I was hired at [Pizza Place] as a delivery driver when I was only nineteen. I was the first female driver to be hired at this particular location because our franchisee was worried for our safety even though we are in a nice neighborhood. I understood, though, and always made sure not to let him regret hiring me as a driver. I actually never had any problems. Of course, I had comments from customers about being a female and getting an “extra tip if I wanted, wink wink” but it wasn’t bad.

About a year and a half into my job, my general manager and I both transferred to a busier store in our franchise. This particular store delivered right to our corporate HQ. There was a call center for a while, and after a certain time, the doors to the building would lock and you needed key card access, so when delivering, we always had to call or text the customer to let them know we were there. One guy, in all my eleven years of working, there has only been this ONE GUY who acted like this, and I couldn’t believe it!

After dropping off this customer’s pizza and returning to the store, he texted me.

Customer: “You are really cute. We should hang out soon.”

I wanted to be nice, and he was HOT!

Me: “Yeah, sure.”

Not long after that, my manager directed me to look at our make line screen, where customer feedback scrolled across.

Customer Feedback: “[My Name] was so great! Professional and nice! Please send her every time!”

Then, the customer continued to text me.

Customer: “Can you hang out tonight? I just need to wait until my girlfriend puts our kid to sleep and then I can go.”

Me: “You have a girlfriend? And a kid?! Sorry… I cannot hang out tonight.”

Customer: “I get what I want. Always. No matter what.”

I ignored the rest of his messages after that and showed them to my manager the next day.

Later that night, the customer ordered again and we sent a different driver. The customer feedback after that read:

Customer Feedback: “I told you to send [My Name]. You need to send her or I will be sending my food back next time.”

Again, two nights later:

Customer Feedback: “I’m reporting you to all! Send [My Name] NOW! Or else!”

He showed up to the store, and the employees helped cover for me as I hid in the back, butI was legitimately scared!

Luckily, he’s a dumba**! He works at corporate and they record EVERYTHING! They can see all customer feedback. He was fired immediately after my manager reported him.

I didn’t know how to block numbers at this point in time, so he blew my phone up. I was horrible for getting him fired. What about his kid? Could we still go on a date? He was gonna beat me up, he was sorry, he hated me, I was cute?!

He eventually left me alone, but it was insane!

A guy came in to buy about $5 worth of items. We have a sale on brownie mixes for $1 each. One rang up at the full price. It was slow, so I walked with the customer to the display. The one that rang up at the full price was excluded from the sale, but it was with the dollar ones.

Customer: “See?! They all say a dollar!”

Me: “Well, the ones at the bottom like the one you have don’t have the dollar tag.”

Customer: “Don’t f****** argue with me.”

Okay. No problem.

Me: “Sorry, sir, I wasn’t arguing, just pointing out the sale.”

Customer: “You were arguing! Just f****** take it off.”

I led him back to the register, and he was swearing the whole time. 

Me: “Look, do you want me to just cancel the transaction?”

He swore a bit more and declared that he wanted me to just cancel it all.

Me: *Smiling* “Okay! You have a great night, sir!”

And then he paced back and forth for a few seconds, huffed, and stormed out.

I’m not sure if he wanted me to argue with him or concede and just make it a dollar. Had he not been confrontational, I honestly would’ve just adjusted the price to $1 since the signs were misleading. Instead, he decided to throw a big boy tantrum over what came to thirty-five cents.

This was five or six years ago. Apple and Google Pay had not long been introduced here in the UK when these incidents happened. I had a smartphone, so I was able to use that brand’s mobile payment app with no worries.

Though the only “limit” is what you personally have in your bank account at that time, at this time — and for some stores who had not taken up [Mobile Payment] — the limit was set to £30, the contactless limit.

I went into a shop and got a “meal deal” and some things for the house. The meal deal consisted of a sandwich, a drink, and a snack pack of crisps for £3. My total came to around £12 overall, and I advised that I wanted to pay via card.

