At this point, I have worked over thirty years in retail, but thankfully, my interactions with rude customers are few and far between… but I had a doozy today!

Our store has an ATM, but it is an old model and frequently breaks down, refusing to give out money. I am one of two supervisors working today, and the other supervisor is busy rebooting the ATM. When this happens, we put up a sign saying that customers are welcome to get cashback at the tills.

We have a couple of lines, so I jump on the tills to help out. Another thing to know is that when our tills have a lot of cash in them, it is my job to clear them out of big notes. Unfortunately, I had just done this shortly before the ATM decided to play up, and with most transactions these days being on card, we do not have much cash in the tills.

This lady is next in my line.

Customer: “I need cashback.”

Me: “Certainly, I can only do cashback with a purchase, so is there something small you can buy to get the cash?”

Customer: *Grabs a pack of gum.* “Will this do? I need £100.”

Me: “I am sorry, but I don’t currently have £100 in the till. I can give you back £50 if that helps you?”

Customer: “No! I need £100!”

Me: “Again, I am sorry, but I do not have £100 in my till.”

Customer: “The sign says that I can get cashback; why can’t you give me my cashback?!”

Me: “Ma’am, I am happy to give you cashback while our ATM is being sorted, but I DO NOT HAVE £100 TO GIVE YOU! I apologise for this, but our tills simply do not have that much cash in them right now. I am happy to give you what I have.”

Customer: “It is my right to ask for cashback from you! You have to honour that!”

We don’t!

Customer: “Why won’t you give me my cashback?”

Me: “Ma’am, once more, I am happy to give you cashback, but right now my till does not have much cash in it! I can give you £50 in notes and maybe £20 in pound coins if you wish?”

Customer: *Eyeroll.* “I don’t want a load of coins, I want cash!”

Me: *Getting fed up with trying to get through to her, and the frustration was showing as our lines grew.* “Okay, ma’am, once more, I CANNOT GIVE YOU CASH THAT I DO NOT HAVE! At this point, I am pretty sure that our ATM should be back up and running. Why don’t you try it and see?”

She harrumphs and starts walking away, obviously fuming. I work quickly to reduce the lines. My fellow supervisor approaches me a few minutes later.

Supervisor: “I just had a run-in with a lady who said that you refused to give her cashback at the tills.”

Me: *My turn for an eyeroll.* “Yeah, there wasn’t enough cash in the till to give her what she wanted, and I just could not get that fact through to her.”

Supervisor: “Yeah, I figured she was being dense. I know the tills do not have much cash in them at the moment. What did she expect you to do?”

Me: “Pull £50 out of my ar** apparently!”

Supervisor: *Laughs as she walks away.* “She will 100% be calling in later to complain to [Manager]. You know that, right?”

Me: “Yup! On my way now to give him the heads up!” *Laughs.*

Five minutes later, after explaining to my manager:

Manager: *Laughs.* “What did she expect you to do? Pull £50 out of your ar**?”

Related:
Cash Back Attack, Part 26
Cash Back Attack, Part 25
Cash Back Attack, Part 24
Cash Back Attack, Part 23
Cash Back Attack, Part 22

I’m working at the host stand at my restaurant. A customer walks in and asks for the menu.

Customer: “Can I order my stuff for takeaway?”

Me: “Of course! Let me know what you want, and I’ll put that in for you.”

He orders and pays, and I invite him to wait at an empty table next to me. He asks for water while he waits, which I don’t mind doing. His food is brought out, and I hand it to him. He then starts to open the boxes of the food he ordered at the table he’s been seated at.

Customer: “Hey, can I get some real cutlery, instead of this plastic crap?”

Me: “Sir, if you’re ordering for takeaway, then you need to eat that elsewhere. If you’re planning to eat that here, at this sit-down restaurant, then you have to go through a server, as that counts as dine-in.”

Customer: “But then I have to pay all that service charge!”

Me: “Yes… That’s why you need to take that food away if it’s takeaway.”

Customer: “But I want to eat it here!”

Me: “Sir, we both know what you’re trying to avoid here, and it’s not going to work. If you want to pay the 12.5% service charge for that food right now, I will have a server bring you cutlery and plates, and you can eat it at that table right now. If you’re not willing to do that, then you need to leave and eat that food somewhere else.”

Customer: “Why are you being so difficult about this?!”

Me: “I’m not, you are. I’m explaining something very simple. What you are asking for, in this industry, is called ‘service’. That comes with a service charge. No pay service charge, no service. I cannot explain it any simpler.”

Customer: “This is why your place is so quiet and dead!”

We were ‘dead’ because he came in at 3 PM on a Tuesday afternoon, expecting to get away with his stunt due to all the empty tables. Not on my watch.

I used to work for a textbook company. I know textbooks are massively overpriced, but there was nothing I could do about it except sympathize with the customer.

I’m answering some questions with a caller over the phone about an economics and finance textbook.

Caller: “So the price of the latest edition would be…?”

Me: “$209, including shipping.”

Caller: “Two hundred dollars?! What kind of business are you running over there?!”

Me: “A successful one! If you read the textbook, you can find out how!”

Caller: “…okay, you’re good.”

I’m a basic teller in an old bank building downtown. A young guy has just deposited some cash into his account.

Customer: “Pretty old building, huh?”

Me: “Yes, it’s been around a while.”

Customer: “Do you have like a vault back there? With the safe deposit boxes and everything?”

Me: “Yes, we do. Were you interested in opening one?”

Customer: “Do you have, like, a box that’s never been opened? For, like, a hundred years?”

Me: “Uh, I can’t comment on other clients’ deposit boxes.”

Customer: *Winks.* “Oh, yeah, of course. Gotta keep it hush-hush. But do you have, like, a mysterious box that’s owned by some shadowy corporation with instructions to never open until the year 2099, or something?”

I really want to tell this guy straight, but sadly, I can only follow a very strict script.

Me: “I… can’t comment on other clients’ deposit boxes.”

Customer: “You’re not denying it! I knew it!”

He walked out happy, at least? Guy’s been watching way too many movies.

This guy comes up to me asking if there are any “offers” on this moisturizer. I scan it.

Me: “It’s at its regular price of $25.”

Customer: “Are there any discounts you can give me?”

Me: “No.”

This man proceeds to harass me for seven-something minutes for my employee discount. I keep saying no.

Me: “One, I don’t even know you, and two, I can get into trouble. They’re tracked, and if I use it on the clock or on a register I’m signed into, it will flag.”

Customer: “Oh, you can just say I’m your friend.”

Me: “I don’t even have it on me.”

Customer: “You’re lying! It’s in your locker!”

Me: “They don’t even let us have lockers!”

Customer: “So it’s on your phone!”

I was so fed up that I was about to call security, but it got busy, and customers were coming up to me, so I said in this annoyed tone:

Me: “I… Can’t…”

He just walked away after that. 

What made him think he could bully me into giving him my discount? Do I look like an easy target? I am pretty shy and timid, but, like, oh my god! I felt like asking him if he harasses employees at other stores for their discounts. I told my manager, and she said to call her if it happened again, which I definitely will do.