Retail Employee Stories Part 6: The Life & Tragedies Of GrilledWitOnions

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[quote name='GrilledWitOnions']I believe this man was from the past and has never seen a telephone before. It's actually pretty amazing how well he was taking it all[/QUOTE]

Living in the past... I had that guy too.

Older gentleman comes up to me and three other associates. Completely serious (as far as I could tell), he looks to me and asks where the 8-Tracks are. Now, we get people who ask for cassettes or VHS movies every so often and I get laugh, but 8-Tracks? I ask the guy what he said, just to make sure I was hearing him right and he repeated his request for 8-Tracks. I looked to my two co-workers, who could tell I was stuck somewhere between confusion and laughter, but offered no assistance. I then explained, nicely, that 8-Tracks haven't been made in awhile and that most music purchased in stores was sold on CD.

He looked at me and said, not condescending or talking down to me in anyway, "Well, I just don't get out much..." and walked away.

I really felt sad for the guy... :(

I hope he never has to find out about digital distribution...
 
[quote name='UncleBob']Living in the past... I had that guy too.

Older gentleman comes up to me and three other associates. Completely serious (as far as I could tell), he looks to me and asks where the 8-Tracks are. Now, we get people who ask for cassettes or VHS movies every so often and I get laugh, but 8-Tracks? I ask the guy what he said, just to make sure I was hearing him right and he repeated his request for 8-Tracks. I looked to my two co-workers, who could tell I was stuck somewhere between confusion and laughter, but offered no assistance. I then explained, nicely, that 8-Tracks haven't been made in awhile and that most music purchased in stores was sold on CD.

He looked at me and said, not condescending or talking down to me in anyway, "Well, I just don't get out much..." and walked away.

I really felt sad for the guy... :(

I hope he never has to find out about digital distribution...[/QUOTE]
If this guy was serious, that is really sad. However, when I get old, I hope I get to do stuff like this. If it was a joke he played it perfectly. (I really hope it was a joke cause, man... poor guy).
 
I work in IT and I had a customer call in to complain there computers weren't able to connect to their server. I told her i'd have to connect to her server using a remote connection software to see what the issue was (firewall, IP, etc)

She tells me sure, just let me turn it on first.....

I also love when people ask me how they can get on the internet....
 
[quote name='Brian9824']I work in IT and I had a customer call in to complain there computers weren't able to connect to their server. I told her i'd have to connect to her server using a remote connection software to see what the issue was (firewall, IP, etc)

She tells me sure, just let me turn it on first.....

I also love when people ask me how they can get on the internet....[/QUOTE]

Have you seen "The IT Crowd"? Its a TV show about 3 IT employees. One answers the phone "IT department. Have you tried turning it off and on?" I recommend the show if you haven't and its on Netflix streaming if you have that.
 
Not a customer story, but something I found amusing.

My fiance and I work in the same store... recently, we were working in the same aisle about 10 feet apart on different projects. Our store has a satellite based music system that lets them change the songs every so often- and on this day, I hear a new song in the mix. A familar song. I turn to my fiance just in time to see the same wave of realization wash over his face. He turns to look at me, and we double over laughing- which confuses both the nearby customer and our manager. Apparently, they didn't know why hearing this song was so funny. ;)
 
some lady in the mall (store employee? security guard?) today stopped me and was asking me what i bought and what i was doing in the mall ?? grabs my bag and reads the back of the games i bought for 5 minutes and then telling me her kid still has a playstation 1 and whats the difference between a ps2, how much did i pay for this/that, talking like i'm a little kid or something, after a while i just grabbed my bag back and walked away

kept asking me if i would stay with her for a while? it was weird
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']Not a customer story, but something I found amusing.

My fiance and I work in the same store... recently, we were working in the same aisle about 10 feet apart on different projects. Our store has a satellite based music system that lets them change the songs every so often- and on this day, I hear a new song in the mix. A familar song. I turn to my fiance just in time to see the same wave of realization wash over his face. He turns to look at me, and we double over laughing- which confuses both the nearby customer and our manager. Apparently, they didn't know why hearing this song was so funny. ;)[/QUOTE]

I had a sneaking suspicion that would be it before I even clicked on the link. Seems like Rick Astley has the unofficial internetz theme song. :D
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']Not a customer story, but something I found amusing.

My fiance and I work in the same store... recently, we were working in the same aisle about 10 feet apart on different projects. Our store has a satellite based music system that lets them change the songs every so often- and on this day, I hear a new song in the mix. A familar song. I turn to my fiance just in time to see the same wave of realization wash over his face. He turns to look at me, and we double over laughing- which confuses both the nearby customer and our manager. Apparently, they didn't know why hearing this song was so funny. ;)[/QUOTE]

I was eating at a restaurant, and the ambient music in the background was the Katamari Damacy sound track.

To keep it on topic... I don't know if I told this story or not, but there was a man, a VERY large man browsing the store's selection. Doesn't seem like a big deal, right? Some people have weight problems. BUT! This was no ordinary man. He was wearing a diaper, binky, and a bonnet. AND THAT'S IT. Wasn't even close to Halloween.
 
[quote name='ohram']I was eating at a restaurant, and the ambient music in the background was the Katamari Damacy sound track.

To keep it on topic... I don't know if I told this story or not, but there was a man, a VERY large man browsing the store's selection. Doesn't seem like a big deal, right? Some people have weight problems. BUT! This was no ordinary man. He was wearing a diaper, binky, and a bonnet. AND THAT'S IT. Wasn't even close to Halloween.[/QUOTE]LOL, I can only wonder what bet he lost.
 
