Some years ago, I read in an ad that a chain of hardware stores was having a sale on an electric drill. It looked really good, so I went over to the local store to buy one.

Once I got there, I looked around but couldn’t see the drill. There was a big sign placed on the floor near some pallets, and it looked like the store was sold out. Since they were still advertising it, though, I picked up the sign and went over to an employee.

Me: “Do you have any more of these drills?”

Employee: “No, they’re all sold out. We have some other ones, though.”

Me: “Sold out already? That was quick.”

Employee: “Yeah, we didn’t get as many as we thought.”

Me: “Okay, but shouldn’t you take these signs down, then? They’re still placed both in the store and outside.”

Employee: “Nah, they can stay up.”

Me: “Oh, so you’re getting more of the drills coming in?”

Employee: “No.”

Me: “But then why are you keeping the signs up?”

The employee just shrugged and proceeded to take the sign back and put it up again. This bothered me. While this store clearly couldn’t be blamed for the online and newspaper ads running despite their local stock being empty, keeping those signs up around the shop was a “lure”. Several different chains had been busted using similar tactics: advertising a product they don’t actually have in stock, hoping to lure customers into the shop, and pushing to sell them something more expensive.

I used my camera phone to take a photo of the employee rehanging the sign — he actually posed for the photo — and sent it to the chain’s corporate office along with a complaint. I also gave the store a negative online review.

A couple of years later, the shop closed down as part of a major relocation. All that time, I never returned there. When I boycott a store, it’s forever.

A couple of years ago, my dad discovered that there was a hole in the roof. He could stand in the hallway and look right up into the sky through the hole. This was at the beginning of September, and the weather forecast mentioned heavy rain that afternoon.

As Dad always wants to support businesses in their tiny hometown, he called the only roofer in town listed in the phone book.

Dad: “Hi, I’m [Dad] at [address]. There is a hole in my roof that needs to get fixed.”

Roofer #1: “Uh-huh. I can drop by in May.”

Dad: “May? That’s eight months from now. I can see the sky through this hole and it needs to be fixed ASAP.”

Roofer #1: “Okay, so, see you in May, then.”

Dad: “Absolutely not. Bye.”

Dad was not happy when he consulted the phone book again and called a roofer in a neighbouring town.

Dad: “Hi, I’m [Dad] at [address] in [Town]. There is a hole in my roof that needs to be fixed.”

Roofer #2: “Oh, that doesn’t sound good at all. I could— Wait, did you say [address]?”

Dad: “Yep.”

Roofer #2: “I’m over at [Parallell Street] on a job. My lunch break is in half an hour. I’ll drop by and check your roof then if that’s okay with you.”

Dad: “Sounds good!”

The roofer came over and agreed that the hole needed to be fixed ASAP. He called again right after his lunch break.

Roofer #2: “Hi again. So, your roof needs to be fixed urgently. We are basically done here, and what’s left is just cosmetic. I want to fix your roof before this incoming rainstorm. I’ve talked to the homeowner here, and we agreed to finish his roof tomorrow, instead. He was very eager to help out a neighbour in need.”

My dad has been recommending one of these roofers ever since — the other, not so much.

But it was quite the coincidence that the good roofer was working so close and could drop by basically right away.

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Client: “The web address written in your email is wrong.”

Me: “This is the same URL we’ve used since the first email.”

Client: “The one you provided was blue and clickable; this one is just plain black. I clicked and there’s no response.”

Me: “The address is the same. Just copy and paste it into your browser.”

Client: “Why can’t you just provide the correct web address?”

I used to be a customer service representative in a call center. Once, we had a new hire. They wouldn’t pay attention when sitting side by side with seasoned reps; instead, they read magazines or did their nails. They ate snacks while talking to customers; they didn’t use the mute button when eating, regardless of how loud it was. They covered their mouth so their voice was muted. They swore loudly enough that the customers talking to other representatives could hear it. (Mine was surprised, but I got off lucky that my customer didn’t go off on me like another coworker had to deal with.) On top of all of that, they attempted to steal everyone’s sales.

For that last one, we had a new (to us at the time) system that you’d put your ID into to track any sale you made. Unfortunately, it could be edited by another representative. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one creating my own separate tracking sheet to show my supervisor the issue. Just as fortunately, IT figured out how to see the edits and reverted all the stolen sales to the original representative.

And yes, that new hire got fired immediately and escorted to the cops waiting in the office lobby.

Content Warning: Gross

I work in an office supply store. Before my shift one day, an older lady went rushing into the store.

Lady: “Where’s your restroom?”

The front-end cashier directed the customer to the restrooms and continued working. The lady rushed out of the store about ten minutes later.

Lady: “Sorry about the mess.”

The cashier checked the restroom and came back to the general manager.

Cashier: “That older lady who was just here had explosive diarrhea all over the accessible stall.”

General Manager: “Go clean it up, then.”

When I came in later, the cashier told me about the mess and everything and then went home without having cleaned the restroom.

I had a slow night in my department, so I took three pairs of gloves and the strongest cleaning supplies we had. I ended up spending half my shift cleaning the restroom because, by the time I got in there, it was already crusty.

This was one time I had no problem dropping the dime on a coworker’s negligence.