Most annoying customers you have had in your job?

[SC Minnie]

I work part time at a national craft store chain. About a month ago 3 women came in-- they were all late 40's-early 50's at least- and were shopping around. They asked me where the adult coloring books were that everyone was talking about. I showed them to the grid where they were. They started looking through them then loudly saying they wanted 'adult' coloring books and where were the 'lady bits' and 'men bits' but they used the non Disney slang. They continued walking around loudly saying they wanted 'xxts' and 'xxxks'. The manager had to tell them to not talk like that because there were families in the store with young children. When they went to check out they were still talking about the same things but not as loudly. The cashier was trying to get them out quickly. One of the women looked at the cashier and said 'you probably have never had any anyway'.

 

[ronandannette]

I've got a former customer right now that is hate-bombing my company all over social media and making vile personal threats to our employees because she wants something in her "8-years NEW" house fixed. Apologies madam, but your warranty coverage concluded in 2009, in keeping with your purchase agreement, and we do NOT negotiate with terrorists! It's been going on for over a week now and today might be the day we report her to the police.

 

[Rence]

Years ago I worked part-time at a Radio Shack in a mall (I had a full-time job - was just working part-time for extra cash). Right at closing (I was literally shutting the doors), a guy came running up and said he needed some supplies for an installation he had to do that night. I figured I'd be a nice guy and take a few minutes to help him out since he seemed pretty desperate. He then proceeds to pull out a long list and I start gathering the items. The guy spends the whole time *****ing and complaining. This part wasn't quite right, he didn't like the way I was winding up the cable, he couldn't believe how much we were charging for things etc. He was far and away the nastiest customer I had ever encountered and here I was staying late to help the guy out. The more I worked with him, the nastier he became. The assistant manager was standing there watching the whole thing, but there wasn't a lot he could do as there was no pleasing this man.

What the customer didn't know was that this was my last shift, I had given notice two weeks ago. After he was berating me yet again I told him I had enough. I picked up all the items I had gathered for him and dumped them on the floor behind the sales counter. I told him that they didn't pay me enough to put up with this crap and that I wasn't going to sell it to him. He went slack-jawed for a minute and then started screeching about how he had this critical job and he needed all of this now. I just stood there with my arms crossed. He turned to the assistant manager and asked: "Are you going to let him get away with this?" The assistant manager just nodded and pointed to the door. We were treated to one last string of obscenities as the guy left. And thus ended my career in retail.

 

[barkley]

two jobs come to mind-totally different ends of the spectrum w/regards to the lifestyles/financial means of the 'customers' but ooooooooooooh so similar in unrealistic expectations/demands.


job 1-working for a high end napa valley lodging destination.

part of my job was to arrange for reservations for guest/group outings (private winery tours, hot air balloon rides....) and meals (catered events, private estate/winery dining and at individual restaurants). most of the guest reservations I handled were booked at minimum 9 months ahead of time and I ALWAYS told the guests verbally and in writing that if they wanted to go to certain high demand restaurants I had to know IMMEDIATLY b/c those places regularly booked out at minimum 6-8 months ahead (and during holiday periods it might be 2-3 years). NEVER FAILED- once or twice a month I always got ripped a new one by some wealthy couple who waited until they arrived and then demanded to get a table at the French Laundry. nope-wasn't going to happen, all their stomping and screaming and cursing threats wouldn't change that (pathetic thing was my management tolerated this and to my mind encouraged it b/c they would fall all over the place apologizing and then end up comping something like an expensive bottle of wine or champagne to the couples to "make up for the disappointment").

job 2-working for social services.

the county I worked in had lots of groups/churches that did identical outreach programs-thanksgiving baskets, christmas toys/gifts, and summer sleep away camp 'camperships' (the REALY nice places including some VERY expensive ones would each donate x number of slots for our client's kids during each of their 1 or 2 week sessions all summer long).

to keep people from double/triple/quadruple 'dipping' for these services the majority of the churches and groups came together to do a centralized application and approval process. the deadline for applications (3 times a year-1 application for each of the 3 major yearly programs) was WELL PUBLICIZED-

every public assistance client got a mailer a month ahead of time telling them to watch for the application that was being mailed to them, when they got the applications there was a big note on it saying when the cut-off was. if someone came in and applied for public assistance after the mailers went out they were handed the mailer along with their applications, we had PILES of the applications sitting in each office with HUGE signage above it that spoke to the cut off date, the local media cooperated and would do psa's on the radio and tv, there were posters at every store, laundrymat..... even freaking billboards.

NEVER FAILED-the day before thanksgiving would be the calls 'WHERE'S MY F'ING TURKEY BASKET?-YOU BETTER GET ME MY F'ING TURKEY NOW', christmas eve-'WHERE'S MY KID'S F'ING PRESENTS?-I'M COMING TO THE OFFICE NOW-THEY BETTER BE THERE', every freaking week of the summer (when someone saw someone else's kid getting picked up by a camp bus) 'WHAT F'ING CAMP IS MY KID GOING TO? WHEN IS IT MY KID'S F'ING TURN?'. in the 10 years I worked in that division of social services NONE of those phone calls EVER came from someone who had timely turned in an application and had been denied-it was ALWAYS someone who ignored the process and thought they could just bully/threaten their way into getting what they wanted.

