I am working the customer service desk area at a well known blue superstore. It is nearing the end of an 8 hour shift. Two men walk up at the same time.
Me, without looking up: I can help you right here (indicating to either person to come to my computer)
Customer 1: *walks up* I would like to retur-
Customer 2: *interupts loudly* Hey! I was here first!
Me: I’m sorry, I was not really paying attention. I’ll be right with you in a moment!
Customer 2: *pushes Customer 1 out of the way* Why don’t you want to help me?! Is it ’cause I’m Black?!
Me: *shocked* what? no-
Customer 2: You’re just a racist!
Me: *Turns to my manager, who is an immigrant from south Africa, and a good friend of mine. She had just clocked in* Hey (manager) how are you doing today?
Customer 2: *Sputters*

I work at a small store where it usually isn’t busy around closing, so we never have more than three people work the closing shift. At the moment, we only have two employees in the store; my manager and me. I am the only one with a register, and the light above my register is turned on as I’m stocking the shelves a bit further down the aisle.

Usually, customers understand that we have other tasks to do and patiently wait at the register with the light on until a cashier can assist them. I have a perfect view of my register, which is the only obviously open one, and I usually only take a few seconds to get to my register and start ringing people up once they arrive. Suddenly, I hear a shout.

Customer:
“SOMEONE NEEDS TO COME UP HERE AND HELP ME!”

I glance at my register and see no one there. Still, I walk up to my register to find a customer at a register that is obviously closed.

Me:
“I can help you at register two.”

The customer walks over to my register, grumbling.

Customer:
“You always need to have someone at the register!”

Me:
“Sorry, sir, but we only have two employees in the store at the moment, and we both have other things to do.”

Customer:
“But you have to have someone at the register at all times if you want to make money!”

I just think, “Yes, because standing at a mostly-empty register for four hours is a great use of company time!”

Me:
“Actually, sir, I was stocking the shelves right over there and have a perfect view of my register.”

Customer:
“But that’s how you need to do it if you want to make money!”

I hate it when customers who don’t know what it’s like to work in retail tell me how to do my job. Unfortunately, this isn’t uncommon, even though most of the customers I get are really nice, so I go through my usual routine when I have a rude customer.

I noticed that the customer had a bunch of glass items. Usually, I ask the customer how they want to have their items wrapped, or just grab a segmented box if they have a lot of glass items. In this case, however, I took my time slowly scanning each item and wrapping it meticulously in newspaper. I watched as the customer got more frustrated the slower I went, but he didn’t say anything.

Finally, we completed the transaction, and he walked to the side with his bags without a word and took his time going through each bag and checking his receipt. This was perfect for me, because he got to see me happily and swiftly ring up my newest customer, who treated me very nicely and didn’t try to tell me how to do my job. Petty revenge is sweet.

I work in an office supply store where, at least for the two years I’ve been working, we’ve always opened at 8:00 am on weekdays, 9:00 am on Saturdays, and 10:00 am on Sundays. It is currently Sunday, and I am paged over to help an older customer. After I do so, she says this gem.

Customer:
“You know, you really should open at the right time.”

Me:
“Well, it’s Sunday. For at least the two years I’ve been here, we’ve opened at ten on Sundays.”

Customer:
“I know, but you really should open at the right time. I saw eight cars leave and now I’m late for work!”

I told her to call corporate, since I have nothing to do with the hours, and then she stormed off.

Ma’am, if you are late for work you can come back later, instead of car watching. Our hours are posted next to the window and online.

After a month of trying to get medical leave and being given a difficult time about it, I quit my job. Between quitting my old job and being hired at my new job, a time period of about two months, I have three surgeries and spend a total of two weeks in the hospital. I’m worried about my chances of being hired while still in recovery, but I need the money. I’m discussing this with the head of HR.

Me:
“My doctor has told me to not lift over 15 pounds, but I know [department] has a lot of product that’s regularly over twenty pounds.”

HR:
“Do you know if it’s a permanent restriction? If it’s only short-term, we can just make sure there’s someone else in [department] with you so it’s never an issue.”

Me:
“I believe it is. I also have been told I need the ability to sit down when I feel it’s necessary.”

HR:
“We can absolutely get a stool over there for you. Do you know if there are any more surgeries you’ll need time off for? I’d hate to have you worry about that.”

Me:
“I should be good. You mean… you actually take care of your employees?”

HR:
“We try to. We’ve found that when we do, people actually like working.” 

After a few more weeks of recovery, my doctor pulled me off of my restrictions, and HR even gave me a card for it!

I’m a cashier. The store I work in sells gift cards, prepaid cards, and phone cards. An activation receipt is printed and given to the customer when they purchase any of these cards, which they are meant to keep in case there’s some issue with the card. They are also given a purchase receipt, which is the same as the receipt for any other kind of purchase; it shows that they purchased the gift card, but it does not prove the card was activated.

A customer comes to my register with a prepaid card, saying that she bought some for her son and none of them are activated. She has the purchase receipt, but not the activation receipt. I start to fill with dread, since the customer already seems a bit hostile, and I know that not having her activation receipt might mean that she won’t get her money back. Card issues aren’t resolved on the store level, though, so I page my supervisor, since she’ll know what the customer needs to do.

My supervisor tells the customer that she needs to call our corporate line in order to resolve this. The customer immediately becomes even more hostile. She wants us to fix it right there and now, because she came all this way. My supervisor tells her that without the activation receipt there’s no way we can do that.

The customer argues that the purchase receipt should be enough; the supervisor tells her it isn’t, and also points out that the card number on the receipt doesn’t match the one on the card. They go back and forth for a while longer, and the supervisor even asks me to confirm that the number on the receipt should match the one on the card, because the customer just won’t accept it. I confirm that they should match. The customer asks her son if this is the same card she gave him, and he insists it is. She gets more and more upset, acting like we’re refusing to help her; she even tells my supervisor she needs to fix it because “This is your fault.”

I wish I was part of the conversation at that point, because I would have loved to point out that we have no control over these kinds of issues, and it wouldn’t be my supervisor’s fault even if she had personally sold her those cards. Our register either tells us the card activated, in which case the customer gets an activation receipt proving that, or it tells us the activation failed, in which case the register automatically prompts us to refund the customer, and we can’t exit that screen until we do so. If the card is activated according to the register but not in reality, that’s an issue with the card or card provider, and we have no way of controlling it or knowing about it. That’s the whole reason we give activation receipts.

Of course, none of this was relevant anyway, because even if the customer had her activation receipt, she would still need to call our corporate line.

Later that same day, a different customer — fortunately not as hostile — reports the same problem with a prepaid card not being activated. She also doesn’t have her activation receipt. Unwilling to bother my supervisor about this issue again, I just write down the same number my supervisor gave to the first customer and send her on her way.

I have no idea if either of these customers will be able to get their money back. This scenario is exactly why I tell customers who are buying gift cards to keep the activation receipts.

If you ever buy a gift card, keep your activation receipt!