(A man comes in to pick up his dog at the end of the day. We inform him that he has an overage charge for his dog’s weight. We charge more for bigger dogs. His dog is about thirteen pounds over our no-charge limit. We called him earlier in the day to inform him, but he does not want to pay the fee.)
Customer: “Well, how much did my dog’s balls weigh? Because that should be deducted!”
Me: *flabbergasted* “Probably a couple of ounces, sir.”
(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.”
The college I attend has a rather large exchange program with a university in South Korea. They speak English quite well, but they don’t always know what they’re looking at, especially when it comes to animals. One fall, as it starts to get cold, the following messages appear on the “maintenance requests” board in our dorm hall:
“There are a few bugs in our room. They seem to be coming in through the window.”
A few days later: “There are a lot of bugs in our room. We are worried, as we do not know what kind of bugs they are.”
A few days after that: “WE ARE BEING INVADED!!! Our window is FULL of round, red bugs. PLEASE, someone come help us; we are very afraid because they can fly, and we don’t want to be bitten.”
A few days after that one: “We have been informed that ladybugs are not dangerous. We are not afraid anymore, but please do send someone, because there are still a lot of them.”
Lest someone think my school was lax in letting it go that long: an appointment had been scheduled for someone to come look at them after the first message had been posted, but it took that long for the person to be able to come out. It was that time when ALL the bugs were trying to come inside to stay warm, so he was very busy around town.
But every year when the bugs start coming in, I think of those poor Korean girls, terrified of ladybugs.
Long ago, when I worked short day shifts in a local shop, I would leave my dog at home during the day and pop in to let him out mid-shift. He was always perfectly behaved, and never chewed anything or bothered the neighbors. I was therefore surprised one day to return home and find that he had shredded my post for the day. This happened two further days running, and I then received a warning from my local post office that my dog had “been threatening” towards the postman, and that I would need to secure him away from the letterbox or ensure he was not in the house alone if I wished for deliveries to continue. He is a gentle giant, who has never growled, barked, or shown any sign of aggression towards anyone; in fact he normally loves to say, “Hi,” to delivery folks.
Nonetheless, despite being puzzled by this, I restricted my dog’s access to the front door, got a post-cage just in case, and carried on the rest of the week until my days off. On my first day off following the warning, just for the sake of my own curiosity, I permitted the dog to react to the postman putting letters through the slot with full access to the door. Lo and behold, the postman arrived, and I heard him calling the dog, tapping on the door, and rattling the slot. I peeked out from the living room to see he was waving the letters around as though he was actively trying to get the dog to eat them.
The guy was actually trying to make the dog eat my mail and react to him.
Next day, I lay in wait with my camera and recorded the entire incident. I took the video up to the depot, asked to speak to the manager, and showed it to him. It turned out the same guy had been the one to complain that my dog had “been threatening” to him.
To this day I have no idea why someone would do this, and my dog never ate another letter. I also have no idea if they fired or retrained the postman in question, but I really hope so.
(An old woman comes into the clinic in the evening, not long before we close. The vet determines that her dog has a skin condition, and instructs me to give him a medicated dip before the client comes back to pick him up. I soak the dog in the medication, let it sit, and then rinse him thoroughly, and since it’s winter and now dark outside, I make sure to spend some extra time blow-drying him so he doesn’t get a chill on the way home. I think everything is fine, but soon after she picks her dog up, the client calls to complain that we “didn’t do anything” for him. My coworker assures her that we treated him, and we think it’s over, until the next day when the phone rings. It’s the client again, this time furious and insisting that her dog “never even got wet.” The vet gives the phone to me.)
Client: “You lied to me! You’re cheating me! You never did anything for my dog!”
Me: “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but I definitely did.”
Client: “No, you didn’t! He was completely dry! You never even got him wet!”
Me: “I blow-dried him before sending him home, ma’am. I didn’t want him to be cold.”
Client: “You’re lying! He had some dirt stuck to his paw when I brought him in, and it was still there when I picked him up! You didn’t give him a bath at all!”
Me: “I didn’t scrub him. That’s not what he was here for. A medicated dip is not that sort of bath; it is just a way to get the medication to soak into your dog’s skin. I was treating him, not cleaning him.”
Client: “You didn’t do anything! There was still dirt on his paw! You’re lying to me to get my money!”
Me: “As I said, ma’am, he was not here for a bath. I wasn’t trying to wash him. But I promise you, he received the treatment.”
Client: “No, no, no, you didn’t do anything. I can’t believe you would lie to me like this.”
Me: “I’m sorry there seems to have been a misunderstanding, but if you like, we could certainly give your dog a bath, no charge. It wouldn’t have to be done by me, if you don’t trust me. One of my coworkers could do it.”
Client: “No! All I want is for you to admit you lied!“
Me: “Then I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t help you. I won’t tell you I didn’t do my job when I know I did.”
(This goes on for days, with the woman constantly calling back, us offering her different services for free, and her insisting that the only thing she wants is for us to admit we’re liars. This is how my last conversation with her ends.)
Client: “I can’t believe any of you. This is just terrible. I have to do it! I’m calling the better business bureau!
Me: *so very tired* “Go ahead, ma’am.”
Client: *stunned silence, before she sputters something and hangs up*
(I didn’t hear anything more and thought it was over, until my coworker came up to me a few days later and confessed that she’d heard the vet, my boss, talking to the woman on the phone and telling her that she was right, that I was a liar, and that I would be punished. He had her come in for that free bath, on my day off, so I wouldn’t see her and find out! But the part that really stung? My boss has cameras set up all throughout the clinic so that he can watch us from his office or at home, and review the footage after he’s gone out. There’s one right over the tub where I gave the dog the treatment… so my boss knew full well I had been telling the truth the entire time!)
