CONTENT WARNING: Violent Death Of A Dog

(I work at a pet shop as a dog groomer. This exchange happens between me and an unpleasant customer one afternoon.)

Me: “How can I help you, ma’am?”

Customer: “I had my dog groomed here, and you charged $3 extra for her haircut. I want to know why.”

(I look her up.)

Me: “After looking at her info, I see she got a special coat treatment and was charged extra.”

Customer: “I know she got special treatment. What I want to know is why I was charged extra for it. I only wanted it on one part of her body.”

Me: “Well, ma’am, we charge for extras. It even says so on our board, and we just can’t treat just one spot, so the groomer charged you.”

(The customer started screaming about how incompetent we all were and how she wanted a full refund for upsetting her. She grabbed some scissors on the desk and threatened to slash her dog’s throat if we didn’t do as she said. I yelled at my coworkers to call 911 because she had flipped and was scaring everyone in the shop. She ran out the door and drove off before the cops showed up. About two weeks later, I was walking across the parking lot of the vet next door to our shop when I heard a car start up. It was the customer, driving towards me, sticking her head out of the car, and shrieking. She drove right at me, and I had to jump out of the way before I got hit! She was screaming about how I owed her $3! I called the cops and gave them her name. When they entered her home later, they found that she had gutted her home and booby-trapped the inside so that “they couldn’t get to her.” She had binoculars trained at all the windows, watching her neighborhood. And she killed her poor dog. She got locked up for a very long time.)

(It’s a Friday evening and I’m running the store by myself. There are only 15 minutes until we close so I’m doing some cleaning.)

Customer: *enters screaming* “You’ve been lying to me!”

Me: *rather startled* “I’m sorry, what?”

Customer: *still screaming* “You told me hamsters should eat hay and cat-litter!”

Me: “Ma’am, I’ve said no such thing. Perhaps you’ve talked to someone else?”

Customer: “No! I know it was you; you just don’t remember it because they give you drugs! The guards are on their way to arrest you!”

Me: “Sorry? Who gives us drugs?”

Customer: “Don’t play dumb! It’s those brothers!” *walks away towards the rodent aisle*

(I keep cleaning, thinking this is the end of it.)

Customer: *once again screaming* “There are drugs in these hamster treats! From South America! Why are you selling them?!”

(I walk up to the customer to see what she is talking about; she is currently holding a bag of hamster food I remember her hamster didn’t eat so she came back with it.)

Me: *thinking she have forgotten about it* “Ma’am, I recall you returning [Food] last time because he didn’t—”

Customer: *interrupts me* “SHUT THE H*** UP! I’M TALKING TO THE GUARDS! Your dog treats give you diarrhea!”

(I just shake my head and return to the register. A few minutes later the customer comes back to me.)

Customer: “[Our Store] are idiots! They said my hamster was a male, but she is a female! That’s why she will eat this food!”

Me: “We don’t sell hamsters.”

(I finish the transaction for the food and treats. Apparently, the fact that the treats will be drug-filled isn’t a problem now.)

Me: *as she is heading for the door* “Have a nice weekend!”

Customer: “You, too! I hope you get some dog treats; everybody likes cake!”

(Ah, the exciting work of a pet store employee.)

(I work as the manager of a salon at a pet store chain. A customer, who previously complained and said she’d never come back, comes in to pick up her dog. The dog received our bath service, which comes with just a bath, nail trim, ear cleaning, and a sanitary area shave.)

Customer: “Why did you give my dog a haircut?”

Me: “What seems to be the problem, ma’am?”

Customer: “You shaved my dog’s nose. I specifically told y’all not to give my dog a haircut.”

Me: “I apologize, but I can assure you, ma’am, my bather did not shave or even trim your dog’s nose.”

(Unbeknownst to her, our bathers are not even allowed near a dog’s face with scissors or clippers.)

Customer: “NO, YOU’RE LYING! I KNOW WHAT MY DOG LOOKS LIKE, AND HIS NOSE IS SUPPOSED TO BE FLUFFY!”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but again, we did not give your dog a haircut.”

(She then storms out and complains to our assistant store manager, who spoke with her the last time she complained. After speaking with her and giving her the bath for free, my manager comes back to let me know what she said.)

Assistant Manager: “She told me she’d never come back again. I asked her if she was sure because that’s what she said last time.”

(I work in one of the two local branches of a nationwide pet shop company. About the time I started, they were bringing out a loyalty card, one of the selling points being a discount voucher in the welcome pack, but often people mistake it to mean the card gave them the discount whenever they used it. This story is two instances of the same customer, around two or three years after I began working. The customer in question is a middle-aged, reasonably well-dressed lady. She’s hurriedly tying up one of the clear plastic bags we use to put live aquarium plants in when customers buy them. I notice her hands are wet, which means she’s ignored the various notices saying to ask for help with the plants and asking customers to not put their hands into the water.)

Me: *ignoring the plant thing* “Hi there! Have you found everything you needed?”

(This has been part of my training from day one, to always greet customers coming to the till with a question like this, and our customer feedback suggests that a lot of people appreciate it, and a number of customers will either suddenly remember something, or ask for assistance with something they couldn’t find.)

Customer #1: *suddenly defensive and haughty* “What kind of question is that to ask?!”

Me: “I’m sorry?”