[quote name='PhrostByte']I had a sneaking suspicion that would be it before I even clicked on the link. Seems like Rick Astley has the unofficial internetz theme song. :D[/QUOTE]

The sad thing is, it plays at least once a day, and I've yet to find another co-worker who knows what 'rickrolling' is- it's a lot less funny when no one gets the joke. :cry:

[quote name='Ye0ldmario']some lady in the mall (store employee? security guard?) today stopped me and was asking me what i bought and what i was doing in the mall ?? grabs my bag and reads the back of the games i bought for 5 minutes and then telling me her kid still has a playstation 1 and whats the difference between a ps2, how much did i pay for this/that, talking like i'm a little kid or something, after a while i just grabbed my bag back and walked away

kept asking me if i would stay with her for a while? it was weird[/QUOTE]

Very weird- either crazy or can't figure out this 'gaming' thing for the life for her. 'Course, if it was me, we'd have gotten to 'grabs my bag' and Id've called security.

[quote name='ohram']I was eating at a restaurant, and the ambient music in the background was the Katamari Damacy sound track.[/QUOTE]

Aww, they took my idea- I've been wanting to play Katamari at work for ages, just to see what people think. (I also want to play Dragonforce and give the cashier a stopwatch to time how long it takes someone to complain.)
 
So I work at a major grocery store as a cashier. At this store, we have a bottle return that prints out slips that you take to the register to get your money. Real exciting, right? We're supposed to put these in our cash drawer, but when we're busy, I leave them on the register. Not out in the open, but on a little personal counter I have. I always mark them with the lane number and a line through the barcode, as per standard procedure.

Today, we were busy, and I had an abnormal amount of bottle slips, so I marked them and set them on my counter. I turned to help my bagger bag a customer's groceries, back turned to the slips. No worries, because I already wrote on them, right?

Next customer, I ring up their little batch of groceries. Total is something like $25.
Customer:(proudly) I'd like to pay with these (hands me a stack of bottle slips. I turn and, sure enough, my stack was gone.)
Me: Ma'am, are these your bottle slips?
Customer: Yep, brought the bottles in myself.
Me: Odd, because they are canceled out. and have my handwriting on them.

She turned bright red, muttered something, and ran out of the store without her groceries.

I know this story isn't as good as most, but it just happened to me today. I've got better ones regarding the homeless guy who tries to steal cigarettes, hopeless Uscan customers, and the time I tackled a shoplifter with pants full of meat.
 
[quote name='Ye0ldmario']some lady in the mall (store employee? security guard?) today stopped me and was asking me what i bought and what i was doing in the mall ?? grabs my bag and reads the back of the games i bought for 5 minutes and then telling me her kid still has a playstation 1 and whats the difference between a ps2, how much did i pay for this/that, talking like i'm a little kid or something, after a while i just grabbed my bag back and walked away

kept asking me if i would stay with her for a while? it was weird[/QUOTE]


That sounds really weird. Are you young? Sounds like she may have been a crazy lady who may have been trying to rob/kidnap you lol.. glad you got away
 
[quote name='bomber991']Hmm I didn't read through the other 8 pages of this thread, but when it says SEE ID on the back of a credit card, just check it.

I used to work at a pizza place where there was a tip line on the credit card slips, and every time I rang someone up and they had SEE ID written on their credit card, I'd check their ID and 3 out of 4 times they'd give me a dollar.

Some other job I had selling shoes we had a policy to check id's on all credit cards. 1 out of 10 customers would get angry about it, and all the others would actually be pretty grateful. Jeeze, how many places can you make someone spend $100+ on a pair of shoes and then they say thanks for it? I guess they felt like we were doing them a favor. Now the angry one's, most of the time they got angry because they thought that we thought they were using a stolen card, like we were treating them like a criminal or some BS like that.

And technically, if it turns out that the purchase was made with a stolen credit card, couldn't the company lose the money, kind of like a check with a stop payment hold on it?
[/QUOTE]

You're absolutely correct. When a store uses a credit card that is found to be fraudulent (stolen, fake etc) the store is charged back for the item. In other words, that $100 purchase just turned into a $200 loss...yikes.

Also, just for reference, if a credit card has "SEE ID" on the back of it, it is technically not a valid signature and therefore the store can refuse service. It's a dicey situation. If you look on the back of your credit cards it states that a signature is needed to verify the customer. Unless the customer's signature is in fact "SEE ID," it's not a valid signature. Why? Does the customer's signature match the signature on the back of the card? No. How can it be verified then, you might ask? It can't. Talk with your store managers about this because the fraud departments at banks will not take a "SEE ID" signature as a proper form of verification. How do I know? I worked as a fraud detection analyst at a large bank years ago. :D

A couple of stupid customer stories come to mind so I guess I'll share...

Working at a Best Buy (computer dept) right after HS graduation, I came across some interesting people. In my first week, I noticed a guy looking at the external hard drives. I walked over to him and asked if he needed any assistance.

Guy: "Actually, yea I do! What is the difference between these two hard drives?"
Me: "Well this one has more free space while the other does not. Other than that, they're identical."
Guy: "Ok, great. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't getting the wrong one or anything."
Me: "Not a problem. If you don't mind me asking, what are you looking to use it for? Backing up documents, videos, photos, just need it for extra space, that kind of thing?"
Guy: *Sheepishly looks at me..."To be honest with you...I've got a shit ton of porn and I don't want my girlfriend (or wife, don't remember) to find out."
Me: "Ok then...is...there...anything...else...I...can...do...for...you?"

And when I said it, I felt awkward...he felt awkward...and then he just kind of said, "No, that's ok," and left. Good job...ask a guy if there is "anything else you can "do" for him after he has described his porn fetish.../facepalm.

