(At my hotel, we’re required to wear our nametags. A trembling woman comes up to me.)

Me: “Hi! May I help you?”

Guest: “My pillows and my bed weren’t fluffy enough…. and so, it’s your fault!”

Me: “Um? I’m sorry that your pillows didn’t please you, I will tell housekeeping to uh, get you fluffier ones…”

Guest: *points at me and jabs at me with her finger* “No! Don’t try to weasel out! It’s your fault, [My Name], not anyone else’s! YOUR FAULT!”

Me: “Like I said, I will try to contact our head housekeeper, [Head Housekeeper’s Name], and she’ll fix it–”

Guest: *shaking head* “It’s not [Head Housekeeper’s Name] fault! It’s all yours, understand? ALL. YOURS!!! Not hers! You’re supposed to have given me fluffy pillows, not flat and you DIDN’T!!”

Me: “I’m not the one who put nor do I choose your beds or pillows, I’m just a clerk. If you want, you can complain to [Manager’s Name], she’s our manager, and–”

Guest: “NO! Why would I when it’s not [Manager’s Name] fault. It’s your fault, [My Name]!”

(She then wrote a nasty review on every online website about me, specifically stating my name and how rude I was for not even ‘owning’ up to my mistake and trying to weasel out of it by saying it was the manager’s fault. Sad to say, but she’s wasn’t the only one to blame me, a clerk, for things not under my control. Even sadder, my manager blamed me and didn’t believe me when I explained it. She couldn’t believe that there were actually unreasonable people like this.)

I worked at a gas station/convenience store for quite awhile. At one point, the owners decided to retire and a corporation was taking over. In the midst of this change, there were a few functions that did not work. One of which was the use of a store card that accumulated points for a discount on gas. This woman comes in, doesn’t say a word, and slides a card through the credit/debit machine. I waited just a moment then asked, “can I help you?”
Woman: “This machine won’t take my card.”
Me: “Ok let me take a look at it. (Hands me her card). “Oh I see the problem. We’re in the process of switching owners and our system isn’t set up to take the rewards card yet. I’m sorry!”
She snatches the card out of my hand.
Woman: “But this is a (station name) card!”
Me: “Yes ma’am, but our system doesn’t have the software to be able to take it yet. I’m sorry about that.”
She then steps closer to the counter, and FLICKS me in the nose with the card while saying “Listen you little b****, this is a (station name) card and this is a (station) AND YOU WILL TAKE IT!!”
I took a step back, shaking and had had enough.
Me: “You’ve got about 5 seconds to hit that door before I knock you out.”
She called me a few more choice words and stormed out the door, slinging it open hard enough to bang into the newspaper boxes outside and cause the glass in the doors to vibrate. Luckily, the old owners were still around at that point and I didn’t get in trouble. Never did see that “lady” again!

[I work the reception desk at a small bank. When we don’t know a customer well, we are required to see and verify a picture ID before giving out certain information or documents. I am a 22-year-old woman and I have a reputation for being invariably positive and very friendly, which unfortunately seems to translate to old men as flirting… One such man comes in to pick up checks ordered for him and his wife.]

Me: Do you have any ID on you today that I could look at?

Customer: [jokingly] What, is my face not enough?

Me: [laughs] Oh, well, I don’t believe we’ve met before, so I don’t know your face to your name yet!

Customer: [hands me his ID]

Me: [suddenly worried I’ve met him before and don’t remember] Unless we have met before! In that case —

Customer: [leans in across my desk, close to my face, and whispers] No, we haven’t met before, but that doesn’t mean you’re not damn cute!

Me: [smiles awkwardly and hands him his checks] Have a nice day, sir.

(There’s a box of small toys, mostly in semi-see-through plastic bags (as in, I can see that there are small toys inside, but can’t easily see the quality/number/brand without taking them out of the bags), next to the counter that I’ve been sorting and pricing. I have to stop to serve a customer, when a different customer comes up and starts rooting through the box. Fair enough – usually people ask first, but honestly, we don’t mind pricing on the fly. However, in this case…)

Customer: How much is this stuff?

Me: *still counting the purchases of the other customer* It hasn’t been sorted yet, I’m not even sure what’s in there.

Customer: Well, how much is this? *holds up bag*

Me: I’m not sure, what are they?

Customer: Some kind of small toys. I have grandkids, I just want something for them to play with, how much is this stuff?

Me: I’d have to have a look at it before I could give you a price

(Keep in mind that there were quite a lot of different toys in the box, and I knew some would be worth much more than others, so I could hardly make up a price without knowing what was in the bag she was holding!)

Customer: Well, how much for the whole box?

Me: *thinks* I don’t f-ing know, I don’t even know what’s in there!

(At this point, my coworker stepped in and distracted her, so I could finally give my original (very patient and understanding) customer their change. She ended up buying the whole box of toys for £15 – I know my coworker gave that price just to get rid of her, but I wish she hadn’t, I was pretty sure I’d seen toys in there that were a really collectable brand and they might have been worth more than that. I’m sure that rude customer had seen them too, and was trying to rush me into giving her a bargain price – and sadly, it worked.)

(I work in a small sub shop as shift leader. The store does provide delivery service, but only through two different online apps. Delivery orders cannot be placed over the phone, but pick up orders can.)
Me: Thank you for calling [Store name]. This is [My Name], how may I help you?
Customer: Do you do delivery?
Me: Yes ma’am, but only through [names of two apps].
Customer: So you don’t deliver over the phone?
Me: No ma’am. I’m sorry, but if you would like to place an order for delivery, you’ll have to use [names of the two apps].
Customer: But I’m just across the street. Why can’t you just take my order and deliver it?
Me: Because we do not have a way of accepting credit payments, and the two apps do, so all our delivery orders are placed online.
Customer: Well that’s stupid, you’re right across the street and you won’t deliver. I guess you just lost yourself a customer.
Me: I’m sorry to hear that.
Customer: Well, then goodbye. *click*