The cashier totaled it, I did the [Mobile Payment] thing, and my phone beeped. The payment went through, the cashier’s drawer opened, and the receipt printed, indicating that the payment was okay.

Cashier #1: “What?! What just happened?”

Me: “I used my card. It’s on my phone—” *points to it* “—so I just use it as an ordinary card payment.”

Cashier #1: “NO! You are trying to steal from us! You did not present your card!”

During the transaction, the supervisor was behind her filling the cigarettes and lotto scratch cards, so they had seen the whole thing.

Supervisor: “Sir, I know you’re not trying to steal. I use [Mobile Payment], too. I know you have paid, so feel free to go. I think I have some staff training to do.”

Me: “Thanks!”

I have been there several times since then, but the first time I went there after this incident, the same cashier was there. She just gave me a look and I said:

Me: “Don’t worry, I am not stealing; I will use my magical phone!”

She did not find that funny.

A few weeks after this, I was with my mother at a different shop buying some furniture and garden stuff that came to £30.

“Great!” I thought.

I tapped the phone, beep it went, and I paid for it.

Once the receipt printed, the cashier looked at me, the till, the receipt, me, the till, my phone, and me before finally taking the receipt and handing it to me.

Me: “Isn’t [Mobile Payment] a wonderful thing?”

Cashier #2: “Sorry, but is that what you did with your phone? Paid?”

Me: “Aye, set it up a few weeks ago. I can use it for unlimited payments for shops that support it, for any transaction of £30 or less.”

Cashier #2: “I have heard of it, but I haven’t seen anyone use it. Now I know it works! Looks simple.”

Me: “It is!”

We said our goodbyes, and Mother and I left.

[Mobile Payment] can be confusing, folks. Just don’t go stealing from people, eh?

At around 2:00 pm, an elderly lady, the last customer of my shift, comes through my line to buy a bag of grapes, I go through my typical spiel with my greeting, checking whether she has a loyalty card, and asking how her day is going. Then, I ask whether she found everything she was looking for.

Customer: “No, I was planning on getting more, but no one got me an electric cart when I asked.”

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry about that. It could be that they are all in use; it is a little busy.”

Customer: “No, they’re probably outside. I saw the cart person doing nothing.”

Me: “Once again, I do apologize, but if there’s none in our vestibule, then they’re usually in use.”

We have four carts.

I ring up her bag of grapes, which weighs about 2.64 pounds.

Me: “That’s gonna be $5.26.”

Customer: “$5.26?! FOR JUST THOSE?!”

Me: “Yes, ma’am.”

Customer: “No, that can’t be right. They’re supposed to be $1.99 a pound.”

I pull out my registered flyer to double-check the price. We just started a new sale week, so I want to make sure that someone didn’t forget to take a previous week’s sign down. I also page a supervisor so we can adjust the price if that is the case.

I find the page, and it shows that the grapes are indeed $1.99 a pound with our store card, which she has, so I show her the page.

Me: “The grapes are $1.99 a pound with our store card. And that’s how they rang up..”

Customer: “Why’d the sign over there say $2.99 a pound?”

Me: “Oh, that’s just showing the price without the card. We have that one up, and next to it should’ve shown $1.99 per pound with the card.”

Customer: “So, what’d it come to?”

Me: “…$5.26?”

Customer: “And that’s right?”

Me: “Yes, ma’am, it—”

Customer: “You put that in right?”

Me: “Yes, ma’am. When we put it in, it automatically takes off the card savings.”

My supervisor comes over. I explain the situation, and they pretty much re-explain what I did again to the lady, almost word for word.

Customer: “Well, that’s false advertising! Where’s the office? I want to talk to someone else.”

We voided her order and directed her to our guest service desk… so they could again confirm the math of 2.64 pounds of grapes times $1.99 totaling $5.26.

I’m so glad I have tomorrow off

I work in a hotel. This guy walks in on a Thursday.

Guy: “Hi, I’m [Guy]. I am building a house that isn’t going to be finished for a year. I need your best room and lowest rate because I’m building a house.”