Same store, second (and final) week...

Store is closing in 10 minutes and couple walks up to me.

Guy: "Hey I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"
Me: "You bet, what can I do for you?"
Guy: "Well, what is your hottest running computer?"
Me: "Hottest running? You mean, which computer has the highest temperature?"
Guy: "Yea, that's it."
Me: "Uh, well, I'm not totally sure actually. May I ask why?"
Guy: "Well, our cat likes to sleep on the computer and she likes it when it's really warm."
Me: "So, just to understand, you want to buy the hottest computer we have because your cat will like it?"
Guy: "Well, when you look at it that way, yes I guess so."
Me: "Are you going to use it for anything else? E-mail, documents, photos?"
Guy: "Probably down the line, yes."

Then I just showed him what we had and bullshitted for 5 minutes. I know computers, I do, but I have no idea which model or brands have the best "feline temperature" readings on the market. Guess I missed that day in class :lol:.

Worst customer service by far...

Upscale Sushi place in town. The girlfriend and I would go there every Friday night for Happy Hour and drink specials. Waitress came up, took our order, and then left. 10 minutes later (no joke) she came back with my gf's drink (long island ice tea) and my drink (um, water). Ok, weird. Another 20 minutes goes by and then my gf's food arrives. A simple Vegas roll, not hard. I ask where my order of crab wantons is. She stares at me and then looks at the paper she wrote our order down on. "Oh they'll be up in a minute!" Ok. Another 20 minutes goes by (No, I'm not kidding because I watched nearly a period and half of a hockey game) and she comes back and asks if "we would like anything else?" Um, how about my food? "They didn't bring it out yet?" No. Goes to the back kitchen. 5 minutes goes by and she's still missing. We grab another waitress and ask for the check. The waitress brings it, we stop her for just a second, say that we didn't get my order of food, she apologizes, and goes back to re-do the check. I pay and as we are about to leave the original waitress runs up to me and asks, "Do you want you order of wantons to go then?" I just smile and say "Nah," and we leave. My gf wrote a letter to corporate about it and the manager actually e-mailed her and stated that he would personally take care of it and talk to his staff about the incident and apologized profusely. That happened two years ago and we still haven't been back.
 
[quote name='Brian9824']I work in IT and I had a customer call in to complain there computers weren't able to connect to their server. I told her i'd have to connect to her server using a remote connection software to see what the issue was (firewall, IP, etc)

She tells me sure, just let me turn it on first.....

I also love when people ask me how they can get on the internet....[/QUOTE]

I'm guessing if they knew It couldnt connect to the server they had it one when they tried. As a IT worker myself I have come to realize that alot of IT stories are partialy from retarded IT workers that don't understand the customers...but I agree there are alot of stupid customers out there too.
 
[quote name='Chairman_LMAO']... and the time I tackled a shoplifter with pants full of meat.[/QUOTE]
arent all of our pants full of meat?
 
[quote name='ohram']I was eating at a restaurant, and the ambient music in the background was the Katamari Damacy sound track.

To keep it on topic... I don't know if I told this story or not, but there was a man, a VERY large man browsing the store's selection. Doesn't seem like a big deal, right? Some people have weight problems. BUT! This was no ordinary man. He was wearing a diaper, binky, and a bonnet. AND THAT'S IT. Wasn't even close to Halloween.[/QUOTE]

I saw 7 wal-mart employees trying to carry a large woman who's motorized cart broke down yesterday when I was shopping.
 
[quote name='Ye0ldmario']some lady in the mall (store employee? security guard?) today stopped me and was asking me what i bought and what i was doing in the mall ?? grabs my bag and reads the back of the games i bought for 5 minutes and then telling me her kid still has a playstation 1 and whats the difference between a ps2, how much did i pay for this/that, talking like i'm a little kid or something, after a while i just grabbed my bag back and walked away

kept asking me if i would stay with her for a while? it was weird[/QUOTE]

Awwww. She was lonely and wanted some companionship. How old was she? Did you get her number? And if so, can I have it? :lol:
 
Hey guys, nice to see the thread I registered for still kicking.

I got laid off of my Tech Support job a year ago, and now work as an Admin Assistant (best job ever, only interaction with co-workers). However, I do have some gems I still remember from back when I worked at BK for five years.

Some black guy talked to the manager about me being racist because I dropped the jelly packets in his hand instead of handing it directly to him. Nevermind I did the same to just about everybody. It's called Fast Food for a reason. Dropping is faster than handing. When the guy left, manager told me stupid crap like that happens all the time.

Another time I remember is the Fresh Fish incident...

Customer orders BK Fish in Drive Thru. The Fish actually just came out of the frier, and no fish sandwiches are allowed to be kept 'on level' in the heat chute. It was an off-period, so nothing was in the heat chute anyway. We typically don't nuke a BK Fish either. At any rate, It was prepared and then I handed it off. The following conversation took place.

Stupid Customer: *feeling the outside of the wrapper* "This sandwich doesn't feel warm. This has been sitting in the chute, hasn't it? Get me another."
Me: "Ma'am that fish was served to you immediately when it came up."
SC: "But it's not warm! You left it sitting up there! I want it fresh!"
Me: "Actually, Ma'am, things that have been sitting in the heat chute for a long time are often rather hot compared to fresh sandwiches."
SC: "Get me another. I want it fresh."
I take back the sandwich and hand it back to the kitchen
Me: "Warm this up a little, would you?"
SC: *yelling from window* "You better not be sticking that in the microwave! I WANT IT FRESH!"
Me: ".... you heard the lady. Make another one."
Kitchen Person: *annoyed* "I'm just going to end up nuking it anyway..."
Me: "I know, but she wants it fresh!"

