I work for a company that sells and maintains restaurant equipment. I have recently taken over answering the main phone. We get some interesting calls due to a lot of the customers being young and/or on drugs. I took this call this morning.

Me: “Good morning, [My Company], how can I help you?”

Customer: “Uh… Store #3946.”

Me: “Okay, and are you looking for Service or Parts today?”

These are our two most commonly asked-for departments.

Customer: “Uh… I have a question.”

Me: “And is that question about Service or about Parts?”

Customer: *Silence*

Me: “Okay, I’m going to transfer you to service.” *Transfers the call*

My coworker in service told me later that the customer never did say why she was calling. She just repeated her store number and that she had a question until my coworker finally had to hang up on her.

This happened around six months ago. I never directly worked with [Coworker], but from all the stories I’ve heard from multiple departments he’s worked in, there are so many stories too good not to share. Here is one of them.

I used to work in outbound shipping for a major shipping supply company. (I now work in inbound shipping.) I worked the overnight shift and [Coworker] worked the day shift, so we would sometimes meet if I worked overtime. 

He was training to become an assistant department manager. By this point, he had been training for about two months exclusively in outbound, so he should have had a basic understanding of most of the concepts used in outbound. One term we used was a “pull”, also known as a “paperless”. Basically what that meant was if we were fulfilling a customer’s order but we didn’t have that product in the building, but another building did, we would systematically send that building a request to send us that product to fulfill that order (to keep track of inventory for each building).

During [Coworker]’s training for those two months, he was told to stay with the person on that shift that did all that paperwork. He should have known what they were, but apparently, at least once a week, he would ask what a pull/paperless was. It’s like the information did not stick with him. 

It’s like he was like Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates. 

I recently found out he now works in the department that I used to work in on my shift. I’m so glad I never had to directly work with him. I would have gone crazy!

I used to work for a nationwide secondhand store, and there was one manager we had that no one liked. There are many stories, but this one always stuck with me.

This happened right around Halloween several years ago. I was ringing out a customer who shops about once a month and spends at least $250 each time.

Every Halloween, we would get costumes, makeup, accessories, decorations, etc., that we would buy in bulk to sell at the store.

The customer came up to me at the register, and after I scanned all their items, they had one of the masks we bought (originally priced at $6.99) priced for $1.99. I told the customer that I was going to need to get a price check since there were multiple price tags on it.

This customer is always very nice, by the way.

I paged for the manager, and while waiting, I finished bagging all their purchases.

[Manager] walked up to us.

Me: “Hi, [Manager]! I need a price check on this mask. [Customer] says they found it with that tag on the hardline cart. They say that [description of another employee] pushed that cart out.”

[Manager] looked over the mask.

Manager: “It’s going to be $6.99.”

Customer: “But I found it just like that on the cart they just pushed out? I grabbed it when they were just coming through the back. Can you go ask the person that pushed out the cart? Or ask if anyone priced it that way?”

Manager: “No. It is still going to be $6.99. Take it or leave it.”

Customer: *To me* “Just cancel my order. This is ridiculous.”

[Manager] walked away. [Customer] asked me for the store manager’s name and store number, and I gave her all the necessary information.

Me: *Still sort of stunned* “Okay. Have a good day!”

About an hour later, I was called to the office.

Store Manager: “Hey, [My Name]! Can you come sit and close the door?”

Me: “Sure!”

Store Manager: “So, can you tell me about the incident earlier with [Manager] and [Customer]?”

I relayed what had happened and gave [Store Manager] [Customer]’s name so we could find their rewards card information.

[Store Manager] and I are close friends, so they told me their whole plan for what they were going to do.

Store Manager: “…so, that’s the plan.”

Me: “Sounds good. What’s going to happen with [Manager]?”

Store Manager: “Don’t know yet. A conversation, to start. From there, we will see.”

[Store Manager] and I talked more about the situation, what we would have done, etc., and then [Store Manager] proceeded with the plan.

About a week later, I saw the customer in the store.

Me: “Oh, hi, [Customer]! It’s great to see you back in the store!”

Customer: “Yeah, [Store Manager] called me and apologized and offered me coupons to come back. They are the sweetest and nicest person!”

Me: “Yeah, they are.”

Customer: *Pauses* “Is [Manager] here today?”

Me: “No, they are not.”

They were still employed at the store at this point.

Customer: “Good. I felt bad leaving you with all that to put away.”

Me: “No worries; I do it all the time. Glad to see you are back again. Have a good day!”

[Manager] ended up leaving the store for some other reason about a month later.

CONTENT WARNING: Animal Abuse, Death

The phone rings.

Coworker: “Thank you for calling [Pet Store]. This is [Coworker]. How can I help you?”

Caller: “Hi, do you sell Winter White hamsters?”

Coworker: “Yes, we do. Do you need any help or information with them?”

Caller: “Well, you see, I bought a hamster from you about a year and a half ago, and it was almost always covered in bloody scabs, cysts, and other unsightly disgusting wounds! It recently died!”

My coworker is surprised and a bit confused.

Coworker: “Oh, I am sorry to hear that.”

Caller: “I blame you.”

Coworker: “I’m sorry?”

Caller: “I blame you people for selling sick animals! I bought another one from you back in September, and that one died, as well.”

Coworker: “Ma’am, all of our animals are looked over by a certified veterinarian. And once we get them in the store, they’re isolated for a few days to help us further watch for any possible diseases. We also offer a two-week guarantee on all of our animals, so if there is some sort of problem with the animal, you can always bring it back and we can refund you. Are you sure you got this hamster from us?”

Caller: “Yes!”

My coworker starts trying to do some detective work because there is NO WAY an animal that ill could’ve been sold.

Coworker: “Ma’am, what kind of bedding were you using for these hamsters?”

Caller: “I use pine bedding.”

Pine bedding is INCREDIBLY toxic for small animals. They tend to have an allergic reaction to the bedding, which may cause symptoms as the hamsters had. My coworker tells her how toxic pine bedding is for small animals.

Caller: “Listen. I’ve been breeding and raising hamsters for ten years. I know what I’m talking about, and you don’t have to explain that to me!”

Coworker: “Okay, ma’am. What would you like me to do, then?”

Caller: “I’d like to speak to a manager.”

My coworker handed the phone over to the manager on duty. Unfortunately, he ended up giving her a 25%-off ticket for her next hamster purchase. The catch? Apparently, the hamster that died was female. We have never sold any female hamsters; she got the hamster from another store and not us. I still don’t understand why she didn’t take the poor thing to the vet and not let it live its life with such horrid wounds.

I work for a fast food chain restaurant. All of our chairs are bolted to the floor. All of them.

One woman got upset with something about her order. Honestly, we did mess it up. We tried to offer to make it right, but she kept shouting over us.

Then, she left.

She returned carrying a plastic lawn chair, which she threw over the counter and into the kitchen area. The chair basically exploded on impact. It broke the glass on the hotbox, and some of it landed in the fryer and promptly started melting into the fry oil.

Then, she left again.

We managed to get a cell phone picture of her, and we have put her on the Do Not Serve list. We also informed the police, but they said it was unlikely they could do much with just a name, a description of a car without a license plate number, and a grainy cell phone picture.

We have no idea where she got the chair from.

Related:
On The Need For (Bio)Hazard Pay
On The Need For Hazard Pay, Part 34
On The Need For Hazard Pay, Part 33
On The Need For Hazard Pay, Part 32
On The Need For Hazard Pay, Part 31