I work at a theme park. I’m stationed at the bumper boats, and it’s very close to closing time.  We have twelve boats total. Our bumper boats have squirters that are very easy to accidentally trigger. I’m the only person working the ride because my partner was pulled to help with sweep. These are my last few customers before I can sign out and go home. This is all one big group.

The bell rings, signaling the end of the round.

Me: “All right, people, let’s come back to the dock! Please stop spraying!”

Most customers are coming back to the dock and being patient with me as I run around and hook up their boats as quickly as possible. One customer cannot figure out how to direct her boat back and is just spinning in circles attempting to navigate.

Me: “Miss, please let go of your ‘go’ button! I can help you get back!”

I’m raising my voice slightly as she’s a fair distance away and the motors can be loud. A kid sprays me.

Me: “Hey, can you please not spray me? I don’t enjoy being wet.”

I get sprayed by another kid.

Me: “Hey, let’s make sure our hands are off our spray buttons, please!” *Raises my voice* “Okay, miss, can you point the arrow on top of your engine at me?”

The customer starts spinning in circles again and I’m slowly losing my patience as it’s ten minutes past close and I have a wet shirt and pants from sprayers.

Me: *To a different kid* “Okay, kiddo, can you hop out of your boat? I need to go get the person out there!”

The kid hops out, and I get in with our retrieval rope, grab the boat, and pull it in. I then start unloading boats, talking to myself in German as that’s the language I turn to when annoyed. I am speaking very quietly.

Me: “All right, you guys, have a wonderful night!”

The mom comes over to talk to me.

Mom: “Hey, where would I find your manager?”

Me: “Uh… I’m not quite sure. I could probably call him for you, though.”

Mom: “Yes, please.”

I call, get told he’s “backstage” (employee area), and relay this to the mom.

Mom: “Okay, and what’s your name?”

Me: “[My Name].”

Mom: “I’m going to report you to your manager. I cannot believe you were cursing at my kid. She only speaks Spanish, and she got scared when you yelled at her!”

Me: “Ma’am—”

Mom: “You need to be more respectful. We paid good money to be here, and now our night is ruined because you had an attitude!”

Me: “Ma’am, I apologize if that sounded like cursing. I was simply talking to myself in German, as that’s my native language. Also, I didn’t mean to yell at your child. I wanted to make sure she could hear me, and I assumed she could speak English as we are in the US.”

Mom: “That’s still not okay. Where is the employee area? I’m going to talk to your manager.”

I give her directions, struggling not to let my voice waver and not show how much she’s affecting me. She leaves with her group. I ask the remaining five or so kids in line to wait for a moment while I take a breather and get a drink of water. The dad of these five kids, who’s been waiting near the exit, comes over.

Dad: “Hey, are you okay?”

Me: “I’m fine. That was just my first negative customer experience.”

Dad: “You get off after our group, right?”

Me: “Yes, I do.”

Dad: “Would you mind walking me over to the employee area, as well? I know that you were doing your best to be patient with that group, and she had no right to yell at you like that. I’d like to reverse her complaint.”

Me: *In shock* “Uh, yeah. I can do that.”

I turned to the kids with a smile on my face that was actually genuine this time.

Awesome Dad, if you’re out there, thank you so much for looking out for that sixteen-year-old girl that night! You honestly made my entire week so much better.

I am visiting a major theme park (well before the health crisis) with my uncle, a Vietnam Navy vet with mobility issues, and he is in a wheelchair I am pushing around. We are queued for the latest must-ride attraction that simulates riding a flying creature, and the wait is almost two hours from start to finish.

As the line loops back on itself, a woman well behind us leans over the railing and addresses my uncle, who is wearing a cap with his ship on it.

Woman: “Thank you for your service.”

Uncle: “Thank you.”

Woman: *To me* “Do you need help with that? I’m sure you’re tired from holding that on this hill.”

Me: “Nope, I have it, thanks.”

She turns away, the line moves us apart, and I think that’s the end of it, but a short while later, behind me, I hear:

Woman: “Excuse me, please, I’m with them. Here, let me take that.”

Suddenly, she’s nudging me out of the way to take the handles of the wheelchair, insisting it would be an honor for her to push a veteran’s wheelchair. [Uncle] is craning his neck around trying to see what’s going on as the wheelchair is starting to rock from the struggle, but he isn’t really in a position to do anything but hold on. I’m not a small guy, and I try not to budge, but she’s no slouch, and I really don’t want to get in a physical altercation at the happiest place on Earth. We’re also in a sea of people waiting, so even if there was a staff member in hearing distance, backup getting to us would take time, and the rest of the line is just gawking, confused.

Panic takes over and I end up shouting out a meme:

Me: “That’s my uncle! I don’t know you!”

Somehow, that’s what makes her slink back off to where she was originally. I’m not sure if she was abandoning the rest of her group or the plan was to bring them up once she’d secured her place, but she was only gaining maybe ten or fifteen minutes in the line and was relying way too much on us letting a stranger grab our wheelchair.

On the bright side, when the ride properly starts, my uncle, who has been grumbling for the rest of the time we waited in line, bellows out:

Uncle: “This was worth the wait! This was worth the whole trip!”

I work in the ticket windows at a major theme park. A guest comes to my window with a boy of about six in tow.