New fish slapped together, less fresh than the other, and nuked. Customer drives away dumb and happy.
 
I work at a video store, so I get some whoppers:

- I've had many people ask if Blu Rays work in DVD players.
- I've had people ask me if we have something, even when it hasn't been released yet. When I tell them "no", they tell me that they saw it at Target the other day.
- People call in asking what time we close, I say "11 PM". I think the PM part throws them off, because whenever I say PM, they say "huh?".
- There's this one jackass in the store, that if any of the employees ask him if he is finding everything okay, he'll always come back with "well it depends, what are you hiding?". He does this to everything we say to him.
 
[quote name='Tardcore']
- People call in asking what time we close, I say "11 PM". I think the PM part throws them off, because whenever I say PM, they say "huh?".
[/QUOTE]

I get this too. I also get that, since we close at 12 pm, it's ok to come in at 11:55 and do ALL of your shopping. I've been there till close to 1 am before because some jackass decides to do all of their shopping minutes before close. They always complain that we only have self checkouts open (because we have to count the tills before close), so they'll have to ring up their 300 dollar orders themselves.

I suppose it wouldn't be such a big deal if we didn't have a 24 hour grocery store in the area, but we have four. Why can't they go there? Our prices are higher than theirs anyway.
 
Wow, I just found this thread and I can't believe some of these stories. I've never had much problems with employees and usually say hello to any of them and politely decline their offer to help me find stuff. I have one of those rare part-time office jobs, so I can't really give some of the stories like this. All I will say is, good luck with these jobs and I'll keep on reading your hilarious stories.
 
I was operating the cash register where I work and a lady comes up with a stack of nicely folded shirts. She tells me they are all T-shirts. Well obviously I am not going to take her word for it so I have to unfold the shirts to make sure they are not long sleeved (which cost more). She goes "what are you doing?" I reply I have to make sure they are T-Shirts. She says "Now I have to fold them again" So I ring her up and put the shirts in a bag. The lady goes to a nearby table and takes out all the clothes and refolds them. I tell this to my boss and she says "I guess she isn't going to wash them before wearing them." I guess not.
 
[quote name='Porksta']I was operating the cash register where I work and a lady comes up with a stack of nicely folded shirts. She tells me they are all T-shirts. Well obviously I am not going to take her word for it so I have to unfold the shirts to make sure they are not long sleeved (which cost more). She goes "what are you doing?" I reply I have to make sure they are T-Shirts. She says "Now I have to fold them again" So I ring her up and put the shirts in a bag. The lady goes to a nearby table and takes out all the clothes and refolds them. I tell this to my boss and she says "I guess she isn't going to wash them before wearing them." I guess not.[/QUOTE]

This happened to me while I was working at Kmart, though the t-shirts contained 17 ps2 games.

Game theft obviously wasn't limited to customers. We hired a guy who seemed pretty upstanding. Hard worker, nice guy, made fast friends with everybody. Caught him one day, on camera, trying to sneak out an xbox 360 in a pillowcase. A fucking pillowcase.
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']Not a customer story, but something I found amusing.

My fiance and I work in the same store... recently, we were working in the same aisle about 10 feet apart on different projects. Our store has a satellite based music system that lets them change the songs every so often- and on this day, I hear a new song in the mix. A familar song. I turn to my fiance just in time to see the same wave of realization wash over his face. He turns to look at me, and we double over laughing- which confuses both the nearby customer and our manager. Apparently, they didn't know why hearing this song was so funny. ;)[/QUOTE]


Awww shit, I just got Rickrolled

I used to work technical support, and the guy next to me got this call... Now I will foreshadow a bit even though I only had the notes to go on. Apparently the woman was very computer stupid. So someone at my center told her to call DELL and tell them that the internet issue was an ID-10-T error. Now for anyone who doesn't know much about computers, Take out the dashes in that, and there you go.

Well the customer calls back and talks to my friend. The told my friend and I quote "I called Dell, and they said to tell you the fixed the ID-10-T error. I would say they were lying. It didn't seem fixed at all
 
[quote name='Chairman_LMAO']This happened to me while I was working at Kmart, though the t-shirts contained 17 ps2 games.

Game theft obviously wasn't limited to customers. We hired a guy who seemed pretty upstanding. Hard worker, nice guy, made fast friends with everybody. Caught him one day, on camera, trying to sneak out an xbox 360 in a pillowcase. A fucking pillowcase.[/QUOTE]

a guy I went to college with ad an amazing game collection, I asked him how he could afford it while working at walmart...he replied "by wearing Kakhi's with large pockets every day." He said he would just act like he dropped the games on the floor but would realy drop them into a pocket...never got caught....he got fired later for drinking a pop on the clock without a recipt for it. lol

I have'nt had any memorable customers lately, just alot of plain stupid people that were just normal rednecks.
 
Another story from back in the day of BK about people who are probably just plain assholes and an Assistant Manager who turned the tables on them.

Lunchtime. Busiest time of the day for fast food places. An assistant manager is on drive-thru headset, and I was just bagging orders. The King Kong remake just came out and we were having a promotion on it.

*Smartass Customer drives up to box*
Assistant Manager: "Welcome to Burger King, can I take your order?"
SC: "Yeah, I want a burger with extra gorilla hair on it!"
AM: "... what?"
SC: "You heard me! Burger with extra gorilla hair!"
AM: "You want some gorilla drool to go with that?"
SC: "... huh?"
AM: "Look, are you going to stop wasting our time and order something?"
SC: *drives off*
 
I worked at KB Toys from 1998-2003. We had display cases from the major video game manufacturers that had their logo with space for games for their system. The genius' at Sony decided to use the same lock for every cabinet in the region. So one key for any store worked at all the stores.

