(We have a large sign just above the pin pad that reads “All photo orders MUST be paid for at the photo counter.” They changed this policy about 7 months ago.)

(A customer came up to get her photos, so I start ringing them up.)

Me: Do you have any coupons or bottle slips today?

Customer: Uh. I’m going to take them up front. I have other shopping to do.

Me: I’m sorry, photo orders have to be paid for here..

Customer: They didn’t make me do this the last time I bought them. (Starts paying)

Me: I’m sorry, they changed the policy in March..

(This happens everyday, several different customers.. It’s impossible to miss the sign too. And the reason they changed it was because people kept stealing them.)

(I’m just getting into work when my coworker, who is scheduled out when I get in, is explaining to me that the woman on kiosk 2 wants a DVD and 400 pictures printed. The woman then stands up with her phone to her ear and stares at us.)

Coworker 1: (to me) I think she needs help.

Me: (to customer): What can I do for you?

Customer: I just picked all the pictures I wanted but, it’s asking me to crop them.

Me: Yep! Depending on the size of your picture, it will have to crop it. I recommend manually cropping them though, auto-crop will randomly select it and you may not get a good picture.

Customer: But, I don’t want to crop it. I want my whole picture.

Me: I’m sorry, unfortunately you have to crop it to a 4×6 size. It depends too, on how large the picture itself is.

Customer: (she notices my other coworker walking by to help a customer) I don’t want your help, I want his!

(So I leave to let coworker #2 help her. He ends up calling over coworker #1 to assist him in explaining why we have to crop photos because she didn’t believe him either. She says she’ll get her prints done somewhere else but, will still get a DVD. They help her get it ordered and I’m currently working on getting it burned. She keeps standing at my counter asking how long it will be every couple of minutes. It’s over a thousand pictures that I have to burn to the DVD. Which takes about 10 minutes. She decides to leave a get a few more things. Her DVD is done, coworker 1 has gone home and coworker 3 has come in for the day.)

Customer: Can I pay for my other stuff here too?

Me: Absolutely!

Customer: I need to check this DVD to make sure all my pictures are on it before I pay for it.

Me: Of course! Go right ahead!

(She goes over to the kiosks but, notices the one she was using is now being used by another customer, all but one kiosk is being used. However she doesn’t want to use that one.)

Customer: All the other cashiers tell me to check the DVD but, YOU! Do you have computers behind your counter I can use to check this?

Me: I’m sorry, we do, but customers aren’t allowed behind the counter. I could check the DVD for you but, I’m not sure what all the pictures you wanted on there were.

Customer: This is absolutely ridiculous! This is the worst customer service I’ve experienced! Get me a manager so I can talk to them about it! (So I call a manager over; she says she’ll be a minute. So the customer decides to call her husband:) “Hi. Yeah so I just experienced the WORST customer service in my life! We’re never shopping here again. I’ll tell you all about it when I get home!”

(The manager comes over and talks to the woman who says “I know it’s not their fault I have to crop photos but, I’m 40 years old and have never had to do this before!” She bashes me for being a horrible person and demands to be compensated. The manager goes away from the customer to make a phone call to another manager to ask her opinion on what to do, I walk over to ask if I could talk to her after. The manager tells me that they’re giving the woman her $5.99 DVD for free and a $10 gift card and says she’ll meet with me after to hear out my side. After the woman left, coworker 2 says to me “Why did she complain about you?! You did nothing wrong!”. When the manager comes back, coworker 2 & 3, and I all explained what really happened. She believed us and apparently the woman is a frequent complainer for ridiculous things.)

(A man walks up to our counter and asks to pick up his photos.)

Me: alright what’s the name and when did you order them?

Customer: (he only used two letters, one for his first name and last name instead of his actual name) how many pictures was that and what does it cost?

Me: looks like you have 150 and that’s $22 before tax

Customer: can I look at them before I pay for them?

Me: yeah, go ahead.

(He goes and grabs a chair from our photo computers and sits down in front of my register)

Customer: this is going to be a while. So you can leave if you want. (He finds a piece of paper and starts setting photos aside and writing things down as if he’s doing math)

(I turn to my coworker and he’s giving me the “is this guy for real” look.)

Me(whispering to coworker): remember we have a “take it or leave it” policy (basically stating that we can’t take out 3 pictures just because you don’t like them, we can fix them and replace them however.)

Coworker: got it!

(I went on break and came back to find the man had left, so I asked my coworker how it went. The man did want to take out pictures from his order, my coworker explained we can’t, so the man will be in later to fix them.)

Customer: “Hello, I’ve driven quite far to get some prints from my old digital camera, and I’d like to pick them up today if possible.”

Me: “Absolutely, sir. Where’s the memory card?”

Customer: “Right here.”

(The customers unwraps a plastic bag and tries to hand me the contents. I just give him a knowing look that he quickly notices, he takes a look at the thing in his hand, and it dawns on him.)

Customer: “This is the battery, isn’t it?”

(Working in a photo lab, I see all kinds of terrible pictures. On this occasion, after I develop the negatives, this customer’s pictures are completely out of focus. I develop them anyway, because they seem to be of a vacation, and mark them as “no charge.” When she comes to pick them up, she demands that the cashier come and get me.)

Customer: “These pictures are all out of focus!”

Me: “Yeah, sorry about that. I salvaged everything I could.”

Customer: “I want you to try again.”

Me: “Sure, I’ll see what I can do, but don’t hold your breath.”

(I print them again and try to adjust brightness and saturation to try and get more definition, but it’s still terribly blurry.)

Me: “Sorry, ma’am, this is the best I can do.”

Customer: “I want you to do this properly, and print them in focus!”

Me: “Ma’am, the only way that’s happening is if I go back in time and teach you how to use a camera.”

(She stormed off and I got a complaint, but it was worth it.)