My wife and I managed to both buy our daughter a new coat on the same day without each other knowing. I won an eBay auction and she picked one out on her lunch break.

We let our daughter choose and she picks the one my wife bought, so I Iist the other one for sale on a local selling group.

Despite it being new and half the recommended retail price, I get a LOT of time-wasters — people wanting it for next to nothing or to swap for things no one would rightly want.

Eventually, a woman contacts me, agrees on the asking price, and arranges a date for the following week.

The day before:

Woman: “Can we lower the price? I’m a little short on cash this week.”

Me: “Sorry, the price is firm; I explained that in the ad. I can hold it for you for another week, though.”

Woman: “Come on. I only agreed to the price to be nice. I can get it cheaper.”

Me: “Do it, then. The price is firm.”

She sends me a picture from eBay; it’s the same coat, but it’s not in such great condition and still has three days left.

Me: “And? My coat is new, and I guarantee that price will go up.”

She doesn’t respond for the rest of the week.

Woman: “Okay, I will have the coat, but at [slightly lower price].”

Me: “No, you won’t. The price is firm.”

Again, she goes quiet for two more days.

Woman: “Fine, I’ll have it, then. Not worth it, though.”

I do not respond.

Woman: “Hello? Answer me.”

Me: “Not for sale.”

She sent me half a dozen more messages before I blocked her. Fortunately for us, in the time she spent messing us around, the other coat fell apart at the seams. We got a full refund. Her squabbling and my refusing to lose £5 saved me around £40 in a new coat!

When I worked in retail, we had this lady who was incredibly annoying. She would be picking up meds for herself, her husband, or her daughter — who was eighteen and on [ADHD medication] — and she would always give us the biggest attitude when we asked for the full date of birth associated with the patient.

Customer: “It’s a HIPAA violation! What if someone hears it? I’m a lawyer, you know.”

Cool, except her daughter had the same name, month, and day of birth, and the same drug but different doses as another patient. We had to confirm the year so there wouldn’t be a mix-up, but she threw a fit every single time.

Sometimes the daughter would come in and pick up her or her mom’s or dad’s meds. [Daughter] was a sweetheart, which was surprising given how much of a monster her mom was. She was a no-fuss patient, gave us the information we needed, and was on her way.

One day, [Customer] and [Daughter] came in together. I asked for the daughter’s full date of birth, which in turn caused [Customer] to rampage into her “I’m a lawyer” speech. However, today, for some reason, her daughter snapped.

Daughter: “MOM, STOP TELLING EVERYONE YOU’RE A LAWYER! YOU HAVE A LIBERAL ARTS DEGREE! YOU CAN’T ARGUE YOUR WAY OUT OF A PAPER BAG! MY DATE OF BIRTH IS [FULL DATE OF BIRTH] AND I DON’T CARE WHO HEARS IT!”

My entire pharmacy team stopped what they were doing in stunned silence. [Daughter] stormed off, and [Customer] was basically speechless for the entire transaction. She snatched the drugs from me and walked out.

I still think about this four years later and it gives me so much joy.

I was serving a customer at the checkout. I gave her her total.

Customer: “Oh, just a second. Let me find my wallet.”

She started digging in her purse and pulling out items. She casually whipped a vibrator out of her bag and put it on the counter so she could keep searching!

I had a customer that threatened to blow up the place I was working at. He was walking around in circles, talking quite nastily to himself and then to us at the counter where I was working. Every so often, he would stop and address me.

Customer: “You have your fingers in the register. You’re stealing from this place. You have to be. And so are all these other people!”

He gestured at my coworkers. He told me “his angels” were telling him all sorts of things.

I wasn’t the manager, but I was the oldest of the girls at the front and I think the manager was down the back of the shop. I stupidly stepped around the counter.

Me: “Sir, I need your name. The police are coming soon.”

I wanted to back away slowly, but the other workers were younger and all scared and I couldn’t make myself leave. I asked the guy his name enough times that he actually began to slowly back away to the door. But he was still walking in circles violently. I had never been more glad that our tables and chairs were bolted to the floor!

Eventually, the guy left, and by the time the police got there, they were only able to take statements and descriptions, and the guy was long gone by then.

But I have to say, I have never wanted to back away slowly from anyone more than that person that day!

I was working at our store’s online order pickup counter when a very elderly man came to pick up $300 of iTunes gift cards. I thought it was odd, as the phone in his hand wasn’t even an iPhone, but I figured maybe it was a gift for his grandkids and let it go. He came back the next day to pick up $300 more in iTunes gift cards, so I went ahead and asked some more questions.

Customer: “I need these gift cards to unlock my computer! It has some kind of bug!”

Me: “Okay. I’m going to cancel this order and get your $300 back, and then you’re going to go get your computer and bring it to [Tech Team] to fix it.”

The poor dude was so grateful that he brought us all cookies when it was said and done.