Guest: *Pointing to the boy* “We forgot this one’s annual pass. Can we get a new copy?”

Me: “Of course, what’s the name on the pass?”

Guest: “David Smith.”

Since the pass is for someone clearly too young to have an ID to match it to, I search for the name “David Smith” and establish that I have the correct pass by verifying the phone number and email address on file. I’m given the correct information, so I finish the process and print a new pass.

Me: *Handing the new pass directly to the boy* “Here you go, kiddo! Maybe have Dad help you keep closer track of it this time, okay?”

He looks at his pass, and then he looks like he’s about to cry.

Boy: “But my name is Wyatt.”

Guest: “Why did you reprint David’s pass?”

Me: “Because you said the pass you needed belonged to David Smith.”

Guest: “No, David Smith paid for it. But the pass is for Wyatt Jones. So why did you reprint David’s?”

Me: “Because I didn’t ask you who paid for it. I asked whose pass it was.”

I start the process over, searching for and verifying the correct pass this time.

Guest: “There’s a difference?”

Me: “Well, unless Wyatt paid for his own annual pass, yes, there is a massive difference.”

Guest: “But I pointed to Wyatt when we forgot his pass. Shouldn’t you have known to look for his pass?”

Me: “How?”

Guest: “How what?”

Me: “How would I have known to look for Wyatt’s pass when the only name you gave me was David?”

He opens and closes his mouth several times. I seem to have stumped him. His wife, however, turns out to be just out of my sight and she understands exactly where he went wrong. She tells him so in ways I only wish I could while being on the clock. I hand him Wyatt’s pass.

Me: “Here is the pass you actually needed. Please make sure to give David his new pass before he visits again and explain to him why the one he has no longer works. Have a nice day.”

He looked like he wanted to say something, but his wife moved him along with an apologetic glance, still giving him grief.

Related:
Behind Every Wrong Customer Is A Long-Suffering Wife

We get a new manager in our little section of a certain magical kingdom. He has been with the company for several years and has previously worked at table service restaurants at some of the swankier hotels.

There’s an unruly guest at one of the registers next to mine. The guest came up and told [Coworker] that our custodians had thrown away three trays of her food, and she wanted it replaced. That, to both me and her, immediately sent up a red flag. At a park as busy as ours, NO ONE would leave a table full of food unattended for any amount of time.

Coworker: “Do you have the receipt for your order?”

Guest: “My sister took it on a ride with her.”

Again, red flag.

Coworker: “Okay, how was the meal paid for?”

Guest: “I don’t know; my dad paid for it.”

Coworker: “Then I’m afraid we can’t replace the food.”

The guest throws an absolute fit and [Coworker] has to go get the manager. The manager steps forward to address the situation.

Manager: “Yes, I’m the manager here. How may I help you?”

Guest: “Yes, I was here, and the cleaners threw away three trays worth of food, and the girl that was here earlier was giving me a hard time about getting it replaced.” 

Manager: “Okay, do you have a receipt?”

Guest: “No, my sister has it on a ride.”

Manager: *Looking a little doubtful* “Okay, do you know which register your ordered from?”

Guest: “No, my dad did it.”

Manager: “Okay, well, I need some information so we can replace your order properly, so, which ride is your sister on? Or, perhaps you can go get your dad?”

Guest: “Really? Can I speak to the real manager?”

Manager: “I am the manager, and I’d be happy to help you.”

Guest: “But it’s just food. Our food got thrown away and we need it replaced, and we’ve already had a long wait and a hard time with the other girl, so will you just replace it?”

Manager: “At this point, without a receipt, no, I cannot.”

Guest: “My brothers and sisters are starving! I thought this was [Theme Park], where dreams come true and magic happens!”

Manager: “So starving they went back on the rides, to wait in line for at least another hour before eating? Please come back with the receipt and your father, because at this point, the magic can’t happen.”

The guest sputtered for a few seconds and then stormed off in a huff. She never returned.

I’m fifteen, and I’m working in a small sideshow/amusement fair area part of a music venue. There are only three games and four rides, so when guests come in, we usually see them often that night, especially kids.

On a particularly quiet night, I was working a game where you’d catch a fish, and the higher the number on the bottom of the fish was, the bigger the prize. I had a pair of girls come through. They were about eleven or so and hung around my game for about half an hour. [Girl #1] was very nice. She paid for a few games and won herself a prize. [Girl #2], on the other hand, was an issue.

Girl #2: “Can I have a free game, since my friend is buying? I want to win something, too!”

Me: “No, sorry.”

Girl #2: *Jokingly.* “Can I come work with you and be paid in stuffed animals?”

Me: “Nope, sorry!”

She continuously pushed for free games and tried to come back behind the game where only the workers were allowed. When other guests would come through to play a game or two, she kept telling them to leave.

Girl #2: “It’s a scam! You can’t win anything unless you spend lots of money! And I know all the numbers.”

This wasn’t true.

When people would play, she’d flip the fish over and tell them the numbers. It was mostly lighthearted joking and doing no harm until the point where I had to PHYSICALLY remove her and block her from coming into my workspace, since she had snuck in while I was serving someone else and began messing with the prizes and money. That was the point that I snapped.

Me: “You are making my job hard, and if you don’t pull your head in, I’ll call security, who will have you and your family removed from the venue.”