 

[MrJT]

I used to work at a liquor store...I've had a lot of annoying customers. Many that you would see every day!
My "favorites" both there and when I worked at UHaul, were the ones who would ask if I worked there. Mind you, at both jobs I was wearing a company shirt, and had a nametag on a lanyard, that also had the company name on it. And at UHaul, I was also wearing a UHaul ball cap. I always wanted to reply "No, I'm just such a big fan of the company that I cosplay it"

 

[stargazer2892]

I work in a bar so we have a few different types of wonderful customers. One of my favorite are the people who sit them selves on our patio going in through the back gate then get IRATE that no one has helped them... At this point we all ask if they where seated by the hostess (the fact they have no menus is a huge tip off) and they need to go talk to her and have her seat them. Or the people who come before our dinner rush and we tell them to sit anywhere and of course that means the one table that is dirty or has a basket of silverware half rolled then gets upset that we need to clean off their table not that theres not 15 other clean tables for them to have sat at. Or the people (almost always women for some reason) who ask for water/vodka then pour crystal light in it. Oh and of course theres the parents who let their toddler pour an entire container of puffs on the floor/table and smear pouches all over the high chairs and don't even bother trying to clean up after their kids disaster. It's funny now that I have a 4 and a 2 year old this makes me even madder then it did before I had kids. I understand kids make messes but its the blatant not caring that bothers me now

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I work in healthcare. We don't call them customers but our worst are drug seekers. They lie about every single thing and when are told no for more drugs they in turn give you low patient satisfaction scores. Or call patient relations. I even had one lady say I violated her HIPAA rights and threatened to call the local news stations and a lawyer and sue me. She called my director and wanted me fired. She was a true fruit loop and "fired" from the practice.

 

[aprilchem]

I'm a college professor, so my "customers" are students. I've had students roll their eyes while I"m lecturing, scream and yell at me because they didn't study and I failed them on an exam because of it, call me horrible things on course evaluations, say they've never failed a class in their life and threaten to go to my department chair/sue me/ have their parents call me/get me fired, etc. I had a student threaten to kill me, in writing, because I told him that I would require him to turn in the final research paper that every other student was required to turn in. That last one was probably the worst.

 

[diznymom]

A client came into our office 2 days before the final tax deadline (Oct 13) needing his tax return done......all of his information was shoved into a boot box -- crumbled, wrinkled, folded, not organized at all. And people wonder why I refuse to do tax returns anymore.

 

[barkley]

I had a student threaten to kill me, in writing, because I told him that I would require him to turn in the final research paper that every other student was required to turn in. That last one was probably the worst.

PLEASE tell me that the college you're employed by took some form of action against that student.

 

[here757]

I worked at Pizza Hut as a shift manager. There was this one lady that would come in 3/4 times week would come in. She was really cheap! I always took her table (she always stiffed my wait staff) attempted other pizza place coupons. Expired coupons. Then get pissy when I didn't take her.
Pizza Hut was owned by PepsiCo at time. She brought a date. Her date told me if he couldn't get a Coke they were leaving..lol so sorry I'm not sorry!
She was an African American.. She came in. I let waitress go on break cuz this was only table. So I waited on table. Cooked pizza. Served pizza and rang her out. Wouldn't you know right as she was packing up her pizza leftovers she found a long blonde hair..
I told her I didn't appreciate her attempt at fraud. Cuz I'm a natural redhead. I waited and cooked. And only other person in building was a brunette. And the hair she was holding came from an African American. After she demanded the manager. I had to tell her it was me. She paid her full bill. Told me she was calling the store manager. She stormed out. Never saw her again

 

[CPanther95]

My least favorite customer is a whole class of customer - usually from New York (sorry New Yorkers) - who get a woman (namely, my wife) on the phone and think they can just yell and steamroll them to get their way. But if a man gets on the phone, they suddenly become calm and reasonable. Usually, the more they are responsible for the error or problem, the louder, faster, and angrier they talk - hoping to get a quick resolution in their favor.

It happens frequently, and while we generally bend over backwards to correct any issue at all, these guys don't get an inch from me. What they don't realize is I can hear them giving my wife (Customer Service) hell before they get transferred to me (General Manager) and they start speaking nice as pie and extremely calm and claim that "the girl in customer service" said or promised something I know she didn't to correct the guy's mistake.

The other thing they don't realize is that my wife is actually the owner of the company. You piss her off and you're done.

But I've dealt with the same issue with other larger companies and there's a distinct attitude from that region that considers women will buckle easy if you just overwhelm them with a jack*** attitude.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I saw that school might be fair game here, substitute students/parents as customers. ...

I can remember 3 different occasions as a teacher, where the principal punished a student. Where I turned in a student to the principal for an offense and the principal issued the punishment he saw fit. 3 different parents contacted me and asked me to talk the principal out of their punishment.