Customer #1: “Is that what they train you to ask?! That’s incredibly rude! It’s almost like you’re suggesting we’re incapable of shopping by ourselves! This is horrendous customer service! I wish I could complain to your head office about this!”

(This prompts me to keep very quiet about our online customer surveys.)

Me: *choosing to brush the whole thing off* “Okay, I’m sorry for that. Do you have a [loyalty card] to swipe, please?” *swipes card as it’s presented* “So, that’s three plants? Okay, that’s [amount] altogether, please.”

Customer #1: “What? No, it isn’t; it should be cheaper!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but the multi-buy deal on these plants has always been [amount].”

Customer #1: “No! The card means I get [discount amount] off!”

Me: “Ah, no, sorry. That’s just the one-off voucher you get in your welcome pack. The card itself doesn’t give you a discount; it validates the money off vouchers you’re sent.”

(She then proceeds to huffily pay the full price for the plants, and leaves. I turn to the till next to me, where my coworker and her customer are staring at me, dumbfounded.)

Coworker: “What was her problem? I was embarrassed for you, there! I’ve never heard anyone complain about being asked if they’ve found everything before…”

(A few months go by before the second incident. I’m just beginning to put a customer’s items through the till when the woman from before comes up, moves to the other side of the till from the lady I’m serving, and drops a wet, clear, plastic bag with aquarium plants in on the counter. Once more, her hands are wet.)

Customer #1: “These three plants. They’re [amount]!”

(She places the correct change onto the counter.)

Me: “I’m sorry, but I’m in the middle of serving this lady here.”

Customer #1: “I’ve given you the correct change! Just put it in the till!”

Me: “Sorry, no, I need to put the plants through the tills and give you a receipt.”

Customer #1: “Hmph, you can do that after you’ve finished serving her.”

(I decide that arguing with the woman is going to get me nowhere, so I finish the other woman’s transaction in silence, and put the money for the plants into the till when it opens. The first customer takes her plants and triumphantly scuttles out of the doors. I turn to the customer I was originally serving to pass her the receipt for her items and begin putting the plants into the till, with as apologetic a look as I can manage after that.)

Customer #2: *looking shocked, worrying me into thinking I am about to get chewed out for this* “Well! Wasn’t she rude?”

Me: *exasperated* “Thank you! Not just me that thought it, then?”

(I have never seen [Customer #1] since… fortunately. But, having spoken to my manager, she has confirmed that I can refuse to serve her and call someone else to serve in the tills.)

(I work in a pet store. Per corporate policy, I am permitted to bring my dog to work, provided I accept full responsibility for his actions in the store. We have a new store manager who likes to ignore rules that do not benefit her and enforce rules that none of us have ever heard about, nor can they be proven when we ask where she found them. This day, my dog and I arrive about 15 minutes before my shift starts.)

Me: “Hello, [Store Manager]! How are you today?”

Store Manager: “Oh, [Dog]! You are so handsome! Do you want to come spend some time with your Auntie [Store Manager]?”

Me: “Sorry, doesn’t he have to stay with me?”

Store Manager: *snaps* “I wasn’t asking you, was I? Go work the top stock.”

Me: “Well, I’m not on the clock yet so—”

Store Manager: “Just give him to me. He can hang out in the office with me while you work.”

Me: “Um… No.”

Store Manager: “Excuse me?”

Me: “[Dog] stays with me.”

Store Manager: “He can come with me.”

Me: “Again. No. Corporate policy states I am solely responsible for him.”

Store Manager: “You’ve got quite an attitude today, [My Name]. Come see me when you clock in.”

(In the remaining time before I clock in, I call our corporate support line and report the store manager, relaying our conversation and how she tried to convince me to give her my dog. My case is documented and I am given an extension number to call to reach a specific person if she tries to penalize me. Sure enough, after I clock in and go to see her, she has a formal write-up filled out.)

Store Manager: “You need to learn to respect your superiors. You won’t last long in retail if you don’t.”

Me: “Respect is paramount.”

Store Manager: “Good. Now, sign your write up.”

Me: “No.”

Store Manager: “Again with the attitude! This is unacceptable!”

Me: “You are absolutely right.”

(I call corporate again, dialing the extension I was given for the manager. The entire time my store manager is telling me she should fire me on the spot for being such an insolent brat. Then, the corporate manager on the other end picks up.)

Corporate Manager: “[Corporate Manager].”

Me: “Yes, [Corporate Manager], this is [My Name]. You asked me to call directly in regards to [Store Manager]?”

Store Manager: “What the h*** do you think you’re doing? Hang up that phone right now!”

Me: “May I put you on speaker phone, [Corporate Manager]?”

Corporate Manager: “Yes, please do.” *now on speaker phone* “[Store Manager], you are aware that if an employee brings their pet to work, they are the only ones to handle that pet. Correct?”

Store Manager: “S-sir?”

Corporate Manager: “So, you also know it is a violation of policy to tell [My Name] to give you her dog, not only because she would no longer be in charge, but because she was not on the clock?”

Store Manager: “But I just wanted—”

Corporate Manager: “[Store Manager], I will be calling your store momentarily. [My Name], I assume you’ve clocked in. Please go about your duties. Thank you, and have a good evening.”

Me: “Thank you, [Corporate Manager].”

(I left the office immediately. The store manager did not come out for over half an hour. When she did emerge, she looked quite angry. We have a non-retaliation policy in our company, so if she does try to get back at me, we can go through this whole routine all over again.)