(A customer comes to my register with a forty-pound bag of dog food and a coupon on his phone. I see that it is a manufacturer coupon for “$10 off one XL bag of dog food.” I’m suspicious, because nowhere on the bag does it say, “XL.” Other brands have bags marked as “XL” as a promotional offer, but this brand does not. The whole thing smells like fraud, but I’m not allowed to call him on it.)

Customer: “I have this, too.” *shows me his phone*

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, manufacturer coupons must be printed to be accepted.”

Customer: *waves me off* “Yeah, they usually just scan it or punch it in if it doesn’t work.”

Me: “I can’t take a digital manufacturer coupon. You’re welcome to print it out and bring it back with the receipt on your next trip and we can refund the amount at that time.”

Customer: “No. You can do it.”

Me: *still smiling politely* “No, sir, I’m afraid that’s fraud and I could lose my job.”

Customer: “Get me your manager.”

Me: “Okay.” *calls for the manager* “She’ll be here shortly.”

(The manager arrives.)

Customer: “She’s trying to tell me you don’t take manufacturer coupons.”

Manager: “Of course we do!” *holds out her hand*

Customer: “I’m not giving you my phone!”

Manager: “Oh, it’s not printed?”

Me: “I said we don’t take digital manufacturer coupons.”

Manager: “I see. You want an override, then?”

Customer: “Yes! Jesus! And train your employees better!”

Manager: *smiles and nods while overriding the coupon* “There you go!”

(The customer leaves, looking smug. As she is walking away, the manager says my name over the headset, which every employee in the store hears.)

Manager: “[My Name], we do not accept digital manufacturer coupons.”

Me: “That’s why I said no. You’re the one who said yes.”

Manager: “The coupon policy is clear. I’m not sure what you don’t understand.”

Me: “You broke policy, not me.”

(The same manager came back to me about an hour later with a printout showing fraudulent coupons that had recently been accepted at other stores. Wouldn’t you know it, the XL bag coupon was on the list! I still got a writeup for my attitude and for accepting a fraudulent coupon, despite management acknowledging that I was the one following policy. When I asked what I was supposed to do in that situation, management just kept dodging the question by repeating the official store policy. I found a new job ASAP.)

(I recently bought a new car from a dealership — and salesman — I’ve been doing business with for 13 years. The vehicle inspection expires before I can register it, and the salesman says he will set me up with the service department to get it taken care of after the school where I teach gets out. I arrive at the service department, where none of my usual people are working. I get there at 4:30.)

Me: “Hey, I was texting with [Salesman] yesterday, and the inspection on a car I bought expired before I could register the car. He said he’d get me set up with you.”

Service Guy: “I can’t do a walk-in right now; my whole crew gets off at five and they all have appointments right now.”

Me: “I understand, but [Salesman] said I can get this done today.”

Service Guy: “Ugh, I don’t know why [Salesman] would think he can do that. He should know better. While you’re here, I can make you an appointment to get this done another day.”

Me: “No, that doesn’t work; I need to register the car tomorrow and [Salesman] said he would set me up with you today. Here’s the text.”

[Salesman]’s Text: “I will let service know you will be here with the car before 5:00 tomorrow if that works for you. I’ll have [Service Manager I know] make sure you’re in their schedule.”

Service Guy: “Look, I can’t just make room in the schedule to inspect your car.”

Me: “I mean, I know [Salesman] doesn’t work Tuesdays, but I have him here saying he has me set up. Can you take a look at it or—” *mid-sentence, the service guy walks out of the office and starts talking to another service manager I don’t know* “—you can be an a** about this.”

(The service guys argue, and the one I’ve been talking to storms back in.)

Service Guy: “Okay, let me see what I can do. Last name?”

(This is the first time he’s asked me that.)

Me: “[Last Name].”

Service Guy: *sighing* “Spell it?”

(I start to spell it, and get about three letters out before he cuts me off.)

Service Guy: “Oh. First name [My Name]?”

Me: “That’s me.”

Service Guy: “Oh, well, uh… your appointment was for 4:15. But there’s a note here on the appointment–” *clicks, reads aloud* “‘Customer will leave when school lets out and could be here closer to 4:30.’”

Me: “That’s the conversation [Salesman] and I had yesterday.”

Service Guy: “Can I get your keys?”

I had a rough day at work, so on my meal break, I decide to go across the street and treat myself to a burger from a popular fast food place. I know I have about twenty minutes to get my food and eat if I want to get back to work on time. This shouldn’t be a problem, especially since it’s after the rush when it isn’t busy.

I head inside and place my order at the self-order kiosk. I choose to pay in cash, so I grab my ticket and head to the counter. And wait. And wait. I keep glancing at my watch to make sure I have enough time to eat before I have to head back.