Word gets out that a 'mexican' family is going around, distracting employees, and wiping the cabinets clean. In the area I grew up, there was a massive population of Mexican immigrants, so we are thinkin guys that just crossed the border and are trying to make some money here.

So on a summer day, when it was just me and my buddy runnign the whole store, we got slammed at lunch. I get a guy that asks me to come to the front of the store and get down a super soaker from topstock. Then he starts asking me all these weird questions about the water gun, and I'm thinkin is this guy mentally challenged? Well at the same time someone had asked my buddy to get a board game down from the back of the store.

Apparently while this was happening the 'mom' was taking every PS2 game from the playstation push trays in the case while leaving the front copy in there.

If you glanced at the case it looked like normal. My buddy then realized the case was opened about an hour later and that only the front copies were there. We called the police, but nothing ever came of it. This 'Mexican' family may at one point have come from Mexico a few generations ago, but they were as American as it gets.

In total they got over $2100 in games. Way to go Sony for using the same lock and Kb Toys for providing that excellent description.
 
I used to work for a chain of used book (and other media) stores. This story isn't from my store, but it's from one where I was a customer.

Busy day, two registers open. Woman with two small children walks up with one item and a coupon. She launches into this story about these are her grandkids from out of town and she wants to use this coupon but can she come back again and buys stuff for herself with it later. Why in the world she thought she was entitled to do this, I still haven't determined.

Anyway, the cashier tells her no, the coupon has to be surrendered at time of purchase (which is written on the back), blah blah blah. Very polite and professional. Well, this lady was not satisfied and seemed to have the life skills of a four year old. Rather than taking no and a logical answer to her illogical request, she attempts to bully the cashier into getting her way basically by not moving and beginning to throw what any parent would recognize as a temper tantrum.

The cashier calls the manager over and, knowing what I know about the chain, I figure this woman is going to get her way. (This is one of those "customer is always right" type of stores.) Surprisingly to me, the manager holds firm. The woman is getting more and more hostile and now she's attracted an audience. The manager tells her that they are accountable for each of the coupons at the end of the day (they aren't) as a way for this lady to stand down and save face, I guess. She doesn't.

This bitch is working any angle she can think of. She even plays the kids as a card telling everyone (paraphrased, but pretty close to what she said) "these kids are tired and need to get home and you've kept us here waiting." (The kids had the bored look of resignation that told me they'd been here before.)

More berating everyone, mild threats, etc., etc. This goes on for nearly ten minutes. (Had I been manager, woman would have been escorted out of the store.) Finally she gets it that she's not getting to reuse her coupon. She makes her purchase and storms out, with threats never to return, etc.

The punchline: she was buying one VHS tape for the kids. Price? $1. The coupon? 15% off. All this for fifteen fucking cents. Absolutely amazing.

Of course, on a different day, she might have gotten her way at this location. I saw a guy who was obviously buying laserdiscs for eBay berate and bully a different manager into lowering the price for him. This guy was a grade A cock about it too, I mean, it was almost shocking how rude he was being. The manager was kind of smart about it though. Made the guy buy every last laserdisc they had to get them at the price. Now, I used to collect lasers and I didn't see anything special in that lot, especially in today's market. There were a couple of titles that if he'd gotten at $2 like he wanted, he probably would have gotten $5-$10 for. That little bit of profit was pretty much eaten by the vast majority of the titles which he wouldn't even break even on because he agreed to buy them all. Dude was so smug about thinking he'd beaten the manager down, he didn't even realize he'd walked straight into a trap.

eBay resellers are the worst. I got stories, if I can remember them. LOL
 
Fast-forward a little bit. For a period of a few months, I was working in a call center for computer tech support. Hellish, sweatshop-like place of 12 hour days, assholish managers and more emphasis on sales than actual tech support. Nevertheless, a job is a job, and I needed rent money.

I did fine for the most part, up until I found the job at my webhosting place, but this one call from a Customer From Hell nearly drove me to quit.

An old lady called and began to rant pretty much right off the bat about how we're "selling piece of junk computers" and we don't know what we're doing, and she's making a recording of me (which is illegal without authorization) and she's going to report us to the corporate office, etc, etc, etc, etc.

I pull up her information and her call history. Apparently, she had a hardware defect on her computer and used our Onsite warranty service to get someone to come out and fix it. Of note, Onsite is managed by a third party, and not even I was impressed with the Onsite tech support people: They frequently got things wrong, didn't know or pay attention to what they're doing, took forever to get back to people, and we had to shoulder all their complaints because there is no direct customer line to them. UNISYS if you other tech support people are curious. Anyway, I've noticed they've attempted to get in contact with her, but haven't been successful. Reason being? She turned off her answering machine so she wouldn't get any messages from "our company". Way to make it harder to get things done, lady.

So I'm sitting here basically arguing with her over what was done, what wasn't done, whether or not she'd have to cancel her Disney World plans to wait for the Onsite guys, whether or not I'd treat my mother the way we're treating her, whether or not we think we can take advantage of her because she's asian, and yadda yadda yadda, oink oink oink, moooooooooo. What should have been a 20-30 minute call at most, was stretched into two hours because this woman would not stop her angry ranting about our "piece of junk computers" and all that. It was too late in the day for me to even contact the Onsite people, as they close at 5 and it was around 8pm. Supervisors refused to help me because I should "take ownership of the call". Finally, FINALLY I was able to convince her that I would contact the Onsite people for her the next day asking about her case.