One went so far as to come to the school and start yelling at the principal about the punishment, and I happened to be right there, she turned to me and tried to get me to agree that the principal was wrong

It was out of my hands, the kid did something really stupid and had really timing. During an "activity period" they were playing some kid of game, and this kid stood up and yelled just acting silly.... but that was the EXACT moment the principal walked in the door, sorry kid you're on your own on this one.

 

[ronandannette]

I work in healthcare as a surgical scheduler. We don't call them customers but our worst are drug seekers. They lie about every single thing and when are told no for more drugs they in turn give you low patient satisfaction scores. Or call patient relations. I even had one lady say I violated her HIPAA rights and threatened to call the local news stations and a lawyer and sue me. She called my director and wanted me fired. She was a true fruit loop and "fired" from the practice.

Oh sweet Mother of Pearl...you don't know how much I wish I could do the same to some of our customers. Their behaviour is similar to what you describe - not drug-seeking, but trying to get any manner of thing they know they're not entitled to and using any means necessary to get it. (Seriously - do you really think we don't know you're lying???) They use our customer feedback/satisfaction survey system to jack us up and some even say flat out they'll kill us on the survey if we don't capitulate. Some of them are truly a nightmare and it's a nightmare that seems to NEVER end - certain components of our homes carry warranties for up to 10 years.

In fairness, we have a 3% dissatisfaction rate (customers who rate our quality and service less than an 8/10). We work extremely hard to deliver a great experience and by far most of our customers agree. It makes it all the worse that out of +/- 300 customers a year, the jerks are the only ones we remember.

 

[Poohlove]

My least favorite customer is a whole class of customer - usually from New York (sorry New Yorkers) - who get a woman (namely, my wife) on the phone and think they can just yell and steamroll them to get their way. But if a man gets on the phone, they suddenly become calm and reasonable. Usually, the more they are responsible for the error or problem, the louder, faster, and angrier they talk - hoping to get a quick resolution in their favor.

It happens frequently, and while we generally bend over backwards to correct any issue at all, these guys don't get an inch from me. What they don't realize is I can hear them giving my wife (Customer Service) hell before they get transferred to me (General Manager) and they start speaking nice as pie and extremely calm and claim that "the girl in customer service" said or promised something I know she didn't to correct the guy's mistake.

The other thing they don't realize is that my wife is actually the owner of the company. You piss her off and you're done.

But I've dealt with the same issue with other larger companies and there's a distinct attitude from that region that considers women will buckle easy if you just overwhelm them with a jack*** attitude.

I get the same thing all the time. I am the only female at my workplace and I work in a male dominated industry. I totally agree, the more in the wrong someone is the more difficult they are.

No offense to anyone but between the New Yorkers, the southern men and the foreign men at least once a week I question why I keep coming back. I am 5 feet tall and sound like I am 10 on the phone. When they get my 6'1" tall boss they sing a different tune and complain about the ***ch in customer service. He is usually witness to the whole thing and knows it's not me.

 

[powellrj]

My annoying customer was a big box store in my own hometown. They were really nice to me at other stores in other cities, but the one in my town that I would shop at was awful to me. I retired from my job 4 years ago and have never stepped foot in said store since then. I also told my family not to shop there.

 

[Mokat76]

Back when cable was still newish and not common in small towns, I did customer service for a little company that supported 6 rural towns. We dreaded thunderstorms because it was death on our system and the phones (old school dial types) would light up with irate customers. One evening we had a bad storm and the power was out across much of the rural area we served. A man called me cussin' a blue streak because his blankety blank cable was out and how our service sucked and he wanted a repairman out there right away and he wanted credit on his bill. He ranted and ranted and ranted. I asked him which of our towns he was in. He told me. I asked if his power had come back up. "What's that got to do with it," he snarled? I reminded him cable and his TV both needed electricity to work. Dead silence, then a dial tone. Yup.

 

[AnnieEMT]

Also not a customer - but gosh, if I'm carrying you up six flights of un-air-conditioned stairs in the middle of August (after which, you will dance into your apartment), could you please, please not eat your peanut butter crackers and brush the crumbs into my hair while I'm doing it...!

 

[maxiesmom]

One of my co-workers was shoved last week because she tried to clear out a fitting room before letting in the next customer. The person in line shoved her, and yelled she was in a hurry and didn't care if there was stuff in the room. I can't fathom pushing anyone and thinking it is ok. A few days later a younger co-worker cried because some woman was angry that she couldn't tell her exactly which fitting rooms had people in them and which didn't. She screamed at the girl until she cried, it must have made her feel superior or something. We don't let people in and out, we just pick up after the slobs. It is odd how angry some shoppers get over the fitting rooms.

I want to add that I don't know if it is all of the tragedies there have been this week, but boy, customers have been soooo mean this week! Over ridiculous stuff too!

 

[ronandannette]

Also not a customer - but gosh, if I'm carrying you up six flights of un-air-conditioned stairs in the middle of August (after which, you will dance into your apartment), could you please, please not eat your peanut butter crackers and brush the crumbs into my hair while I'm doing it...!

Pretty sure I want to hear a little more of this story...