Another customer who came in before me is already there, yelling about how he’s waited twenty minutes for his food. I highly doubt this but say nothing. It takes between five and ten minutes for someone to acknowledge the girl with cash in her hand standing at the counter. They are nice enough to upgrade my drink to a large.

I head to the drink stand and start to pour myself some tea. Their tea pitcher is low and doesn’t even fill my cup up halfway. I head back to the counter and wait another couple of minutes to tell someone. The employee takes my cup and heads to the back. I hear them yelling about if there’s more tea ready — apparently, there’s not — and in the meantime, my food arrives. I start munching on fries, still waiting for the lady to return with my tea. Two employees see me standing at the counter with my food and ask if I need anything before the lady comes back and fills my tea up using the drive-thru drink station.

The whole time I was there, I could see them throwing food out of the drive-thru windows for the cars there. Yet the three people at the counter were ignored. I wish I had had the time to complain to a manager, but by the time all was said and done, I had just over five minutes to eat before I had to head back or else I would get in trouble for taking an extended lunch. I wolfed down my food and left. Then, when I got home, I sent an email to corporate. I’m still waiting for a response.

(I decide to stop for some tenders and a gallon of sweet tea on my way home from work. The restaurant is not busy at all. No one is in the drive-thru, and there’s one car in the customer parking. I place my order and pull up to the window. I pay. The woman hands me my gallon of sweet tea — please keep in mind that it comes in a bag — and tells me it’ll be five minutes for the tenders. I find this strange, because there’s no one behind me in line nor ordering, but I oblige. I keep myself occupied, but eventually, I realize that it’s actually been ten minutes since I ordered. Even though I’ve just seen a lot of employees buzzing around inside, I walk into the establishment and there’s only one person up front: the person that took my order. Keep in mind that NO ONE went through the drive-thru after me. I look behind her and there’s a whole bunch of tenders.)

Me: “Hi, I’ve been waiting for far more than five minutes for my order.”

Cashier: “What do you mean?”

Me: “I ordered an eight-piece tender, and I was told I had to park, but no one has brought me anything.”

Cashier: “Oh! I thought they already took that out to you.”

(She then went to throw tenders in the box and I expressed my displeasure that my food had just been sitting out this whole time. My order was even still up on the screen. I also told her that while I was waiting, I noticed they had a special on the window that could not be seen at the drive-thru, that would have brought down the price AND given me more tenders. I told her that when I ordered, I told them I just wanted tenders, and it would have been nice if they’d mentioned the deal. Then, the “Shift Leader” walked up and she clearly had just come in from some sort of break; her hair was a mess, her shirt was untucked, and she just looked disheveled. I then had to tell her all over again what had happened, because the girl clearly wasn’t going to admit what happened. The shift leader said they could refund my money and charge me again so I’d get the cheaper price… BUT I wouldn’t get the extra chicken. Keep in mind, no one apologized at all for any of this. At that point, I was just mad but could clearly tell nothing would be resolved, since the shift lead could not even understand what the issue was. I declined her offer and left, as my time is more valuable than the $1 she’d offered to refund. After I left, I realized that the cashier never put the lid on properly for the iced tea, so it leaked all over the floor of my car and over my windshield covers. Also, the tenders? They were old.)

(I have come home from my big-city living to the small town I grew up in as my parents are both ailing and need a bit of help. I head to a local coffee chain to get a coffee while I wait for my mother in one of her doctor’s appointments, and I get a china mug as I know I’ll be there for a bit. I accept the coffee from one server and turn to pick up my ordered bagel from the soup/sandwich section a few steps away when I look down to see two flies in my coffee — fully submerged with their eyes and wings visible. I turn back to the coffee server and put my coffee cup back down where she’d put it for me.)

Me: “I have a problem!”

Server: “What?”

(She doesn’t look down at the coffee; she just stares at me.)

Me: “There are flies… in my coffee.”

Server: “Well, they fell in there as you walked away.”

Me: “What?”

Server: “I took the mug out of the cleaner. They weren’t in there when I filled it. They fell in as you walked away.”

(My bagel is prepared and the woman who made it stares between us as if it were a tennis match.)

Me: “Okay. Can I get another coffee, please?”

Server: “But they fell in while you were holding the coffee.”

(I know as a certainty that they didn’t but just say:)

Me: “Can I just get another coffee, please?”

(The server reaches for another mug and holds it up for me to see it is clean.)

Server: “See? No flies.”

Me: “Great. Can I get another coffee, please?”

(The server filled the new coffee mug and put it down beside the fly-filled one. I took it with a “thank you” — I am Canadian after all — and turned to accept my bagel from the woman who was wide-eyed and silent.)