Called the Onsite people the next day, and they said they couldn't get through to her (probably because of the whole answering machine thing), and I scheduled a time for them to call her in attempt to schedule an appointment based on the hours I eventually finagled out of the customer.

Called the customer back. More accusations of poor service, lies about the calling times, etc. This call was shorter, but was still stretched by her angry hyperbole. Eventually, I'm able to impart that Onsite would be calling her. Left the call in a hurry. Was supposed to call her back to check on how things went, but gee, I conveniently forgot to. I did keep tabs on her file, and she assaulted at least one other poor tech before her case went curiously silent. I never did find out if she eventually got her computer "fixed".

Why do I say "fixed", you ask? Well, see, all this ranting about her "piece of junk computer", and the only thing actually wrong with it was that she had to press the power button twice to turn it on. It otherwise worked perfectly.

WHY???
 
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I really need to find a way out of retail.

A pretty fat customer is over at the cell phone kiosk and I see that she's talking to them with one of the Bluetooth headsets in her hands, and the guy she's talking to points to me. I walk over as obviously she has a question and when I we meet, she says, "Can I open this up and plug it in while I'm walking around shopping?". Of course I respond "No, I'm sorry but unless it's bought, we can't open it and you can't use it." she seems satisfied and the cell phone guy that followed her walked back to the kiosk she turns to me and in a nasty voice says "You know, you are really inconveniencing me, I spend a lot of money here and it's not like I'm going to steal it". It just kills me to think that people can open up products that aren't theirs yet and use them.

Another one was a gal today came up to me and another coworker near some portable dvd players and the following ensues:
Her:"I need help"
Us: Alright, what kind of help do you need?
Her: I need to know how to work this thing? *Pointing to a portable dvd player*
Me: Alright, you put the dvd in there, and then you can watch a movie on it.
Her: But how do you put the dvd in there? How do you turn it on? How do I charge it?
Me: *getting somewhat frustrated* Well, the button that has open written on it should open it, and the button that has on/off written on it should turn it on and off, and plugging it into a power source using the cables should charge it.
Coworker: *noticing I'm getting annoyed* Yeah, it's pretty simple really, has the instruction manual and everything.
They go through a 20 minute tutorial where he details every single little stupid step for her to go through as she couldn't figure anything out for herself.



Another gal is over by the Cameras and asks for help finding a camera. I'm perfectly fine with that and detail all the different ones that we had and the pros and cons of each and I finally recommend the one I've been recommending to almost everyone as it's an awesome camera. However, she picks up the one next to it and sees that it has a wheel. She gets fixated on the wheel and tries to ask me if every single one of the other cameras has a wheel, picking up every single one to try to find it and while looking at the back of it and seeing what it has, asking me if it has a wheel. She finally sees one at the end, a really crappy camera and sees that it has a wheel and really wants it for the simple fact of the wheel. I finally convince her to get the one I'd recommended earlier.


Today as well, there was a fellow about 30 or so that came along side his mother looking rather pathetic. He notices that we had a blu-ray player that was the display for sale and had some money off making it about $200 normally. I go through saying it's the last one we had, and that if he wanted a discount, I could chat with a manager. I call for a manager and get a supervisor, I chat with him for a bit, trying to figure out if any more discount could be taken off and he says that only about $10-$20 could be taken off and he said that he'll talk to a manager. So I get put on hold for about 10 minutes while he hunts for a manager, and when he finds one, I chat with the manager for about 10 minutes to try to see if more can be taken off and he finally gets down to $30 less than the original price, so $170 for the Sony Blu-Ray player, which is a pretty darn good price. I get off the phone finally and tell the folks the good news and the look at me and say, "Yeah, we don't really think so, we'll walk around and think about it though." And of course they never buy it.
 
Heads up to anyone reading this - don't be that asshole that bangs on the door about a minute before the store is supposed to open. Seriously. Do not be that guy. That's all I'm going to say about that.
 
[quote name='Scorch']Heads up to anyone reading this - don't be that asshole that bangs on the door about a minute before the store is supposed to open. Seriously. Do not be that guy. That's all I'm going to say about that.[/QUOTE]


i always hated those people. when i worked at pizza hut and would open, i'd make those people wait an extra 10 min or so before i'd unlock the doors.
 
[quote name='sonderiaom']A pretty fat customer is over at the cell phone kiosk and I see that she's talking to them with one of the Bluetooth headsets in her hands, and the guy she's talking to points to me. I walk over as obviously she has a question and when I we meet, she says, "Can I open this up and plug it in while I'm walking around shopping?". Of course I respond "No, I'm sorry but unless it's bought, we can't open it and you can't use it." she seems satisfied and the cell phone guy that followed her walked back to the kiosk she turns to me and in a nasty voice says "You know, you are really inconveniencing me, I spend a lot of money here and it's not like I'm going to steal it". It just kills me to think that people can open up products that aren't theirs yet and use them.[/QUOTE]

It probably wouldn't have worked anyway. Most of the headsets I've seen only come with a minimum charge, so they need to be plugged in for a couple of hours out of the package.

I always hated people that told me "You know I'm not going to steal it..." Yeah, maybe, but do they really think we can just profile who we will and won't let walk around with unpurchased merchandise (I'm talking about the products behind the glass at Target)?
 
