I’m afraid I cannot do so, as it has to be done through a third party. I have no contact with this third party, so I cannot arrange for someone to collect it.”

Customer: “What? That is absurd! I will not have that!”

Me: “I’m afraid we cannot send someone to your address to collect your equipment. You will need to take them to a collect plus store.”

Customer: “Uh, fine. What is the closest one to me?”

(I have a look at this and see that there is one 1.2 miles away from his house. I let him know this and this is where it gets ridiculous.)

Customer: “Okay, I shall do so tomorrow. When will the credit be cleared?”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, what credit do you mean?”

Customer: “Well, I will get money to cover my petrol to return this, right?”

Me: “No, we cannot do that—”

Customer: “What the f*** is this? First, you cannot send someone out to collect it for me. Now you’re telling me I have to pay out my own f****** pocket to return your f****** equipment?! Forget it! I will just keep it.”

Me: “Sir, if you do not return it you will be fined for keeping it, and if this is not paid it will get higher and higher.”

Customer: “Well, pay for my f****** petrol, then, you bloody idiot!”

Me: “I have already informed you that I cannot do that sir—”

Customer: “Get me your manager. He will do something, I am sure.”

(I go and get my manager and tell him a rough idea of what this is about. He bursts out laughing and sends me off to tell the customer that he is busy and can’t take it. I tell the customer this and he gets even angrier.)

Customer: “What do you mean, he is busy? I bet you didn’t even get him, you imbecile. Get him for me right this instant; if you do not, I will be filing a complaint against you and [Company] for fining me because you are not helping me!”

(I go back to my manager and tell him this again. He looks at me dumbstruck. He honestly thought I was kidding and that was why he laughed the first time. He gets up and gestures for me to transfer the customer over to him right away.)

Me: “Okay, I have now gotten his attention; I am going to transfer you through right now.”

Customer: “Good! It’s the only decent thing you’ve done for me today. Goodbye.”

(Oddly enough, during this call my lunch break was due to start, so I take this straight after. I come back just before my break is over as I want to know the aftermath of this nonsense. I go up to my manager and he hits me with this:)

Manager: “[My Name], that was a pain. He only hung up a couple of minutes ago.”

Me: “What did you tell him? He refused to listen to me whatsoever.”

Manager: “Oh, just the truth. I simply told him if he did not return it he would have the fine and this cannot be waived. I also told him we will not apply a credit to cover his petrol to go to the nearest store. He didn’t like this and said he was not driving there out of his own pocket. So I simply told him to walk, as that way he wouldn’t need to pay and since it is only 1.2 miles away, it shouldn’t take long. He hung up swearing and cursing. I expect a complaint to be filed any time now.”

(There was no complaint ever filed.)

(I work for a social housing company. Social Housing means houses for people with little income, who can get government support. They are normal houses, sometimes a bit smaller than houses you can buy. In some cases, there is a dire need for people to move to a different house and they can request “Urgency.” This means they can bypass waiting lists — about eight to ten years depending on where you live as there is a huge shortage of social houses in the Netherlands! — and can move more than once within a few months. However, rules are very strict and you can’t be picky. After all, you need a house, not a castle. A woman calls, requesting urgency.)

Me: “All right, let’s check the rules. Why would you need urgency?”

Woman: “Well, my husband is terribly ill and will no longer get better. He also can’t walk up the stairs any more. We had to put his bed in the living room, the poor soul.”

Me: “I am so sorry to hear that.”

Woman: “Yes, my husband needs a lot of care. We did request a little stair-case elevator, but they said it would be pointless. They said we need to move, so he can have a calm time for what he has left.”

Me: “Well, miss, I checked your data and it looks like you can apply for urgency. I will send you the forms. Just to be clear, I can’t guarantee you will receive urgency and we won’t have influence on it. This goes by a separate council who specialises in urgency.”

Woman: “I understand.” *gives address so I can send the form* “I hope we can move soon; my husband would love to have a new garden.”

Me: “I hope so, too, but I can’t promise you will get a home with a garden.”

Woman: *irate* “Why not?!”

Me: “Usually, people who get granted urgency get urgency for an apartment or flat. Some are on the ground floor, so you won’t need an elevator. Some have gardens, but you can’t request it.”

Woman: “But I’m leaving behind a big house! With a garden! I demand a garden!”

Me: “Urgency is about a roof above your head, miss; you can’t ask for specific housing.”

Woman: “Well, I… And a flat?! Who wants to live in a flat?! I live in a decent neighbourhood! I can’t live in a flat!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but like said, urgency is so you can bypass all those who have waited for years and quickly get a new roof. There are more flats available than houses.”

Woman: “No, no, I won’t accept that! I want a house with a garden. Or else I won’t even fill in the forms!”

Me: “That is your choice, miss. I can’t force you.”

Woman: “Well, I guess my husband will have to keep on sleeping in the living room until he dies! I hope they are happy now! Good day!”

(She hung up. I needed a little moment before I could take the next call. We never got the forms.)

(I’m a hotel night auditor, so I work graveyard front desk essentially at an extended-stay hotel chain. We have different standards than most hotels; for example, housekeeping is only done every three days. This is a conversation between a guest and me at 6:00 am.)

Guest: *all friendly and smiles* “Hi! I don’t think you were here yesterday but I had requested stay-over service and I didn’t get it.”

Me: “Oh, yeah! I was here yesterday morning. You spoke with me.”

(I check the stay-over log and see a note that service was not completed because she left her “Do Not Disturb” sign up.)

Me: “Well, according to our notes, your service wasn’t completed due to you leaving the DND up. Housekeeping cannot legally enter the room when you have a DND out.”

Guest: *smile is gone and her face turns the ugliest shade of red* “I didn’t know I had to have that stupid thing down in order to get my room cleaned! This is not okay! I was planning on extending my stay by a month but not now. I even asked for extra garbage bags and housekeeping couldn’t even put them or clean towels in front of the door! This is a health hazard!”

Me: *apologetically* “Ma’am, I’m so sorry but if you have a DND up that means no service because if a housekeeper enters the room while that’s in place you could potentially sue us. And you didn’t ask for extra garbage bags, just service. I’m sorry you were inconvenienced; I hope you allow us to make this right.”

Guest: *still angry* “No! I’m done with you people! I’m calling corporate!” *storms out*

(This was a woman of about sixty years old; you’d think she’s stayed at hotels before by this stage in her life.)