A kid comes up to the customer service counter.

Kid: “I want to return this.”

He slides across a Game Boy Advance game.

Me: “What’s the problem with it?”

Kid: “I finished it.”

I work as a toy shop cashier and shop assistant with a twelve-hour workday schedule. Our boss, my coworkers, and I have a deal that we usually just change on the register each day, and that the one attending the register that day will solely focus on it and will leave tasks around the store for the others.

Alongside toys, we also sell stationery and maternity supplies, including prams, baby walkers, and high chairs.

It was late afternoon, around the time that we’d usually schedule a quick afternoon break. One of my coworkers was on sick leave that day, so I was all alone on the floor at the time. Usually, when a customer asks for directions, I try to navigate them with words rather than leading them to the dedicated aisle as I usually would if I had a backup coworker with me.

A pair of younger soon-to-be-parents came in and headed straight toward our pram display. At the same time, a very nice and patient elderly man came up to me.

Elderly Man: “Could you demonstrate one of your RC cars for me?”

As I was changing the batteries in the car, the man from the aforementioned couple came by.

Young Man: “Could you show me how to fold one of the prams?”

I gave him a quick brief, explaining what and where needed to be pulled and pressed, but it was no good.

Young Man: *Annoyed and arrogant* “Could you go and just show me?”

Me: *Politely* “I’m currently busy, and I’m the only one on the floor at the moment, so I’m not permitted to leave the register. But I’ll be able to help you in about five minutes when my coworker’s break is over.”

Still no good. He stepped up a notch and raised his voice.

Young Man: “What is preventing you from just showing me real quick?!”

Elderly Man: “I don’t mind waiting.”

My coworker, who was also coincidentally the shop manager, overheard our argument and rushed back to see what was going on. And when I briefed him about what was ensuing, this younger man realised he was the manager and promptly said:

Young Man: “I would like to complain about this young lady’s unwilling attitude to help a customer!”

My manager just nonchalantly replied:

Manager: “This young lady hasn’t breached a single code of conduct of our company. She’s currently preoccupied and would’ve been taming the shop alone until recently. Now, how may I help you?”

I could see the one vein on this guy’s forehead showing as he raged back to his lover and they both promptly stormed out of the shop.

I am working for a now-defunct toy superstore. A woman comes in carrying her child. She is best described as overly-chatty.

Mother: “I need a loud toy for my baby! He’s almost one. The louder and more obnoxious the better!”

Me: “Oh! Well, I—”

Mother: “It’s for a wedding, you see.”

Me: “A wedding, well—”

Mother: “The couple has the gall — the gall! — to say that no children are allowed at the wedding! Can you believe that?!“

Me: “Well, I guess that—”

Mother: “So, I’m gonna teach those people a lesson! Not only am I bringing my baby, but he’s going to make so much noise they will regret discriminating against me as a mother!”

Me: “I’m not sure that—”

Mother: “It’s hard enough being a mother these days! And now this! It’s violating my rights!”

And with that, she stormed off to find something noisy and wedding-ruiny.

I heard she spoke to a coworker demanding to know why they don’t make mini drum kits for one-year-olds.

Related:
The Biggest Baby Here Isn’t The Toddler

It was a few years ago, and a popular chain toy store was closing down and having a liquidation sale. This was happening nationwide, so you can probably guess what store it was. Of course, since everything was marked down anywhere from 25 to 75% off, the place was packed with people looking to get good deals on toys, video games, etc. As a result, every register was backed up with ridiculously long lines, the phone was ringing off the hook, etc.

I went over to a help desk, which was being run by a rather frazzled-looking employee who was busy helping about fifteen different people at the same time. Everyone was being friendly to her, since hey… she was about to lose her job.

Between customers, the employee answered a phone call, and I overheard this.

Employee: “[Store], this is [Employee] speaking. How may I help you?”

Her eyes started to look a little glazed over.

Employee: “Unfortunately, I’m going to have to put you on hold for a few minutes. I’m quite backed up, and I can’t leave my station at the moment to get that information for you. I can probably radio someone to take your call, but it might be a few minutes before they can. We’re incredibly busy right now.”

The caller responded.

Employee: “I understand your frustration, ma’am, but we’ve been having record-breaking crowds, and I can’t leave my station to look at the brands and prices of every item in the kid’s car section for you. I simply don’t have the time. If you can hold, I can probably get someone else to help you in a few minutes.”

The caller responded so loudly I could hear her. She was obviously throwing a hissy fit. While this was happening, more and more people were showing up at the desk for help.

Employee: “Ma’am. Please do not scream or swear at me. I cannot help you right now. I apologize, but I cannot ignore other customers and leave my station for several minutes to get you that information.”

The caller continued to scream.

Employee: “Ma’am. I’m saying this one more time. I cannot fulfill your request at this time. If you want that information, you’re going to have to hold for a few minutes.”

I could now clearly hear the SHRIEKING customer over the line, she was so loud, and she used a certain ugly word that starts with C. The employee finally lost it.

Employee: “No, you can’t speak to my manager! How about that?! Huh! You don’t like that answer, do you, b****? You’re not going to accomplish anything, anyway, because we’re all losing our jobs! So my manager is just gonna hang up on you the second you scream at him like a little baby! So, how about this? How about you go to h***, you sniveling, entitled f****** t**t! F*** you! F*** you! F*** you! You’d better hope I don’t find out what address is attached to this phone number! Because I will come over and LITERALLY TEAR OUT AND EAT YOUR COLD, SHRIVELED LITTLE HEART IN FRONT OF YOUR FAMILY! HOW ABOUT THAT, B****?!”

The employee SLAMMED the phone down while everyone else stood there, mouth agape. She immediately turned to the next customer with a satisfied smile.

Employee: “Sorry about that. I’ve just had enough of being screamed at from open to close, and I lost my cool.”

Customer: “Um… that was the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Employee: *Beaming* “Thank you!”

I asked the employee if I could give her a tip after she helped me, but she declined. I don’t know who this woman was, but if I ever find her again… I want to marry her!

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I was a new assistant manager at a toy store, and we had a couple that came in to return a piano they had bought. They had their receipt and were within the return date, but the box and toy were filled with pet hair.

They were making a fuss with the cashier, so she called over our manager, and she told them we couldn’t accept the return because it was nowhere close to sellable condition.

We live in an area where lots of people are bilingual. These customers were so angry that they started insulting my manager in French. What they didn’t know is that my manager doesn’t speak French but she does understand it. Any chance they had of getting a refund went away when they said, “Eat s***,” in French. She just told them we couldn’t do the return and walked away.

The story doesn’t stop there! A few days later, we got an email from customer service saying that this customer called in saying we refused their return for no reason and that they don’t even own any pets, so there couldn’t be any pet hair in the box.

Usually, when we get these emails, we just have to send in our side of the story and that’s it. The end of this story isn’t as satisfying as getting even, but I did do a little more digging.

When customers call in to complain to customer service, they get asked for their name, last name, and email for the report. I know I shouldn’t have, but I was bored, and I really liked this manager, so I wanted to be sure that these angry customers couldn’t take things further. I did a little stalking on social media.

I found one of the customer’s accounts where every single profile picture they had was of them AND THEIR DOGS — dogs with the same colour fur that was in the piano box.

I let my manager know in case it came up again, but nothing more ever came of it.