Me: “That’s great! I’ll forward you to our sales director; she can assist you.”

A few days later, he returns.

Guy: “Hi, remember me? I’m building a house.”

Me: “Yes, sir, I remember you. How can I help you?”

Guy: “Well, I am checking for a year. I talked to your sales director, and she said it is okay to pay daily.”

Red flag number one!

I listen to him tell me how great he is and how great this house is — I don’t know if I mentioned it, but he is building a house — and I get him checked in. All the while, I am curious as to how I can check in a thirty-day stay (that’s how we do long-term check-ins) with only one night’s payment. I do it and don’t say anything.

All the while my new trainee, a young kid, is falling right into this man’s bulls*** trap of stories and lies, and now the two are fast friends and talking at the desk, which is super annoying.

The next day, Friday, is super busy — seventy-five check-ins with a trainee. Halfway through my night, the phone rings, and it is [Guy].

Guy: “Hello, I was just on the phone with your corporate office and they issued me 60,000 [Reward Program] credits. I need you to apply those to tonight’s payment.”

Me: *Politely* “That isn’t possible, sir. You can call and make a reservation starting tomorrow using the credits to pay for that reservation.”

Guy: *Very angry* “I can’t do that! I need them to apply to tonight because my bank, [Nationally-Known Bank], is currently having a network glitch where all cards are coming back declined!”

I laugh out loud on the phone. I know that he has no money and that he is going to be one of those guests who can’t admit it.

Me: “I’m not sure what I can do. I guess you’ll have to wait until [Bank] fixes the… glitch… because I can’t issue you a new key until today is paid for.”

Guy: “That’s okay. I have keys.”

Me: “Yes, but they don’t work. I had to lock you out because we still have to receive money for tonight before I can let you back in.”

Guy: “This is crazy. I am building a house!”

The next morning arrives, and he hasn’t come back to the hotel. He finally comes in complaining that he had to sleep in his car because of the “glitch” at [Bank] and that we wouldn’t give him a key. He pays for the previous night and tonight, securing him until tomorrow (Sunday) at noon.

So, here we are on Monday morning. I eagerly relay all of this information to [Sales Director], who is mad that [Guy] lied. She never agreed to daily payment, and he never signed his contract. Normally, for long-term guests, we collect a week’s pay minimum in order to honor special rates. [Sales Director] is going on and on about how [Guy] lied during the initial conversation, how she is going to not honor his rate now because he did not sign the contract in a timely manner, and how he isn’t going to be allowed to pay daily. She then turns back around with excitement on her face and says:

Sales Director: “Did you know he is building a house?”

Me: “I had no idea!” *Laughs* “I did know because he’s interjected it into every conversation 100 times.”

She then proceeds to contact [Guy] in his room and let him know that because he did not sign the contract and he is having payment issues, we will no longer be able to honor the rate they verbally agreed upon. He gets very upset.

Guy: “I am just going to have to find another place to stay.”

End of the whole problem. RIGHT?

Not right.

A few hours later, the phone rang, and it was our corporate guest help line. They had [Guy] on the phone, and he wanted a complete refund for all his reservations for the last week because he was unsatisfied. He had a laundry list full of complaints. There were children running around unattended, his bed was not made properly, the bathroom was dirty, we wouldn’t honor the agreed-upon rate, the staff was rude, etc. (You can insert more ridiculous complaints on your own because he probably tried them.)

I calmly addressed the guest help operator and let her know the entire scenario and the most important part: that he was building a house. She said the story she had been given was grossly different, all except for the fact that he was building a house. She mentioned that he was particularly upset about the rate withdrawal.

The bottom line is that he didn’t sign the contract nor did he pay in a timely manner. That gave our property all the right to nullify the offer. I couldn’t deal with hearing, “I am building a house,” for an entire year. I really don’t even think it was true. I think that’s the scam he probably runs from property to property. He also probably gets away with it.

I am just really happy we dodged the house-building bullet. Ugh. Sometimes I wonder why I do this job!