[quote name='sonderiaom'] Another one was a gal today came up to me and another coworker near some portable dvd players and the following ensues:
Her:"I need help"
Us: Alright, what kind of help do you need?
Her: I need to know how to work this thing? *Pointing to a portable dvd player*
Me: Alright, you put the dvd in there, and then you can watch a movie on it.
Her: But how do you put the dvd in there? How do you turn it on? How do I charge it?
Me: *getting somewhat frustrated* Well, the button that has open written on it should open it, and the button that has on/off written on it should turn it on and off, and plugging it into a power source using the cables should charge it.
Coworker: *noticing I'm getting annoyed* Yeah, it's pretty simple really, has the instruction manual and everything.
They go through a 20 minute tutorial where he details every single little stupid step for her to go through as she couldn't figure anything out for herself.[/QUOTE]

I don't usually crap on people in here because retail jobs suck, but jesus man, that's your job!
 
[quote name='tsmvengy']I don't usually crap on people in here because retail jobs suck, but jesus man, that's your job![/QUOTE]
Seconded. It doesn't sound like she was being rude or anothing, just being a blond. Maybe she recently quit being an Amish? :whistle2:k

But in any case... hmmm, problem with all of my stories is that I have to pretty much look backwards to recount all of them. The only one that I can remember off the top of my head at the moment is another from my Burger King days.

We've all been to a fast food restaurant where it seems they don't give a damn about the condition of their dining room, right? Well, the one I worked at was pretty good about getting things cleaned up, and I regularly assisted in this matter.

It was just after the Lunch rush and, of course, the trash was quite full. I went out to change it out, taking the trashbag out of the bin and tying it up. It was then I noticed we didn't have a stash of trashbags out there like we normally did, so I had to quickly go back and fetch one.

By the time I got back, a customer who had just walked in apparently decided that a trashbag outside of its normal boundaries meant the entire dining room was a dump and started screaming about how 'unacceptable' the conditions of the place were. Thankfully, an assistant manager (who was kind of a douchebag himself) was already on hand and in turn filled the second party of the shouting match without me having to lift a finger. And yes, the assistant manager did shout, which was kind of extreme, but did have the desired effect: the 'Customer' left the store in short order. "Treat others the way you want to be treated" is my personal Customer Service mantra.
 
[quote name='Zorpheus']
Why do I say "fixed", you ask? Well, see, all this ranting about her "piece of junk computer", and the only thing actually wrong with it was that she had to press the power button twice to turn it on. It otherwise worked perfectly.

WHY???[/QUOTE]

So what if it otherwise worked perfectly? Was the machine designed so that you had to push the power button twice? If not, then I would say she was right to be frustrated that it wasn't working correctly. That may not excuse her behavior, but it seems like she was getting the run around because the problem with her computer was 'minor'.
 
[quote name='yourlefthand']So what if it otherwise worked perfectly? Was the machine designed so that you had to push the power button twice? If not, then I would say she was right to be frustrated that it wasn't working correctly. That may not excuse her behavior, but it seems like she was getting the run around because the problem with her computer was 'minor'.[/QUOTE]
Her defect was being handled as seriously as any other. Work orders are work orders, and they aren't assigned preferential treatment. She was having a rather extreme reaction and an uncooperative attitude over the problem, however, and it was affecting our ability to address it (seriously, turning off her answering machine to avoid calls from us????).

Her reaction over what to most would be an annoyance factor blew my mind because some people got machines that wouldn't even power on, or have bad hard drives, missing cables or what-have-you that would prevent them from even being able to USE the computer (shipping defects and missing parts happen in any operation). But these people still handled the situation much better as a rule than she did. As in, they didn't keep me on the line for 4x the time ranting about their problem.
 
[quote name='tsmvengy']I don't usually crap on people in here because retail jobs suck, but jesus man, that's your job![/QUOTE]

Personally I suspect the "dumb customer" was really a cover for someone else in the store quietly stealing stuff. That's just my hunch.
 
Me: Your total comes to $36.59, ma'am.

Her: I only have $20

Me: (quietly, as to avoid embarassment) Well, we can take some stuff back, or we can set aside your order while you go get more money.

Her: No, I need all of this

Me: Okay...:whistle2:s

Her: Will you take $20 for all of this?

Me: No, it's not really up to me. I can bring over a manager if you'd like.

Her: No, no. what if I give you these (hold out fast food coupons) and the $20. How about that?

Me: Are you trying to barter with me?

Her: JUST FORGET IT!!

Me: :shock:

Her: YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM! I'M GOING TO HAVE YOUR JOB!!

She stormed out, never to return. This was a month ago, haven't heard anything since. Some people.

I love it when they threaten to "have my job". I hate my job! You can take it! Please take it!
 
[quote name='Demolition Man']Personally I suspect the "dumb customer" was really a cover for someone else in the store quietly stealing stuff. That's just my hunch.[/QUOTE]


Those were the exact types of questions someone was asking in the KB Toys post on the previous page about super soakers. Questions that make you question whether they should be allowed to live outside of an assisted living community.

All they want to do is frustrate you and make you focus on the issue at hand so the person making the grab can steal whatever they are going for.
 
[quote name='randomoutburst']I've started a blog about my dumb customers. Here: http://twentypercentplease.wordpress.com/

Only one post as of now, but it's a good one. Read "Would You Like a Refill On Your Hamburger, Too?"[/QUOTE]

If I'm ever in your area, I'll make it a point to visit your restaraunt, be a good customer (to you), and yell at these people for you so you don't have to risk your job.

Unless it's a Mexican restaraunt. I don't like Mexican food. :lol:
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']If I'm ever in your area, I'll make it a point to visit your restaraunt, be a good customer (to you), and yell at these people for you so you don't have to risk your job.

