I run a cash register in the garden section at the local [Retail Chain]. They have a hard rule that we are not allowed to take a credit card that is not signed.

One very busy evening, a man gives me his card which is two years expired and has never been signed. I have to call a manager. We have to wait with a line of at least thirty or more people all getting grouchy.

Finally, a manager shows up.

Manager: “I’m sorry, sir, but we can’t take your card.”

Customer: “Fine! I’ll just write a check, then.”

Manager: “Okay. We’ll need two forms of ID for that.”

The customer handed over his driver’s license and… that outdated credit card.

Nope.

He was not a happy man.

Back in 1998, I moved from Michigan to Virginia and took a job as an irrigation tech for a large regional landscape company. Within six months, I learned my mistake: working as an irrigation tech for landscapers sucks. You are treated as a necessary evil and always get the s***ty end of the stick.

I heard through the grapevine that some area managers had screwed up a couple of big maintenance contracts and that, somehow, they were going to try and make me the scapegoat. I promptly went to the second contractor I had interviewed for originally, got a job there, and put in a one-week notice with [Company].

My manager was really pressuring me to give them more notice until I told him:

Me: “If you ask me one more time for more notice, you will notice the following morning that I don’t work here anymore.”

At the end of the week, I turned in my uniforms plus my reimbursement slip for $38 petty cash. I was told that I was getting nothing back on my uniforms and they weren’t going to pay my $38. I was pissed but just moved on.

The following week, I contacted my local labor board and filed a complaint saying that the entire time I had worked for [Company], I was being paid a salary rather than an hourly while I was a non-exempt employee. I asked to be paid all of my overtime.

A few weeks went by, it worked its way through the system, and I got a call from the corporation’s Controller. We had a meeting and went over everything with a bunch of back and forth. He kept trying to justify that I was really exempt and that they didn’t owe me anything until I’d really had enough of his s***.

I told him straight-up that we might disagree on how much they owed me, but I’d guarantee they owed me something. On top of that, I would make a point on every payday going from branch to branch of the company with a sign, standing outside the gate, and telling every single non-exempt employee that they were being screwed out of overtime and how they could sue the company.

I ended up signing an NDA agreeing that I wouldn’t share any of the information on overtime with other employees, and I got a check for $5,000 the following day. Within two months, [Company] and several others in the area began paying with a new overtime method. They took your weekly salary and divided it by forty for an hourly rate, and for every hour of overtime you worked, you got half your rate. If you worked your way through the math and whatnot and how the labor board determined your overtime in this case, it pretty much worked out correctly.

So, in summary, my employer tried to screw me out of $38 and I made them pay me $5,000.

[Company] has long, long, long since been sold out to a national competitor.

We have a “public inquiry inbox” where members of the public can submit questions about our agency through a web form.

Me: “Hey, [Boss], we got a new public inquiry. I need some help. It’s about the information on [Website], but—”

Boss: “Oof, no, not my department. I don’t know anything about that.”

She starts leafing through an employee list to try to find me a contact.

Me: “No, that’s not the problem. Let me read you the inquiry: ‘Dear [Agency], Today your website says [blah blah blah]. However, in December of 2021, it said [different blah blah blah].”

Boss: “…okay, go on?”

Me: “That’s it.”

Boss: “Well… that sounds right to me. No need to answer, I guess.”

Fast forward a few weeks.

Agency Bigwig: “Also, we got a complaint that you ignored a public inquiry. You know you need to answer those, right?”

Boss: “We’ll get right on that. Do you know which one?”

Agency Bigwig: “I’ve got it right here. It says… uh… Okay, I think I see the problem.”

Sure enough, it’s our no-question inquiry.

Agency Bigwig: *Typing* “Okay, take a look at this response and let me know if I should hit ‘Send’.”

His response? “I agree.”

Boss: “How about adding, ‘Thank you for your interest in [Website],’ so it sounds a little more polite?”

Agency Bigwig: “Fine… but for the record, I don’t want this person interested in our website!”

I work as a supervisor for a company that provides television service in the United States and a few other countries. The company that owns mine also owns a few others, including a “sister” cell phone service company that we have no direct communication with.

Today is a busy day, so all hands are on deck. This means that supervisors are taking calls until the queue is knocked out. On my third call, I encounter a woman who angrily begins by saying:

Customer: “My cable bill is too high! I want to sign up for cell phone service so I can get a discount!” 

We have no direct connection with the cell phone provider, nor have we ever offered a discount on our services for customers who use said provider.

I ask her to clarify, and she snaps back:

Customer: “I want to get a cell phone through [TV Provider] so I can save on my bill!” 

Since some television providers do offer cell phone service, I first verify that she is, in fact, our customer.

Me: “Ma’am, we don’t offer cellular service, but I can give you the number for [“Sister” Cell Phone Provider].”

Customer: “No, I don’t want cellular service from them; I want it from you so that I can save on my television service!”

I advise her again that we do not offer any phone service directly, but I add that if she wants to lower her bill, I can go over her service with her and see if there are any savings to be had. 

She then starts yelling, claiming that we do offer cellular service and that she wants to talk to a supervisor.

Me: “I am a supervisor, ma’am. I’m willing to dial the number for [“Sister” Cell Phone Provider] to save you time.”

She becomes outraged.

Customer: “You’re lying! I’ll just call back; someone else will give me cell phone service. You’re losing a sale because you’re stubborn!”

Me: “You are welcome to call back anytime and we will always try to help, but, again, we do not offer cell phone service.”

At this, she screamed at me and ended the call. 

I sighed, made notes on her account about the encounter, and went on to my next call. I REALLY hope that no one else has to deal with her level of stubbornness anytime soon.

I was in college in 1997. I ordered a pizza from a college-town pizza chain one Saturday night from my dorm.

The only payment I had was a check. I didn’t have cash or a credit card. The pizza was ridiculously cheap; I want to say it was $6.95, but back then, it could have been $4.95. I don’t remember. The important thing is the $0.95.

I rounded the check up to the next dollar. Yes, I wrote a check for $5.00 for a $4.95 pizza. Or maybe $6.00 for a $5.95. Either way, it was horrible.

I remember the delivery guy was super friendly. I was new at school, and he was commiserating with my move-in situation. Then, after I handed him the check:

Delivery Guy: “Wait, I have some change for you.”

Me: “Oh, no, keep the change.”

Delivery Guy: “No, here’s your nickel.”

I have never been more ashamed in my life. This episode still comes up when I try to sleep.

I have tipped the max ever since.