I have to run some errands and I drag my college-age son along. As we are heading home, I stop by a fast food Chinese restaurant to get him food as a thank-you.

Me: “Here are twenty bucks for lunch. I don’t want to get out of the car.”

He came back with the food, the receipt, and $11.00 in change. The receipt showed that I was short by $0.76. I guess the cashier didn’t give him any coins due to the current coin shortage in the US. If it had been less than fifty cents, I would have let it slide, but I sent my son back to the restaurant to ask for a gift card for the missing $0.76.

I was surprised to see my son come back with $0.76 and not a gift card. I guess they did have coins after all.

I am working at a cookie store in a mall when we are accepting donations for a local charity and giving customers the option to donate $1.00 at checkout. Many people say no, which is fine; it’s none of my business. But it is the people that are exceptionally rude about it that bother me. This is my favorite instance.

Me: “Would you like to donate $1.00 to help children in need?”

Customer: *Visibly annoyed* “No. I wish people would give me a dollar every time my children needed something.”

Me: *Pause* “All right, well, your total comes to $6.66.”

Customer: “You can’t be serious.”

She donated $1.00 after that.

I work as a receptionist in an office that sells hearing aids. We have people call in after seeing our ads to make appointments or ask questions. We are all trained to basically do whatever it takes to get them in the door.

I get a normal call from a potential patient asking about one of our ads. It states that if they complete a hearing aid trial — which is them actually ordering hearing aids and trying them for a ten-day trial — they get something for free. This is usually a little mini grill or a $25 gift card.

Patient: “Tell me about the free gift.”

Me: “As long as you complete the trial, you’ll get the gift.”

This little disclaimer is also printed on the ads these people receive in the mail. The day of the appointment, the patient comes in with her husband and they fill out the paperwork. Already, she’s putting out that “I don’t know why I have to do this” vibe and has asked repeatedly about our free exams and the free gift, so I already know that that’s the only reason she is even here.

Me: “Yes, the exam is free and you receive the gift after the trial.”

Now, most people would understand what “trial” means, but I’ll learn later this lady doesn’t. After going through the whole exam of having her ears checked and tested, and then the clinician going over her results and what options would be best for her, she says she will have to “think about it,” which, in this line of work means, “I’m not gonna buy anything.”

This is how it goes down once she comes back up to the front desk.

Patient: “Okay, so where’s my free gift card?”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but you only get one after a hearing aid trial.”

Patient: “That’s bulls***! I asked you when I called about the gift card and you said I get it after the exam!”

Me: “No, ma’am, I said that after your trial, you get the gift card. I’m not allowed to say you get it after an exam. It’s even printed on the ad you brought in.”

Patient: “That’s just ridiculous! I want my gift card!”

She then starts to just stare angrily at me while her husband just stands there watching the whole thing. Thankfully, my clinician has come back out of his office.

Clinician: “What’s going on?”

Patient: “Your dumba** secretary told me that I don’t get a gift card, even though I just had an exam!”

Clinician: “That’s correct. You have to complete a ten-day hearing aid trial before we send you a gift card, regardless of whether you buy or not. It’s on the ads we sent out, as well.”

Patient: “You’re all just a bunch of liars and won’t give me a gift card! I’m going to call your corporate office and complain!”

After being a total witch for a few more minutes while we repeat ourselves over and over, she finally leaves; her husband never said anything.

Clinician: “I mean, she can’t be that hard up for $25 if she’s driving off in a Mercedes!”

We also never heard anything from our corporate office, but thankfully, she hasn’t come back since!

I’m a hairdresser at a chain salon, and I’ve recently gotten married. I am chatting with a walk-in customer while doing her hair, and it comes up that my in-laws are from another country.

Customer: “Oh, so your husband is the same ethnicity as me! What’s your last name?”

Me: “It’s [Unusual Last Name].”

Customer: “Oh, dear, you can’t even say it properly! Is it spelled [jumble of letters]?”

Me: “Actually, it’s spelled [correct spelling].”

Customer: “Hmm, does it have two Rs? That’s probably where you’re having trouble.”

Me: “No, it’s two Is.”

Customer: “Yeah, I bet that’s what’s messing you up.”

Me: “So, um, how’s the length looking? I’ll turn you so you can see the back…”

I’ve got a bit of a southern drawl, so I guess my new last name sounds kind of funny with my accent. But I’m pretty sure this lady had just never heard the name until now; it’s not a super common one. I sure wouldn’t presume to tell anyone that they were saying their own name wrong, at any rate.

Related:
Named And Shamed, Part 9
Named And Shamed, Part 8
Named And Shamed, Part 7
Named And Shamed, Part 6
Named And Shamed, Part 5

I have sent a meeting request to my coworker in the next cubicle. She is known to be, um, problematic. The meeting is twenty minutes from my request. She accepts the meeting invitation.

The meeting occurs, but she does not attend. I walk to her cubicle to fill her in on the results.

Coworker: “You already had the meeting?”

Me: “Yes, it was for 2:00.”

Coworker: “Why didn’t you get me? I didn’t know it was today!”

Me: “I sent the invitation twenty minutes before the meeting; you accepted it.”

Coworker: “I didn’t know it was today! Why didn’t you get me?”

Me: “I had just sent the invitation. You accepted. I assumed you were coming.”

Coworker: “I didn’t look at the date!”

Me: “So, you’re saying it’s my fault you didn’t know about a meeting that you accepted an invitation for twenty minutes before the start, and that you would have been reminded of by the system fifteen and five minutes before it began?”

Coworker: “Yes! That’s your responsibility!”