Unless it's a Mexican restaraunt. I don't like Mexican food. :lol:[/QUOTE]

I'll say it here but prefer not to on my blog (just in case corporate office doesn't quite agree with what I post), but I work at Chili's. Now, Brinker treats us pretty well, but their attitude that "the customer is always right" really sucks ass.
All I ask is that if you see something unacceptable - at a restaurant, at the grocery store, while getting your car's oil changed...anywhere! - SPEAK UP.

Just this morning I was waiting at NTB for a while before I was helped. While I was waiting, this skinny black girl was bitching out an employee because her tires on her Mercedes wore out too quickly. He tried to explain that her car was rear-wheel driven so those tires get more wear and tear...not to mention the tires in the rear were cheap-o but the ones in front weren't. Not too smart. Anyway, she insisted they replace her tires for free because they "wore out too quickly". I listened to her for a good fifteen minutes before I muttered a nasty comment under my breath, hoping she would hear. She did, and asked if I'd like to say it louder. So I did. "You get what you pay for. You bought cheap tires, so you don't get as much life out of them. Get a fucking brain and pay for better tires next time and you'll save everyone here the agony of listening to you bitch about it."
Yeah, I thought I was going to get beaten to death right then and there. But the poor employee was fighting back giggles along with the guys in line behind me.

My point is, unless people tell assholes that their behavior is unacceptable, they will keep being assholes.

Thanks for reading my blog, ya'll. I'll be updating at least once a week until I run out of material...in other words, whenever I stop waiting tables.
In case anyone missed it, my blog is www.twentypercentplease.wordpress.com

Thanks!
 
This past winter I went to a CC after the GOOB sale started. I was at a register being rung up. There was one line with the next person going to whichever register opened up next. A very large woman and her very skinny husband/boyfriend/whatever cut in front of the entire line and stood behind me. The lady that was supposed to be next told them in a kind tone that the one line is for both registers. Big Legs then told her, in an ugly (more ways than one) manner, that was just too bad. At that point I'd heard enough. I turned around to inform her what was going to happen.

"I waited in line, she waited in line and you're going to go to the back of the line and wait just like everyone else. I'm not moving from this spot until you do."

She quickly shut her mouth, went to the back of the line and promptly started to sulk. The lady who was next said thank you and I said "It was my pleasure". And it truly was.
 
[quote name='neocisco']This past winter I went to a CC after the GOOB sale started. I was at a register being rung up. There was one line with the next person going to whichever register opened up next. A very large woman and her very skinny husband/boyfriend/whatever cut in front of the entire line and stood behind me. The lady that was supposed to be next told them in a kind tone that the one line is for both registers. Big Legs then told her, in an ugly (more ways than one) manner, that was just too bad.
[/QUOTE]

This happens all the time at our self-checkouts. Fortunately, I'm authorized to refuse service to people who cut if I catch them. I just shut off their register until they agree to get to the back of the line. Its one of the few small victories I get, so I cherish it.
 
[quote name='Chairman_LMAO']This happens all the time at our self-checkouts. Fortunately, I'm authorized to refuse service to people who cut if I catch them. I just shut off their register until they agree to get to the back of the line. Its one of the few small victories I get, so I cherish it.[/QUOTE]

I feel you here. I have the right to refuse service to any customer and find a new server to wait on them. I haven't exercised this right but once in my three years of serving, but it's comforting to know that if their bullshit exceeds my capability to deal with it, I have an avenue out. :)

One thing I HATE is when people mumble.
"Hi, what can I get you to drink?"
"...mmbluditnsckmmbl..."
"I'm sorry?"
"...mmbluDITnsCKmmbl..."
"...I'm sorry, could you please speak a little louder?"
"DIET COKE!"
Say it loud enough the first time and we won't have a problem!
I had an entire table last night that mumbled their way through their meal. It was a nightmare. And then they didn't tip me well because they "had to ask repeatedly for items they needed". No, REALLY?
 
[quote name='randomoutburst']I feel you here. I have the right to refuse service to any customer and find a new server to wait on them. I haven't exercised this right but once in my three years of serving, but it's comforting to know that if their bullshit exceeds my capability to deal with it, I have an avenue out. :)

One thing I HATE is when people mumble.
"Hi, what can I get you to drink?"
"...mmbluditnsckmmbl..."
"I'm sorry?"
"...mmbluDITnsCKmmbl..."
"...I'm sorry, could you please speak a little louder?"
"DIET COKE!"
Say it loud enough the first time and we won't have a problem!
I had an entire table last night that mumbled their way through their meal. It was a nightmare. And then they didn't tip me well because they "had to ask repeatedly for items they needed". No, REALLY?[/QUOTE]

I'm a natural mumbler, so I more often than not get asked to repeat my order, but I KNOW I'm a mumbler and have no problem repeating myself. I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your blog. It's very easy to read. Make a post here whenever you have a new customer story.
 
[quote name='Whambamm']I'm a natural mumbler, so I more often than not get asked to repeat my order, but I KNOW I'm a mumbler and have no problem repeating myself. I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your blog. It's very easy to read. Make a post here whenever you have a new customer story.[/QUOTE]

See, I'm not irritated so much at the mumbler himself, but more at the attitude of the mumbler who either doesn't know he's mumbling or thinks that I should speak mumble-ish. ;)
Thanks for the compliment, and I will be sure to let you all know when a new entry is posted. I promise, there's a lot of material...
 
[quote name='Whambamm']I'm a natural mumbler, so I more often than not get asked to repeat my order, but I KNOW I'm a mumbler and have no problem repeating myself. I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your blog. It's very easy to read. Make a post here whenever you have a new customer story.[/QUOTE]
Just wanted to second this... your blog is great. You write well, which is the biggest factor is what makes a blog a good read. I subscribed to the feed.
 
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