I work at a gas station. One day, this old lady comes in and asks my coworker to put gas in her car for her because she doesn’t know how to. He helps her and the whole time is very polite to her.

Lady: “For some reason, everywhere I go, everybody gets mad at me. Today, I didn’t want to pay for parking, and the parking workers didn’t let me leave until I paid for my parking ticket!”

After that, they both come inside.

Lady: *To me* “How much do I have to pay?”

Me: “That’ll be [price].”

She looks around her wallet a little bit.

Lady: “Oh, I guess I don’t have enough money. Well, I come here all the time; I’ll bring it next time.”

My coworker and I look at each other.

Me: “How much do you have, ma’am?”

Lady: “[About 40€ less than the total].”

Me: *Politely* “Okay. You go home get the money and get back here in about an hour max. We don’t have to call the police; just be here as soon as you can, and all will be good.”

She seems offended.

Lady: “I don’t want to drive home and then back here for just 40€!”

Me: “Ma’am, we work until 2:00 pm. If you don’t bring the money by then, we have to pay that 40€ that you don’t have.”

Lady: *Shocked* “But I’m a regular customer! And I’m from a wealthy family. My brother is a lawyer! You should treat me more nicely!”

I’m already so annoyed and shocked that I’m having this conversation with a grown woman.

Lady: “You are so insensitive and cheap! You won’t pay that 40€ that I don’t have?!”

She just goes on and on. Eventually, when we mention the police, another 100€ appears in her bag and she is able to pay. Before leaving, she says:

Lady: “You’re a horrible person! No wonder you work at a gas station.”

I love my job.

I am on the train to go back to my parents after a week in boarding school and a ticket inspector passes. He takes the opportunity to check the masks.

Ticket Inspector: “The mask on your nose, please.”

Passenger: “I am not the only one who has it like that!”

The ticket inspector checks.

Ticket Inspector: “That’s right.”

He leaves and I think he’s given up. Suddenly, a voice comes on the speakers.

Voice: “I have a message from the ticket inspector. The nose is the appendage above the mouth. The ticket inspector is going to pass by again in the lanes; if he can put a finger in your nose, you are liable for a 135€ fine.”

Several people put their masks back on correctly!

This happens to my coworker in the shipping department in our store. She’s manning the department alone one day, taking care of three customers at once. One is having copies made, another is doing a fax, and another is shipping a package. A fourth customer walks up, and my coworker politely tells her that it’ll be just a moment.

Well, she is having none of that. She demands to speak to a manager who she then screams at about having to wait while these other people’s jobs are done.

Customer: “I am a business owner and I need immediate service! Everyone else can wait.”

Taking it out on my coworker and manager wasn’t enough. She then wrote to corporate and informed them that she would never be using the shipping department in our store again. Turns out this woman was under the impression that the shipping department was “for businesses only, not normal people.” It was an outrage that we would DARE to just serve ANYONE who comes in.

No, really. That was her complaint.

Corporate actually sent a scanned version of this insane letter to our manager, who framed it in the breakroom and shared this story for the laughs.

Fine with us if she doesn’t want to do business with us; we don’t want to see her, either!

I am at a popular chain sandwich shop where the sandwiches are highly customized and made while you watch. I am the only customer in the store when this happens. As the worker is pulling the sandwich out of the toaster oven, it slips and falls on the floor. She apologizes and offers to make me another one. I don’t read into her phrasing, figuring she’s just flustered, and I’m not going to give her a hard time for an honest mistake.

The first sandwich goes in the trash and the second is made without incident. As we get to the register and she tells me the price, things go wrong.

Me: “Uh, are you sure that’s correct? The sandwich is usually [half what she quoted me].”

Employee: “Well, I had to make two sandwiches since the first one got tossed.”

Me: “It was tossed because you dropped it.”

Employee: “Yes, but you told me to make you a new one.”

Me: “Would you have expected me to eat the one off the floor?”

Employee: “No, but you asked for a new one. Since I made two, I have to charge you for two.”

Me: “But it was your mistake, not mine. Why should I pay for a sandwich you dropped?”

Employee: “I made you two sandwiches, though.”

I sense that I’m not getting anywhere.

Me: “All right. Well, I’m not paying for a sandwich you dropped.”

Employee: “You have to pay for both of them or I can’t give you this one.”

Me: “Fine.”

I start heading out. I’d rather get zero for the price of zero than get one for the price of two.

Employee: “Hey! If you leave without paying, you’ll be banned from the store!”

Me: “I’m fine with that.”

I work in a fast food chain that makes sandwiches. We are located near a university that has a football game this Saturday. Earlier this week, we received an order of 113 sandwiches for the opposing team, who is driving up. The order must arrive no later than 7:30, and the coach says he will provide us a parking pass for us to park on campus and deliver the food. This never occurs.

To help with the order, our location closed early, and we started making the sandwiches at four.

We have almost finished the remaining seven or so sandwiches. The time is 6:55. The phone rings.

Me: “[Sandwich Chain], how may I help you?”

Caller: “Is this the chain we bought sandwiches for the catering order from?”

Me: “Yes, sir.”

Caller: “Is someone on the way?”

Me: “No, sir, we’re wrapping the last few sandwiches now.”

Caller: “Okay, well, the game’s over already. And we expected the sandwiches here at 7:00. We’ve actually got to pull out of here soon.”

Me: *Slightly panicked* “We’re finishing the order now, sir. We’ll get it out to y’all as soon as possible. I apologize; we thought the original time of completion was 7:30.”

Caller: “It’s all right, just get them out to us.” *Click*

I relay this information and we scramble to finish. As I am placing the last few sandwiches together, the phone rings again.

Manager: “[Sandwich Chain], how may I help you?” *Pauses* “Okay. Yes, sir, I understand the situation, but the agreement was to have the sandwiches delivered by 7:30.” *Pauses* “Yes, sir. Yes, we’ve got them on the road now. Okay. Thank you.” *Hangs up the phone* “Geez.”

The manager and I started hauling the bags to her car so she could deliver them. As we were packing the five sandwich bags and 133 cookies into the car, the phone rang again. The other employee got it. As I ran in to get the napkins and receipt for the sign-off, she called to us that it was the team again. Now, the guy wanted to meet at a new drop-off point, about ten more minutes from where the stadium was located. I relayed this to my manager, and she sighed and drove off.

About thirty minutes later, she returned. Apparently, the guy had called earlier that day to double-check the order and said something about delivering the sandwiches “anytime between 6:30 and 7:30,” which was his way of telling us to bring the sandwiches at 6:30. He also called my manager on her way over to scream at her. He promised never to order catering from us again. It also turned out that our university’s team had won the game, smoking this coach and his players forty-four to ten.